The Sacrifice

  Charlotte and Sam flopped to the floor, getting their breath back, still holding hands.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Adele asked. Sam nodded his head, gulped. Finally spoke, his voice just a whisper really.

  ‘I’m OK.’

  ‘We’re going to get away. You’ll be all right.’

  Charlotte hoped Adele was telling the truth.

  ‘Where are we going to?’ said Sam.

  ‘The Wobbly Bridge,’ Adele explained. ‘It’s how we got here. If we can just cross the river we’ll be fine.’

  ‘There’s so many of them,’ said Sam. ‘We’ll never make it to the bridge.’

  ‘We will. Somehow. Don’t worry.’ Adele smiled.

  ‘How can we?’ Sam said. ‘There’s millions of them. How can we even get out of here? They’ll kill us. We’re trapped here. We should have gone into the cathedral.’

  ‘Is that really what you wanted?’ Charlotte asked.

  ‘No,’ said Sam quietly. ‘I never want to see Matt again.’

  ‘Ed will think of something,’ said Adele. ‘He always does. You’ll see.’

  She knelt by Sam and Charlotte. ‘I need to go and check how the others are doing. You be brave now, yeah?’

  Charlotte nodded. Watched Adele hurry to the front of the building. She and Sam were alone in the darkness now. She could feel him shaking, hear him sniffing.

  ‘Sam?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Don’t be sad.’

  ‘I’m sad for The Kid,’ said Sam. ‘He was my best friend and I don’t know where he is. What happened to him? It was empty when we went down there. I hope he got out. I hope he’s all right. But if he did get out where is he? And what happened to the sicko man? All those grown-ups out there. The Kid’s got no one to look after him. I was happy when I thought he’d escaped. But I’m never going to see him again, am I?’

  ‘I liked him,’ said Charlotte. ‘That’s why I’m here with you and not back there in the Temple with Matt. I don’t like Matt. But it was safe and there was always food. The Kid was funny.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Sam and he gave a quiet little laugh.

  ‘I think he was brave,’ Charlotte went on. ‘When Matt whipped him, he hardly cried at all. Matt was horrible to do that. I think The Kid was better than him, better than all of them.’

  Charlotte ran out of things to say and stopped. It was quiet back here. The floor was cold.

  A voice came out of the darkness behind them, making Charlotte jump. A boy’s voice.

  ‘Don’t stop now, Yo-Yo,’ it said. ‘You’re only just getting going.’

  61

  Sam turned to see a ragged figure in the murky depths of the hallway. Small and dark with wild hair. It could only be The Kid.

  ‘I almost wish I was dead and daisies,’ he said. ‘If you’d make more pretty speeches like that.’

  Sam jumped up, ran to him and threw his arms round him. Charlotte joined them, hugging the both of them.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Sam said. ‘Where did you come from? How did you get here?’

  ‘I been hiding out here in these buildings,’ said The Kid. ‘Trying to figure out what to do. I eyeballed Ed and his soldierboys strolling up and going to church. Waited for them to come out. Only you’ve all come out. Couldn’t risk getting into the clutches of Mad Matt and his Clickee Cult again, could I? Stayed put. Then along come the sickos and all hell breaks loose. Never thought to see the likes of it. Saw you fighting your brave and foolish way round here, battling like banshees against them buggers. Been scuttling from building to building trying to keep up. And at last you come in here and here I am and here we are.’

  ‘You got out through a tunnel, didn’t you?’ said Sam.

  ‘Yeah,’ said The Kid, grinning.

  ‘I knew it!’

  ‘Told you I would, din’t I? Nobody can hold Harry the Houdini Kid.’

  Sam slipped off The Kid’s leather jacket and handed it back to him.

  ‘I kept this for you,’ he said as The Kid wriggled into the jacket. ‘I knew you’d make it.’

  Ed came hurrying back from the doorway, his torch beam piercing the darkness. He gave a shout of happiness and also gave The Kid a big hug.

  ‘Where the hell did you come from?’

  ‘The gutters and drains,’ said The Kid. ‘The wormholes beneath. Found a way back up and out in the underneathlings of a burger house down the way. Went up top for a better view.’

  ‘But what happened to the sicko?’ Ed asked. ‘How did you get away from him?’

