After The Turn: Redemption

by Daniels, Melvin

  One of the guards cut Aiden’s top off to reveal his bare skin. Jared walked along the stage stopping in-front of Chloe. She looked up as Jared offered her the rope. Looking into his eyes she shook her head at him, she welled up, tears trickling down her cheeks, she looked back down, staring at a knot in the oak floor she was standing on, Jared softly put his thumb under her chin raising her face to look him in the eye once more, she could see right into his eyes, as if she could see his soul. His dazzling blue eyes wide open, making her feel safe, like it was going to be ok, his expression was intoxicating she couldn’t help but be mesmerized, but his charm, she can see why he was idolized, she examined his face, noticing all the little blemishes, the scar on his chin, the dimples in his cheeks as he smiled at her, he wiped the tear off her cheek. She closed her eyes, then shuddered, why was she getting sucked into this, the guy was a monster. Reluctantly she took the rope, the tears came back, Jared moved away Chloe could see the back of Aiden as he faced the crowd, knelt arms outstretched.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome Chloe, formerly this man Healy’s woman”

  The crowd went wild, cheering, Chloe looked out at the rapturous applause she was receiving, she nervously shuffled along feeling as if she was watching herself from somewhere else, not wanting to go forward but unable to stop herself from doing so.

  She looked to Becky, who was also staring down, not wanting to be part of this, Chloe approached Aiden, not far away now, she stood stark still, shaking, crying. The rope was heavy in her hands, the twine felt rough to skin as she wound one end of it around her hand, pulling her arm back she whispered

  “I’m sorry”

  but just as she was about to bring the rope down onto Aiden’s back.

  “STOP!” Jared yelled taking centre stage once more the hero again, saving this maiden from doing something she did not want to do, doing something that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

  “You don’t have to do this my dear” He approached Chloe and took the rope from her, kissed her on the forehead and sent her back to the side of the show.

  Dramatic effect once again fulfilled.

  Chloe trudged back, Becky intercepted her, and took her to stand with her, letting the guard know with a silent gesture that she will take her.

  “As his actions, are in turn going to affect you good people, as market day is hereby cancelled for the foreseeable future, there will be no traders coming in with goods for you to buy or trade” Jared opened his arms to the crowd. “I invite you, the people, You, wonderful people to administer his punishment”

  The crowd went wild in a mad frenzy they rushed up to the stage to take their turn to pummel Aiden with the rope, all shouting in support of Jared and of the Knights. In the ruckus Becky whispered into Chloe’s ear.

  “Tomorrow night, be ready”

  The crowd had dispersed, cleaners were mopping the blood off the stage as Jared and two of his entourage visited Aiden in his cell. Aiden was curled up chained to the makeshift prison, still bare back, too painful to put a top back on. The guard unlocked the door.

  “I can’t have you, you parasite, you vermin, you cancer that will rot our core if your given the chance” Aiden looked up at him

  “You said you would not kill me?” Aiden reminded him “The three F’s. you said I will be integrated back into the community?”

  “That’s correct, but you attacked me” Jared pointed out the men beside him “I had no choice, I have witnesses”

  Aiden was riled up, he stood to confront Jared.

  “You are a hypocrite, a dictator, a….” Aiden could not finish his sentence.

  Jared pulled the trigger.

  20

  Drew, Marcus and the others had returned to the camp and had informed Seamus and the rest of what had happened, about the people with masks. Seamus was talking with the hierarchy of the group, Omar, Paul and Tommy. Discussing what the next move was. Drew, Marcus and Connor were sat on fold out deck chairs, in silence each in turn pondering their own futures.

  “I’m not going to find her, am I?” Drew asked Marcus. “We can’t go back to that outpost and find her, not just the two of us, what’s to say she is even there?”

  “Three of us, I’m coming too” Connor spoke “You guys saved me, I owe you” Marcus patted him on the back.

  “You, owe us nothing kid”

  “Yeah I do, and that’s that”

  Drew thought to himself, that’s the next problem, honour amongst them. Everyone owes each other something. They rescued Omar, Tommy and Frances. Seamus let them stay, and now they had been thrust into all of this, he could not help but feel that he had to stick around and help them through this. They needed a new place to live, even if some of the others did not agree, it was no longer safe.

  Marcus got up, he wanted to catch up with Hannah.

  That was another thing, Drew was certain now that Marcus would want to stay with these people, he felt his chances of finding Sarah were slipping away. The kid Rocky who helped them in the field when the horde came past and wanted to show Connor some of the things he had found whilst they had been out scavenging, they were of similar age so Drew figured it was good for Connor to have social interaction with someone else and was far from offended when he left also, leaving him alone with his thoughts, once again.

  He closed his eyes, trying to listen to the world around him, the birds, the gentle breeze blowing against the trees, he relaxed himself and dived into his memory bank.

  He could picture it quite vividly, he was sat on the bench at the bottom of his garden, watching a bee harvesting the pollen from the flowers.

  “How much longer will this last?” Sarah asked him.

