Twenty-Five Percent (Book 3): Vengeance

by Nerys Wheatley

  They moaned their response which, had they been able to vocalise their thoughts, and if they had any thoughts, Alex imagined meant, “Yes we are and you are currently only hanging onto your paddle by your fingertips.”

  Reaching the top shelf again, he walked towards the far end where the aisles opened onto the clear area they’d driven the tank through. It was then that he noticed the eaters following him. They were all looking up, tracking his every move. When he got to the end of the shelving run, so did they. He tried retracing his steps. The same thing happened.

  Were they learning? It was a disturbing thought, but Alex didn’t have time to mull it over now because he was stuck. After walking rapidly back and forth on the shelves a few times and failing to lose his horde even once, he sat down at the end to think, dangling his feet over the edge. The horde took their place below him and stared up. After a minute or so they stopped moaning. The quiet was unnerving, especially as they were all still staring up at him. For half a minute he stared back, just to make sure they were blinking. They were.

  He tried to work out a way to lose his horde shadow. From here, at the very end of the shelves, he could see both ends of the warehouse. Both doors were shut. Micah must have circled round to close the one through which he’d entered with the tank.

  If Alex waited long enough, would Micah and his new favourite toy come in to rescue him? But then he’d have to open the door, risking losing the eaters they’d worked so hard to trap in here. No, Alex needed to at least try to get out by himself. On top of everything else, it was a matter of pride.

  He studied his potential escape routes. Going out the way Micah had was too far. Even if he made it there before the eaters, it would be impossible to get the door open, get out, and close it again before they caught up. The same went for the loading door the tank had entered through. So that left just one option - going back out the way he’d come in, past the offices and break room. The good thing about that was it was closer to where he was now. The bad thing was there were a lot of eaters between him and it. Not all the eaters were sticking with his horde. Many of them were wandering aimlessly through the warehouse, showing no interest in joining their comrades.

  Alex made a mental note to tell Dave, Larry and Pauline about the new behaviour he was witnessing. They’d be thrilled.

  Standing up, he looked down at the eaters. They jostled against one another in anticipation. Even though they were already rapt, he clapped his hands to get their attention.

  “Okay horde, listen up. Much as I’ve enjoyed your company, I need to go. You know, things to do, people to see, eaters to kill. No offence. So what we are going to do is this: I am going to lead you back down this way...” He walked along the shelf towards the back of the warehouse. The horde obediently followed. “...and then when you’re all here, I’m going to run back there, leap to the floor, and hopefully not kill myself. I know you adore me and hate to see me go, but your co-operation in staying out of my way would be appreciated. Can I count on you?”

  A few of the eaters moaned.

  “I’m going to take that as a yes.” He raised his voice. “If anyone else is wondering if they should join the party, come on over. It’s where all the hip, happening, cool eaters are. Right guys?”

  He waved his arms at the horde. More moans went up from the throng and the mob pressed forward against the base of the shelves. Pheromones wafted up to him.

  He began to wonder if he was losing his mind. He also wondered if he really wanted to get them more riled up. Too late now.

  He bounced on his toes a few times. “I can do this,” he murmured, “I’m a Survivor; I can do anything.”

  With one final look down at the horde, he launched himself back along the shelving run. The metallic thudding of his feet lasted for five seconds, and then he ran out of shelf. Forcing himself not to slow down, he leaped into the air.

  There was barely time to think, please don’t let me break anything, before he hit the ground. He dropped and rolled like he’d seen people do on TV, miraculously ended up back on his feet, then fell over again because his momentum hadn’t burned itself out like he thought it would. He finally tumbled to a halt in a heap at the feet of an eater in army fatigues.

  It looked down at him. Alex looked up. There was a moment of mutual inaction.

  The eater finally got itself together and lunged down for him. Alex rolled out of the way and scrambled to his feet. The eater fell on its face.

