Mutation (Twenty-Five Percent Book 1)

by Wheatley, Nerys

  After half a minute or so, he got to his feet and walked to the other side of the roof. The helicopter was still gone so it looked like he’d have to wait.

  The clanging of the metal barrier against the support poles was unpleasantly loud here, drowning out everything but the eater’s moans. He could no longer hear Micah’s Ferrari. He looked down at the crowd pressed against the metal. The eaters closest to the barrier were pushed up against the hard surface, being crushed every time one of the horde’s undulations reached them. The metal they pressed against was drenched with blood. He wasn’t even sure the ones at the front were still alive.

  He turned his attention to the area beyond the barrier. Only being two storeys up, he couldn’t see very far. The roofs of houses and shops extended into the distance, interspersed with the canopies of trees growing in back gardens and lining the residential streets. This was a nice area of town. At least, it had been. Alex assumed the immediate neighbourhood had been evacuated. Along the street he could see more of the tanks, heavy artillery and military personnel they had seen from the insurance building, although the area directly behind the barrier was clear.

  Alex briefly considered yelling and waving to get someone’s attention, but decided against it. They would probably ignore him, thinking he was just another trapped person who wanted to get out. And he didn’t want to advertise his presence to the eaters below. He was fairly sure they couldn’t get into the building, but he didn’t want to test that theory. Once he handed the flash drive off to the soldiers in the helicopter, he wanted to be able to get down again.

  Taking a couple of steps back from the edge of the roof, he turned to find a comfortable place to sit and wait.

  Something barrelled into him from behind, throwing him onto his stomach and landing on his legs. Before he could react, he felt a tug at his waist. He grunted as pain seared across his lower back.

  The weight vanished from his thighs and he scrambled to his feet, whirling around to face his attacker.

  “Kerry?”

  The woman standing ten feet away looked nothing like the beauty he and Micah had met three days before. She was filthy, her clothing ripped and stained, her hair matted and wild. Blood smeared across her t-shirt and jeans. There was even some on her face, spattered around her mouth. Alex wasn’t sure any of it was hers. She looked more like an eater than the poor souls on the street below.

  She was holding his pistol in her right hand, pointing it at him. In her left was a knife with a lime green handle. There was blood on the blade.

  Alex reached one hand around and touched his fingers to where his back was burning with pain. They came away red.

  Kerry laughed. The sound was manic, disturbed, her already tenuous grip on sanity obviously gone.

  “You look surprised to see me,” she said. “You didn’t think I’d just let you get away, did you?”

  Alex’s gaze was fixed on the knife. Something about the colour... “It was you,” he said, realisation dawning. “You killed Buzz, Pi and Gaz.”

  A frown creased her forehead. “Who?”

  “The men we left in the house on Farley Road.”

  “Oh, them.” She smiled. “I did what you didn’t have the balls to do. They thought I was going to rescue them. I might have, and got them to help me come after you and the other murdering bastard, but then I saw what they had planned in the bedroom and...” She shrugged.

  Alex remembered all the times over the last few days when he thought he’d seen something. “You’ve been following us.”

  “Of course I’ve been following you. Really, you’re not a very good detective. I thought you’d seen me several times.”

  His eyes flicked to the gun in her hand. He had to get it back.

  “You took our bikes.”

  Her smile disappeared. “I thought I would lose you when you got those, but I managed to pick up my own and find you again. Such a good idea of Janie’s. Trust a woman to be the practical one. I liked her. I really didn’t want to do what I did.”

  Alex’s gut dropped. “What did you do?”

  Pure hatred flashed across her face. “You took the man I loved from me. So I have to take the people you love from you.”

  Fear clutched at his chest. “You’re lying. There’s no way you’d be able to kill Janie.”

