by Ryan Casey
But right now, she knew exactly what Kayleigh was about to say.
She just couldn’t face it.
“You should head back,” Aoife said, cheeks burning. “Really. That’s the safest choice right now.”
“We should both head back. That’s the safest choice. But sometimes we don’t do the right fucking thing, do we?”
Aoife nodded. “Fair enough. So are you in?”
Kayleigh shook her head. Sighed. And then she shrugged her shoulders. “Looks like I’m always in, doesn’t it?”
They took off, the pair of them. Headed off in the direction of the footprints and the general direction of Liskeard. Quite a way away, so they’d be walking a while. Shame the power at Sanctuary hadn’t quite extended to a good fleet of cars just yet. Mad, really. Had helicopters, had all the technology and capabilities they had but hadn’t quite got round to cars.
But as she walked, the whole time, Aoife got the feeling there was someone close.
Someone watching.
They reached the end of the footprints, and Aoife’s stomach sank.
“We’ve lost them,” Aoife said. “All this way, and we’ve frigging lost them.”
“I know you don’t want to hear it. But maybe it really is time we started talking about heading back now.”
Aoife didn’t want to accept it, didn’t want to hear it, but she couldn’t resist it anymore. Kayleigh was right.
They knew enough. And they’d gone far enough.
It was time to head back.
She went to turn around when she saw something, right in the distance.
She looked around at it.
“Aoife?” Kayleigh said.
“Ssh.”
“What—”
“Ssh.”
She crouched down. Crept alongside the path. Through towards the trees.
And when she saw what was down the hill, her heart started racing harder, and a smile crept up her face.
People.
Fires burning.
Some kind of camp.
“They’re here,” Aoife said. “This is their home.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Aoife stared down the slope towards the community and could barely contain her excitement—or her nerves.
It was pitch black, but there was a warm light to this place. Flame lit torches casting an amber glow, cutting through the darkness. The smell of smoke. And of food, too. Burned meat, making Aoife salivate. There were a few tents scattered around, all in pretty shitty condition. It didn’t look like this place was well-equipped, that was for sure.
Certainly didn’t look like the hideout of any kind of well-oiled operation.
A couple of people were about, but they didn’t look armed. And they looked thin. Weak. Tribal, almost.
And it bothered Aoife even more that this group had been able to get so close to their walls. That they’d been able to launch an attack on the scale they had.
If they’d been dealt with sooner, they could have been well and truly crushed.
She felt herself shaking. Thought of Gregg. Thought of him lying there, that lifeless gaze. She thought of the screams. Of the panic. Of the confusion. Of the trauma that split through their perfect home, so cruelly. So unexpectedly. Against all logic and against all order. Against everything she’d thought possible because she buried her head so deeply in the sand and told herself it couldn’t be that way. That their world was perfect, and it was unwavering, and that things were never going to change.
She saw this community right before her, and she felt herself swell with anger.
She went to throw herself down the slope towards the community, rifle in hand, when she felt a hand tighten around her arm.
She looked around. Saw Kayleigh staring at her, shaking her head.
“You aren’t going to try and stop me again, are you?” Aoife asked.
“You know we can’t just go charging down there.”
“There’s barely any of them,” Aoife said. “And the ones that are there hardly look well-armed.”
“They staged an attack on Sanctuary, Aoife,” Kayleigh said. “A frigging devastating attack. You really think there’s just a few of them? That this is head of operations, or whatever?”
Aoife heard what Kayleigh was saying. She really did. She got her logic. This did seem odd. Something didn’t feel right about it at all.
And yet…
“I don’t care who they are. Whether they’re head of operations or just foot soldiers. You heard what they said. They’re a part of the insurgent group. They’re terrorists. And they’re the people who killed our people.”
“But Harvey said—”
“I know exactly what Harvey said,” Aoife said.
“We got away with it once before. Barely made it out alive. If… if we’re going to do this, let’s at least assess things a little. Let’s at least figure out what the hell’s going on. How many of them there are. Any weaknesses, anything like that. Let’s… let’s just take a breath here. No ‘ignorance is bliss’ bullshit here. We can’t afford that.”
It irked Aoife, hearing Kayleigh speak to her like that. She knew she was getting at her with that “ignorance is bliss” jibe. It was clearly directed at her. Something she outright rejected. But fuck. Now wasn’t the time to be debating shit like that.
She stared down the muddy slope, still in a slippery condition after the storm. Down towards that little camp. Saw the two of them sitting there, the guy with the bald head. The woman who looked practically asleep.
They could go in there.
They could take them both out.
They could begin making them pay…
No. Not making them pay. Because this wasn’t about revenge. This was about justice. This was about protecting Sanctuary from more waves of attacks from these people.
