Mutation (Twenty-Five Percent Book 1) (22 page)

They escaped into the alley, Alex in the lead and Micah bringing up the rear.  It was only thirty feet or so to the next street and they managed to exit the other end before the eaters on their trail reached the entrance.  Alex hoped they wouldn’t follow if they couldn’t see them. 

The street they found themselves in was largely residential, with 1950s semis on one side and some newer town houses on the other, probably built just before East Town became a designated Survivor residential zone and the house prices in the immediate surrounding areas took a nosedive. 

Three eaters wandering along the centre of the street spotted them as soon as they emerged from the alley.  Alex motioned for the others to stay back, put down his bag and strode towards them, removing the skull-spiker from his pocket and flicking out the blade as he went.  He hoped the children’s parents had the sense to shield their eyes from what he was about to do. 

The first two eaters reached him together.  Alex planted a hard kick into the chest of one, sending it stumbling backwards, then scooted to the side of the other as it reached for him.  He stabbed the knife into the side of its head and it fell as he turned back to the first eater.  It had regained its balance and was lunging for him again.  On his other side, a huge man with at least four inches on Alex and a gut clad in a blood-drenched t-shirt that sagged over its jeans reached for him.  Alex ran forwards, twisting away from them, and they collided, for a few moments looking like they were caught in a macabre embrace.

He darted forward again, plunging the spiker into the big man’s temple then, as it fell, into the ear of the final eater.

Breathing heavily, his heart pumping, he stepped back and looked around, checking for any more.  It was beginning to bother him how proficient he was becoming at killing eaters.  He’d despatched more in the last two days than in his entire seven year career in the police force.  Even though they had all been trying to kill him, it was still weighing on him.

Seeing no other immediate danger, he cleaned off his knife on the jacket of one of the dead eaters and returned to Micah and the family.  Thankfully, the two smaller children were being held tight by their parents, their faces turned from the carnage, but the older boy was watching Alex with wide eyes.  He flashed the kid what he hoped was a reassuring smile.  The boy just stared back.

Micah handed his bag back to him and, without a word, they started off again.

After five minutes of moving quickly through the streets, Alex could tell the woman was struggling to carry both a suitcase and a four year old child. 

“I can take him for you,” he whispered to her as they pressed themselves against the side of a building, waiting for a group of eaters to pass by. 

She looked uncertain at first, but then nodded.  “Thank you,” she said.  “I don’t want to slow us down.” 

She whispered in the child’s ear then passed him to Alex.  He was heavier than he looked and Alex was amazed she’d lasted so long.  Adrenalin was no doubt affecting all of them. 

The little boy clamped onto him with all four limbs, his face pinched in fear like the rest of them.  Alex smiled.  “My name’s Alex.  What’s yours?”

“Aaron,” the boy said, the R coming out with a hint of W.

“Well, Aaron, you just hold onto me and we’ll be there soon.  You don’t have to worry about anything.  I’ll keep you safe.  You’re being very brave.”

Aaron nodded and tightened his grip around Alex’s neck, burying his face in his shoulder.

His mother smiled as she watched them.  “I’m Jane,” she said, “and this is my husband Roy, and Luke,” she touched the head of the older boy, “and Miriam.”  The little girl looked up briefly from her father’s chest at the sound of her name then pressed her face into his jacket again.

“I’m Micah,” Micah said, glancing back at them from his place at the edge of the building and smiling.  “And we are clear to go.”

After another five minutes of running and hiding, they reached the outer edge of East Town. 

Any doubt they may have had was dispelled by a big metal sign set into the pavement that read, “Welcome to East Town” in big, green letters dulled from the repeated removal of obscene graffiti.

A smile spread over Alex’s face.  It was good to be home.

The area was deserted. 

As they walked along the street, Alex saw no sign of any eaters, live or dead.  Glancing back behind them, he thought he saw movement.  He stopped and stared down the road, straining to see what had caught his attention.  When nothing presented itself, he frowned and took a few steps back the way they’d come.  He was sure he’d seen something, or someone.

Footsteps approached behind him.

“What?” Micah said, coming to stand beside him and following his line of sight.

“I thought I saw something.”

“Eaters?”

“I don’t know.  Just something moving.”

“Well if it was eaters, they wouldn’t be hiding,” Micah said.  “Maybe it was just someone in their front garden.”

“Yeah,” Alex said, continuing to stare along the road for a few more seconds before mentally shrugging and turning away to catch up with the others.

Turning left at a t-junction onto Market Street, they came to a halt.  A double line of cars spanned the road from the buildings on one side to the buildings on the other.  Parked bumper to bumper, each was separated by barely an inch.

“Hmm,” Micah said, coming to stand beside him. 

Alex could see the building where he lived further up the street.  They were going to have to climb over.

“Mac!” 

Alex looked round to see one of his neighbours emerge from a doorway just beyond the cars.  Pete lived in the same building as Alex, a floor above him.  He didn’t particularly like being called Mac, but Pete was a good person and he seemed to like it, so Alex never said anything.