  “Because she’s a white-eye? Got the drop on you, didn’t I? It’s a shame she didn’t get to see her son one last time though. I was sincerely sorry for that. I also want you to know that, after I’ve killed you, I will take no pleasure in slaughtering your neighbours. Leon and Pat and their two adorable little girls are a lovely family. And they were so kind to me when I visited them yesterday.” She shrugged. “But I have no choice. George was everything to me. Now the people you love have to suffer for what you did. Their deaths will be on your dead hands.”

  Alex’s teeth were crushed together so hard his jaw ached, but he barely noticed. He didn’t feel the wound in his back. Every muscle in his body was clenched tight. He fought to keep control. There would be no second chances if he made a mistake.

  “I’ll give you what you want,” he said, taking a step forward. “I’ll give you a Survivor child.”

  “Do you think I’m stupid?” she spat. “I don’t want your child now. The only thing I want is to watch you die and then kill everyone you love.” She waved the gun at him to step back.

  “Kerry...”

  “Move!” she screeched, aiming the pistol at his head.

  Alex shuffled slowly backwards until his calves touched the low wall at the edge of the roof. He glanced over the side. Thanks to Kerry’s shouting, many of the eaters were now looking in his direction. Seeing him, they moaned and reached up their hands.

  “Now jump.”

  Alex whipped his head back around to look at her. “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  Panic clutched at him. If he died, she would go after Leon’s family.

  “Kerry, please...”

  “Jump or I shoot you in both legs and push you over.”

  Alex looked down at the sea of eaters again. He would never survive. “I can...”

  She lowered the pistol to point at his thigh.

  “Alright, alright,” he said quickly.

  He turned to face the edge of the roof, frantically searching for something to help him. There was nothing, no awnings, no lamps attached to the building, not even a shop sign. Nothing but smooth, featureless brick wall between him and the starving horde.

  Then, as he looked down, an image flashed into his mind; Luke Skywalker standing over the sarlacc’s pit, Jabba the Hutt watching from his sailbarge. Alex looked at the edge of the roof. Maybe a trained gymnast could do it, but him?

  He stepped up onto the narrow ledge, the drop at his feet making him feel dizzy. Below him, the eaters went crazy. He swallowed and clenched his jaw. He’d survived being infected with Meir’s disease. He’d survived the last few days fighting hordes of eaters. He could survive an insane, homicidal woman.

  For the people he loved, he had to.

  Taking a deep breath, Alex jumped.

  Leaping as high as he could, he twisted around in mid-air, grabbing onto the edge of the roof as he fell. He hit the wall at full stretch, all the air exploding from his lungs, his arms feeling like they were being ripped from their sockets. In a brief moment of panic, his fingers slid towards the edge of the wall before gripping.

  For a few seconds he hung against the brick surface, gasping for breath, marvelling that he was still alive and in one piece. Everything hurt.

  Footsteps on the roof signalled the end of the brief respite. He squeezed his eyes closed, knowing choice was a luxury he no longer had. She’d already killed, there was no reason to doubt she’d do it again.

  Don’t make me do this, he thought.

  Kerry’s face came into view above him as she leaned forward to peer over the edge. “What the...”

  Hoisting himself up to reach her, Alex grabbed Kerry’
s leg and pulled. She fell forward, shrieking. He let go of her to grab onto the ledge again as he slid back down the wall.

  A hand clamped around his ankle and jerked him downwards, almost yanking his fingers from the roof. He looked down to see Kerry holding onto him with one hand, her legs and free arm flailing in the air above the heads of the eaters. Their moans rose to a crescendo as dozens of hands reached for her, only a couple of feet of air between them.

  Alex kicked his leg out, trying to dislodge her, but she tightened her grip, nails digging into his skin. Her free hand grasped his other ankle. He looked down to see her smiling up at him.

  Bringing her knees up, she pushed her feet against the wall in front of her.

  Alex cried out as his fingers slid to within an inch of the edge. “Stop!” he yelled. “You’re going to pull us both off!”

  Kerry glared up at him. “You’re going to die.”

  She pushed with her feet again, forcing Alex’s legs away from the building.