  ‘I didn’t,’ said The Kid.

  ‘Don’t talk in your crazy riddles.’ Ed gave him a little shake. ‘How did you get away from him?’

  ‘Ain’t no riddle, Scarface. I got him with me.’

  ‘You what?’

  ‘Promised him I’d set him free. Only we been stuck here till you turned up. He’s down below beneath the burger bar still, too frighted to come out and face the music.’

  ‘Well, for God’s sake,’ said Ed. ‘Leave him there and let’s try to get out of here.’

  ‘No can do, Mister Boo.’ The Kid shook his head. ‘I made a promise and The Kid keeps his word. Keeps it in a box with a tight shut lid.’

  ‘Look, I’m sorry, Kid.’ Ed sounded like he was getting worked up. ‘It’s going to be hard enough for us to get out – it’s mad out there – but if we’ve got to drag some bloody sicko along with us … ’

  ‘Then I’ll have to say goodbye.’ The Kid folded his arms. ‘The Kid stays in the picture.’

  Sam went and stood next to The Kid. From now on he was sticking close to him. He felt brave around him. The Kid might not be a fighter like Ed and the others, but he sure did keep bouncing back. He was a lucky charm. Maybe Matt had been right to think that there was something special about him. Sam wasn’t special. He knew that much. Sam was just a boy. But The Kid? The Kid was …

  Well, he was The Kid.

  ‘If The Kid stays I stay with him,’ he said. ‘I’m not losing him again.’

  ‘Bloody hell. Bloody hell.’ Ed was banging the wall with his fist.

  ‘Ed!’ Kyle shouted from the front. ‘It’s getting hairy. We gotta do something. We’re running out of time here.’

  ‘One minute,’ Ed shouted back angrily. ‘Just hold them off, Kyle. There’s something I need to sort out first.’

  ‘Well, hurry, cos we are trapped, man. We are stuck here. We have run out of options … ’

  62

  Ed and Sam followed The Kid to the back of the building, through some offices. They’d left Charlotte behind with Adele. She hadn’t wanted to come and meet the sicko. Ed couldn’t really blame her. He wasn’t sure about this himself. He remembered what Archie Bishop had told him about Wormwood. About how dangerous he was. He knew Sam would rather have stayed behind with Charlotte and Adele, but he obviously didn’t want to get split up from his friend again.

  A fire had partially destroyed the rear of the offices and some of the walls at the back had collapsed, meaning you could easily go from one property to the next. They picked their way through the rubble until they reached the burger bar, where The Kid showed them to some stairs that led down from the kitchen.

  Ed shone his torch down to make sure it was all clear.

  ‘Careful with that beam, Eugene,’ said The Kid. ‘When we get down below, put your fingers over it, yeah? Wormy’s like ET. He don’t like the bright light, bright light.’

  Ed pointed his torch at the floor and raised his sword. ‘This is stupid,’ he said, somehow feeling more scared of what waited below than he was of the army of sickos waiting outside. ‘What if he attacks us?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said The Kid. ‘There is that. He’s a sick Rick. A flesh-eater. A carnivore, a cannibal and a carnival all in one.’

  ‘Great.’

  ‘But he’s OK around me. You could say we’re pals. We speak the same language.’

  ‘Gobbledygook,’ said Sam.

  ‘Stow it, morsel,’ said
The Kid.

  ‘So you reckon we’re safe?’ Ed asked, taking an uncertain step down the stairs.

  ‘Can’t promise how he’ll be with you two muffins.’

  ‘Look, Kid,’ Ed snapped. ‘For once tell it straight. Is it safe?’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ said The Kid. ‘This will all work out for the best in the long run, just you wait and see, brother. He’ll be our ace in the hole. Our toad in the hole. Our hole in the road.’

  ‘That’s enough, Kid. That’s enough.’ Ed passed the torch to Sam. ‘You’re in charge of the lighting,’ he said. ‘I need to concentrate.’

  Ed held his sword tight in both hands and went slowly and carefully down.

  There was the unmistakable smell of sicko down here and Ed’s throat was very dry. They reached the bottom of the stairs and went past some staff toilets and into a small utility room full of boxes and cleaning equipment. There was a steel door at the back that was closed. The Kid nodded to Sam and he shielded the light.