He was smiling as he trotted towards the little group.  “I am so glad to see you alive.  We thought we’d lost you.”

Alex smiled back.  “I got a bit held up.  These guys need a safe place to stay for a while...”

“Yes, yes, come on through,” Pete said with a little bounce.  Pete lived his life in a semi-permanent state of mild excitement.

Alex frowned and looked at the cars.  “Um...”

“This way,” Pete said, beckoning for them to follow as he walked along the line of cars and stopped towards the centre of the street.

The group paralleled him until they came across a one foot gap between two of the cars.  Turning sideways, Alex edged his way through, then along another small gap between the two rows of cars for around ten feet back in the direction they’d come, then through a final gap to join Pete on the other side.  The others followed him.

“The eaters can’t get through it,” Pete said.  “Although we’ve hardly had any come here.  We don’t smell right.”

Alex nodded.  Of course the eaters would be attracted to the large concentrations of uninfected people in the rest of the city rather than to East Town where, as far as they were concerned, there were just more eaters.

Aaron had dared to lift his face from Alex’s shoulder and was now staring at Pete.

“Were you sick too?” he said.

Pete looked at Alex, eyebrows raised.

“Your eyes,” Alex said.

“I was,” Pete said with a smile, “but that was a long time ago and I’m all better now.”

Aaron nodded and turned his attention to the rest of the street.

“Just go on,” Pete said, waving a hand.  “I’m on guard duty so I have to hang here.”  For the first time, Alex noticed a kitchen knife tucked into Pete’s belt.

“Okay.  Thanks, Pete.”

Pete smiled as they filed past him, suddenly frowning when he saw Micah.  “Hey, aren’t you...”

“It’s alright,” Alex said.  “Long story.”

Pete nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on Micah. 

As they walked along the street, various people came and went from buildings around them.  Some waved at Alex, others stopped to welcome him back.  A couple who had fought the mob invasion what seemed like a lifetime ago stared at Micah, but didn’t say anything.  Alex noticed that Micah was looking uncomfortable, nervous even, as they walked, but as Micah had taken him into Survivor-haters central, Alex didn’t feel the need to sympathise. 

“Alex!” 

He turned at the sound of laughter to see Janie striding towards them with a big smile on her face. 

“What happened to you?” she said.

He grinned.  “Stuff happened.  No big deal.”

Aaron had twisted right around in Alex’s arms to stare at Janie.  He gave her a shy smile.

“And who is this?” she said, smiling back at the little boy.

“This is Aaron,” Alex said. 

“I’m brave,” Aaron said.

Janie laughed.  “I bet you are.  Have you been looking after my friend Alex?”

Aaron nodded enthusiastically, grinning, and Alex marvelled at his ability to forget the terror of what he’d been through less than half an hour before.

“Janie,” Alex said, “Roy, Jane, Luke, Miriam and Aaron need a place to stay until things get better.”

She nodded.  “Of course.  We have a few guests here.”  She turned and yelled, “Jerry!”

“Yo!”  Jerry waved from across the street and jogged over to them.  “Hey, Alex.  Good to have you back.”

“These people need a place to stay,” Janie said.

Jerry grinned.  “No problem at all.  I’ll take them to Jeremy’s.”

When Alex tried to hand Aaron back to Jane, he clung to him, screwing his face up. 

“I wanna stay with Alex,” he whined.

“Aaron,” Jane said, gently unravelling his arms from Alex’s neck, “Alex has to go and help other boys and girls.”

Aaron seemed to weigh this against his own desire to stay with his new friend, then nodded.  “Okay,” he said, letting go and allowing his mother to take him.

She looked between Alex and Micah, tears in her eyes.  “Thank you,” she said.  “If you two hadn’t arrived when you did...”  She stopped and took a breath.

Roy held out his right hand, his left still wrapped around his daughter.  “Thank you.  We owe you our lives.”  After shaking their hands, he picked his suitcase back up and turned to follow Jerry.

“You two
rock
!” Luke said with a big grin.

He held out his fist for Micah to bump, high fived Alex, then followed his parents.  Aaron waved over his mother’s shoulder.  When they’d disappeared inside a block of flats a little way down the road, Alex cleared his throat and tried to surreptitiously wipe his eyes.  He turned round to see Micah and Janie watching him.

“I had something in my eye,” he said.

“Of course you did,” Micah said.

“Where are they going?” Alex said to Janie in an attempt to divert the attention from himself.

“We’re quarantining all normals who come in for a couple of hours, just in case.  So far there are about thirty.  We’re putting the latest batch in Jeremy’s.  That’s where they’re going.”  She indicated the family walking away from them.

“Jeremy’s place?”  Alex smiled.  “I bet he doesn’t like that.” 

Jeremy Johnson lived down the road from Alex and was known for being very particular about his flat.  It was spotless.  He made people remove their shoes before he would let them in.

“No, he’s loving it,” Janie said.  “He’s got them repainting his lounge.”