Because they were bitter, and they were jealous, and they were never going to stop.
“We need to drop back,” Kayleigh said. “We need to see what we’re dealing with. Or we’re going to get ourselves killed.”
Aoife nodded. She knew Kayleigh was right.
And then she heard the man speak.
“Where the others at, Shannon?” he said. “Not keen on spending tonight guarding this place with just you.”
It was that which did it for Aoife. That which changed everything. That which tipped the scales.
These two were on their own.
They were guarding this place on their own.
Which meant they were sitting ducks.
She looked at Kayleigh. Saw how she stared back at her, eyes wide like even she couldn’t defend herself anymore. Like there was only one option here now.
“You know what we have to do,” Aoife said. “While it’s just the two of them. While we have a chance.”
Kayleigh opened her mouth. Then she closed it. Shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what I say. You’ve already made your mind up.”
“Good,” Aoife said. “You’re learning.”
She turned around, then. Looked at the people sitting there, right in the middle of this shitty camp.
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s get started.”
And then she climbed down the slope towards the camp.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Yuri held his breath as the two women bickered amongst themselves just outside the camp, and he prayed this worked out how he wanted it to.
He couldn’t hear them properly. But even then, they were arguing far louder than they thought they were, clearly. And Yuri could tell from the tension between them they were debating exactly what he wanted them to debate.
He just hoped the person he wanted to win the debate reigned victorious in the end.
He had a quiet confidence that would be the case. She didn’t seem the kind of woman to back down.
And that would be her downfall.
He saw the skinnier woman lower her head. Shake it.
And then he saw them begin to turn around.
And at that moment, he braced himself for defeat. He braced himself for this plan not to go as expected. Always a possibility, of course, but not the way he hoped it would go.
And then he heard his people speak.
Heard Vernon. “Where the others at, Shannon? Not keen on spending tonight guarding this place with just you.”
He heard those words from Vernon’s mouth, and he wanted to hug the man. He was a genius. He knew exactly why he’d said what he’d said. His timing was perfect. Impeccable.
And if he was right, if his instincts were correct, it might just tip the scales in his favour all over again.
He saw the women turn around.
Saw the dark-haired woman look back at the other one.
Saw that the dynamic had shifted once more in an instant.
And then he saw them begin to descend the slope.
Guns in hand.
Towards the camp.
Yuri took a deep breath, and he smiled.
Vernon, you absolute genius.
He tightened his grip around his rifle.
Behind, he heard the rest of his people shuffling with nerves, with excitement.
So many of them, standing right behind him, waiting for their moment.
“Come on,” he said. “It’s time.”
They watched the women descend the slope.
And then, they stepped out of the darkness.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Aoife walked down the slope towards the camp with Kayleigh, and she couldn’t shake the horrible feeling something was wrong.
She kept her eyes on the people in the middle of the camp. Stared right at them. She didn’t want to let them out of her sight, even though they were already really close as it was. She looked around a couple of times, scanning her surroundings. She didn’t see anything but empty tents. Old, burned-out fires, which looked like they’d last been lit long ago. By all accounts, this place was empty. Abandoned. It wasn’t an outpost that was regularly well guarded or attended.
But someone was coming here. People were coming here.
Aoife didn’t know when or where from, only that they were.
And that meant she had to get to these two guarding the place—quickly.
She thought about what she was going to do to them. How she was going to handle them. Her initial gut instinct was to take them out, one by one. Don’t even give them a chance to argue their case or give them the chance to defend themselves. They didn’t deserve that much. They’d given up that privilege when they’d attacked Sanctuary. When they’d killed Gregg and so many others.
But on the other hand… there was another option. Another choice. A better choice. These people could be useful. They were insurgents. Which meant they’d have information. Information on the rest of the insurgents. Information on the attack.
And they could point them to their leader.
She saw the man staring up into space. Vernon, she thought she’d heard him called. The woman, Shannon, beside him, similarly distant. They were both within shooting distance. So close Aoife could take them both out in an instant.
But she had to keep it cool. Had to keep it calm. She couldn’t risk jeopardising any of this. Not after coming so far. Kayleigh was right. They’d taken enough risks as it was. Didn’t want to go taking any more.
“Something’s not right,” Kayleigh said.
Aoife felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end when Kayleigh said those words. Because she felt it too. Something didn’t feel right. Something didn’t feel right at all.
She just didn’t want to accept that might be the case.
She looked around. Looked at the empty tents. Looked at the old, burned-out fires. She looked at the traces that people had lived here. So many traces of poverty. So many signs that these people had been living in shitty conditions.
And it made sense. Made sense why they would be envious of Sanctuary. Of why they’d be so bitter about Aoife’s home.
But then… why had that bitterness crossed over into violence?
