The Enemy (novel)

The Enemy is the first book in the post-apocalyptic horror series written by Charlie Higson. It was published by Puffin Books and released in Australia and the UK on 3 September 2009, and by Disney-Hyperion in the US on 11 May 2010.

Despite being the first book in the series, the incidents in The Enemy take place in just over a year after the events in The Dead (which describes what happened nearly immediately after the disease begins to infect adults and adolescents over the age of fourteen).

Plot

The story begins with a boy named Small Sam being kidnapped by a group of grown-ups while playing in a Waitrose carpark with other little kids (despite being prohibited from playing outside without a guard). Maxie attempts to mount a rescue with Josh, Callum, and other kids, but are too late. She then reflects on the kids she had previously lost (Big Sam, Johnno, Eve, Mohammed, and numerous other unidentified kids) and begins to weep. Josh tries to comfort her by telling her that they will talk about it and make a plan after Arran comes back. 

Meanwhile Arran is on a scavenging party (consisting of Achilleus, Freak, Deke, and Ollie), searching for food to bring back to Waitrose. Whilst they are distracted by the body of a grown-up, the group are attacked by a pack of dogs. Ollie takes out the leader of the pack of dogs (a large Staff) with a slingshot. Achilleus kills a pouncing Alsatian with his spear then Ollie shoots another dog, breaking its leg. The rest of the pack turn tail and run away. 

Freak then mentions a vending machine at the swimming pool, and suggests that the group go and see if there is any food left there. The group then go into the swimming pool and whilst there are attacked by a group of grown ups. Deke is mortally wounded after being smashed into the vending machine and Arran, who is shocked by an infected woman who he recognises to be his mother, ends up getting bitten on the neck. 

The group then flee for the exit to the swimming pool. On the way though a group of adults grab Deke and pull him back towards the swimming pool. Freak goes to save him, but his will to survive is greater than his friendship and he runs away along with the others.

On their way back to Waitrose the group find another group of kids from Morrisons with their leader Blue, a muscular black kid. The two groups have a brief discussion before departing for their separate bases. Upon arriving at Waitrose the scavengers find out about Small Sam, and they also reveal Deke's death. Achilleus blames Freak for Deke's death and tells him that his blood is in his hands. Maxie shows concern for Arran and his wound, trying to mask her feelings for him.

Whilst this is going on there is a disturbance outside of Waitrose and the look-outs shout that there is a group of adults attacking a boy wearing a patchwork coat. Arran sets up a team to go rescue the boy and deal with the grown ups. As they are fighting the grown ups Blue and his squad help eliminate the grown ups. He then sends some of his team back to get the rest of the Morrisons crew so that they can find out who the boy in the patchwork coat is.

After introducing himself as Jester, the boy claims that he has been sent from Buckingham Palace, along with a few other kids  who had died on the journey. He had been in the process of looking for other kids to send back to the palace and, after witnessing them in action, asks the Holloway crew to go with him to the palace. Jester then proceeds to show photos of him and his friends living happily in the palace, with farmland, grass area, trees, food, and ball games. Both the Morrisons and the Waitrose crew agree to link up together to head to Buckingham Palace, primarily because of the shortage of food around their areas and because of the way kids from their crew were slowly getting picked off one by one. 

Small Sam is stuck in a sack at the Arsenal stadium, caught by the grown ups. He manages to escape from the sack and slowly and quietly attempt to leave the room he found himself in, which turns out to be the boxes. As he is trying to navigate the room he see's a adult standing in the middle of the football pitch, wearing a St. George's vest. Small Sam get's the feeling that the adult is watching him, and decides to get out of there as fast as possible. As he is leaving he gets grabbed by a woman adult who is asleep. He carefully maneuvers himself away from her and manages to steal a pin which he uses as a weapon. As he is running down the stairs another grown up catches him and the others from the box catch up with him. Sam uses a lighter to burn the adult holding him and escapes as the Arsenal goes up in flames. Small Sam run's through the night to find safety and decides to rest in the roof of a building.

The following morning the Holloway kids get ready to set out but are delayed by Callum. He wants to stay, because he loves the place too much and also because he has a fear of leaving the supermarket. Arran tries to reason with him, but in the end is unsuccessful and they have to leave without him. Josh (who had been given the job of checking to make sure if everyone in the group was present) feels bad about crossing Callum's name of the list as they had been good friends.

Small Sam wakes around the same time as the others and leaves his hiding place in the roof carefully, and finds a bike laying around. He decides to use it to get home to Waitrose. As he's riding he is followed by grown ups.

