by Ryan Casey
He listened to that rustling. To those footsteps. And for a moment, he wondered whether he was just overreacting. People lived here, after all. There were bound to be people out there. There was bound to be movement.
But still, Noah felt that curiosity.
That uncertainty.
He had to get out there, and he had to see who was wandering around.
He stood up. Crept his way over to the dark zip in the tent. Grabbed it, pulled it down. Wished he had a weapon by his side. But Bill had seen to that. Confiscated all weapons. A tough thing to agree to, but he got the logic.
Outside, he saw stillness. Tents and caravans. The dark outline of trees behind like fingers reaching up into the starry night sky. A cool breeze. A freshness to the air. Unpolluted. Untainted.
He stood there a few seconds. Looked around for a sign of movement. Might’ve just been an animal. Could’ve just been his mind playing tricks. If there was one thing for certain, it’s that he couldn’t possibly be totally sane after what’d happened at the compound. He was bound to have issues.
He took a deep breath. Sighed. Went to zip the tent door down.
That’s when he saw it.
Movement.
Over to the left.
He stood there. Froze. Squinted into the distance.
It looked like somebody was sneaking around over there. But it was hard to tell. It looked small. Like it could be an animal, perhaps.
His heart raced. He thought about shouting out. Ringing the alarm. There were guards at this place… oh, shit. Of course. There were guards. Why was he so damned worried? It was probably a guard wandering around. No need to get melodramatic. No need to lose his shit.
He went to step back into the tent when he saw something that almost made him jump out of his skin.
“Barney,” he said. “Shit. Where the hell did you come from?”
Barney stood opposite Noah. Panting. Tongue dangling out.
Noah crouched down. A sadness every time he saw Barney. A reminder of Jasmine. He stroked Barney’s head. Tickled his chin. “You shouldn’t creep up on me like that. Go on. Head on back over to Eddie’s tent. He’ll keep an eye on you.”
But Barney wasn’t budging.
Looked like he wanted to hang around Noah.
Noah stroked Barney some more. “I mean, you can always stay here. If that’s what you want.”
He looked over at where he’d seen that movement, heard those footsteps. Even though he knew it was a guard, he was awake and disturbed now. So he figured he might as well get out there. Investigate for himself.
He stood up. Walked with Barney across the cool grass. He knew it was probably risky. If a guard saw him, they could ring the alarm. Hell, he hadn’t met everyone here yet. They might not even realise who he was.
He walked further across the grass, past the caravans, past the tents. And as he waded along, the bright moon shining down from above, he thought about how lucky they were that they’d found this place. Sure, it wasn’t perfect. It had its problems. But it was as ideal as they were going to get. The people here seemed good. The supplies were good.
And his friends were here.
Eddie.
Kelly.
Barney.
All of them were here.
He took another step when he saw movement shuffling in front of him.
He frowned. That movement, it didn’t look like a guard. Too sneaky. Why would they be sneaky?
“Hello?” Noah called.
He crept further towards that movement.
Barney pinned to his side as Noah peered into the darkness.
He got closer. Heart racing. Sweat dripping from his forehead. Probably in his head. Probably all a figment of his imagination.
But that movement.
It creeped him out.
He took another step closer to the spot he’d seen it.
A large boulder sat there.
Big enough to hide a person.
He clenched his jaw.
Held his breath.
And then he stepped around it.
A cat hissed at him. Almost made him shit himself.
And then it ran off into the woods.
Noah laughed. He rubbed a hand through his hair. Shook his head. “I really need to get my shit together, Barney. Come on. Let’s get back. Try and get some more kip.”
He noticed something, then.
Barney was growling at something.
“It’s okay, lad,” Noah said. “Just a cat. You can quit playing the tough guy now.”
But when Noah looked at Barney, he noticed something else.
Barney wasn’t growling at the cat.
He was growling at something in the other direction.
Behind Noah.
Noah spun around—
He didn’t even have a chance to react as the cloth covered his face.
Kicked a few seconds.
Tried to shout for a few seconds.
But then his thoughts went cloudy and drifted as he fell to the ground, back to the softness of bed, back to comfort, back to the warmth of the night sky and…
Chapter Thirty-Six
Kelly opened her eyes and immediately knew she was in the shit.
She didn’t know where she was, only that her legs were bound, and her arms were, too. She tried to cry out, but her mouth was covered. For a moment, she thought she was back at that compound, imprisoned, trapped, caught up in that hell she’d gone through for however many weeks it was. She thought her whole escape might’ve been some kind of dream, only because it felt so damned good, it felt more like a nightmare than anything now she was awake again.
But she wasn’t blindfolded.
And she wasn’t in the compound.
She was on her back. Being dragged along by a piece of rope. She twisted and turned as branches and twigs scratched her face and tore her clothes.
And then she saw him beside her.
Flat out.
Unconscious.
Being dragged along, just like her.
Noah.
She looked up at the rope, up towards the people dragging her. She didn’t know what the hell was happening. How the hell she’d got here. Only that there were two figures, and they were dragging her and Noah off somewhere.