  The Kid went over to the door.

  ‘Open Sesame Street,’ he said, pulling the handle. The door creaked as it swung out. The three of them went through.

  Ed saw pipework, big tin cans, a boiler and, sitting on a bench, a naked man.

  His skin was covered in a fur of green mould. He had big pale eyes, a bald head, long stringy arms and legs, and a round, swollen belly. His nails had grown into horny claws that he was rattling together between his knees.

  He turned away and hissed as Sam let the torch beam crawl over him.

  ‘It’s OK, Reverend Green,’ said The Kid. ‘They’re on our side. We got ourselves a posse and we’re gonna save your hairy green butt. Now let’s get up and at ’em.’ The Kid clapped his hands.

  ‘I don’t want to go outside,’ the Green Man whined.

  ‘You got no choice, Rasputin. Ra-ra-ra-ra wrecking ball. The devil is letting off out there. If you stay here I can’t protect you.’

  ‘I’m a fallen star,’ said the father, sounding like a spoilt kid. ‘I deserve some respect.’

  Ed kept his distance. Archie had said the sicko could strike fast when he wanted.

  ‘Just get up,’ said The Kid as if he was talking to a naughty dog. ‘I got you this far, didn’t I? Don’t you trust me?’

  ‘I’m so hungry.’

  The Green Man turned his wide, watery eyes on Sam, licked his lips, his tongue bright pink. The Kid grabbed the torch and shone it straight in his eyes; the man hissed and cringed away from the light.

  ‘No, you don’t, Gobbo!’ The Kid screamed at him. ‘We’re your friends, not your dinner. Now get up and come with us or I’m locking the door on you.’

  ‘All right, I’m coming.’

  He got up slowly and stood there with shoulders hunched, arms hanging down straight at his sides.

  ‘Just show me some respect.’

  ‘Chew it, clown,’ said The Kid. ‘You go ahead so we can keep our peepers on you.’

  The three of them picked their way upstairs and back to the office building, the Green Man groaning and muttering all the way, and when they got into the hallway, he froze and refused to walk any further.

  There was no sign of Adele and Charlotte. From outside came the sound of the sickos clattering and banging. The Green Man was rubbing his hands together, fingernails scraping.

  ‘It’s too noisy out there,’ he said. ‘They’re all shouting at me; they won’t leave me alone. My head is filled with the buzzing of bees.’

  ‘Shout back at them,’ said The Kid. ‘Tell them to button it.’

  ‘Maybe I will.’ The Green Man gave a sly smile.

  ‘Try it,’ The Kid urged him.

  The man closed his eyes, tilted his head back, held out his hands in front of him and went very still. Ed held his breath. Wormwood was pointing. Like the others. Was it possible he could communicate with the sickos outside?

  ‘What’s he doing?’ said Sam.

  ‘He looks like a pointer,’ Ed replied.

  ‘A what?’

  ‘He’s doing a Doctor Dolittle,’ said The Kid. ‘He can talk to the animals.’

  ‘Do we have to take him with us?’ Sam asked. He was daring himself to properly look at the manky creature.

  ‘I think we do.’ Ed was staring at the Green Man, his brain working hard.

  ‘He ain’t just a pretty face,’ said The Kid. ‘He just might be our ticket out of here.’

  There was a commotion from the doorway and Kyle came running in, his own torch beam swinging wildly.

  ‘I don’t know what’s going on, Ed,’ he blurted. ‘It’s gone very quiet out there. I think we should go now … holy crap!’

  He had spotted the Green Man. He made a disgusted face and swore.

  ‘Want me to take him out?’ he asked, but The Kid jumped in front of his sicko, arms spread wide.

  ‘Leave him alone,’ he shouted. ‘He’s with me.’

  Kyle looked to Ed who shook his head.

  ‘This is one freaky day,’ said Kyle.

  The Kid prodded the Green Man.

  ‘Oi, Wormfood,’ he said. ‘Time to go.’

  The Green Man slowly opened his eyes and blinked, for a moment seeming not to know where he was.

  ‘They salute me,’ he said. ‘I can feel their insect love. They salute me. At last some respect.’