The Holloway kids are walking along, whilst getting to know each other. It appears they all have a equal on either side, Arran and Blue (the leaders of the Waitrose and the Holloway crew respectively), Maxie and Whitney (both second-in-command), Achilleus and Big Mick (the best fighters), Josh and Lewis (the second best fighters in charge of watching the right and left flank respectively), and so forth. As they are walking Arran begins to get dizzy and starts hallucinating from the now infected wound on his neck. Everyone decides to stop to rest. 

As the Holloway crew wait around they notice a small disturbance. Everyone immediately goes into battle formation, just as they spot a small army led by a fat, bald grown-up wearing a St. George vest.

Meanwhile, Small Sam has reached Waitrose while being chased by grown-ups, but is unable to get Callum to open the gate and door for him. Noticing that they haven't been closed properly, Small Sam manages to clim through the gap and into the Waitrose shopping centre itself. 

Arran is fighting a mass of grown ups along with everyone else, while Blue driving a BMW through the army of adults. For a brief second Arran and Maxie look each other in the eyes and they finally notice their feelings for each other, before being pulled away in the tide of battle. Whitney is protecting the little kids from the grown ups, whilst the fighters are battling the grown ups.

Due to his infection Arran start hallucinating again and starts tearing through the adults, believing the whole battle to be a video game. He spots St. George, who is fleeing with his army, and chases after them, wanting revenge. As he gets close to one an arrow shaft is imbedded in him and he blacks out.

Callum gives Small Sam a pump and repair kit for the bike and then lets Sam leave by himself. He returns to listening to his music.

Arran is lying on the floor surrounded by the Holloway crew. A tall, thin and posh girl with long dark hair and pale skin (who later introduces herself as Sophie) is seen crouching down next to his body. Believing Arran to be an infected grown-up, she had fired an arrow at him with her bow. Maxie takes an instant dislike to her, but is busy mourning over Arran. While the Holloway crew is trying to decide what to do with Arran's body, Achilleus walks over and pulls out the arrow embedded in his lung. 

Small Sam rides through the roads of London, through Camden town and is eventually forced to hide in the London underground as he is being chased by adults. As he is down there he finds more adults on the platforms and is forced to crawl past them. He then continues along the train tracks underneath London.

At the same time, Arran begins hallucinating as he is being cradled by Maxie. Believing her to be his mother, he smiles and whispers, "I love you, Mum", before dying in Maxie's arms. 

They then spent the next hour or so cremating Arran and the other kids who had died in the battle with the adults. Freak spray painted a message onto a wall, saying This is where Arran Harper fell. We don't know the day or the date, but we'll never forget it. He was the bravest of us all. He also sprayed down the names of the other kids who had died in the battle.

They continue from Camden Rd. to Regent's Park. They make their way through the night and through the park. On their way Jester hints that he wants Blue to take full control of the Holloway crew, to which Blue says maybe but that is a little cold and he isn't in charge of the Waitrose kids.

As they are making their way through Regent's park they are attacked by strange creatures. They are about the size of dogs and fall from the trees. The Holloway crew get split up and the small kids go running into the tall overgrown grass. Maxie runs after some of the small kids and fights of some of the strange creatures, which are revealed to be diseased chimpanzees . She then goes through the grass and finds the body of Joel, a little kid who had a puppy called Godzilla. She cries at his body and picks up Godzilla, returning to the Holloway crew.

Mean while Small Sam is down in the tube, and wakes up in a small shaft after having hid from some grown- ups. He climbs down and continues along the tracks until some adults find him. He is saved by a adult who appears to be immune to the disease. The man uses a sawn off shotgun to kill some adults and they both flee.

The Holloway crew wake up in Portland Palace, and Maxie finds out Josh didn't make it to which she grows sadder. They then move out and reach Oxford Circus from there they changed the route they'd take and go through the shops looting stuff. They end up at Selfridges where a scouting party goes in to check its safe including Ollie, Akkie, Lewis and Sophie.

Small Sam and the adult reach a train and inside it is just like a house. There is a woman there who is called Rachel and she is married to the man who is called Nick. They give Sam food and drink and then let him sleep, and as he falls asleep Rachel strokes his hair.

At Selfridges a group of adults come in contact with the Holloway crew, and Akkie and Maxie argue after Akkie killing and adult, as these adults appear to be harmless to them.

Callum back at Waitrose is lonely from no company, and spends his time on the roof in the crow's nest or exercising. But he still can't escape the fact that he is lonely.