  With a roar, he dug his fingertips into the stonework, feeling his skin shred on the rough surface as he desperately tried to hold on.

  Kerry screamed, dragging him backwards.

  His fingertips slipped over the edge.

  Gasping a breath, Alex plummeted towards the waiting eaters.

  27

  Alex braced himself to hit the ground. Instead, he landed on a tangle of hands, arms and heads.

  He struggled to sit up, trying to keep his exposed skin away from the mass of snapping mouths beneath him. Teeth gnawed at the material of his jeans.

  Hearing Kerry scream, he turned to see her on her back on the heads of the horde a few feet away. As he watched, several eaters ground their teeth into her bare arms. Blood spurted. She screamed again.

  He scrambled to reach her, but before he could even move she sank into the horde, the mass of eaters sucking her under, burying her in their depths. It was many long seconds before her agony filled screams finally stopped.

  Alex tried to get to his feet, pushing on heads and swatting away the arms trying to pull him down, but it was impossible to keep his balance. He fell to his knees. Teeth sank into his left forearm. Grunting in pain, he pulled a skull-spiker from his pocket and stabbed the biter.

  Looking around for a way out, he saw the shop on the ground floor of the building he’d fallen from fifteen feet away. If he could get inside, he would have a chance. He tuned out the ravenous moans surrounding him and began to crawl.

  The eaters didn’t seem to be able to bite through the thick denim of his jeans, but keeping his hands and arms from their gnashing teeth was more difficult. At all costs, he had to avoid being pulled down to the ground. If that happened, he knew he’d be lost.

  He’d only advanced a few feet when one of the undulating waves of movement passed beneath him. Alex struggled to stay on top as the eaters beneath him shifted, swaying first one direction then the other. The surge carried him away from the building. Hands grabbed at his legs and feet, pulling him further out into the street.

  And then a void opened up beside him.

  He scrambled away from the hole, but not fast enough. The eaters shifted further and he slid between them, falling, landing hard on the pavement.

  The surrounding eaters immediately closed in, their hands clutching at him. Looking up, Alex lost sight of the sky.

  As the first eater sank its teeth into his bicep, he knew it was over.

  The sound of moaning was drowned out by the roar of a car engine being pushed to its limits. A barrage of thuds culminated in the screech of brakes.

  Daylight appeared to Alex’s left.

  Using the spiker he’d somehow managed to hold onto, he stabbed the temple of a man trying to take a bite from his shoulder and pushed to his feet, shoving the eaters around him back with a strength he didn’t think even he possessed.

  In a hope and adrenalin fuelled flurry of punching, shoving and stabbing, he managed to fight his way the few feet through the crowd to his salvation.

  “Get in!” Micah yelled, beckoning frantically from the driver’s seat of the Ferrari he’d used to lead the eaters away.

  The channel he’d forced through the horde was already closing up behind the car as the eaters pressed in close, pounding their hands onto the metal and glass.

  Alex pulled open the passenger side door and dived in, jerking it from the grip of the eaters reaching for him and slamming it shut.

  “Go!”

  Micah threw the car into reverse, jamming his foot onto the accelerator, and Alex was thrown forward as the car lurched back. They bounced several times over what could only have been bodies.

  Then they came to a juddering halt.

  Micah pumped the accelerator, but the wheels simply spun in place, filling the car with the smell of burning rubber. He shifted to first, the engine roared for a few more seconds of static revving, then the car leaped forward. Micah yanked the steering wheel hard to the right and eaters were tossed aside as the back end of the car swung around.

  For a few feet they pushed against the crowd in front of them, the eaters blocking their way not even noticing their bones crushing and their insides being pulverised.

  Then the car convulsed to a standstill again.

  “There’s too many,” Micah said. “We’d need a tank to get through.”

  Alex looked around for a way out, but eaters surrounded them on all sides. The car rocked as they shoved and jostled. Blood-stained fingers squeaked over the glass.

