by Wood, J N
‘We didn’t want to kill them,’ Emma quickly said, noticing the sister’s worried exchange. ‘That was never the plan. They just, you know? They got in our way and…’ She looked away, her words trailing off.
‘I had to kill them,’ Jago said. ‘The girls were pinned down. If I hadn’t done it, they’d have shot Emma and Beverley.’
Rohan looked to Beverley and lifted his chin, flicking his eyes over to the door.
‘Yes,’ Beverley said, standing up. ‘It’s getting late. You make yourselves comfortable down here. The downstairs bathroom is opposite the front door, and the kitchen is next door, just down the corridor. We’ll be upstairs if you need anything. Try and remember not to turn the lights on.’
‘Okay thanks,’ Jack said. ‘Goodnight.’
‘Goodnight,’ Beverley replied, as the four of them left the room.
It wasn’t until we heard bedroom doors closing upstairs that Sandra spoke up. ‘I know we’ve said it already,’ she said. ‘But let’s leave at first light. I don’t like that Jago guy.’
‘What if there were some soldiers shooting at you and the kids?’ I asked her. ‘Would you not like me if I killed them to save you?’
‘That’s not the same,’ Sandra said.
‘Why not?’ Ali asked.
‘It’s just not,’ Sandra replied. ‘Let’s get some sleep.’
Ali looked to me and let out a frustrated sigh. I shrugged my shoulders and found an empty corner to lie down.
DAY TWENTY FOUR
Chapter 2: Thieves
I was woken up by the living room door swinging open, followed by Rohan’s voice. ‘Army patrol,' he whispered. ‘Keep quiet.’
I quickly sat up in the dimly lit room, spotting Rohan’s top half as he leaned in through the doorway.
‘What do we do?’ Jack asked.
‘Nothing,’ Rohan replied. ‘Just keep quiet. We’ll let you know if you have to move. We’re keeping an eye on them.’ He stepped back into the corridor, leaving us in our stunned silence.
‘Stay quiet,’ Ali whispered, standing up from one of the sofas. ‘But be ready to move.’
We all carefully pulled aside blankets and very slowly rose to our feet. There was only a sliver of light trying to work itself between the gaps in the curtains. Sandra was shushing the kids as they wondered aloud what was happening.
‘What time is it?’ I asked.
‘Keep away from the front windows,’ Ali instructed. ‘We don’t know how much can be seen through the curtains.’
‘Okay,’ I replied, picking up my things and stepping away from the window. ‘Time?’
Ali opened her mouth to answer but Rohan’s head appeared again in the open doorway. ‘Okay. It’s time to move,’ he rapidly said. ‘The soldiers are going from house to house. Follow me.’ He disappeared through the open doorway again.
‘Everybody move,’ Ali ordered, removing the last remnants of sleepiness clinging onto me.
I followed at the rear as we all funnelled out of the living room. Beverley stood in the kitchen doorway, beckoning us towards her. ‘Come on. Hurry up,’ she whispered, before turning around and stepping away.
When I entered the kitchen, Beverley was at the back door, impatiently glancing at us and then outside. Freezing cold air rushed in through the open door.
‘Go over the fence at the back,’ she told us, pointing outside. ‘Then go east. That’s right. We’re going west. Good luck.’ With that, she turned and ran outside.
The sound of doors opening and people barking orders from the front of the house spurred us into action. Without another word, we all rushed into the back garden. The shadows from the trees that surrounded the house stretched across the lawn. As I ran, the low sun flickered into sight through the gaps in the woodland beyond.
Ali and Roy reached the fence first, both easily climbing over the four foot high wooden panels. I risked a glance behind me. Beams of torchlight hit the inside of the closed curtains. I could hear the harsh crackle of walkie-talkies from the house.
Pete was handing Max over the fence to Ali when I caught them up. Sandra was just about to lean over the fence to get Seth, so I picked him up and passed him to her. Roy was already placing Jonah onto the ground on the other side. I quickly joined them, in amongst the cover of trees and bushes, Pete followed close behind me. For some insane reason, Beth was precariously balanced on top of the fence, crouched down and looking for a way off. Jack was reaching for her.