  There wasn’t much time to marvel that he’d made it to the floor in one piece because at that moment his personal horde erupted from the end of the aisles and stagger-ran towards him. Alex took off for the door leading into the offices seventy feet away, stumbling to an abrupt halt when more eaters surged from the aisle in front of him, cutting off his escape.

  He spun in a circle, searching for a clear path. The route back to the shelves was filled with eaters, as was every way out. He retreated as hundreds of hungry eaters advanced on him.

  He jumped when his back hit something and whirled round. One of the tall metal cages was rolling away from him.

  It was better than nothing.

  After a few seconds of graceless clambering, he managed to make it inside just as the first of the eaters reached him. They barrelled into the cage, sending it skidding across the concrete floor to smash against the wall and jarring Alex painfully against the metal bars.

  “I thought we had an agreement,” he said, rubbing his sore back. “I hate to say it, but I think this is going to create some major trust issues in our relationship.”

  The eaters slammed into the cage, scrabbling at the suddenly very flimsy looking metal mesh sides and moaning frantically. Alex felt like a diver in a shark cage. Breath passing across weeks of unbrushed teeth enveloped him.

  “Seriously, guys,” he coughed, trying not to gag, “a little oral hygiene goes a long way.”

  The back of the cage screeched, scraping along the wall behind him. In front of him, the mesh warped. One of the corner uprights buckled. With a popping crunch, the cage began to compress.

  Alex backed up against the wall. Crushed to death or torn apart, what a choice. Why was he in this mess? Why hadn’t he just waited for Micah to come and get him? Was he trying to get himself killed?

  Was he?

  He shook his head. He didn’t want to die, especially not at the hands and teeth of hundreds of eaters. Although at this point it was looking like he might not have much say in the matter.

  The now familiar sound of a loading door opening broke through the cacophony of eater moans and his heart beating in his ears. An engine revved. What followed was something Alex never ever wanted to see again. The horde had no concept of danger, especially the danger posed by a sixty tonne tank bearing down on them. After a few seconds, Alex closed his eyes, not opening them again until a voice said, “Need a lift?”

  He looked up at the tank towering in front of the cage, its huge bulk keeping the eaters at bay. He very carefully didn’t look at the carnage the tank had left in its wake. Micah, who was leaning out of the hatch, wasn’t so prudent. His face paled and he snapped his eyes back up.

  “Don’t look,” he said.

  “I’m not looking. Why did you look?”

  Micah winced. “I didn’t think it would be quite that... visceral. What are you doing here anyway?”

  Alex folded his arms across his chest and leaned casually against the twisted side of the cage. “Oh, just hanging. You?”

  “Oh, just saving your arse. Again.”

  The cage was severely warped and it took Alex an awkward half a minute to struggle up out of it and onto the tank. Micah returned to the driver’s seat and drove to the far end of the warehouse where Alex opened the door before what remained of the horde followed. Once the Challenger was outside he threw the eaters a wave before shutting them in.

  The seven teenagers, plus baby, were waiting a little way away, looking around fearfully. Five bodies lay outside the warehouse, the h
oles from Micah’s skull-spiker clearly visible in their heads.

  “Is that why you took so long to come and get me?” Alex said when they were both out of the tank.

  Micah pointed back at the warehouse in exasperation. “You said you had it in there. I didn’t want the rest to get out. I wasn’t expecting you to do something stupid.”

  “It wasn’t intentionally stupid. It just turned out that way.”

  A voice shouted, “Hey!”

  They both turned to see the group of teenagers huddled together with the boy who’d challenged Alex in the warehouse standing in front of them, glaring.

  “I’m going to go out on a limb and guess they weren’t too happy to have their hideout invaded by hundreds of eaters,” Alex muttered as they walked towards them.

  “And I thought your deductive skills were lacking,” Micah replied.

  “You’d better have a good explanation for messing up our hiding place, white-eye,” the boy said, with the misplaced bravado of sixteen-year-olds everywhere.

  Or what? Alex thought. Instead he said, “We had no idea you were there. I did call.”