On the last foot of the journey they come to a battle between about twenty grown-ups and five kids. The Holloway crew manage to massacre the grown-ups but only manage to save one kid, and they leave the other five behind.

They reach the palace and David takes the Holloway crew on a tour of the palace, having his guards take the surviving girl to the medical bay.

Later that day they have dinner in the dining room, and part way through the feast Ollie leaves the table to do some "snooping".

Sam wakes up in a different carriage to the one he fell asleep in. There he meets a girl called Rhiannon who along with two other kids and Sam are held prisoners in the carriage. They have some conversation, in which she reveals that she thinks Rachel and Nick are cannibals and plan on eating them.

Blue, Maxie, Akkie, Ollie, Lewis and Whitney are kept waiting in a room for David to show up. When he and Jester get their they explain how they want to use St. James park for farming ground but can't as another group of kid's called the Squatters have made camp there and refuse to move or help. So they want the Holloway crew to go as a army and scare or fight the Squatters out.

Sam wakes from sleeping in the carriage and see's a face floating in the window, it is dirty and appears to have no nose or mouth. Sam scared, tells Rhiannon it was nothing when she asks what he saw.

The Holloway crew leaders argue over whether they should or shouldn't agree to fighting the Squatters. In the end Blue decides they should go over and see what the Squatters have got to say for themselves and if they don't like it than they shall go.

Mean while Callum is running round the track he has made for himself in Waitrose. He is sad and lonely, but continues to remain in Waitrose as the supermarket is surrounded by adults. He gets scared as a new one appears and seems to be the leader. He wears a St. George vest and uses a weapon.

Freak bids farewell to the Holloway fighters as they march to St. James park. On the way to the park Blue finds out from Jester that the leader of the Squatters is called Just John and his second in command is a pirate looking kid called Carl.

After a quick discussion Akkie hits Just John on the head with a club, knocking Just John out. After this the two different sides get ready to fight. Freak who had heard the distant shouts of the battle raced to help.

During the fight Blue saves a baby from a shack which is about to fall, he then goes back believing there to be a second baby, but before the others can warn him he's back in there as the shack falls. He is pulled from the wreckage of the shack alive, but injured, and Freak makes it in time to see this and goes and helps Maxie. Whilst helping her he is stabbed in the back by Just John who uses a three bladed spear.

Maxie angry at Freak's death tells them to stop fighting, to which Carl agrees. They wrap Freak in bandages and Maxie gives Carl a choice, surrender and leave or stay and die.

Back in the carriage Sam and Rhiannon are talking when the face appears again and this time with a note: Keep quiet I am here to help. They find that the scary face was actually a normal face of a kid who was upside down. The kid breaks in and helps them escape out of the carriage. When they ask his name he says he just called The Kid.

As their escaping Nick opens a door and sees them. As he shouts out after them they begin to run away.

In the Palace Maeve is checking over Maxie's wounds and tells her that they aren't to serve.

After a few run-ins Sam Rhiannon and the kid are just about to escape when Nick shoots Rhiannon. Sam still wants to save her but she tells him to go with The Kid as she will only slow him down. Sam goes with The Kid and they make it out onto the road. Nick follows them up and is about to stab Sam when he starts to inflate. Its like a extremely sped up version of the disease. He died quickly and Sam almost felt sorry for him. But he must flee with The Kid as more diseased grown-ups are coming.

Carl and ten Squatters go to the throne room of the palace where they and the Holloway kid's leaders are shown the diseased royal family sitting on the throne. David says they are for show to give kids hope. They then get to the matter of Just John. After a quick discussion they decide that Achilleus will fight Just John, whoever wins gets to rule St. James park.

Sam and The Kid walk through London trying to find a safe place, along the way they have a swearing contest.

Before the fight between him and Just John, Achilleus is in the kitchen eating spaghetti enjoying some time to himself. Jester comes down and gives him a shield. Akkie asks why Jester wears the patchwork coat, Jester replies that he adds a patch to the coat for every kid that he knows dies. Akkie asks if he'll add another patch that night, Jester says he hopes it wont be his.

As the fight is about to begin, Sophie approaches Maxie and informs her that she and he lot are leaving as they don't like David and because Maxie doesn't like them. Before she can stop Sophie, Achilleus walks out into the square ring. Just John and Akkie get ready to fight and go through quick pep talks with their mates. Before David can count down they are already charging at each other.