What are you doing Beth? Just step off it for fuck’s sake.
‘Get off me Jack,’ Beth said. ‘I can still climb over a fence.’
‘Quiet,’ Ali hissed. ‘Get down from there Beth.’
Jack ignored Beth’s request and held onto her hands as she jumped to the ground. Once she was down and hidden behind the fence, Beth glared at her husband, shaking her head.
Ali shifted to face us. ‘Stay low and keep moving.’ Crouching down, she turned and moved further into the trees. We assumed the same position and followed her.
The sound of the soldiers searching the town was becoming quieter and less distracting as we tried to work our way through the thick undergrowth. After a good thirty minutes of difficult and sweaty work, especially after ten minutes in when I was handed a very tired Max, we stopped for a break. Ali handed out bottles of water from her bag.
‘I filled these up last night,’ she informed us. ‘This is all we’ve got until we find somewhere to fill them again.’
‘We need a car,’ I pointed out. ‘And some roads would be very useful.’
Jack plucked his phone from his pocket, saying, ‘I charged my phone last night. Just give me thirty seconds.’ He pressed the power button on the side.
We all stared at the phone in his hand.
Jack glanced up to see us staring. ‘Sorry, it always takes ages to turn on.’
‘What are you going to do?’ I asked. ‘Order us an Uber?’
‘The map on it should work if I can get GPS,’ he replied. ‘It’ll be more accurate than the shit map we’ve been using.’ He looked down to see the screen flash into life. ‘We have power,’ he declared.
‘We can’t risk going back to Lindell Beach,’ Ali said. ‘Where’s the next closest place?’
‘Okay. Just wait a minute,’ Jack told her. ‘She takes a minute to warm up.’
‘Jesus Christ Jack,’ I said. ‘You need a new phone.’
‘Where’s your phone?’ Jack asked me.
‘In my bag,’ I muttered. ‘The one I left on the school bus.’
‘Exactly,’ Jack said. ‘So shut up and be grateful.’ He started swiping his thumb across the screen. A very long minute or so later, he exclaimed, ‘Fucking hell! I’ve got reception.’ Jack’s eyes grew larger as his phone vibrated in his hand. ‘I’ve got a lot of messages.’ He studied the screen, before looking up to Beth. ‘They’re from you.’
‘They will be won’t they?’ Beth said. ‘I haven’t just sent them. They’ll be from three weeks ago.’
‘Hang on,’ Jack said, glancing at me. ‘There are a couple from Joanne.’
I stepped towards him, trying to read Joanne’s words. ‘What did she say?’
‘They’re not recent,’ he said, pulling the phone away from me. His voice was going a few octaves higher as he stretched his arm out. ‘She says she’s sorry for the bad timing but she’s leaving you.’
‘Yeah very good,’ I said, reaching out for the phone. Jack was grinning and still trying to evade my grasp. ‘Give me the phone twat face,’ I told him.
‘Calm down,’ Jack laughed, and passed me his phone. ‘Here, give her a ring.’
‘Let’s sort out where we’re going first,’ Ali said.
Fucking hell Ali. Thanks very much.
‘We can look at the map on my cell,’ Theo nonchalantly said, his phone held loosely in his hand. ‘I’ve had service since we first got into Canada.’
‘You fucking what?’ I asked, dumbfounded.
‘Why did
n’t you tell us?’ Sandra asked, snatching the phone out of his hand. ‘We’re all trying to get in touch with people.’
Theo looked at his cousin, obviously shocked by her sudden outburst. ‘Nobody asked me,’ he said.
‘You’re an idiot,’ Pete said, shaking his head.
‘Why didn’t you speak up last night when Beverley asked us?’ Sandra demanded.
‘I didn’t want her to take it.’
Jack turned to me and pointed at his phone in my hand. ‘I’ve already gone to Jo’s number. Just click on it.’
My thumb was actually trembling as it pressed down on the screen. I stepped back a few paces so I was away from the group and put the phone to my ear.
For a long time there was just silence, before an English accented voice said, ‘You’ve reached the number of Joanne Taylor. Please leave your message after the tone. Once you have…’
I pulled the phone away and looked at Jack and Beth’s expectant faces. ‘Straight to fucking voicemail,’ I explained.