Shit. The last thing she remembered?
Going into Eddie’s tent.
Relieving some of her… well. Her frustrations, let’s say.
Her heart fluttered a little. Not ’cause she was in love with Eddie or any bullshit like that. She didn’t believe in love.
But Eddie was sweet. He was innocent.
And she’d given him a gift that hopefully would boost his confidence and his self-esteem for years to come.
Sure. He’d gone off before he could give her much in the way of relief.
But it just felt nice to connect with someone like that again.
Nice to be desired again.
There was something kind of sweet about it.
And about him.
She’d fallen asleep by his side, and the next thing she knew, she was waking up here, wherever the hell in the woods this was, being dragged away.
One of the duo, covered by darkness, turned around. Looked at her. “Oh, thank God for that. She’s awake.”
The other bloke—the one dragging Noah—turned around too. “Well. That’s a development. Let’s get her on her feet. She’s bound, and we’re armed. She’d be stupid to try anything.”
As the man dragging her alone reached over, cut the ties around her ankles, she thought she recognised his voice. Just for a moment.
And then he held out a hand, and it clicked.
Bill.
Shit.
She frowned at him. He could barely hold eye contact with her.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Really. Nothing personal. I’ve just got to think about my people, you know?”
The realisation built as the man dragging Noah stepped into the glow of the moonlight.
/> Paul.
That bastard.
That slippery bastard.
Fuckers.
Kelly shook. She tried to nut Bill’s hand out of the way.
Kicked out at him, right in his chest.
Bill shook his head. Sighed. “Don’t make this difficult for yourself. Last thing I want to do is hurt you. You seem nice. But seriously. You’ve got to listen to Paul here. You’ve got to see the bigger picture. You’re important. The pair of you are important. You could help us. You could save people. Don’t you want to save people?”
Kelly thrashed at her ties. What bullshit had that smirking bastard fed him? What had he made him believe?
She was angry with Bill. Furious with him.
But the bulk of her anger was reserved for Paul.
Noah was right.
They should’ve killed that bastard when they’d had the chance.
“Come on,” Bill said, yanking her gently to her feet, as gently as he could anyway. He seemed genuinely torn about this. Genuinely conflicted. “The sooner we get this done with, the better. The sooner we can start helping more people. Saving more lives. That’s what you want. Right?”
Kelly just stood there. Shook her head. It was all she could do. She felt betrayed. And yet she couldn’t hold any anger for this guy. He’d been promised some bullshit, no doubt about that. He wanted what was right for his people. For everyone. Wouldn’t she do the same in his shoes?
“Well, look at that,” Paul said, his voice like nails on a chalkboard. “Looks like Noah’s returned to the land of the living, too.”
Noah’s eyes were open. Confused. He looked around, cautious for a few seconds. And then he saw Kelly, Paul, and Bill, and the realisation kicked in. He kicked out. Thrashed around.
Paul walked over to him. Dragged him to his feet a lot more roughly than Bill had. “Are you going to let me cut your feet free so you can walk? Or am I going to have to drag you the rest of the way?”
Noah lunged at him. Pelted into him, head-butted him right in the jaw.
Paul staggered back. Anger on his face. Rifle in hand.
And then he swung that rifle.
Cracked it right across Noah’s head, knocking him unceremoniously back to the ground.
“I guess I’ll just have to drag you, then.”
Kelly watched Paul turn around, start dragging Noah along, and she felt desperate. She didn’t want to go back to the compound. She’d seen the horrors some people had been through there—worse horrors than she and Noah had—and she didn’t want that for herself. She wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Even if they couldn’t get anything out of her, anything valuable, they’d torture her and Noah for what they’d done. For the chaos they’d caused.
She looked at Bill. Saw him glaring, wide-eyed, over at Paul, and particularly at Noah. Like he didn’t like this. Like he didn’t want to be a part of it.
And Kelly just looked at him. Begging eyes, as sweat trickled down his face.
Please. Please don’t do this. Don’t be a part of it.
“Bill?” Paul said. “Come on. We need to get moving. If this one isn’t going to cooperate, we need all the time we can make.”
Bill looked over at Paul.
And then back at Kelly.
Rifle in hand.
Caught in a state of confusion.
Of turmoil.
“I… I’m not sure I…”
“What?” Paul said. “What was that?”
Bill looked around at Paul, and he lifted his rifle.
“I’m not sure I can…”
It all happened so fast.
A blast out of nowhere.
An explosion.
Kelly didn’t understand what it was. Thought it might be Bill at first, or Paul.
But then she saw the hole in the side of Bill’s neck.
Saw the whole right side of his face in pieces.
Fragments of skull.
Of brain.
He stood there a few seconds as his brain tumbled out of his skull. Tried to stagger forward, back.
And then he just fell to the ground in a heap.
Kelly looked up at Paul. Half-expecting it to be him. He’d shot him. He’d gunned him down.
But Paul just looked on.
Shock on his face.
Like he hadn’t done this.
