“Oh God,” said Rachel, racing to tell Riley, who directed everyone to pile things up faster while a frantic Beth shoved Alfie into the most protected corner, furthest from the blast before covering him with her own body.
Furiously Ryan hurled himself at the door, muscles popping out, determined as many as possible were going to escape. The door opened a fraction of an inch wider, just enough for Jacob to slither through and he fell to the ground.
“Up,” said Jules, pulling on his arm.
A hand pressed to his bruised ribs he staggered to his feet, running towards Leah, who was screaming for him to hurry.
Jules gazed sadly at her older brother, tears in her eyes, taking his hand. Mikey appeared beside him, reaching through the gap to touch her face. “I love you,” he told her. “Now run.”
With one last look he slammed the door shut.
Jules yelped with surprise when an arm snaked around her waist and she was hauled backwards.
“Let me go,” she screamed at Jacob.
“Leah needs you alive,” he told her.
Heat engulfed them, knocking them off their feet, the roar filling their ears a second later as the bomb exploded.
CHAPTER 21
The children screamed, clamping their hands down over their ears, Leah and Cathy clinging onto one another as the building exploded, the roof blasted into the air, tiles raining down all around it, flames shooting out of the top of the building. Fortunately they were protected by the trees. Archie was the only one who didn’t react, although he did gaze at the flames with morbid fascination.
“Oh God. Mum, Dad,” cried Leah, tears pouring down her face. There were all the others too, her entire family was in there.
Cathy shivered and shook, clutching Jack and Ruby to her, murmuring her husband’s name over and over.
“Aunty Jules,” yelled Leah. Jacob had sat up, shaking his head but she was still laid on the ground, unmoving.
She ran out from the shelter of the trees and threw herself down at her aunt’s side. “Aunty Jules?” she said, shaking her.
Jules’s eyes flew open and she dragged in a breath of air.
“Oh thank God,” she sobbed. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” Jules grimaced at the pounding in her head. She grasped Leah’s hands. “You?”
“Fine.”
They both turned their attention to Jacob, who was dazed but otherwise unharmed.
“Have either of you got your phones?”
“Mine was in my bag in the barn,” sighed Leah.
“I do,” said Jacob, taking it out. “No signal.”
“Could that be because of the explosion?” said Leah.
“Perhaps,” said Jules. “You both need to go to the trees,” she added, dragging herself to her feet before turning and staggering back towards the barn.
“I have to help her,” said Leah.
“You wait over there,” replied Jacob. “I’ll help her.”
“But…”
“Your brothers need you,” he said, nodding at Ethan and Aaron, who were both crying.
“Okay, I’ll see to them then I’ll be back to help.”
“Mikey?” called Jules, limping back to the barn, struggling to talk after having the wind knocked out of her. “Ryan?”
She wanted to fall to her knees and scream when no one answered.
Riley’s head filled with a singing pain and he felt like he couldn’t move, a weight bearing down on him. But he had to move. Beth wriggled beneath him, Alfie under her. If he didn’t move he’d crush them both.
The weight on his back shifted and strong arms pulled him upright.
“You’re alive,” said Riley with relief.
“Thanks to you,” replied Ryan.
Riley helped up Beth and Alfie, both of whom were bruised but otherwise okay.
Looking around Riley saw Rachel helping Daina to her feet, Battler and Bruiser dragging Mikey upright and Jez slumped on the floor, Rachel’s scarf pressed to a cut on his forehead, his eyes wide and dazed. Mark and Shane were checking on the two waiters and the waitress who had survived, slumped on the ground, looking afraid.
“You saved us all,” Beth told her husband.
“Time for that later,” he said, looking up at what remained of the roof. “We need to get out of here before the building collapses on us.”
Part of the roof had been obliterated in the blast. However the section they were under still clung on, supported by the one pillar that remained standing, the whole lot threatening to cave in on them at any moment. A ton of rubble had collapsed in on the makeshift wall they’d built with the furniture and DJ stand and it was struggling to cope with the weight.
A crack had appeared at the top of the supporting pillar and Riley knew it was only a matter of time before it collapsed, bringing everything down with it.
“My fucking leg,” cried a voice.
They turned to see the DJ lying on the floor, his left leg crushed beneath a pile of bricks.
“Oh hell,” said Riley. “We need to dig him out of there.”
“Leave that to us,” said Ryan. “You find us a way out of here.”
While Ryan, Mark, Shane and Battler rushed to help the DJ, Riley scanned what remained of the room. Beth released a yelp when there came a spark of electricity from a cable that had come loose from where the DJ stand had been connected to the electrics.
“Stay back,” said Riley, pulling her and Alfie to him.
“This wall’s starting to collapse,” said Rachel, backing away from the rear wall.
“Everyone, over to this side,” said Riley, ushering them towards the door the children had escaped through which had been knocked off its hinges in the blast and now lay in the rubble.
“Mikey,” they heard a voice cry from outside.
He ran to the plexiglass windows by the door, which had survived the blast. “Jules, I’m here.”
“Oh thank God. Are you all okay?”
“We’re fine, thanks to Riley. You?”
