The Enemy

The Enemy, the first installment in Charlie Higson's Enemy series, is set in London roughly a year after a mysterious disease turned every person over the age of sixteen into a violent, zombie-like creature. The children who survived call these diseased adults "grown-ups." Groups of kids have fortified themselves inside familiar buildings, scavenging for food and fighting to stay alive.

A group of children has taken shelter in a Waitrose supermarket in Holloway, north London, led by Arran and his second in command, Maxie, who secretly harbors feelings for him. When nine-year-old Small Sam is snatched by grown-ups from the parking lot, his sister Ella and the other children are unable to save him, and Maxie blames herself. That same day, Arran leads a scavenging party that includes Achilleus, the group's best fighter; Ollie, a quiet, clever boy armed with a slingshot; and inseparable best friends Freak and Deke. They explore a nearby swimming pool, where grown-ups rise from beneath stagnant water in an organized ambush. Deke is dragged underwater and killed. A mother grown-up bites Arran on the neck after he freezes, suspecting she may be his own mother.

The scavengers encounter Blue, the leader of a rival group based in a nearby Morrisons supermarket, who warns of trouble at Waitrose. That evening, the Waitrose and Morrisons kids rescue a teenager in a patchwork coat from a swarm of grown-ups. He introduces himself as Jester and claims he was sent from Buckingham Palace, where children live safely with plentiful food and clean water, producing Polaroid photographs as proof. A vote goes in favor of heading to the palace. Callum, the group's agoraphobic rooftop lookout, refuses to leave. Ella begs to stay so Sam can find her, but Arran persuades her to come, insisting Sam is gone forever. The combined group of roughly fifty-seven children sets out the next morning.

Meanwhile, Sam awakens inside a sack in a hospitality box at the Arsenal soccer stadium, surrounded by sleeping grown-ups. Using a cigarette lighter and a butterfly hairpin, he sets a bearded grown-up's coat on fire and escapes as the blaze spreads. He finds a bicycle and rides toward Waitrose, outrunning a mob of grown-ups. When he arrives, the barricades are improperly sealed. He squeezes inside and finds only Callum, who tells him the group has left for the palace. Sam repairs his bicycle and sets off alone.

Arran's bite wound festers quickly. He grows feverish and delirious, haunted by visions of the mother from the pool. Near Camden, a massive horde of grown-ups attacks, led by a fat father wearing an England vest with a cross of Saint George and wire-framed glasses. This father appears to command the others, a disturbing sign of organization among the grown-ups. Blue hot-wires a BMW and drives it into the attackers. Arran, delirious, chases the fleeing grown-ups alone and is struck in the chest by an arrow fired by Sophie, the leader of a small group of archers who mistake him for a grown-up. Despite desperate efforts to save him, Arran dies in Maxie's arms, his final words: "I love you, Mom" (161). The children cremate the fallen and allow Sophie's archers to join the group. That night, while crossing Regent's Park, diseased chimpanzees that escaped from the London Zoo attack the column. Joel, one of the younger children, is killed when he chases after his puppy, and Josh, another young member of the group who always insisted nothing scared him, dies defending the smaller kids.

Sam's parallel journey takes him underground. Chased into Camden Town tube station, he walks through the tunnels until a large man in a heavy overcoat grabs him and fires a shotgun to scatter pursuing grown-ups. The man is Nick, an adult who shows no signs of disease. Nick carries Sam to Bank station, where he and his partner Rachel have built a home inside a stopped train car. Sam wakes handcuffed in a different car with three other captive children. Rhiannon, a wheezing older girl, tells him she believes Nick and Rachel are keeping the children as livestock. A nine-year-old tunnel dweller who calls himself "the Kid" picks Sam's handcuffs, and Sam, Rhiannon, and the Kid escape through the train cars, passing a horrific butchery hung with meat and bones. During the escape, Nick fires his shotgun and hits Rhiannon. She tackles Nick to buy Sam and the Kid time, sacrificing herself. On the surface, Nick catches Sam, but sunlight triggers the disease in his body: His skin erupts with boils and he disintegrates. Sam and the Kid wander the streets until they reach the Tower of London, where a community of children takes them in. Sam resolves to find his sister Ella at Buckingham Palace once he recovers.

After scavenging supplies and fighting grown-ups along the way, the Holloway and Morrisons kids reach Buckingham Palace. David King, a freckled sixteen-year-old former head boy of a boarding school, has organized the palace with gardens, livestock, a clinic, and armed guards. A grand feast is served, but Ollie discovers the kitchen staff eats far worse food. David reveals his full ambition in the Throne Room, where seven diseased survivors of the Royal Family sit on thrones in formal robes. He plans to use them as figureheads to legitimize his rule over London and wants the newcomers as his fighting force. His immediate goal: crush a camp of squatters in St. James's Park. Blue leads fighters to the camp, where the squatters' leader, Just John, a tattooed teenager armed with a staff tipped with three knives, refuses to negotiate. A chaotic brawl erupts. Freak, who initially stays behind, runs to the battle and saves Maxie but is stabbed in the back by John's triple-bladed spear. Freak dies in Maxie's arms.

John proposes a duel to settle the conflict: himself against Achilleus. In the torchlit palace quadrangle, John's longer reach gives him the early advantage, but Achilleus lets his spear slide to its full length on a swing, catching John off guard. Achilleus refuses to kill the defeated John, and the squatters accept a truce.

Disturbed by David's tyrannical ambitions, Maxie and Blue decide to leave. A bandaged girl from the Natural History Museum, whom David has kept isolated, reveals that organized communities of children exist across London. When David declares Maxie and Blue prisoners, Ollie pretends to side with David but secretly coordinates an escape. That night, Achilleus and Lewis, Blue's deputy, release the diseased royals as a diversion. While David's guards chase the royals through the palace, the Holloway and Morrisons kids assemble outside the gates. When David threatens to have his guards fire from the balcony, Ollie's skirmishers drive them back with slingshots. Achilleus spray-paints "FREAK LIVES" on the Victoria Memorial beside Freak's earlier "ARRAN LIVES" tribute, and the group marches west toward the Natural History Museum. Ollie, walking at the rear, reflects that tomorrow is his birthday and wonders what will happen as the children grow older and whether the disease will eventually claim them too.

In Holloway, Callum spends his final night listening to ABBA and eating his last provisions as the Saint George father's organized gang smashes through the Waitrose defenses. He puts on headphones and closes his eyes as they reach him. In the novel's final chapter, the Saint George father stands on a car roof in the ruins of Holloway, stamping out a marching rhythm that his growing army joins. He leads them south, determined to find and destroy every child in London.