Like he didn’t know what was going on, either.
He looked at Kelly, and she saw the fear in his eyes.
“What—”
And then the figure appeared right behind him, and blood spurted out of his neck.
Paul’s throat was slit. The blood pooled out, thick black, red. He clutched at it. Gasped. Gargled. Choked.
And then he fell to his knees and landed on his chin, which just opened the wound even more.
Kelly stood there.
Frozen.
A dead Bill twitching by her side.
Paul gargling and gasping and trying to hold on to life.
And then the darkened figure stepped forward.
Shotgun over her shoulder.
Wiping the bloodied knife against Paul’s white clothes.
Barney by her side.
“Looks like you two could use a hand,” Zelda said.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Noah got to his feet and still couldn’t believe what the hell had just happened.
Paul lay dead in the grass. Well. He looked dead, anyway. Kept twitching every now and then. Gargling. Shaking. Thick black blood, dark in the night sky, pooled all around him, soaked into the grass. Barney licked at it. Seemed to be enjoying it quite a lot. Noah let him. Paul didn’t deserve much else.
Bill lay dead, too. Bill was definitely dead. Zelda’s shotgun had blasted his face wide open. Popped his skull, sent his brains tumbling to the ground. He felt a little more sympathy towards Bill. In those final moments, it looked like he was in the midst of a turning point. Of an epiphany. Even though what he’d done was shitty. Even though he’d sold them down the river in the name of whatever the hell Paul had promised.
And even if Noah’s head ached like mad after being cracked by Paul’s rifle.
Bill wasn’t the snake Paul was.
But at the end of the day, he’d tried to fuck Noah and Kelly over.
So what happened, happened.
No time to mope or feel sympathy for anyone like that.
Zelda didn’t look fazed. Walked over to Noah and Kelly. Cut them both free. “You and your friends have an awful habit of needing saving. Starting to get a little bit annoying.”
“Yeah, well I’m sorry,” Noah said. “I’ll do my best not to get ambushed in the night in future.”
“Good. So you should.” So matter of fact. So to the point.
Kelly cracked her neck either side. “Bill. You didn’t have to shoot him. He was…”
“Oh. I’m sorry. It’s just to me it looked like the pair of you had been captured. Like you were in deep shit. But really. I’m sorry for helping you out.”
Kelly shook her head. “Nah, I’m grateful. Really. I just… I just wish it didn’t have to happen like this.”
She looked down at Bill’s one good eye still staring out. That slight smile still etched at the corner of his face, permanent now.
“What brought you out here anyway?” Noah asked.
Zelda shrugged. Kept on wiping her knife. “I don’t sleep great. I can get by on a couple of hours, so it’s fine.”
“I might’ve known you were some kind of robot,” Kelly said.
Zelda ignored her. “Heard some commotion. Saw the animal running around.”
“The animal has a name,” Noah said.
Zelda ignored him. “Saw tracks. Looked like there’d been a struggle. Followed them. And then I saw you guys being dragged along like slaves. And now here we are. But really. You can thank me later.”
Noah nodded at her as they walked back in the direction of Colebridge. “Thanks. Really. I just—”
“I know
what you’re going to say. Bill. What happened to him. It’ll be hard to explain to the people of the camp. But we’ve just got to do our best. We’ve just got to be honest and tell the truth. And if not… well. We’re all armed. If we have to take that place by force and rule with fear for a little while, then so be it.”
Noah shook his head. “You really are cold, aren’t you?”
“It’s got me this far. No plans of changing that any time soon.”
They walked further back in the direction of the camp. Kelly was quiet. Not saying much. Unusual for her.
“It’ll be alright,” Noah said.
She looked around at him. “Huh?”
“We’ll figure something out. We’ll tell the truth. Or maybe we won’t even have to.”
“It looks a bit convenient, though, doesn’t it?” Kelly said. “We’ve barely been here a few hours, and already one of the most respected guys in this place is dead.”
“To be honest, I’m more worried about Paul.”
Kelly narrowed her eyes. “Really? You’ve changed your tune.”
“I’m not worried about him being dead. He can rot for all I care. I just… I still think he knew more than he was letting on. And that could’ve been useful. Like you said all along.”
Kelly sighed. “I guess. But at the end of the day, we don’t really have a choice anymore, do we? We’ve just got to keep moving. Keep cracking on. One step at a time. And like Zelda says… if we have to stand our ground, we stand our ground. Nothing’s ever permanent in this world. Never has been, but we see it more than ever now. But we’re still here. We’re still standing. And that has to count. Right?”
Noah nodded at Kelly. “I guess you’re right.”
“Looks like we might have to start explaining things a little sooner than we hoped,” Zelda said.
Noah frowned. Looked ahead.
People in the campsite. Outside the tents. Guards searching everywhere.
“Shit,” Kelly said. “They must’ve heard the gunshots.”
Noah swallowed a lump in his throat and lowered his rifle. “Well,” he said. “Here the hell goes nothing.”
He took a deep breath and stepped out, towards Colebridge, towards the campsite.