  He turned his body to face her, she was subconsciously pulling on a diamond heart necklace, that her mother had given her many years ago, she was rightfully concerned, the national lockdown had been in effect for four months already, they had not been allowed to leave their house. Panic and unrest were filling the streets outside, people running out of provisions and money. The governments promised funds to support the workers who could no longer go about their daily jobs, had long since dried up. People resorting to looting, there had been reports of murders as people wanted what others had. The police had been replaced by the army, order far from being restored. This was the one place that they could be safe and escape the brutal reality of the new world. Drew was so scared of not being in any control of what was happening, he was generally scared of losing Sarah. He loved her so much and that was a pain which he could not bear, he would give anything to keep her safe.

  “Until they work out how to stop people getting sick” he finally answered.

  He was brought back to the here and now, by someone kicking his foot, he opened his eyes sharply.

  “Beer?” Frances was stood over him offering a can of Carling “It’s warm but it’s better than nothing”

  Drew thanked Frances and took the can from her, she sat down next to him.

  “No one would blame you, you know” She said calmly as she drank from her can. Drew looked at het quizzically. “For leaving us”

  Drew smirked to himself, she clearly knew what he was thinking.

  “I don’t know if I can” he said hesitantly “Part of me wants too, I need to find...”

  “Sarah” Frances finished his sentence “I know. Hannah told me” Drew nodded “She is keen for your boy Marcus to stay” Drew agreed; he took a sip from his warm can.

  “And what you did, with Omar, the whole incident with William” she continued “People like you too, they want you to stay here. Even Seamus seems to be coming around to the idea”

  “But no one can stay here it isn’t safe” Drew spoke

  “Yeah” Frances answered in understanding. “Tell you what”

  Drew turned to face her.

  “You help us find somewhere to live” she began “And I promise I’ll come with you to find Sarah, you can bring her back with you she will have a place with us�
�

  Drew smiled “You don’t have to do that not for me”

  Frances smirked herself “You’re a good man Drew” she said “I don’t think you would be able to live with yourself if you left us here to die”

  Drew turned away to ponder what Frances was saying. He saw the old guy Clifford fixing up some food on the fire with Hameed, Dieter was returning with some firewood. These people looked out for each other. Drew knew he wanted to get to know these people, each, and every one of them. But could he put off finding Sarah a little bit longer? He pondered for a moment. He found himself fiddling with the ring on his finger the one thing that tied himself to Sarah in this new messed up world. He remembered what Paul had said to him.

  “Ok” Drew returned his gaze to Frances “I’ll come with you, just till you find somewhere new to live”

  Frances smiled at him then pointed over to Seamus, Omar, Paul and Tommy. They had become heated in their discussion. Omar looked as if he wanted to knock Seamus out, Tommy also looked infuriated whilst Paul was trying his best to hold them back from each other, acting as mediator, Drew saw Dieter had dropped the firewood and was racing his way over to assist.

  Both Frances and Drew jumped out of their seats, dropping their warm cans of Carling and sprinted over to the fight that was just ensuing. Omar threw a punch connecting with Seamus’s face. They were all yelling at each other.

  “Calm down!” Paul was trying to make himself heard. Dieter had successfully pulled Tommy away.

  “Whoa!” Drew shouted “What the hell is going on here” he demanded the fight was calming down a little with the new-comers presence.

  “Ask him” Omar boomed pointing a finger at Seamus, who spat blood on the floor from his cut upper lip. Drew looked at Seamus.

  “We got to leave here” Seamus answered

  Drew nodded “Agreed” he looked at the other two “What’s the problem?”

  Omar suddenly turned on Drew

  “I should have shot you when I had the chance” he shouted “I am not leaving here, my son has just died I’ve just buried him, right here”

  Frances stepped in.

  “I get that dude” she said, “But we are not safe here, think of your wife and Jeremiah and Cayla, is it worth risking the rest of your family?”

  “They can go” his fury still raging “I’m not leaving William”

  “He’s dead, get over it” Seamus chipped in this unleashed the beast in Omar once more, swinging wildly at Seamus as Paul and Frances pushed him back

  “Get over it? Get fucking over it!” Omar bellowed “You lose a child then you can tell me to get over it. Just because you didn’t care when you lost your sisters”

  Frances managed to get Omar to walk away, kicking some chairs over and flipping a table as he did so.

  Drew looked back at Seamus in disgust.

  “Have some respect man” he said to him “Sisters? what happened?”

  “Nothing, forget about it I’m over it” Seamus shot the question down.

  Moving on to the next problem Drew asked Tommy

  “What’s the problem?”

  Tommy took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

  “Nan is too weak to move, we don’t know where we are going, she won’t survive the trip”

  “Survival of the fittest my friend” Seamus started up again, Tommy tried with all his might not to lump him.

  “Come with me” Drew ordered Seamus, Seamus laughed at him, enjoying the confrontation.

  “You’re not the boss of me, I make the decisions around here” Seamus snapped back. “You’re not even part of this group”.

  Drew looked directly into his eyes, firing him a look of superiority

  “NOW”

  Seamus gave a pathetic look to the others as if to say who does this guy think he his? Before reluctantly trudging off with him. They walked until Drew felt as is if they were far enough out of earshot of the others.