  “We were safe until you showed up,” a girl said. “You almost got us killed. What is wrong with you?”

  The others raised their voices in anger, their accusations ranging from gross stupidity, to intentionally risking their lives for fun, to Alex wanting to feast on them himself. Alex and Micah waited for them to calm down. It was a long wait.

  The girl holding the baby stood at the back in silence. When her companions finally quietened, she stepped forward.

  “Can you take us home in that?” she said, nodding towards the tank. The baby whimpered and she bounced the bundle, holding it close to her.

  “Where’s home?” Alex said.

  She blinked back tears. “Sarcester.”

  Alex remembered the school minibus back on the road. “You were in the crash. You’re from Northgate School.”

  The girl nodded. “We were on a school trip and they wouldn’t let us into the city when we got back. They put us in the Premier Inn for a few days, but when the eaters all came out our teacher tried to get us away. Then our bus crashed and Mrs Campbell and our friends died and then the eaters came and started taking people.” She stopped and drew in a shuddering breath.

  “So you got out and came here?” Alex said.

  “We had to run. Not everyone made it.”

  Everyone was silent, the now tearful teenagers looking like the children they still were. Alex felt terrible. He’d put them through even more trauma. The baby started to cry and the girl murmured to her, bouncing the tightly wrapped child in her arms.

  “Is she yours?” Alex said.

  The girl shook her head and lowered the bundle a little, revealing a round, red face framed by wisps of brown hair. “We found her in one of the cars. Her parents were dead, but she was okay in her car seat. I couldn’t leave her there for them to find.” As if sensing the attention, the baby cried louder. “She’s hungry. Her milk is in there.” She nodded towards the warehouse.

  Alex touched a finger to the baby’s cheek and she stopped wailing for a moment. Then she started again with even more gusto. He snatched his hand away.

  “I’m Alex, this is Micah. We’ll take you back to Sarcester. You’ll be safe there.” Until Boot shows up and tries to kill everyone because of me.

  “We can go home?” one of the boys said. “We can see our families again?”

  Alex and Micah exchanged glances.

  “We can take you there,” Micah said. “There are people who will help you.”

  “You mean our families are dead,” the boy at the front said, his voice emotionless.

  “A lot of people died in Sarcester,” Micah said. “Not everyone, but a lot. There’s a chance your families are still alive, but there’s also a chance they’re not. But you won’t be left alone.”

  The girl looked down at the fussing baby in her arms. “Can she stay with me?”

  Alex smiled. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem. What’s her name?”

  “We don’t know, but we had a vote.” She looked slightly embarrassed. “So now she’s called Leia.”

  “Cool name,” Micah said.

  It was a tight squeeze to get all of them into the tank. One by one, with Micah’s help, they climbed up onto the hull and down through the hatch. Alex offered to hold Leia while Kim, her guardian, got in. As soon as he took the little girl she quietened, her round brown eyes staring up at him in fascination. He’d experienced this before. Unlike adults, children weren’t afraid of his pale eyes and even babies as young as the little girl he held in his arms now, who looked to be no more than four or five months old, could tell there was something unusual about him. She reached towards his face, wrapping her tiny hand around the finger he offered her.

  “Don’t worry,” he whispered to her, “you’re going to be all right. Whatever happens, you’ll be safe. I promise.”

  . . .

  Alex got his turn at driving the tank as they returned to Sarcester while Micah followed on his bike.

  He had to admit, it was a lot of fun once he’d got the hang of it. He was disappointed when he found the way blocked only twice by cars he could legitimately drive over.

  A crowd came out to greet them when they reached home. Or more accurately, they came out to greet the Challenger Two. Penny let out an uncharacteristic squeal and scrambled over the barrier of cars to reach it. As they unloaded the teenager and baby cargo, she climbed up onto the hull and ran her hands lovingly over the metal surface.

  “I want to marry it and have its babies,” she declared, closing her eyes as she lay down and hugged the main gun.

