Twenty-Five Percent (Book 2): Downfall

by Nerys Wheatley

  Alex was at least fairly sure the last one was meant to mime stabbing.

  He held his hands palms up to either side and shrugged, shaking his head to indicate he still didn’t understand. Micah pursed his lips with a frown and repeated the motions more slowly, which didn’t help in the slightest. When Alex indicated as much, Micah looked like he wanted to perform the final move on him.

  With a huff and a hand gesture Alex couldn’t mistake, Micah pushed himself up from his crouch and pointed up the road away from the eaters. They both made their way back to the corner where Micah first checked the eaters weren’t looking in their direction then sprinted the forty feet across the road to where Alex was hidden.

  On reaching him, Micah dropped to the ground in the bushes. “What?!” he hissed, managing to yell and whisper at the same time.

  “I have no idea what all this,” Alex waved his hands in his own vague interpretation of Micah’s baffling sign language, “means.”

  Micah sighed. “It’s perfectly obvious. You,” he pointed at Alex, “circle around the horde,” he scissored his fingers, “and...”

  “Circle around the horde? I thought that was scissors cutting a hole in the ground.”

  “Why on earth would I be telling you to cut a hole in the ground with scissors?”

  “I have no idea. That’s why I was confused.”

  Micah rolled his eyes. “...and distract them...” Jazz hands.

  “What are the jazz hands for?”

  “What are jazz hands?”

  Alex raised his hands to either side of his shoulders, splayed his fingers, and shimmied them for a second.

  “What the heck was that?” Micah said.

  “It’s a dance move. It’s one of Lisa’s favourites.”

  “Your niece is six years old. There is no legitimate reason for an adult man to ever do that with his hands.”

  “You did it.”

  “I was miming you distracting them.” Micah said, splaying his fingers at him.

  “How does that denote a distraction?”

  “I don’t know, it’s the best I could come up with. Anyway, you distract them, then run away,” he scissored his fingers in a straight line, “while I,” he pointed at himself, “sneak up behind them as they follow you and pick them off one by one.” Stabbing motion.

  Alex was silent for a moment. “We really need to find some two way radios. And that’s a terrible plan.”

  “Alright then, oh purveyor of brilliant plans, what do you suggest we do?”

  Alex chewed his lip in thought. “One of us could lead them off into the trees, where hopefully they’ll get tangled in the brambles, while the other gets the bikes past.”

  “And which one of us is going to be wading through the brambles to lead them off?”

  Alex pointed at his leg. “Pain. Hip.”

  Micah narrowed his eyes. “Man. Up.”

  “Remember that time I carried you unconscious through hordes of eaters for over a mile, thus saving your life?”

  “Do you really want to get into a discussion about saving lives? Because if we do, you will lose.”

  “I don’t think you’ve ever quite appreciated...”

  Alex stopped speaking when he heard footsteps approaching. He and Micah both turned to look at the road.

  A man was walking along the centre line of the road towards the eaters. He either didn’t see Alex and Micah amongst the bushes at the side of the road, or he didn’t care. He looked young, in his late teens or early twenties, with shaggy light brown hair and wrinkled clothes that looked a touch too big for his thin frame. A worn beige canvas backpack slumped from his shoulders.

  At first Alex thought the young man must not have seen the eaters, but he was staring straight at the small horde, his stride purposeful and direct. There was little doubt he was walking towards them intentionally.

  Alex looked back at the horde as the man drew level with where he and Micah were hiding. Any second one would look up and see the man. Then they would all be in trouble.

  Without any other option, Alex ran into the road, grabbed the man and carried him to the trees on the other side, dumping him onto the grass amongst the undergrowth.

  The man opened his mouth to speak. Alex slapped his hand over it and leaned back to peer at the horde. None of them seemed to have noticed. Back across the road, Micah glanced at the eaters before running to join them.

  Alex let go of the man’s mouth. “What are you doing?” he hissed. “You were walking straight into a horde!”

