The Sacrifice by Charlie Higson
‘Nothing that’s happened today has made much sense,’ said Will. ‘And it looks like your Green Man has got something to do with it all.’
‘We couldn’t have got this far without him.’
‘You trust him?’
‘I have to.’
There was a tall father with a big barrel chest standing right in the middle of the walkway just before the crossroads, glaring at them. A stone troll. An enchanted giant from a fairy tale. As the kids got nearer, he began to sway from side to side, letting out a low moan.
It was the first movement they’d seen since coming out of the doorway. And it wasn’t just him who was coming alive. Ed could sense a change in all the sickos. Some of the pointers were dropping their hands, like volunteers at a hypnotist’s show waking up. There was more – shuffling, twitching, heads turning. Ed heard the rattling of breath in pus-filled throats. The shuffling and rustling of clothing. He raised his sword above his shoulder. Felt it shaking in his grip.
Hayden moved ahead. Macca sped up and overtook her.
‘We’re losing them,’ said Will and Ed wasn’t sure if he was talking about their own gang or the sickos.
And then Macca was running. And Hayden, Tish and Brendan.
The world changed in an instant.
It was as if someone had thrown a switch. Pressed Play.
The sickos came alive.
64
Grown-ups were closing in from all sides now. More pouring in from the streets on either side of the crossroads. The big father in the middle of the walkway lunged at the kids.
‘Sod this,’ said Kyle and he swung his axe. Charlotte watched amazed, unable to look away, as the blade sliced clean through the father’s neck and his head flew off.
‘Run!’ Ed yelled.
In a moment the kids were pounding down the walkway in a blind panic. The bridge was only about two hundred metres away, but to Charlotte it looked like miles. She was so tense her whole body ached and having to suddenly go quickly was making her muscles burn. She hadn’t run this fast in months.
The kids had split into two groups now. A few of them had run on ahead. Charlotte was holding hands with Sam and The Kid, not sure who was pulling who along. The bigger kids were in danger of breaking away from them and the Green Man was awfully slow. She had a stitch in her side. She could hardly breathe.
‘Wait!’ she cried out. ‘I can’t keep up.’
Ed stopped and the big boy, Kyle.
‘Come on!’ Ed shouted at her. ‘You can do it.’
‘I can’t. I can’t.’
A knot of grown-ups came close and the bigger kids could do nothing but hack at them. Up ahead the first group of kids were also in a fight. Ed and Kyle managed to force the grown-ups back, moving away from Charlotte as they did so. Adele went with them, like a charging rhino, smashing into the grown-ups. She was fierce when she had to be.
For a moment Charlotte, Sam and The Kid were left unprotected. Charlotte wailed, clinging on to Sam, but Will came to their help, slashing grown-ups away until Ed’s group returned.
As the sickos swarmed in all directions, with no sense of order, a gap opened up. The way to the bridge was suddenly clear. Ed spotted it.
‘Move it!’ he roared and the kids were running again. Towards the crossroads, picking up the others on the way.
Charlotte’s feet slapped down on to the ground. She looked up to see Adele at her side.
‘You’re doing all right … ’
It looked like they were going to make it. They were too fast for the grown-ups, but when they came to the junction, a thick mass of diseased bodies surged in from the side.
In an instant the mothers and fathers were among them. Charlotte couldn’t tell where anyone else was. It was chaos. Bodies fell all around her and she didn’t have any idea if they were children or adults. She was so hemmed in by hot, stinking flesh that she couldn’t see anything.
And then Adele was there again, cutting a path through the grown-ups. Charlotte knew that everything was going to be all right. Adele would look after her. Make sure nothing happened to her. The storm wouldn’t knock her plane out of the sky. Adele was her air hostess.
Adele leaned down to pick Charlotte up and Charlotte gasped as hard, bony hands took hold of her and pulled her backwards out of Adele’s reach. The wind was sucked out of her and she could make no sound.
She threw up as she was spun around, no idea which way was up or down. She was being flung about like a piece of washing in a washing machine.
