by Ryan Casey
But now they were actually here, even though other people and other groups were exactly what she’d been looking for… she felt a strange sense of protectiveness over the man she’d discovered. The injured man, hurt in the crash. Thomas Suzuki.
She didn’t want him to fall into the wrong hands.
She looked down at him, lying there, unconscious. His eyes were closed. He’d turned a new shade of pale. Shit. That wound on his head wasn’t good. Definitely needed seeing to—and fast.
She heard those footsteps and those voices getting closer, and she knew she should seek help. They might have supplies. They might be able to help her.
But at the same time…
She needed to weigh them up first.
She needed to figure out whether they could be trusted.
She tightened her grip around his armpits, and she dragged him back through the woods, towards the thicker trees, away from the fire, away from the flames.
Rex walked alongside her, not really helping. She kept her eyes on where she’d heard the voices. Still didn’t see anybody. But she knew they were close, and she knew they’d be here soon.
She needed to get this man into the woods. She needed to lay low. To hide.
She needed to get him away from anybody else.
She kept on dragging him, so hard she felt like she was going to pull the muscles in her back, when suddenly she saw them.
Three of them. Just silhouettes at this range. Dark silhouettes closing in on the helicopter, closing in on the burning remains.
They were so close. So close that they’d see Aoife. And when they saw her… they’d want to know what she was doing.
She needed to be sure about them before she could let them anywhere near this guy.
She kept on dragging him along, being careful to keep quiet, being careful not to draw any attention to herself, when suddenly she felt something wrap around her foot.
And before she could stop herself, before she could help herself, she felt herself falling back.
She hit the ground rather pathetically and… well, unpainfully, all things considered.
But as she lay there on the ground, she could hear those voices. Hear the footsteps. Hear the shouts and the cries of amazement at the discovery.
And she knew simply standing might be a risk at this point.
She didn’t want them seeing her.
She might just be best laying low right now.
Laying low and waiting for them to pass.
If they passed at all.
Because chances were, they won’t going to leave any time soon.
She lay there. Heart pounding. Listened to them talking amongst themselves. Listened to their cries of amazement. And as she stared up at the stars, she knew someone else would be here soon. She knew that more people would arrive.
She knew she couldn’t wait here forever.
But she could wait here just a little longer.
She held her breath, patted Rex’s fur, lying there in the tall grass, when suddenly she heard something.
A shout.
A shout that made her stomach turn.
Because that shout.
It came from the man in front of her.
He was awake.
Thomas was awake.
She heard the voices stop.
Heard a few people asking each other questions. Asking what they’d heard.
And then she heard the footsteps heading this way.
And as she lay there, listening to those approaching footsteps, a sense of defensiveness kicked in again.
She didn’t know who these people were.
She didn’t know if they could be trusted.
Especially with Thomas.
She heard them getting closer when she did the only thing she could think to do at this moment.
She stood up.
Raised her bow and arrow.
Pointed it at the man standing opposite her.
“Not another move.”
The man raised his hands in an instant. Behind him, another bloke and a woman, both staring at her, clearly unsure. “Hey. We—we don’t mean trouble.”
“Then step away. Right now—”
“I need help,” Thomas said. “I—I need help. Please.”
The man opposite Aoife looked down into the grass with wide eyes. Frowned.
“Who’s that there?” he asked.
And Aoife knew she should just tell the truth. She knew she should be honest.
But there was something about this man. Something she wanted to protect about him.
“It’s none of your business.”
“Sounds like our business,” the woman behind said. “He sounds like he’s struggling. Sounds like he’s in pain.”
“He’s none of your business.”
She stood there. Listening to Thomas gasping on the ground. Staring at the trio opposite. Aoife holding her bow and arrow. Pointing it at them.
A palpable tension in the air.
“Listen,” the man said. “I don’t know who you are. And you don’t know who we are. But the only way we’re gonna get anywhere right now is by co-operating. There’s a helicopter. A damned helicopter in the middle of these woods. And you’re here trying to keep some wounded fella to yourself. You’ve got to know how that looks. Right?”
Aoife heard the man’s words, and she started to wonder if he was right. She was being rash. Overreactive. These people, they didn’t seem bad. They seemed… normal. Ordinary. Just like her.
The man took a step closer. “I’m Kyle. This here’s Gina, and back there, Rupert. We’re from a place not far from here. We can help you. You look like you need it. But you’ve just gotta let us in. You’ve just gotta trust us.”
Aoife held on to the bow and arrow. Hands shaking. So close to letting go of that arrow, releasing it.
“Come on,” Kyle said. “Lower that bow, and we don’t need any more of this crap. We can start again. Okay?”
Aoife didn’t want to lower her bow. She didn’t want to weaken herself like that. Make herself more vulnerable.
But she heard Kyle, and she knew what he was saying.
She lowered the bow.
Kyle smiled. Nodded. “Now.”