The fight is long and both Achilleus and Just John are badly injured from it. After fainting a serious injury Achilleus manages to pin Just John down. He goes to kill Just John but changes his mind and instead embarrasses John by giving him a kiss on the lips. Achilleus stands up and shouts to David to never forget what he did for him that day, before fainting from loss of blood.

Maxie argues with David after the battle. She is angry that Freak is dead and Achilleus was also nearly killed, to which David says he thought they were all on the same team. Maxie replies by saying she is not sure if she wants to be on the same side any more. Mean while Achilleus is being healed by Rose, the palace's lead medic, when he is interrupted by a small kid from the Squatters camp. The boy asks if he can be Achilleus's assistant, to which Akkie agrees, naming the boy Paddy the Caddie.

In Waitrose, Callum plays ABBA whilst the grown-ups break in. He makes the music louder, takes a sip of flat cola and eats some of a chocolate bar. He glimpses at the grown-ups charging at him, at the head of them St. George. Callum lays his head back and then they reach him and kill him.

Back in the palace Achilleus is talking with Paddy when Maxie asks if he wants to come visit Blue with her. He says no and she gets upset and leaves. On the other side of the doors in the corridor she see's Jester who had been listening in on their conversation. He then leads her to the medical bay, as she is talking to Blue and Ollie they decide they might want to leave but Ollie decides against it. Before they can come to a conclusion David shows up and informs them he's taking control of the Holloway crew and is keeping them prisoner in the medical bay.

Small Sam and The Kid after walking for hours see torches in the distance. They walk towards them and part way there a voice tells them to stop, a boy's voice. They tell him there kids like him and mean no harm. Four boys emerge and walk over towards him. Two of them, the tallest, talk quickly then one walks over and removes his helmet, as all of them are equipped in medieval armor and weapons. His face is handsome except for a scar running down the side of his face which makes him look angry, but his eyes are kind. They ask if they can stay with them in the Tower of London and he says okay, saying it is as safe as any where and there are sixty seven of them.

Ben and Bernie, the emos, were eating when Achilleus comes over and tells them to get everyone ready at the front of the palace. Mean while Maxie and Blue are talking in the medical bay. Blue reveals he used to be a nerd before it all started, and that he also fancies Maxie. They then move the subject back to their current situation and about David. A voice says that David is a liar. They turn and see the girls they had rescued sitting there. She reveals to them that there are actually loads of settlements of kids around the place, not just David. She tells them that she came from the Natural History Museum, and that they can go with her to which they agree.

Small Sam and The Kid stood on the battlements of the Tower of London and discussed what they would do. Sam asks if The Kid would come with him to Buckingham Palace. The Kid says yes as they are mates and are in it together to the end.

Blue- tack Bill, a kid part of the Holloway crew, watches as something big is going on as all the leaders of the Holloway kids were preparing for something, while two guards stood out side of the medical bay one leaves to go help with some commotion going on in the palace, the other stays there bored.

Back in the room full of the Holloway crew Whitney attacks Pod, a palace chief of security, and takes control getting the kids to prepare to leave.

The remaining guard of the medical bay is attacked by Akkie and Lewis. They then break into the medical bay and help Maxie, Blue and the girl escape. As they are about to go The guard with the big nose asks if he can come too, they let them on the condition that he doesn't try to betray them.

They then make it to the front and are about to leave when they are stopped by David and his guards. He threatens them but before he can do anything Ollie and the skirmishers fire at him and his men and the Holloway crew all manage to escape.

The book ends with St. George trying to regain his thought, he then leads a group of grown- ups down the road after smashing up some cars. He leads them to the battle ground. The last lines are:

"Then he led them on. Back towards the battleground. The battle they had lost against the kids. They wouldn't lose any more battles. They were too many now. They were too strong.

He was St. George.

This city belonged to him."

Characters

• Arran Harper  (deceased) - The first leader of Waitrose and what the readers are led to believe to be the main character. However he dies early in the book after being bitten by a zombie woman, whom he believed to be his actual mother (giving him a fatal wound) and having his death accelerated after being shot by an arrow from Sophie's bow. There been hints that he had feelings for Maxie, but as he died, he was unable to follow through with those feelings.

• Maxie - One of the main characters in the book. She becomes leader of the Waitrose crew after Arran dies but has trouble staying mentally strong after his death. She becomes a good leader after Ollie privately tells her that he believes that the Waitrose kids need a leader to look up to and make hard decisions, going on to say that he believes Maxie can be perfect for this.