“We’re all fine. Jacob’s tried calling the emergency services but he can’t get a signal. Can any of you?”
Mikey took his phone out of his pocket and sighed. “Shit, mine’s broken.”
“Mine too,” sighed Riley, letting his broken phone drop to the floor.
“Mine’s intact,” said Ryan, holding it up.
“Jez, do you have yours?” Beth asked him.
He just stared at her, blinking once before looking down at the floor.
“What’s up with him?” said Mikey.
“He’s got a bad concussion,” she replied, waving her phone in the air before shaking her head. “Nothing.”
The phones that were intact couldn’t get a signal. Everyone else’s phones were either broken or crushed beneath masonry.
“Why can’t we get a signal?” Beth asked Riley. “Could it be because the building’s collapsed?”
“Probably. The signal can’t get through this lot,” he replied, indicating the carnage around them. “Jules, tell Jacob to keep trying. I know we’re out in the sticks but hopefully he’ll get a signal soon.”
“One of us could go for help,” she called.
“I’m not sure we can wait that long,” replied Mikey. “We’re miles from anywhere.” Suddenly his and Jules’s grand plan about a private wedding didn’t seem so smart. “Where’s Grant?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen him.”
“Shit,” said Mark. “That means he’s dead.”
“No,” gasped Shane.
“How can I help?” called Jules.
“Get back babe,” said Mikey. “The building’s unstable.”
“Fuck that. I’m finding you a way out.”
“Jules…”
There was a groan and more masonry fell from the ceiling.
“Jesus, get him out of there,” said Riley, racing to help the others dig the DJ out from under the pile of bricks. “That wall’s going to go.”
Bruis
er helped too and the DJ started screaming when he saw the mess his leg was in, bone protruding through the skin, blood trickling from the vicious wound.
“Oh Jesus Christ,” he cried.
“Daina,” said Rachel. “Give me your scarf.”
She unwound it from her neck and handed it over. Rachel threw herself down by the DJ’s side, pressing the scarf to the wound to stop the bleeding.
“I’m so sorry,” she said when he screamed in agony. “Is there a first aid kit anywhere?” she asked one of the waiters.
“Yeah, through there,” he said, indicating the part of the building that had been obliterated.
“I have wet wipes,” said Daina, producing them from her handbag.
“They’ll do,” said Rachel, taking them from her. “At least the bleeding’s stopped,” she added, casting aside the scarf and covering the fracture site with the wet wipes. “I’m afraid that’s the best we can do. We need to get him to hospital before an infection sets in.”
“Infection?” shrieked the DJ.
In response more masonry fell from above, Battler just managing to fling himself out of the way before a chunk of ceiling fell on him.
“Everyone, keep quiet,” said Riley. “A loud noise could bring the whole lot down.”
“Oh God,” breathed Daina, eyes filling with tears.
Bruiser pulled her to him and she clung onto him, burying her face in his chest.
“That pillar is the only thing keeping everything upright,” said Riley softly.
They looked up at it, all of them noting the large crack running from the ceiling to halfway down the base but no one wanting to say it.
“What do we do?” said Rachel, clinging onto her composure by her fingernails, determined to see her children again.
“This section is the sturdiest,” said Riley, indicating the wall with the main door. “But if we start moving those bricks it will upset the balance of the building. That section will go first,” he said, pointing to the rear wall, in response to his words more masonry falling from it. Daina gasped when the live electrical cable spit and sparked.
“The roof will tilt downwards but this bit,” he said, indicating the area around the door. “Will be in the triangle of life. The roof won’t cave in here as long as that pillar holds.”
“We go for here,” said Battler, pointing to the plexiglass windows to the left of where the front door had stood. “If we can break them we can get out through there.”
“Those windows are supporting that section of the wall,” said Mark. “We break them and it will cave in, collapsing the wall.”
“Shit,” huffed Battler.
“Whatever we do, he needs to go first,” said Rachel, kneeling by the DJ’s side, her fingers pressed to his wrist. “He’s going into shock.” She looked to the two waiters. “Find something you can make a stretcher out of.”
“Like what?” said one of them.
Her eyes turned black. “Use your imaginations.”
As they began hunting around for something to use, the live cable crackled and hissed, writhing itself loose from the wall and thrashing wildly across the floor.
“Move him back,” said Rachel, taking one of the DJ’s arms.
Ryan took his other arm and together they pulled him further across the room.
Shane felt something cold land on his head and he looked up to see drops of water dripping from the wall. His eyes widened. “A water pipe’s cracked.”
They all looked from the leaking pipe to the spitting electrical cable.
“If that pipe goes we’re all fucked,” added Shane, causing the waitress to start wailing.
In response to the sound there was a loud groan and some bricks hit the ground.
“Shut it,” one of the waiters hissed at her, causing her to go abruptly silent.
“What are we looking for?” said Jacob as he and Leah followed Jules around the perimeter of the building. He’d given his phone to Cathy, who was going to keep trying to call for help.
“Looking for a way out for them,” replied Jules.
“Shit,” exclaimed Jacob when he tripped over something in the undergrowth and fell facedown on the ground. He turned to see what he’d fallen over and gasped. “Oh fuck, who’s that?”