Beth shrugged. ‘Better than nothing.’
I heard the beep and swivelled around to face away from everyone, quickly lifting the phone back up. ‘Joanne, it’s Chris,’ I blurted out in a rush. I managed to take a breath and calm down before I continued. ‘I’m in Canada with Jack and Beth. Call me on Jack’s phone when you get this message. I love you.’ I cancelled the call and slowly spun back around, desperately trying to remember my parent’s mobile numbers and the landline number for Jo’s parents. I quickly read Jo’s two text messages, sent twenty four days ago. Both were just a few words, asking if we were okay. I sent her a text, telling her to call us, just repeating what I said in the voicemail.
‘The closest place is Cultus Lake,’ Sandra was saying. ‘All we need to do is follow the edge of this lake.’ She paused and looked around, before pointing into the trees. ‘I think it’s down there somewhere. It’s also called Cultus Lake.’
‘How far away is the town?’ Beth asked.
‘About four miles,’ Sandra replied.
Feeling deflated, I stepped back into the group, handing Jack his phone. ‘Thanks. Don’t suppose you have Jo’s parent’s phone number on there?’
‘Strangely enough, no I don’t,’ Jack replied. ‘Sorry.’
Releasing a long sigh, I said, ‘We better get moving then.’
Using Theo’s phone, Sandra guided us down to the edge of the lake. For the most part, the trees down by the water weren’t as closely packed together, so it was an easier route.
Half an hour later Ali brought us to an abrupt stop. ‘Everyone stay real still and quiet,’ she whispered.
I scanned the woods looking for soldiers.
‘Just there,’ she said, pointing to something in front of us.
I peered into the trees. I was just about to ask what she was talking about, when in the distance, a yellow coloured bear stepped out from behind two trees.
‘What kind of bear is that?’ I asked. ‘It is yellow isn’t it? It’s not just my eyes.’
‘It’s a Kermode Bear,’ Max answered. ‘They are yellow.’
‘Good boy Max,’ Sandra said.
‘Never heard of them,’ I muttered.
For a few minutes we all stood in silence, watching the bear foraging for something or other. He eventually wandered out of sight.
‘Well, you learn something new every day,’ I said after we’d started walking again. ‘A Kermode Bear.’
It took us another hour and a half to get to the outskirts of the town.
‘What do you think?’ Ali asked.
Crouched down next to Ali, were myself, Roy and Pete, trying to stay hidden at the edge of the woods near the town. All we could see were a few houses and part of a road. From what we could see, it looked and felt like when we’d first entered Lindell Beach, empty.
‘No idea,’ I replied. ‘We’re gonna have to risk heading in. Hopefully the army are still busy in Lindell Beach. They must be spread pretty thinly.’
‘Come on then Chris,’ Roy said. ‘Shall we go for a wander?’ He looked at Ali and Pete. ‘You two stay here. There’s no point in all of us getting caught.’
‘Okay,’ I sighed, reluctantly getting to my feet.
‘Twenty minutes and then come back here,’ Ali told us. ‘Keep quiet. You don’t want to draw attention to yourselves.’
‘Well yeah, obviously,’ I said. ‘See you in a bit.’
I pushed aside the few low hanging branches blocking my exit and stepped onto the quiet street. Seconds later Roy was next to me.
The only sounds we could hear were our footsteps as we walked.
‘It’s very quiet,’ Roy said.
We’d already passed three houses. All with at least one car parked on the drive or on the street.
I patted Roy with the back of my hand and stopped walking. ‘What are we gonna do here? Search the whole town for any sign of the army? Why not just take two of these cars and fuck off?’
I desperately wanted to speed this up.
Roy stopped a few paces ahead of me, his eyes slowly tracking along the vehicles closest to us, seeming to consider what I’d suggested. After a few seconds, he shrugged and said, ‘Yeah, might as well.’
I smiled up at him. ‘Good. Let’s get Ali and Pete before we steal some cars. They can help.’
Ali’s head appeared out of the trees when we returned. ‘That was quick,’ she said.