What kind of monsters did the things they’d done—to innocent people?
Aoife took a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time to debate morality.
Now was the time for action.
She turned towards the man again and tightened her grip on the rifle.
It all happened so fast.
The man stood.
He stood, and he turned around, and so too did the woman.
And just like that, out of nowhere, the pair of them took off and disappeared into the darkness.
Aoife froze. Kayleigh was still, right beside her. Both stood there on this slope, and suddenly Aoife felt very out in the open. She felt very exposed.
“Where the hell did they go?” Kayleigh asked.
Aoife’s heart raced. She didn’t want to entertain the possibility that she’d lost them. That they’d done a runner. Maybe they’d seen her. Maybe they’d seen them both, and they were getting into position, and they were going to launch an attack.
Or maybe there was a simpler explanation. A more innocent explanation.
She didn’t know. She didn’t have a clue. Her heart raced, and her head span.
She had no idea only that she had to get to them. She had to find them. She couldn’t let them escape. She couldn’t let them get away.
She started walking faster. Walking towards the darkness into which they’d disappeared. And she swore she heard things, this time. She swore she heard voices. Whispers. When she turned around, looked up into the trees, she swore she saw movement. Shadows.
No. It’s all in your mind. All in your goddamned head. Keep it grounded. Don’t lose your shit. Don’t lose it. Not now.
“Aoife,” Kayleigh said. “We need to get out of here. We need to go. Something’s not right at all.”
Aoife heard Kayleigh. As always, she heard her loud and clear.
But there was that rival voice. That rival force pulling her in the other direction. That rival voice whispering at her, screaming into her mind.
That image of Gregg’s face.
Of his vacant eyes.
Of the smell of blood.
The sound of screams.
And that deep sense of injustice, right at the pit of her stomach.
“We can’t let them get away,” Aoife said. “We can’t just let them go.”
“Aoife—”
But Aoife wasn’t listening anymore.
She ran around the back of the tents, right where the duo had disappeared.
She held her rifle, ready to fire at anything that moved.
She stepped around the back and went to pull the trigger when suddenly she froze.
Suddenly, everything stood still.
Because standing right there before her, she saw something she didn’t expect to see.
A child.
A young kid. No older than five. A girl, by the looks of things. Dirty. Snotty. Bloodshot eyes as she stared right up at Aoife, right into her eyes, confused.
Afraid.
“What…” Aoife started.
And then she saw more of them.
More kids, just like this one. Men and women, too.
Except these ones weren’t looking at her with confusion.
Some of them were looking at her with hatred.
That’s when she heard Kayleigh.
“Aoife!”
Aoife turned around.
Ran away from the people, as much as it didn’t make sense, as much as she wanted to understand.
She couldn’t leave Kayleigh back there, wherever she was, whatever she’d got herself into.
She stepped back around the front of the tents, and her stomach sank.
People were approaching from the woods by the side of the camp.
Lots of people.
A hell of a lot of them. More than Aoife could count.
But as she stood there, shaking, one thing was for sure.
This was a trap.
This was a trap, and she�
��d walked right into it.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Aoife looked all around and realised she and Kayleigh were completely surrounded.
Torchlights engulfed her. Everywhere Aoife looked, she saw someone. Insurgents holding knives and guns and coming towards her.
Another thing that struck Aoife was just how filthy they all looked. Just how malnourished and pale they all looked. Scarily so. They looked like typical post-apocalyptic villains. The sorts of people she wouldn’t be surprised to learn going full cannibal, or something like that.
And yet… there was something that Aoife couldn’t shift from her mind.
That child.
The child standing behind the tent. The girl who’d stood there, innocent little look on her pale face.
Staring up at her with wide, wondrous eyes.
And then the rest of them.
The children, and the other people, right behind her.
Like they were hiding.
Who were they? Prisoners? Captives?
Something told her that wasn’t exactly correct, and yet she wasn’t even sure why.
She’d come so close to shooting her. To pulling the trigger. She’d committed to firing at anything that moved.
But those kids…
They weren’t what she expected to come across in this place.
Not what she expected to come across at all.
She looked around and held her rifle close, but she knew it was no use now.
She was surrounded.
They were both surrounded.
They’d walked right into a trap.
And that was on her.
She listened to the footsteps hit the ground. She heard the chattering. The whispering amongst one another. She saw those eyes staring at her. Staring at Kayleigh. Like they were the insurgents. Like they were the enemy. Like they were filth.
She saw them all surrounding her. Her heart raced. Her mouth was dry. She could smell body odour. A reminder of how she’d smelled until being fortunate enough to find herself in Sanctuary.
Only she was nothing like these people.
These monsters.
She looked at them all, and she tried to seek out an escape route. Tried to find a way she could sneak between them and get the hell away from these people.