‘No, you don’t!’
A thudding sound. A spray of hot blood over her face. Moonlight again. Broken clouds in the sky. She was lying on the ground and Adele was standing over her. Smiling. She held out a hand to Charlotte.
Charlotte smiled back at her.
And then Adele was gone.
Charlotte scrambled to her feet.
Three mothers had got hold of Adele and were dragging her away. In a second she was swallowed up by the mob, just as Charlotte had been moments before.
‘Ed! Ed! They’ve got Adele! Ed!’
There was Ed, trying to get to her. He fought his way into the mob. He too disappeared from sight. And Charlotte felt sure that she would never see him again. Wouldn’t see any of them. It was all over.
There was a terrible crunching sound, a thud and a thump. The air was thick with blood. Bodies fell away. Kyle’s axe came slicing down and Kyle was right behind it, cutting a wet passage with his axe. Moments later Ed emerged, Sam and The Kid behind him.
‘Where’s Adele?’ Charlotte gasped.
‘There’s no sign of her,’ said Kyle. ‘What do we do?’
‘Nothing,’ said Ed. ‘There’s nothing we can do. She’s gone.’
‘You have to do something,’ said Charlotte.
But before Ed could do anything there was another scream. Tish was being dragged away. Brendan was swiping at the grown-ups with his club, but there were too many of them for him to deal with alone. This time Will and Macca and Hayden came charging in and were more successful than Ed and Kyle had been trying to get to Adele. They freed Tish and she came staggering back, bleeding from cuts on her arms. She’d lost her sword, though, and a fat father with no teeth came wallowing out of the crowd, waving it around.
Ed swore and plunged his sword into the father’s belly, ripping it sideways and spilling his guts. He tore the sword out of the father’s hand and gave it back to Tish. He looked frightening, cold-faced, like a monster.
All the while the Green Man had been just standing there, a wide empty circle round him, clicking his long nails together. As if none of this was happening.
Charlotte tried to look for Adele. There was no sign of her. The sickos had been forced back, but they were returning and it was still at least a hundred metres to the bridge.
‘Brendan, Macca, Will, grab the youngers,’ Ed barked. ‘Kyle, with me. The rest of you make sure Wormwood doesn’t get left behind. And Wormwood, if you can do anything to stop them … ’
‘No, no, no … ’ The weird goblin man shook his head.
The next thing Charlotte knew she was being swept up into the air by Brendan and he was running for the bridge, knocking grown-ups out of the way and yelling like a madman.
A hundred metres became fifty, fifty metres became twenty-five, fifteen … Charlotte looked back to see Hayden and Tish shoving the Green Man along. Too squeamish to grab hold of him, they prodded him like a cow. Ed and Kyle were bringing up the rear, holding off any grown-ups who got too close.
A tide of sickos followed them, swarming down the walkway.
‘We’ve made it!’ Brendan shouted, and at last they were on the bridge.
65
It wasn’t over yet.
There were still loads of sickos down below on the embankment underneath the bridge. They obviously hadn’t worked out how to get up yet. But there were other sickos on the bridge. They must have destroyed the barricades at the far end and come over from the Sout
Ed didn’t stop running. He was slipping into blankness. He saw a way ahead, like a red line drawn on a map, and he was going to go down that line whatever. Nothing was going to stop him now. The sickos weren’t humans, they weren’t even animals; they were just obstacles he had to push out of the way. And push he did, using his sword, his elbows, his free hand, his boots until a gap opened up.
He and Kyle held the rest of the sickos off while the kids went past. They all looked exhausted and battered. Splashed with blood. Macca, Will, Sam, The Kid, Charlotte, Brendan, Tish and Hayden. Then Wormwood, loping along. Adele was gone. Nothing he could do about that. They were lucky it hadn’t been worse. They’d fought their way through God knows how many sickos to get here.
‘Keep going,’ he croaked. ‘Once we get to the other side we’re away.’