‘Chris suggested stealing two of these cars,’ Roy told her, pointing behind him.
‘Yeah, let’s just get out of here,’ Pete said, his head appearing next to Ali’s.
Ali spun around to face her cousin. ‘There might be soldiers at the end of the street. That’s the only way out,’ she said, pointing behind me and Roy, before turning back to face us. ‘How about you two carry on with the search of the town? It doesn’t have to be the whole town, just check the area near here. We’ll get vehicles.’ She flicked her thumb between herself and Pete.
‘Why didn’t you suggest that in the beginning?’ I asked. ‘We just wasted five minutes.’
‘I felt like I was making too many of the big decisions,’ Ali replied. ‘Roy said to do a search of the town, and I didn’t want to take charge again.’
I spun around and walked away. ‘Just take charge,’ I told her. ‘It’ll speed everything up.’
We retraced our steps back down the street, listening for anything that could signal danger. The water was still on our right. I glimpsed slithers of it between the houses as we passed them.
We made it to the T-junction at the end of the road and stepped onto what we assumed was Columbia Valley Road. Before we left the others in the woods, Sandra told us this was the road we would have to take to get out of this town.
‘You go left and I’ll go right?’ Roy suggested. ‘Meet back in five minutes?’
‘Yeah can do,’ I said. ‘Just be careful though. I think the town is that way.’ I pointed in the direction Roy would be headed. ‘If I’m a bit late, don’t panic too much. I’ve got no way to tell the time.’
‘Just count. When you get to one hundred and fifty, turn around and come back.’
‘Good idea. See you in three hundred seconds.’ I walked along the side of the road, counting in my head and trying to stay in the shadows of the trees.
There wasn’t anything here. The wind in the trees kept me company as I walked, and that was about it. I thought about the abandoned cat. The one I was stroking when the newspaper with the horrible fucking news hit Beth in the head.
I hope Joanne is taking care of Ted. Hopefully she was able to stay in our house. Whatever she’s done, she wouldn’t leave him behind. She loves that dog as much as I do. I’m almost certain the little shit loves Jo more than he loves me.
There was still no sign of life when I made it to one hundred and fifty. Because of my day dreaming, I’d lost count a few times so I was probably behind, time wise. I turned around and headed back, finding Roy waiting for me at the T-junction.
He glanced at his watch and raised one eyebrow.
‘Close enough,’ he said.
Ali was waiting for us, leaning against the side of a black Mazda. A red Volkswagen Golf was parked next to it.
‘I’ve sent Pete to get the others,’ she said. ‘Is it all clear?’
‘As far as we can tell,’ I replied, and pointed to the cars. ‘Why did you pick these?’
‘They had the most fuel,’ she replied. ‘And the houses they belonged to were unlocked.’
‘Sensible,’ Roy said, nodding his head and giving the cars the once over.
‘They’ll do,’ Ali said. ‘We found some food and water. I split it and put it in the cars.’
I peered into the back window of the Mazda, spying the bags lying on the back seats. ‘Good, I’m starving. Better not tell your sister you stole people’s food as well as their cars.’
Chapter 3: Dust Clouds
A few minutes later, I was sat in the driver’s seat of the Golf. Jack was next to me in the passenger’s seat. Beth, Roy and Theo were in the back.
‘We should have asked Beverley and her friends how far north the inner border is,’ Jack said, looking at the map on his phone. ‘If we go too far south we risk getting too close to the proper border, which means lots of soldiers. But if we go too far north, we risk getting too close to the other border, which means.’
‘Yeah, yeah, we get it,’ I interrupted. ‘We’re just gonna have to take it as it comes.’
‘Just take us the way you think is best Jack,’ Beth told him. ‘If there is something in our way, we’ll deal with it.’
‘Thanks,’ Jack said. ‘No pressure on me then.’
‘Are you sure you’re okay with us all going to Milk River first?’ Theo asked.
Nobody was answering, so I looked in the rear view mirror to find him looking at me. ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘It’s in the same direction isn’t it? We’d be taking the same route anyway. Might as well see you lot off.’
‘I got my cell back from Sandra,’ Theo said. ‘I’ll look for some alternative routes if we need them.’