Free Mutation (Twenty-Five Percent Book 1) by Nerys Wheatley

internet.”
    Micah wandered up to the front door and peered inside.  A male eater immediately slammed up against the glass.  He walked back to Alex.
    “How many are in there?” he called to the man, pointing to the lobby.
    There was some discussion amongst the people at the window.  Alex looked around apprehensively, expecting eaters to appear at any second.
    “There are eleven of us here and thirty-three people work in the building, so assuming everyone came in today, that’s twenty-one.”
    “I hope he’s not in accounting,” Micah muttered.
    A woman standing next to the man whispered to him.  “Twenty-two,” he said, giving a little laugh.
    Alex carefully didn’t smile.  “Isn’t there a fire escape?” he said.
    “There are two eaters in the corridor up here.  We can’t get to it.”
    Alex turned away from the building.  “What do you think?” he said quietly.
    “I think I don’t want to fight through twenty-two eaters,” Micah replied.
    “We can’t just leave them there.”
    “What do you mean ‘we’?  Since when are we a ‘we’?”
    “Fine, I can’t leave them there.  You do whatever.”  He turned around.  “There are no police anymore,” he said, loud enough for the people to hear him.  “The city’s in chaos.  People are being bitten and turning within minutes.  We don’t know anything else.”
    The people at the window were talking in frantic tones.  “Are you sure about all that?” the man said.
    “Yes, I’m sure.  I’ve been out here all day.  I’m going to try to get you out, okay?”
    The man glanced at the others and nodded.  “Thank you.”
    “Where’s your fire escape?  I’ll try to bypass the eaters downstairs and come straight to you.”
    “It’s in the alley at the side of the building,” he said, pointing, “that way.”
    Alex nodded.  “Well,” he said to Micah, “if I don’t see you again, try not to get eaten.”  He turned away and headed towards the alley the man had indicated.  As he rounded the corner, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.  “I thought we weren’t a ‘we’,” he said as Micah fell into step beside him.
    “We aren’t a ‘we’,” Micah replied, “I just don’t need your death on my conscience.”
    “You’d bother about the death of a Survivor?”
    Micah sighed.  “Okay, I owe you.  You could have left me in that cell, but you didn’t.  That’s all.  Don’t make it into more than it is.”
    Alex hid his smile.  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
    They reached the metal fire escape and Alex looked up at the fire doors to the floors above.  They all opened outwards and had no exterior handles.  Fortunately, though, they had windows.  He jogged back to the front of the building and picked up the slightly mangled chair, then returned to where Micah was waiting by the fire escape.
    They made their way to the top floor.
    “I hope they’re right about there being only two eaters on this floor,” Alex said, lifting the chair. 
    Micah pulled his pistol from the back of his waistband beneath his jacket and simply nodded.
    Alex drove one of the legs through the safety glass and reached in to push down the bar to open the door.  Hearing shuffling footsteps, he dropped the chair and pulled his gun from its holster.
    The first eater, a middle aged man in a cheap blue suit, rounded the corner ahead of them before Alex had got the door more than halfway open.  Blood soaked the front of his white shirt, running up his neck and seeping from his mouth. 
    Its , Alex reminded himself.  Not his , its.  Thinking of them as no longer human was the only way he was going to get through this.
    It had obviously eaten well. 
    Micah grabbed the door and pulled it wide open as Alex took aim.  A single shot to the forehead killed the eater instantly.  Alex winced as the gunshot reverberated around the corridor.  At least he didn’t have super hearing.
    He listened for more approaching footsteps, but