  The man gaped as he gazed up at Alex, awe lighting up his face. “You’re one of the blessed,” he said, his voice a reverent whisper.

  Alex had been called many things since he’d been infected. ‘Blessed’ was not one of them. He temporarily forgot the danger along the road.

  “I’m what?”

  “The blessed few,” the man said. “One who has ascended to the heights of perfection.”

  Perfection. Where had Alex heard that word applied to eaters before?

  He closed his eyes, his chin dropping to his chest. “Not another one.”

  Micah snorted. “At least this one’s not going to try to make you impregnate him. I hope.”

  “Why me?” Alex said, shaking his head.

  “This is a sign,” the man said, scrambling to his feet. “My mission is righteous.” He stuck out his hand towards Alex and grinned. “My name is Sam.”

  Against his better judgement, Alex took his hand and shook it. When he let go, Sam gazed down at it in wonder, turning it over and over as if he expected it to start glowing.

  “I’m Alex...”

  “Alex,” Sam repeated dreamily.

  “...and this is Micah.”

  Sam looked at Micah as if seeing him for the first time. “You must be the blessed one’s acolyte.” He started to extend his right hand towards Micah, thought better of it and stuck out the left instead.

  Micah ignored it, narrowing his eyes. “Acolyte?”

  “The one who follows the blessed one and basks in his glory?”

  “That’s him,” Alex said, stifling a smile.

  Micah shook his head in disgust. “Bloody Meirites.”

  Sam pulled a wallet from his back pocket. “I am a leading member of the Peterborough chapter of Light of Meir, a nationwide organisation dedicated to elevating to their rightful place those who have been infected with Meir’s Disease.”

  He handed Alex a card with ‘Light of Meir’ printed on it, a website address and an inexpertly drawn picture of an eye with no iris.

  “Oh look, blessed one,” Micah said, “they have business cards.”

  “We have meetings every Tuesday and Friday,” Sam said, smiling.

  “How many chapters are there?” Alex said, curious despite himself.

  “Well, currently two, but the other one’s in Chester, which is on the other side of the nation, so we call ourselves nationwide. And we have a very lively Facebook group.” He stared at Alex in wonder. “But none of us have ever met a Survivor before. I can’t wait to tell...” The smile melted from his face and he looked at his feet.

  Alex handed the card back to him. “Well that’s, um, nice. But why were you walking right into the middle of a horde of eaters? You could have got yourself killed.”

  “I have decided to make the ultimate sacrifice,” Sam said proudly.

  “Ultimate sacrifice?” Alex glanced towards the eaters, even though he couldn’t see them from where they were hidden by the trees. Then understanding dawned. “Wait, do you mean you were going to feed yourself to them?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why on earth would you do that?” This was extreme, even for a Meirite. Mostly they were just occasionally violent perverts.

  Sam frowned, dropping his gaze to the ground. “While we revere all those infected by Meir’s, it’s obvious this outbreak is not natural. Meir’s is meant for a select few, not everyone. And the infected aren’t behaving normally. So I thought if I sacri
ficed myself, it would cleanse this new outbreak and the suffering would stop.”

  He continued to stare at the grass. If he’d been a suspect Alex was interrogating, he would have thought he was lying.

  “Why did it have to be you?” Alex said.

  Sam looked up. “Why not me? It is a great honour to give one’s life to the infected.” He smiled. “Your blessing in my endeavour would be very much appreciated. And, if it’s not too much to ask, I would very much like to experience my first sexual encounter before I die. With a Survivor.”

  Micah clamped a hand over his mouth. A snort escaped.

  Alex stepped back. “Wha...? No! No. To anything. Everything. All of it. You’re not going to die and I’m not... we’re not...” He huffed out a breath and pointed at the ground. “Sit down and stay here.”

  Sam immediately dropped to the ground, crossing his legs beneath him. “As you wish, blessed one.”

  “And stop calling me blessed one.”

  “What would you like me to call you?”

  “Alex. Alex is fine.”