‘That might be easier said than done,’ said Macca and Ed turned to see what he was talking about.
There were sickos coming on to the bridge at the far end. It was too dark to see how many of them there were. More sickos were arriving at this end of the bridge as well. If Ed wasn’t careful they’d be trapped and attacked from both sides. Kyle, Macca and Will grouped together to try to stop the sickos advancing along the bridge from the St Paul’s end. How long could they keep them back, though?
‘Wait … ’ Ed tried to think what to do. He just wanted this to be over. Couldn’t face losing any more friends tonight.
‘I’m going to stay here with Kyle,’ he said at last. ‘We’ll hold off the sickos until we’re sure the rest of you are safely away. Hayden, you take command. Punch your way through as fast as you can. Look after the youngers and try to keep him alive.’ He threw a look at Wormwood who was waiting there, his hands hanging limply at his sides.
‘No.’ It was Tish. She stepped up to Ed. ‘I got you all into this,’ she said. ‘Let me hold the bridge.’
‘You can’t hold it alone.’ Ed shook his head. ‘Kyle and me are the best fighters.’
‘That’s why you have to lead the group,’ said Tish. ‘You’re the only one who can get everyone to safety. Let me do it.’
‘She’s right,’ said Brendan and he walked over to stand at Tish’s side.
‘Bren … ?’ Ed frowned at him.
‘With two of us we stand a chance,’ said Brendan. ‘We can do it.’
‘Brendan, you don’t have to … ’
‘I’ll show you I’m not a coward. I do care about other kids. You can tell Jordan bloody Hordern what I am. What a mistake he made.’
‘Bren … are you sure?’
‘Me and Tish,’ said Brendan. ‘We’ll hold them long enough, then follow on.’
‘He’s right, Ed,’ Will shouted over. ‘We need you.’
Ed didn’t have long to make a decision. They needed to get moving again. What was more important? Him doing the right thing and taking a stand here? Or rescuing the kids he’d come for?
And there was Wormwood.
It felt wrong, to be balancing up a sicko’s life against two kids, but …
Ed felt deep down that Wormwood was important. He had a power over the other sickos. He knew stuff.
What was most important?
‘Get a move on,’ Macca shouted. ‘There’s more coming.’
Ed swore. He had to see this through or it would all have been a waste of time. A waste of Adele’s life.
‘OK,’ he said. ‘You got it, Bren. Hold the bridge with Tish. Just for a few minutes. No longer than you have to. We’ll try and kill as many of the sickos on the way as we can.’
‘Come on!’ It was Macca again. Ed glanced back at the walkway. It was solid with bodies, flowing down from St Paul’s. He swore again. What the hell must Brendan and Tish be thinking?
‘Spread out,’ he said, marching to the head of his group. ‘Me, Hayden, Kyle and Macca first. Will, you come behind with the goblin and the little ones; keep eyes in the back of your head. If any sickos get past Bren and Tish I want to know about it.’
‘OK, Ed.’
‘Let’s go!’
66
Tish’s hands seemed to be working on their own. Chopping at the Nephilim who came close. Why had she said it? Why had she volunteered for this suicidal job? There were so many sickos. Had she really thought she could survive this? Or had she been hoping to get to heaven? To wash herself in the blood of the Nephilim. To wash away the sin of bringing Sam and The Kid to the Temple?
What she had done was wrong.
She felt like being sick.
There was a limit to what she and Brendan could do. It was a losing battle. If there had been ten of them, side by side, they could have blocked the bridge and kept the Nephilim back all night.
But there were only two of them. The Neph’ could get round the sides, and if Tish turned to stop them more pressed in at the front.
How had she ended up here, with this boy she hardly knew? Was she going to die here with him? It seemed like months ago that she’d set out for the Tower of London with her friends, but it was only really a few days.
They’d had such high hopes. Matt had fired them up, inspired them with dreams of glory. They were doing God’s work.
So this was God’s work then, was it? Cutting down these diseased pus-bags?