Aoife didn’t have time to think.
A sudden pain from nowhere, in her right shoulder.
Then Kyle running at her.
Punching her across the face.
Knocking her to the ground.
And as she lay there, all she could focus on—beyond the fuzzy daze she was in and beyond the pain—was Kyle standing there over Thomas, wide-eyed.
“Well, shit,” he said. “What do we have here?"
CHAPTER TEN
“What do we have here?”
Aoife lay there on the grass, head spinning, shoulder aching like mad. She had no idea what’d happened, only that these fuckers had ambushed her somehow. They’d made her lower her guard. Made her trust them.
And now she was on the ground, and she was in agony, and these people—four of them, not three—were surrounding Thomas.
“Please,” Thomas said. “I… I need help. To get back. This wasn’t supposed to be how it went. This wasn’t—”
“Ssh,” Kyle said, putting a finger over his lips. “Don’t you get yourself all worked up. You look like shit as it is. No. You rest. We can get you back to our place. We can get you stitched up. And then you can tell us exactly what happened. Exactly how you ended up here. Shit. I can’t even believe you survived this. I can’t believe it.”
Aoife grabbed the arrow in her shoulder. Tried to pull it out, but the pain was so intense it almost made her pass out.
But at least all the attention of this group was on Thomas.
At least she had an opportunity to blend into the background.
To get the hell away and then somehow stop them from taking Thomas.
She gritted her teeth. Grabbed the arrow again.
Then she yanked it out of her shoulder.
Internally, she cried. Screamed. Fuck. It’s done now. It’s done.
But she felt like passing out. Felt dizzy. Felt sick. Bad idea. She should’ve left it in. Might’ve stopped the bleeding a little while longer.
Through the haze of pain, she heard Rex growling lightly. Cheers, Rex. Fat load of good you’ve been.
She turned around then and saw Kyle staring right down at her.
He didn’t look at her with those wide, terrified eyes anymore. He looked down at her like she was a piece of dirt on his shoe.
“Well,” he said. “You look like you’ve got yourself in a real mess, don’t you?”
“Fuck you,” Aoife spat.
“You could’ve just co-operated. You could’ve just talked to us. You didn’t have to throw a hissy fit like you did. Oh well. You made your bed…”
“Whoever he is… you don’t hurt him. Don’t—don’t hurt him.”
“Hurt him?” Kyle said. “Why the hell would we hurt him? There’s only one person here who was hurting him by not helping him, and that’s you.”
Aoife knew he was partly right. She should’ve trusted these people. But then… fuck. She didn’t know what the right thing was to do. She had no idea.
Only that she shouldn’t have let her guard down.
She should have fired an arrow into this bastard’s throat the first chance she got.
Kyle reached down, then. He grabbed the bow from her hands, put it over his thigh. “It’s a good bow. But I don’t think you’ll be needing it anymore.”
And then he snapped it in two, right over his thigh.
“Kyle!” the woman who’d fired at Aoife said.
“What?”
“That was a perfectly decent bow. You didn’t have to frigging snap it.”
Kyle shrugged. “Chill out, Laura. You’ve got your own. Don’t need another one.”
“There’s no such thing as too many bows. Keep the arrows, at least.”
Kyle looked down at Aoife again as she lay there, clutching the wound on her shoulder. It hurt like mad.
She looked back up at him and wanted to stand up. Wanted to fight him. Wanted to frigging stab the bastard for what his people had done to her. For their betrayal.
But then… could she blame them, really?
“We play nice with people who play nice with us,” Kyle said. “You’re not one of those people. You tried to hide this guy from us. And for that… you deserve whatever comes your way.”
He reached down, then. And Aoife didn’t realise what he was doing to her. Not at first.
Not until she felt the binds around her wrists. Around her ankles.
And then, before she could do anything about it, the gag around her mouth.
She tried to shout. Tried to shake free. But it was no use. She was stuck. She was stuck, and she was bleeding out.
And they were going to leave her here.
They were going to leave her here to whatever fate awaited her.
“Better move you away from the helicopter,” Kyle said. “I’m sure there’ll be plenty of folks coming this way. Not sure I’m keen on you being found right away.”
He lifted her up, the woman called Gina holding her by the ankles. They dragged her along, Rex barking alongside them but not really doing anything. They walked her and walked her further and deeper into the woods. And then, before Aoife could do a thing to stop them, they dropped her to the ground.
She landed on her right shoulder.
Screamed from the pain of the wound hitting the ground.
So painful, she tasted vomit.
“Ouch,” Kyle said. “I’m sorry about that. Really, I am. But maybe it’ll make you think about what you’ve done. Maybe it’ll give you a bit of time to really consider your actions. And when you have… maybe then, come see us. Come find us. And we’ll see about co-operating.”
He turned around, then. Walked away.
“You can keep the dog,” he said. “But I don’t think he’ll be sticking around much longer. Not with you like this.”