  He jerked his head at Micah to follow him and walked to where he could still see Sam, but the young man wouldn’t be able to hear them.

  Micah was doing a terrible job of trying not to laugh as he walked up to him. “You really attract the weirdest people. But on the plus side, I think you’re in there.”

  “Funny.” Alex glanced past him to where Sam was sitting in the grass. Sam waved. “What are we going to do with him?”

  “Well we can’t do anything with anyone until we deal with that horde. After that, if you’d like some privacy with your new fan...”

  “Oh, shut up. Okay. Let’s do that, then we’ll think of something.”

  “At least it will be entertaining,” Micah said, smirking.

  “As long as you’re happy. So who’s luring the eaters away?”

  Micah heaved a sigh. “Oh fine, I’ll do it. But I’m warning you, there is a limit to how much you get to milk the whole I-fell-off-a-motorbike thing.”

  “It was more like flying off a motorbike...”

  “Don’t push it.”

  Alex snorted. “Alright, come on, acolyte.”

  “Not funny.”

  “I think it suits you.” Rejoining Sam, who was still sitting obediently in the grass, Alex pointed at him. “Stay here and do not move until we get back. Understood?”

  Sam nodded emphatically. “I will not move from this spot, no matter what happens, until you tell me to. I live to obey you.”

  Alex opened his mouth, but couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He shook his head and turned away.

  “What if an eater gets past us and finds him?” Micah muttered. “He’d probably just sit there.”

  Alex sighed and turned back. “New orders. Stay there unless you are in danger, from eaters or anything else. In that case, run away. Okay?”

  “Stay here and if danger comes, run away,” Sam said, nodding. “You can rely on me.”

  Alex stared at him for a couple of seconds before turning away again. He wasn’t sure what was freaking him out more, Sam’s whole attitude, or that someone was actually doing what he said without complaining.

  He and Micah returned to the corner where Alex stopped to watch as Micah made his way towards the small horde, keeping to the trees and bushes at the side of the road. When he got within twenty feet or so, he stepped away from the cover and shouted at the crowd, splaying his fingers and waving his hands to either side. Alex had to clamp his jaw shut to keep from laughing out loud. Jazz hands.

  A few eaters raised their heads to look at Micah. Moments later, the circle came to a standstill and every eater fixed their attention on him. The cloying pheromone smell drifted through the air and the horde charged, or shuffled as quickly as they could, as one.

  Micah turned and plunged into the thick undergrowth. The horde plunged after him.

  Alex ran back towards the bikes. Sam, still sitting obediently in the grass, waved as he passed. Alex had gone several more steps before the idea came to him. Skidding to a stop, he beckoned to Sam.

  “Come with me.”

  Sam leaped to his feet, a huge grin on his face, and followed Alex back to the motorcycles.

  “Can you ride a motorbike?”

  The grin disappeared from Sam’s face. “No. I’m sorry.”

  Alex cringed inwardly at his look of disappointment. It made him feel like he’d kicked a puppy. “That’s okay, we’ll just push them.”

  Sam’s smile returned. “I can do that.”

  When they reached the empty car the horde had been circling, none of the eaters were in sight. Although Alex could hear them blundering through the undergrowth somewhere amongst the trees. He could also hear Micah loudly cursing trees the world over, and plants in general.

  Sam was turning out to be stronger than he looked. He was skinny, and a good five inches shorter than Alex’s six foot one, looking like he couldn’t push a half-empty wheelie bin. But even though it was obviously a strain, he was managing to propel Micah’s heavy bike along the road at a good speed.

  It took them five minutes to get through the small forest and out the other side where they stopped to wait for Micah.

  “Where are you...?” Sam stopped abruptly as a lone eater stumbled from behind a tall hedge running along the side of the road. He seemed to freeze, staring at it in horror as it lumbered towards him.

  Alex stepped in front of him and pulled one of the skull-spikers from his pocket. As the eater reached him, he darted to the side, swept one leg from under it, and dropped to one knee beside it when it fell to finish it off. When he stood again, Sam was gazing at him in awe.