  “What are you do…” Drew started before Seamus cut him off.

  “I’ll stop you right there sunshine” Seamus demanded “I’m the boss here not you!”

  “And I have no intention of being so” Drew replied palms facing Seamus in a non-threatening way “It’s not that I don’t agree with what you’re saying, because I do”

  Seamus was listening

  “It’s just the way you deliver your message you need to be more respectful and mindful of people. These are good people, and you don’t want anyone turning on you”

  “Is that a threat!?” Seamus spat

  “No, not at all. I’m just saying”

  “Well don’t”

  Seamus was rearing up and getting defensive he thought Drew was challenging his leadership. He was about to yell once more but was interrupted by Paul yelling.

  “Sam’s here!”

  Seamus’s head dropped as if he felt sunk, this was not a meeting he was looking forward to and may go some way to explaining his behaviour. There was some underlying issue here Drew had not been privy too, but he was hoping he would find out.

  21

  Drew led the way over to the newcomers with a sense of intrigue as to who they were and what they were about, Seamus dragged his heels behind in no rush. They carefully stepped through a few ropes between the tents and saw a group of people, greeting Tommy, Frances and Paul, they were all carrying rucksacks full of their gear and belongings. They were either moving in or moving elsewhere There were five of them. Drew was pleased to recognise three of them in, Alex, Seth and doc James. He assumed the tall man at the front was Sam. The one he had heard so much about.

  Drew walked on, alongside Paul who was talking to Sam, waiting to introduce himself. He tried not to seem as if he were intruding but he could not help but hear part of the conversation.

  “I think we should see your guy” Sam had just finished saying to Paul.

  He caught the sight of Drew over Paul’s shoulder

  “Who’s this?” he shouted pulling a massive combat knife out of his pocket “Is he a Knight?” thrusting the blade in Drew’s direction. “He don’t want to be a Knight, Paul! You remember what happened last time!”

  Drew noticed that the forearm of this knife wielding man was heavily bandaged, blood was slightly weeping through the dirty white material. Drew stood his ground; Paul was trying to calm Sam down

  “No man he is cool” Paul was saying. “He helped whack some Knights a few days ago”

  “Are there are more of them?” Sam asked still a bit wound up

  Alex came over to offer a kind word, with the assault rifle in hand for persuasion.

  “It’s ok Guv, there are three of them” Alex said “They’re sound its ok”

  Sam still looked unsure but was starting to back down, that was until he saw Seamus. Sam pushed Paul and Drew aside shrugged off Alex and stormed over to Seamus, who had finally came into view, Knife still brandished.

  “I told you what would happen if I saw you again!” Sam yelled threateningly

  Drew watched on as Seamus stood stock still, Sam got a few yards away and threw the knife at the Irishman’s feet, Seamus looked down at the knife which was embedded into the dirt and as his eyes made their way back up he was met by a massive right hook to the temple knocking him clean out. Seamus crumpled to the floor unconscious. Sam stood over him and yelled.

  “You’re no longer in charge here” Sam then turned to the onlookers “Where is Omar? Get Omar up here now!”

  Tommy scurried off to get Omar, as doc James tried to bring Seamus back around with a jar of smelling salts.

  Everybody had gathered around in the kitchen tent, even Eileen had managed to join them, Matty was sat with her as Sam explained the situation and outlined his ideas and plans and took questions from the concerned crowd. Sam had seated himself at a table at the head of the tent, with Alex and the man Drew didn’t know sat beside him, as if they were at a press conference and the settlers were the media, hanging on every word

  “I know
our groups separated a little while back, and as much as I don’t want to go into that we need to talk how we can come together for the safety of all of us”

  there were nods in the crowd as they understood

  “Both of our camps have been targeted by hostile people. And although they were different groups, they were all one of the same outfit” Sam continued “The worrying thing is we do not know how many more there are. We dealt with the situation but that will only make us more of a target”

  Frances raised her hand to ask a question “What do you suggest?”

  “I have discussed with Paul and he knows someone and has reluctantly agreed to take us to him it’s a lot safer” Sam answered “It’s on high ground which we can see from all sides so we can defend ourselves in the case of attack”

  “What if he doesn’t want to help us?” Tommy asked

  “He’s a man of the land, he doesn’t believe in violence” Sam said

  “Neither did I before all this happened but needs must. So, my question still stands”

  “There’s twenty-two of us, I think we could be persuasive”

  There was a collective gasp from the audience.

  “And if we don’t want to go?” Omar questioned

  “I can not and will not force anyone to go against their wishes, but I also value your lives and wish you would see that, staying here is likely to mean a very horrific end” Sam answered “And I would beg anyone to reconsider before it’s too late, if not for yourself for the sake of your family and friends”

  Dieter was next to speak. “What did you do with the girl who survived”

  The man who Drew did not know, answered this question. In a very deep voice “We took her to a remote area and left her, we gave her some food and water she is far enough away not to cause us any trouble for now”