“Oh Jesus,” sighed Jules, kneeling beside the body and pressing her fingers to the man’s neck.
“It’s Grant,” whispered Leah, eyes filling with tears.
“Who?” said Jacob.
“He works for Uncle Mikey and Uncle Jez,” replied Leah. “Or, at least he used to.”
“He’s gone,” sighed Jules, closing her eyes and furiously shaking her head. “Don’t you worry mate,” she told his body, patting his shoulder. “We’ll kill the fucking Slovakian slag for this.”
“Slovakian slag?” said Leah. “Katia’s responsible for this?”
Jules nodded.
“How do you know?”
“I’ll explain later. Right now we need to find a way out of that building.”
“This side of the building is too badly damaged,” said Jacob, eyes scanning the collapsed wall, forcing himself not to look at the dead body. “We move anything and it’ll collapse. Our best bet is around the front.”
They went charging back around to the front, all three of them staring with dismay at the mess that had once been the beautiful barn.
“The door is there,” said Leah, indicating the huge oak door that had been padlocked shut sticking horizontally out from under the rubble.
Jules bent down to examine it, crawling around on her hands and knees. Leah thought it so sad how her beautiful dress was torn and streaked with dirt. Her heart skipped a beat when she excitedly leapt to her feet.
“The door’s fallen at an angle,” said Jules. “This end lies flat on the ground but the other end is propped up on quite a high pile of rubble. If we can somehow lift this end of the door and keep it there and if they can clear some of the rubble on the other side, we can make a tunnel for them to crawl through.”
“We can’t lift that door,” said Leah. “It weighs a ton.”
“But that thing can,” said Jacob, nodding at Jez’s Mercedes.
“Cathy has the keys,” said Jules. “Leah, go and get them off her, quickly.”
Leah nodded and raced off towards the trees.
Jules ran up to the windows, waving her arms to attract the attention of those inside, elated when Mikey appeared at the window.
“We’ve got a plan to get you out,” she called.
“What plan?” he said as Riley appeared beside him.
“We’re going to use Jez’s car to lift the barn door but you need to clear some of the rubble from the other side. There’s not much of it under there, you’ll be left with a clear tunnel to crawl through.”
Mikey and Riley looked at each other, there was a quiet conversation that she couldn’t hear and Riley nodded and vanished from view.
“Riley says it can work,” said Mikey. “We’re going to start clearing the rubble this end. My clever wife,” he added, pressing his hand to the glass.
Her eyes filled with tears as she pressed her hand to the glass where his hand rested.
Leah returned, panting, holding the keys out to her aunt, breaking the moment. “Here.”
Jules took the keys from her and looked back at Mikey. “We’re getting you out of there babe. Hang on.” She smiled when he blew her a kiss through the glass.
Swallowing down the lump in her throat, Jules unlocked the car and flung open the boot, taking out the tow rope. “You know how to hook this up to the car?” she asked Jacob.
He nodded.
“Good lad.”
“How are you going to connect it to the door?”
“It’s got a big old wrought iron knocker bolted into the wood. I’ll attach it to that.”
“If we move the door won’t it all fall in on them?” said Leah.
“Not if we keep it balanced.”
“And what if the r
ope breaks?”
“It won’t,” said Jacob, who had finished attaching the rope to the car. “Tow ropes have a minimum breaking strength of two to three times the stuck vehicle. But we’re not pulling out a stuck vehicle, we’re just lifting a door. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I’m impressed,” said Jules. She liked this kid.
“I don’t like it,” said Leah. “There’s so much that can go wrong.”
“We don’t have a choice,” countered Jules.
Leah caught sight of Riley waving his arms at the window. “Aunty Jules,” she said.
Jules ran back to the window, nodding when he gave her the thumbs up.
“We’re going to start lifting the door now,” she told him. She looked to Jacob and Leah. “They’ve cleared the rubble. Let’s get this done. Jacob, can you drive?”
“Well I don’t have a licence but yes, I can.”
“Don’t give me that shady answer. We’re on a downward slope with a river at the bottom and you need to keep that car perfectly balanced.”
“I can do it. I’ve been driving since I was twelve.”
“Alright. Me and Leah will watch this end and help them out. Wind the windows down, I might need to shout you instructions.”
Jacob nodded, leapt into the front seat and started the car, enjoying the smooth purr of the engine while Jules hooked the tow rope to the heavy iron knocker on the front of the door.
“He’s a keeper that one,” Jules told Leah, nodding at Jacob.
“I know.”
“Oh hell,” said Jules, looking back towards Jez’s car.
“What?” said a panicked Leah.
“The tow rope is draped over that iron girder,” she said, pointing to the large object which lay amid all the fallen masonry. “When the rope tenses it’ll rub against the edge of it.”
“Fraying it?”
“Possibly.”
“Can’t we move the car so the rope misses it?”
“No because it’ll be off centre, meaning we won’t be able to keep the door balanced and no way can we lift that girder.”
Leah shrugged off her jacket. “What if I wrap this around it? It’s leather.”
“It’ll certainly help. Go and warn Jacob then wrap it around that section of rope.”
Carnage Page 18