Aoife shouted out. Shouted all kinds of things. Writhed and shook, but it only made the binds tighter, only made the pain worse.
She watched as Kyle walked away into the darkness.
Turned around. Half-smiled at her.
“Good luck,” he said.
And then he walked off, into the darkness, into the woods.
Leaving Aoife and Rex completely alone.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Aoife lay there on the forest floor, the pain in her shoulder getting more and more intense, and she had no idea how the hell she was going to get out of this mess.
It was pitch black. The night felt like it was dragging on forever. She couldn’t see the glow from the flames anymore. She had no idea how far away from it Kyle and his band of fuckwits had dragged her. She just knew that it felt like quite a long trip.
And now she had her hands and legs tied back, and she was gagged.
Alone in the darkness.
And only Rex by her side.
She cried out a few times. Shouted as loud as she could. But she realised, with her voice muffled by the gag, just how pathetic she sounded. Just how ineffective her cries were. They were just swallowed up by the silence of the night.
Rex looked at her a few times. Raised his ears rather nonchalantly. He didn’t really seem to clock on that she was suffering, that she was in deep shit, and she wanted to get out.
Besides. What the hell was he going to do anyway? Bite her out?
No. This wasn’t on Rex. This was on her. She’d got herself into this mess. She was going to have to get herself out of it.
She didn’t hold much hope that she’d be able to.
She tried to pull her wrists apart, but they were tightly bound. Her ankles were the same. Bastards. Obviously, she felt a bit shitty now for pulling the bow and arrow on them, telling them to get fucked. Especially because it was out of this weird sense of protectiveness over Thomas.
They were right. Who was she to try and keep him to herself?
But then… this reaction. Shooting her in the shoulder with an arrow when she’d lowered her weapon. Tying her up and dragging her out into the woods, leaving her to die.
This was an overreaction if ever she’d seen one. A thoroughly dickish move.
She’d catch up with them. She’d get Thomas back from them.
And she wasn’t going to be as patient with them next time.
But first… yeah. The small matter of breaking free of her ties.
That was a bit of a problem.
She looked around. Looked for something nearby that she could grab and use to cut herself free. But there was nothing. No blades. Nothing sharp. Nothing at all.
And that arrow wound. That wasn’t helping. She was growing shivery. Felt sick as hell. Wasn’t sure how long she’d been here or how long she had left.
Only that she needed to get the hell away from here—fast.
She pulled at the ties around her wrists again. Then the ones around her ankles. She pulled and pulled until she was all out of strength, and then she just let her body soften and flop into a heap.
She didn’t know what the hell to do. She was stuck. She wasn’t going anywhere. She had nothing to cut herself free with, and there wasn’t anything nearby that could help.
She was fucked. Well and truly fucked. And maybe it was time she accepted that. Consequences of her actions, and all that.
But no.
Thomas. What secrets did he hold?
Where had he come from?
Who were this Order of Light mentioned on his tag?
She took as deep a breath as she could, trying to cut through the pain, through the fear, through the sense of defeat running through her.
She wasn’t just rolling over. She wasn’t just giving up.
She was getting the hell out of this mess.
Or she’d die trying.
She looked around again, trying to find something she could use, somethin
g that could help her. Pretty much anything would do at this point.
She looked and looked and looked, got to the point of considering giving up, when she saw it.
Right there, in front of her.
The tree.
A long, sharp branch dangling down from it.
In reach?
Maybe.
Just maybe.
She shuffled around on one side, doing whatever she could within the limitations she had right now. That wound on her shoulder, the throbbing pain growing stronger and stronger.
She dragged herself over to the tree. Every movement a chore. Every single push painful, excruciatingly so.
She pulled and pulled, Rex wandering along nice and calmly alongside her, and she shook her head.
Fat load of good you’ve been. But hell am I glad you’re here.
She reached the side of the tree. Saw that branch dangling down, just out of reach.
She tried to reach up for it, but it was useless. There was nothing she could do.
She wasn’t within range. And she couldn’t stand. Couldn’t even kneel.
She was fucked.
She was about to scream into her gag when suddenly it hit her.
Rex. He bloody loved fetching sticks.
If she could get him to fetch this.
She looked at him. Right into his eyes.
“Fetch,” she tried to say, under the gag.
He turned his head. Mostly because it sounded nothing like “fetch” at all.
“Rex,” she mumbled again. “Fetch. Fetch!”
But he just sat there looking at her like she was a weirdo.
She closed her burning eyes. She wasn’t sure how much more she could keep pushing like this.
Only that she had to keep trying.
“Rex,” she said. “Fetch. Fetch!”
And then something amazing happened.
Rex got onto his back legs.
He yanked that loose piece of wood from the tree.
Snatched it to the ground.
And then he stood there with it in his mouth, staring at Aoife.
She lay there, smiling. Almost frigging crying in all truth.