  Alex heard a sharp smack on glass, then another. Suddenly, the window next to Micah shattered. Bloody hands grabbed his right arm, dragging it through the open space. He screamed as teeth seized his skin.

  Alex lunged across Micah and thrust his knife into the eater holding onto him, shoving it away. Micah pulled his arm back inside the car.

  The bloody marks where the bite had torn into his skin were clearly visible.

  Terror clouded Micah’s face. “Alex...”

  An abrupt silence descended.

  For a moment, fixated on Micah’s wound, Alex didn’t notice the sudden lack of sound. But when Micah looked through the windscreen, Alex followed his gaze.

  Every single eater was frozen in place, their faces tilted to the sky. A strong scent wafted through the broken window.

  As one, they moved.

  Thousands of eaters pushed in the direction of the barrier. The car was forced backwards a couple of feet by the crush in front of them. Micah jammed his foot onto the break, but they continued to inch back.

  A loud metallic crunching sounded behind them. Alex twisted around to look out the rear window, but all he could see were eaters.

  Suddenly, everything stopped.

  Alex and Micah looked around them in shock. The quiet was almost worse than the moans.

  Another wave of scent flooded the air.

  Again the horde surged. The car was forced backwards even further. The metallic crunching became a whine, then a screech. Then an ear-splitting clatter crashed through the air.

  In a frenzy of moans, the eaters streamed around the car. Alex looked back again. Gaps opened as the crowd moved, big enough to see through.

  The barrier was down.

  Heavy artillery and automatic weapons fire erupted behind them. A helicopter swooped overhead, firing into the horde. Eaters stumbled and dropped around the car.

  Ahead of them, the road was clearing. Micah hit the accelerator, speeding out of the firing line.

  Alex looked back and saw bloody chaos, the might of the British army fighting thousands of powerful, ravenous monsters that couldn’t feel pain and simply would not stop until they were killed. He didn’t know who would win.

  As they rounded a corner and the car began to slow, Alex turned his attention to Micah. Sweat sheened his skin. His head began to droop.

  “Micah?”

  A building in their path registered in the corner of Alex’s eye.

  “Micah!”

  Micah’s head
jerked up. He hit the brake, too late.

  The Ferrari crashed into the wall head on.

  28

  Alex pushed the deflating airbag out of the way. A groan emanated from somewhere behind the white balloon on the driver’s side.

  He freed himself from his seatbelt, unfastened Micah’s, and shoved his door open, stumbling out of the car. A moment of dizziness forced him to stand still or risk falling over.

  A staccato of rapid gunfire shredded the air, punctuated by minor explosions. Tanks, maybe a rocket launcher, Alex thought vaguely. A deep percussive boom rocked the ground beneath his feet and shuddered through his chest. No, that was the rocket launcher.

  Hearing the sharp, rasping whine of a jet engine, he looked up to see a fighter streak by low overhead. A moment later a massive explosion reverberated through the atmosphere, a flash of fire and smoke erupting into the sky somewhere close by.

  It was time to go.

  He circled the back of the car and tugged at the driver’s side door. It didn’t budge. The impact had crumpled the car more on this side and the whole frame had buckled. Grasping the edge of the window frame, ignoring the remains of the shattered glass that cut into his skin, Alex pulled with every adrenalin filled ounce of strength he possessed. With a grinding screech, the door tore from the frame and he stumbled back as the hinges split from the chassis. He flung the mangled piece of metal onto the pavement behind him.

  Micah looked up at him, his eyes barely focusing, skin pale and clammy.

  “Can you walk?” Alex said, ripping the airbag out from in front of him and tossing it aside.

  “I think so,” Micah said, his voice weak.

  Alex helped him to stand, grabbing him when he teetered.

  He looked down at Micah’s arm. The bite was still oozing, the area around it red and angry. How long was it since the eater’s teeth had torn into his flesh? Alex glanced at his watch. It couldn’t have been more than two minutes, but he didn’t have long.

  “We need to go,” he said.