  63

  As Ed and his crew emerged from the building, they were met by a strange sight. The sickos were all standing there, frozen, staring in their direction. The music had stopped. Everything had stopped, even the rain. Many of the sickos stood in the familiar pointer poise. Others just waited, mouths hanging open.

  It was unnerving, so many faces turned towards them, so many eyes fixed on them. Was this really the Green Man’s doing? Did he have a hold over them? Could he control them in some way?

  This was no time to be asking questions. They had to take advantage of the situation. They held their weapons steady and started to walk.

  They kept in a tight bundle, the Green Man and Adele in the middle with the three youngsters; Ed, Kyle, Hayden, Tish, Brendan, Macca and Will on the outside.

  The packed bodies of the silent sickos radiated heat. Steam rose off them. Ed stepped lightly, afraid to make any sound or do anything to startle them into action. He realized he was holding his breath, the blood throbbing in his skull, his throat painfully tight, his heart thumping in his chest. It seemed to him to be the loudest noise in the world. Would the sickos hear it? Would it disturb them? Break the spell? Cause them to wake up and come tearing at them? There were far too many to fight.

  Slowly, slowly, the kids pushed through the crowd, nudging sickos out of the way, trying not to look at their worm-eaten faces, their boils and blisters and sores, their stupid, staring eyes, expecting at any moment that the mob would suddenly come alive. Bare their teeth. Go into a killing frenzy.

  None of them moved, though.

  Someone had pressed Pause on the DVD.

  ‘Keep moving,’ Ed whispered. ‘Stay close together.’

  ‘My head aches,’ said the Green Man. ‘I can’t keep them still much longer. There’s such madness there. A hunger. They want to kill you all.’

  ‘Maybe it’s you they want,’ said Kyle. ‘Maybe we should leave you here as bait.’

  ‘They don’t want to harm me,’ said the Green Man. ‘They’re my brothers and sisters. We came down from the stars together. They want me to tell them what to do. But I can’t hold them.’

  ‘You have to,’ Ed hissed. ‘It’s the only way we’re going to get out of here.’

  He led his group to the end of the run of cafés and into an open space with a weird, angular metal building in the middle of it. He remembered that it stood at the top of the walkway that led down to the bridge.

  ‘If we can get across to the South Bank we can make a run for it,’ he said. ‘Get away from here. If we’re fast they won’t catch us.’

  ‘Why can’t we run now?’ Tish asked.

&n
bsp; ‘I’m scared if we do that they’ll come straight for us.’

  ‘I’m slipping,’ said the Green Man. ‘Can’t focus.’

  ‘Hold ’em still, bogeyman, hold ’em still,’ said The Kid. ‘You can do it.’

  ‘I can’t. I’m weak. I don’t like it out here. I want to be back in my hole.’

  ‘No, you don’t. You’re a VIP, remember, not a POW.’

  ‘They’re mad, they’re all mad. And I’m hungry. I’m too weak. Let me go back.’

  Ed felt an awful tension in the air. The sickos were like fighting dogs, being held back on leads. All they wanted to do was attack, but this force was holding them. When it snapped, it would be like a cork released from a shaken-up bottle.

  There was an equal tension in his group. They all wanted to break away, to run. The two forces were pulling against each other.

  Which would break first?

  Some of the kids were speeding up, walking faster, opening up their protective circle.

  ‘Keep together,’ he said, trying not to raise his voice. ‘Don’t go too fast.’

  But he could feel his hold on them slipping, just as the Green Man’s hold on the sickos was slipping.

  They’d reached the top of the walkway and could see right down it to the bridge. The walkway was narrow and gently sloping, with modern buildings on either side. There was a crossroads about halfway down. It looked like the sickos were thinner on the ground here, most of them having made their way to the cathedral.

  There were still a lot of them, though. Still too many to fight.

  Ed swallowed. Wishing for a drink of water.

  It was an escape, but it was also a gauntlet. A rat run.

  They moved down it, the tension tightening with every step. Passing only centimetres away from the unmoving sickos.

  Will came forward and fell in beside Ed.

  ‘I used to come down here from the tube every day to get to school,’ he said. ‘That’s it up there on the right. We go straight past it. I sometimes used to have little fantasies. What would happen if zombies attacked? Never thought it would come true.’

  ‘Does this make any sense to you?’ Ed asked. ‘The sickos behaving like this?’