  Scott stared down at her from the barrier. “I feel like I’ve been replaced.”

  “Apparently, size really does matter,” Micah said with a smirk.

  Janie appeared beside Scott on the barrier. “It’s gorgeous.”

  She jumped down to join Penny on the tank. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds and then giggled like a couple of schoolgirls.

  “I think I preferred it when they hated each other,” Micah said quietly. “Watching them bond is terrifying.”

  They got the kids inside the barrier where Leon promised them they would try to find their families. Alex reluctantly handed baby Leia back to Kim. He’d become attached to feeling the warm little body against his chest, even if she did now very seriously need a nappy change.

  “Thank you for bringing us home,” Kim said, settling the tiny girl in her arms like she’d been doing it her entire life.

  Alex had to force a smile over a sudden wave of emotion. “You’re going to be okay. Both of you.”

  She nodded and Patrice led her away to find some nappies and baby formula. Emma and Katie waved to Alex and Micah as they trotted after their mother. They were much more interested in the new baby.

  “We have to stop Boot,” Alex said to Micah as they watched them go. “We can’t let him get anywhere near here.”

  6

  They returned to the site of the pile-up to pick up Alex’s bike then made their way along the river to the next bridge ten miles away, the shortest route across the river now the main bridge carrying the A14 had a gaping hole halfway across its mile long span.

  They were planning to meet up with Lieutenant Tracey Dent and the small unit of soldiers who’d been tracking Boot since he left the Omnav headquarters south of Sheffield and flew to Cambridge. But first they had a stop to make.

  The area north of the river was sparsely populated and it was relatively simple to find the house they were looking for. A path wound its way between still flowering rose bushes to a red door in a chocolate box perfect cottage. Alex knocked and waited, slightly nervous there wouldn’t be an answer. He was relieved when he heard footsteps inside and the door opened.

  Jean gasped when she saw Alex and Micah standing at her door, then she grinned and gave them each a hug.

  “Come in, come
in,” she said, waving them inside.

  “Um, are you sick?” Micah said, indicating the silk dressing gown she was wearing in the middle of the day.

  She looked down at herself and smiled. “Oh no, I’m...”

  “Babe? Is everything all right? Who was at the door?”

  Alex looked up at a man descending the narrow stairs. A man disturbingly naked from the waist up. Halfway down, he saw them and frowned.

  Alex lowered his gaze to Jean, raising an eyebrow.

  A not entirely innocent smile curled her lips. “Alex, Micah, you remember Everett?”

  “You’re not putting those bikes on my boat again.” Everett Johnson, the man who had threatened to harpoon Alex and Micah the first time they met him, glared at them as he reached the foot of the stairs.

  Alex darted his eyes around the hallway, searching for anything to focus on other than the fifty-something year old man’s bare chest. It was adorned with a tattoo of an anchor looped around one nipple, the highlight of which was a ring piercing designed to look like part of the body art.

  “Everett, be nice,” Jean said, looping her arm around his waist. “Would you two like anything to eat or drink? I’m not sure if the power’s on, but I can make you coffee or tea if it is.”

  Everett slid his arm around her, sliding his hand down to rest on her backside.

  “I don’t need coffee.” Alex turned to Micah. “Do you want coffee?” Was it his imagination, or had his voice become unnaturally high-pitched?

  Micah snapped his gaze from Everett’s hand and shook his head just a little too rapidly. “No, I don’t need coffee.”

  Jean rolled her eyes. “Oh, boys, we’re all adults here.”

  Alex winced. “We have nothing against... I mean, what you do is...”

  To his relief, Micah stepped in. “What he means is could you at least put a shirt on?”

  Everett chuckled, leaned down to kiss Jean’s cheek, gave her other cheek a squeeze, and walked back up the stairs.

  Jean watched him go, her gaze squarely below his waist, then sighed as she turned back to Alex and Micah. “He’s just so refreshing and... energetic.”