His jaw dropped.  “Really?”

“We were all surprised when he volunteered, but then he appeared with these cans of mint green paint.  I think he’s got some of them wallpapering his bedroom too.”

Alex couldn’t help erupting into laughter.  “That’s priceless.”

“Right,” Janie said, “now we’re not in front of any young ears, Alex, would you like to explain what the hell
Dick
is doing here?”  Her previously friendly expression had transformed into a glare so intense Alex half expected lasers to shoot from her eyes and strike Micah in the chest, leaving two smoking holes.

Apparently feeling the same, Micah stepped back, putting more distance between them.  He looked ready to run.

Alex held his hands up in a placating gesture.  “Janie, I can explain.”

“Maybe you should start with why I shouldn’t beat him to a pulp right here.”  She crossed her arms.

Micah drew himself up to his full height which, despite being almost a foot taller than Janie, didn’t have any effect on her whatsoever.  “You have a real attitude problem, you know that?” he said.

“Oh, it’s
me
who has the attitude problem?  You led a mob down here.”

“Actually, it was more than one...” Alex began before realising his mistake.

Janie unfolded her arms and bristled.  Alex couldn’t be sure if he’d ever seen someone bristle before, but this was undoubtedly a bristle. 

Micah winced, taking another step back.  “Seriously, Alex? 
That’s
what you’re leading with?”  He glanced back down the street in the direction they’d come from.  “Maybe I should just go home.”

“No,” Alex said, “I went to see Bates with you, now this is my territory.  I trusted you, now you can trust me.”

Janie’s eyes went wide.  “You trust him?”

“A lot has happened in the last couple of days, Janie, but Micah has had my back...”

“...and saved your arse,” Micah interjected.  “Four times.”

Alex frowned, thinking.  “Four?”  He began to count on his fingers.  “There was the eater in the station car park.  Then when I was testing if they wanted to eat me or not, although it’s not certain the ones you shot actually made a difference there, but I’m willing to concede to that one.  Then the one on top of me on the road just now, although I probably could have dealt with that one myself.  I don’t remember a fourth time.”

“Creedon,” Micah said.

“Creedon?”  Alex waved a hand dismissively.  “I could have dealt with her.”

“So says the man who doesn’t know her.  She would have had a bullet through your skull before you could even blink.”

“
Pfff
,” Alex said.

“Did you just
pfff
at me?”

“Yes, I did.  Because the idea that you have saved my life four times is crying out for a
pfff
.”

“What on earth are you
doing?
”  Janie yelled, staring at Alex as if he’d gone mad.

“It really isn’t four...” he began.

“Don’t make me slap you,” she said, pointing a warning finger at him.

Alex closed his mouth, fighting a smile.  “Do you want the whole story, or the edited version?”

Janie raised her eyebrows.  “What do you think?”

He gave her the edited version.  She glanced at Micah several times, her expression still hostile.  As he spoke, Micah looked around him frequently, keeping an eye on any Survivors who walked past. 

When Alex had finished his tale, Janie was silent for a few seconds, staring at Micah.  Then she looked back at Alex.  Then she turned away and put her hands on her hips. 

Eventually, she turned back.  “You’re sure you trust him?” she said, pointing at Micah.

“I’m sure,” Alex said.  “I know it sounds unlikely, but it’s been a strange couple of days.”

She huffed a sigh.  “Yeah.”

“Well, I’m going home,” Alex said.  “I need a shower and a change of clothes.  And I’m hungry.”

“Are you ever not hungry?” Micah said.

“Survivors have fast metabolisms,” he said, picking up his bag which was lying on the ground next to him.

Micah held out his hand towards Janie.  “Truce?”

The hand received an intense stare.  “Don’t push it.” She turned and walked away.

“Well, you can’t say I didn’t try,” Micah said.

“Janie is a tough nut to crack,” Alex said, heading for his building.  “I’d like to tell you she’ll definitely come round, but that would be a lie.  But you never know.” 

Once inside, they took the stairs to Alex’s floor.  As soon as he turned the key in his lock, the door along the hallway burst open.

“Alex!”

Emma flew out the door and launched herself at him, flinging her arms around his waist and pressing her face into his stomach with a sob.  Katie wasn’t far behind, her little legs moving slower.  She looked confused, as if she didn’t understand why her sister was upset, but nevertheless was unwilling to miss out on any hugging action.  He leaned sideways so he could pick up Katie in one arm without dislodging Emma.  While Katie wrapped her arms around his neck, he stroked Emma’s back as she cried against him.

Leon was out next, grinning from ear to ear, followed by Pat.

“Man, am I glad to see you,” Leon said, patting Alex’s shoulder. 

Pat smiled and gave him a hug around her daughters.  “I knew you’d make it,” she said, although her moist eyes indicated she may have had her doubts.

With a glance down at Emma, she detached Katie, nodded at Leon and took her back inside. 

Alex crouched down to look Emma in the eye.  “Hey, kid, what’s with the tears?”