• Ollie - A red haired skirmisher from the Waitrose group. Ollie is described as being sharp, quick-witted and is generally the brains of the group. A central character in the book. He said that he lost his little brother during an riot and wants to stay alive as the last member of his family. At the end of the book, it was revealed that he had turned fourteen after the Holloway kids left David.

• Blue - The leader of the Morrison's crew and one of the main characters. He explained to Maxie that he was once a bookworm, and not so good at fighting and being fat. But when the disease started to affect the adults and the early kids all been killed off by the grown-ups, Blue had to learn to fight and become a very strong leader and he said to Maxie as well, that he liked her, but he hadn't mentioned anything before because of Maxie's feelings for Arran.

• Whitney - The Morrison's second-in-command and a central character striking up a good friendship with Maxie. She is in charge of the smaller kids, and is extremely protective of them.

• Achilleus - The best and most skilled fighter in the Waitrose crew. He can be moody and sarcastic, but he is a valuable member of the group because of his fighting skills. He blames Freak for the incident at the pool that cost Deke and Arran their lives.
• Maeve - The Waitrose medic who acts as both a nurse and a doctor after picking up bits and pieces of knowledge from her doctor parents. She is an expert in her field in the eyes of the other kids.

• Freak (deceased) - A central character and one of Maxie's closest friends in the Waitrose group. Well liked by most he struggles to get on with Achilleus due to him blaming Freak for the deaths of Arran and Deke at the pool early in the book. He dies after being stabbed by Just John as he saves Maxie.

• Deke (deceased) - Freak's best friend who he always hung around with before the epidemic. He dies after suffering a punctured lung from a broken vending machine glass and grown-ups took him away to eat him.

• Lewis - One of the Morrison's best fighters. Despite his skinny and dozy appearance, he is a vicious fighter and quite possibly has the fastest reflexes and reaction time. He controls the left flank during the journey to Buckingham Palace and becomes a supporting character towards the end of the book, striking a friendship with Achilleus. 

• Josh (deceased) - One of the Waitrose crew, he is the second best fighter of the group after Achilleus and claims he isn't scared of anything. He dies fighting after being cornered by a group of infected chimpanzees.

• Callum (deceased) - A boy who is extremely Agoraphobic and refuses to leave Waitrose with the other children. He survives on his own for a while but eventually succumbs to bitter loneliness and lets the adults kill him after they break into the store.

• Henry - a boy in the Morrisons gang.

• Big Mick - The best and strongest fighter from the Morrison's crew. He is extremely large for his size, described in the book as looking like an 18 year old. Like Lewis, he also strikes a friendship with Achilleus.

• Just John - The leader of the squatters in the park. He is nearly killed by Achilleus, and he and his group are cast out of the park.

• Carl - Just John's second in command. Dresses like a pirate. 

• Jester - David King's right hand man. He is the boy who contacts the Waitrose and Morrison's crew and persuades them to undertake the trek to Buckingham Palace where seemingly life is better.

• David King - A power-mad teenager. The leader of Buckingham Palace, he attempts to restore the monarchy.

• Ben and Bernie - They are two emo twins who are heavily interested in engineering. They had set up the defense system around Waitrose. They had also tried to make plans for heating and such in Buckingham Palace, but are disregarded by David. They leave along with their friends near the end of the book.

• Sophie - A good looking girl who accidentally shot Arran with an arrow. She and her crew travel to Buckingham Palace with the others. However, they end up leaving due to their inability to fit in and their dislike of David's dominating behaviour. 

• Joel (deceased) - A little boy who carries around a puppy called Godzilla. He is killed during an attack in Regent's Park.

• Ella - Small Sam's sister, she is constantly missing her brother.

• Blu-Tack Bill - A mute boy who constantly plays with Blu-Tack.

• Small Sam - A nine-year-old boy, separated from his group and desperate to find his sister, Ella. He is also a main protagonist as the story follows what is happening to him as the main story unfolds.

• The Kid - A nine year old boy who saves Sam from Nick and Rachael.

• Saint George - The zombie in the St. George shirt. He is far more intelligent than most adults, even to the extent of being able to remember some words and to plan. Toward the end of the book it is revealed that he is capable of thought and has a plan to hunt down and devour all children. He seems to be the antagonist for the sequel, The Dead.

LIST OF DEATHS IN ORDER.

• Deke
• Arran Harper
• Joel
• Josh
• Curly Sam
• Freak
• Twins- Claire and Jason (supposedly)
• Rachel (supposedly)
• Rhiannon
• Nick
• Callum