She remembered leaving the cathedral, with all the musicians playing them down the steps. Dawn breaking over the buildings to the east, turning the sky a brilliant pinky-grey. How proud she’d felt …
And how quickly it had all gone wrong once they were over the Wall, chased by the Neph’, running, getting split up. Half the group had gone back to St Paul’s, but Tish had pressed on with Louise and the others. And one by one they’d been picked off until, hoarse from shouting for help, they’d managed to get into the office building near the Tower, where Louise had been wounded.
Ed had killed Louise and saved Tish. He couldn’t save her now, though. He was gone. Why go through with this pain any more? She could lie down here, go to sleep and wake in heaven. Maybe all that Matt had told her would come true. Maybe everything he had filled her head with was true.
She’d always had a strong faith. Since she was tiny she’d felt that there was a God up there watching over her. Smiling down. It was what had kept her going through the really bad times.
But Matt. He’d twisted everything. What he’d filled her head with was poison. If she really believed in what he said then why was she here? Why wasn’t she in the Temple with him and the other believers? Why had she deserted him?
Why was she here?
To show Matt. To show him he was wrong.
She prayed to God now. Not for herself. It was too late for that. But for Sam and The Kid.
For them to get safely away.
67
Ed’s team had made it. Just. Fighting their way across the bridge. Couldn’t have done it without Tish and Brendan holding the sickos off behind them. And now they were on the South Bank, looking back.
‘Look at that,’ said Will, his voice full of wonder. In their desperation to get to the kids and follow the Green Man, the sickos were surging down to the embankment and were pouring over the side like a herd of wildebeest trying to cross a stream. They tumbled into the river, which was foaming white around the falling bodies.
‘Yes!’ Ed screeched. ‘Keep calling them, Wormwood. Bring them all on! Wipe them out. Drown the bastards.’
The Green Man closed his eyes and concentrated.
The kids cheered, watched as the horde got washed away. They weren’t home safe yet, though. Ed tore his eyes away from the spectacle, put a hand on Hayden’s shoulder.
‘We’re going to split up,’ he said. ‘You head east. Make for the Tower. Go as fast as you can. Don’t stop for anything. You were always the fastest runner. You can do it. It’s not far
‘What do you want me to tell him to do?’ Hayden asked.
‘Nobody tells Jordan Hordern what to do. He’ll decide for himself. Just make sure he understands that if he wants to come over this way he’ll need to bring an army. And tell him once I’ve got Sam to his sister I’ll rest up then head back.’
‘We need to get out of here,’ said Macca. ‘The green bastard’s attracting every sicko in south London.’
It was true. Sickos were advancing through the charred ruins of the South Bank, creeping out of the streets. Ed cursed.
‘Go, Hayden. Run,’ he said.
‘All right.’ Hayden gave Ed a quick hug then set off, sprinting east along the riverside. Ed was amazed to think that the Tower was only about ten minutes away. A big part of him wanted to go with her, back to the safety of those high stone walls.
But he wasn’t going to let Sam down again. He squatted next to the youngers.
‘Are you OK to run?’
They all nodded, glassy-eyed.
‘Then let’s go.’
‘What about Tish and Brendan?’ said Will. Ed had forgotten about them. He looked up at the bridge. It was impossible to see what was happening at the far end.
‘They’ll just have to do the best they can,’ he said. ‘We’ll draw the sickos away from here at least.’
‘Will they make it?’ Macca asked.
‘I hope so,’ Ed replied, and shut them out of his mind.
68
Tish was so tired she actually thought she might pass out. She felt like she’d been on this bridge for days. She could picture stopping and just switching off, letting everything roll over her. Not having to deal with this any more.
In the darkness of the night her exhaustion was playing tricks on her mind so that she couldn’t tell what was real and what she was imagining. She kept seeing the faces of her friends, kept flinching as she thought she’d killed one of them.
Her mum, her sister, friends from the cathedral.
And then there was Louise, her guts hanging out of her belly, reaching to her and pleading for help …