  “Wow,” he whispered. “You’re just like a superhero.” He gave a shy smile. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to... you know? While we’re waiting for Micah?”

  Alex replaced the spiker in his pocket and took a slow step away from him. “No. Thanks for the offer, but no.”

  Sam nodded, continuing to gaze adoringly at him. Alex stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned away to look back towards the wood, silently willing Micah to hurry up.

  A very awkward few minutes later, Micah emerged from the trees and strode towards them. Pieces of bramble and bracken clung to his clothing. The lower half of his jeans were covered in tiny tears. He pushed his tangled hair back from his face, dislodging a few dead leaves and a small moth.

  Stopping in front of Alex, he jabbed a finger at him. “Next time either of us has to do anything unpleasant, it’s going to be you.”

  Alex struggled to hold back his smile. “Shall I just call you Bear from now on?”

  “Shut. Up.” He looked down at himself. “And help me get all this nature off me.”

  Having rid Micah of the bits of forest he’d brought with him, they prepared to start off again. Sam stood nearby, looking uncertain.

  “Are you still planning on sacrificing yourself to the nearest horde?” Alex asked him.

  Sam glanced down at the eater Alex had killed. “No, bles... Alex. I hadn’t thought about how hard it would be. I suppose I’ll just go home.” He stared at his shoes.

  “Where’s home?” Micah said.

  “Peterborough.” Sam looked around. “If you could just point me in the right direction? I was thinking this would be a one way trip, so I didn’t really look at where I was going.”

  “Didn’t we pass Peterborough a while ago?” Micah said to Alex.

  Alex dug the appropriate map from beneath the bike seat and unfolded it. “About twelve miles back, give or take.”

  “Twelve miles,” Sam said. “Which way?”

  “Do you have anyone anywhere you could go to? Family? Friends?”

  Sam looked at the ground again, shaking his head.

  Alex sighed internally. “Would you excuse us, Sam?”

  He and Micah walked along the road until they were out of earshot.

  “How on earth did he make it twelve miles without getting seen by ea
ters?” Micah said quietly.

  “No idea, but I can’t see him making it back. When that eater came at us, he didn’t even try to get away. He just stood there, terrified.”

  “Do you want to take him home?”

  “Into the middle of a big place like Peterborough that’s probably crawling with eaters? We’d be lucky to get out alive.” Alex glanced back to see Sam watching them. “Plus, I feel sorry for him. Something bad must have happened for him to just want to end it like that.”

  “So, what? You want to take him with us?”

  “Not really, given that we’re heading for what is probably eater central. But I don’t want to leave him alone either. Maybe we can find somewhere safe to drop him off.”

  The corners of Micah’s mouth twitched. “Are you sure you don’t just want your adoring fan around for a bit longer?”

  Alex drew himself up, looking down his nose at him. “What I do is no business of acolytes such as yourself.”

  “It doesn’t take much to inflate your ego, does it?”

  They returned to Sam who looked at them expectantly.

  “Do you want to go home, Sam?” Alex said.

  He shrugged.

  “Would you like to come with us for now?”

  Sam’s face lit up. “Really? Yes! I’ll be no trouble. I could even help, with, well, whatever you need me to do. You won’t regret taking me, I promise.” He was bouncing up and down like an excited five-year-old. “Where are we going?”

  “This is just temporary,” Alex said. “A day at most, until we find you somewhere safe to stay. It’s going to be very dangerous where we’re going and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  Sam looked like he might cry. Before Alex could stop him, he rushed forward and threw his arms around him.

  “Thank you so much for caring about me,” he said, his voice muffled against Alex’s shoulder.

  Embarrassed, Alex glanced at Micah for help, but by the smirk on his face it was immediately clear he wasn’t going to get any.

  He tried to pat Sam’s back, which was a little awkward with his enthused hug pinning Alex’s arms to his sides. “You’re welcome.” Sam continued to hug him. “Okay, you can let go now.”