Twenty-Five Percent (Book 2): Downfall by Nerys Wheatley

cars, reaching for their prey.
    Micah again took the lead as they zigzagged through the cars. Alex kept darting nervous glances at the eaters. Having to stop to get the bikes over the cars had given the eaters circling the edge of the pileup time to overtake them. They were already lurching into the gaps between the crashed cars ahead of them, closing in on their only way out.
    Alex watched in horror as their escape route disappeared.
    It was too late. They were trapped.
    As they approached the ravenous eaters, Alex expected Micah to slow. Instead, he sped up, careering towards the wall of grasping hands and gnashing teeth.
    He let out a roar as the front wheel of his bike hit the horde. Eaters flew into the air and his bike swayed violently. For one heart-stopping moment, it looked as if he might fall. Then he regained his balance and his bike shot away.
    Alex leaned forward, squeezed the throttle, and raced at the gap through the crowd Micah had left. Too late, he saw an eater sprawled on the ground directly in their path. It was already trying to sit up when the bike hit it at full speed.
    “Oh, shiii ....”
    The eater’s torso became an impromptu ramp as the bike bucked into the air. Alex panicked as he felt both wheels leave the ground.
    The back wheel hit the asphalt, followed by the front. The bike wobbled for a couple of seconds then stabilised and sped away from the horde.
    Alex gasped in a breath. They were alive, they were upright, and they were mobile. A rush of adrenalin and relief hit him and he screamed an exuberant, “ Woooo! ” He would have punched his hands into the air, but he was afraid to let go of the handlebars.
    The woman clamped to his back whimpered.
    “It’s okay,” he said, prying one hand from the handle briefly to pat her hand. “We’re okay.”
    She didn’t answer.
    Micah had slowed for them to catch up and Alex cast a final look back at the bridge before they rounded a curve in the road and it disappeared from view.
    Sheffield was looking farther and farther away. But at least they were alive.

6
     
     
     
     
    They returned to the last exit they’d passed, driving the wrong way up the slip road, and joined a smaller road that headed more or less in the direction of the river. After a couple of miles they pulled into a small car park with a picnic area and a few wooden tables and benches.
    After dismounting unsteadily, the woman pulled the helmet off and handed it to Alex. Her pale face was streaked with tears and her hands were trembling. She looked like she would drop at any moment.
    “Would you like to sit down?” Alex said, hovering next to her in case she keeled over.
    She nodded and sank onto a bench. Alex glanced at Micah, unsure what to do.
    “Do you have any water?” she said.
    Alex exhaled in relief. This he could do. “Water. Yes.”
    She took the bottle of water he gave her and drank the whole thing, letting out a long sigh afterwards. “Thank you. I had some in the car, but I had to ration it. I haven’t had any for two days.”
    Micah pulled a sandwich from his pack and handed it to her.
    Alex sat next to her as she ate. “How long were you in there?”
    “Four days,” she said, chewing. “I could really use a long, hot bubble bath. I thought they’d lose interest and go, but they just kept dragging more bodies from the cars they could get into and eating.” She shuddered. “There was another man, trapped like me. I could see his car from mine. We developed a kind of sign language so we could talk, but yesterday he said he was going to run. I told him not to, but he couldn’t take it anymore.” She stopped chewing for a moment. “He didn’t make it.”
    From the way she squared her shoulders and carried on eating, Alex knew she was stronger than he had at first thought. It made him feel better about her chances.
    “I’m Alex,” he said, “and this is Micah.”
    She smiled. “I’m Jean. Thank you for getting me out. You could have just walked