“Cora?!” Erica exclaimed in distress, “Is everything okay?”
Cora swallowed hard, “It’s Emile! Alek’s been shot!”
Erica’s eyes flooded wide open, “What? Where is he?”
“He’s out here!” Cora nodded backwards towards the hospital hallway. Then, she suddenly realised what was going on in this room, “Oh… Congratulations!” She told Adela, who now had a look of complete astoundment on her face. “Mum, come on!” She hurried Erica, nonetheless.
“I’ll be right back, okay?” Erica told Adela as she slipped her hand away from her grip, running after her daughter out into the hallway.
Still sitting at a table in the hotel restaurant, Elliot and Annabelle were playing a little alphabet game with each other.
“Hmm.” Elliot thought hard to himself. “O is for… Oh, Oman!” He proclaimed jovially; the game appeared to be the siblings naming countries that started with each letter.
“Nice one!” Annabelle was impressed that Elliot had managed to name the only country on Earth that began with the letter ‘O.’
Then, Elliot’s radio buzzed. “Cora, Elliot… Are you guys there?” It was Mac; he seemed to be addressing the entire safe zone on an open frequency.
Unknown to neither Mac nor Elliot, Cora was busy right now. Therefore, Elliot would be the only one who responded to the call.
“Go for Elliot.” He responded to Mac upon activating his radio.
“Elliot, we’ve got some new arrivals at the gate.” Mac revealed, prompting Elliot’s brow to raise in shock. “I think you’re gonna wanna come and see them for yourself.”
Elliot tittered at Mac’s unintentional pun, “See them for myself? Are you trying to be funny?” Although he sounded disgruntled as he asked this, he actually found the remark to be more humorous than offensive.
“Crap! No, no! Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” Mac was quick to rectify himself. “I just need you down here, Elliot. The ringleader calls himself ‘Rajan,’ and he’s claiming that The Bandits are back…”
Although Elliot could not see this for himself, he knew that Annabelle’s face had just lit up in fear and anger upon the mention of this group.
“I’m sorry, Mac?” Gwen now butted in on the frequency, “Can you repeat what you just said?”
Annabelle snatched the radio from Elliot.
“Annie! Calm down!” He aimlessly reached out in an attempt to caress and comfort his sister.
But Annabelle ignored Elliot’s rationality. “He said ‘Bandits,’ mum.” She affirmed for her mother. “Those bastards are still around!” She slammed the table with her fist as she declared this.
“Cora told me all about them,” Mac revealed, regaining control of the frequency, “If you want to know more, I suggest you come down to the main gate and let these guys in for yourselves.”
No more than a heartbeat later, Annabelle jumped out of her seat and marched quickly out of the restaurant.
“Annabelle! Come back!” Elliot cried out to her, but she completely ignored him. Sighing, Elliot reached over to the table behind him, grabbing his walking cane from it.
Chapter 13: Every Nook And Cranny
It was a race against time in the operating theatre; not only did Erica have to remove Alek’s bullet as soon as possible, but she also had to combat any poisoning that his bloodstream had taken on from the foreign object.
“Tweezers!” Erica held her hand out for Cora to hand over the object in question.
“Tweezers!” Cora affirmed as planted them in her mother’s hand.
“Alright. Now, Emile,” she looked across Alek’s bed to stare his fiancé sternly in the eyes, “Hold him down firmly, okay? Hold him down like is life depends on it—Because, quite frankly, it does.”
Emile nodded, understanding what he had to do. Without needing to be told twice, he kept Alek pinned down by his arms.
Taking a deep breath, Erica composed herself. “You can do this!” She whispered to her unnerved conscience. Then, remembering that it was now or never, Erica moved in on Alek’s wound with the tweezers…
Nikola, Rubin, Kieran, and Valorie had stumbled across an old electronics shop. The front window had been smashed open, and most of the items inside had already been looted. The glass shards that were scattered all over the floor were all mouldy and dirty.
On the splintery wooden shelves, there were even insects crawling around as well as small plants growing out from all the damp mould.
As Kieran slowly opened the door, a bell rung out above it. “Well, that’s very old-fashioned.” He remarked as he listened to the ringing.
In single file, Nikola, Rubin, and Valorie all entered into the store from behind him as well.
“Spread out,” Kieran suggested, “Check every single shelf, check the back rooms, make sure you thoroughly examine every nook and cranny—Some of the objects on Mac’s list could easily have slipped inside a crevice.” As he said this, he unfolded the aforementioned list and left it on the counter for everybody to check.
“We’ll take the back rooms,” Nikola asserted about herself and Rubin, “You two search around out here in the front.”
Neither Kieran nor Valorie contested this idea.
With their tasks now clearly identified, the group of four split off into their designated two pairs.
“Found anything yet?” Nikola called over to Rubin amidst their rummaging of the back rooms.
“Well, a load of useless crap, but that’s all.” Rubin responded on the negative, finding nothing but empty cardboard boxes and smashed television screens scattered about.
“Oh shit, look at this!” Nikola had noticed something peculiar.
“What is it?” Rubin asked as he made his way to her side.
“Looks to be a doll of some kind.” She remarked as she picked the doll in question up; it was scruffy and rather eerie looking. It had one left eye which was a black button, whilst its’ right eye was nowhere to be seen.
“More like a voodoo doll, I think.” Rubin countered.
“Even so,” Nikola sighed, “A child owned this once upon a time. A child who’s probably long gone by now.”
“Yeah…” Rubin lamented with her.
Valorie was going over the list on the counter; partially to remember herself what objects she needed to gather, but also partially to distract herself from the feeling of grief.
“What the hell does a VHS player have to do with a solar farm?” Valorie enquired to Kieran, having read the final, and rather unusual, point on Mac’s list.
Kieran rose up from underneath the shelf which he was swiping at in order to answer Valorie’s question, “Oh, I don’t think it does have a connection.” He grinned.
“Then why is it on here?”
“Well, you know Mac as well as I do… I think he just loves a good old classic.” Kieran referred to how passionate Mac was about films from the seventies and eighties.
“True—I mean, it’s just weird,” Valorie commented, “I was just a kid myself when VHS tapes were in circulation. Mac has an interest in films that were made over a decade before his time?” This concept was completely alien to her for some reason.
“Maybe that’s because when he was a kid, the films that were being produced were utter shite.” Kieran kidded with her.
But then, the light-hearted atmosphere was shattered.
‘BANG! BANG! BANG!’
Three consecutive and deafeningly loud gunshots were fired off from outside of the store.
“Get down!” Kieran grabbed Valorie as he took her down behind the counter with him. “Don’t make a sound.” He grumbled to her, putting his finger over his lip as he did so.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Valorie complied, slowing her breathing rate as she did so.
The door to the backroom squeaked open, as Nikola and Rubin poked their heads through the gap.
‘Get back!’ Kieran mimed to them, as he gestured with his hands for them to shut the door again.
“We know you’re in there!” The booming voice informed the scavenging group from outside. “We just wanna talk to you, that’s all. Come on out quietly, and let’s get down to it.”
Neither Kieran nor Valorie trusted the man outside; he just had one of ‘those’ voices.
“You heard the gunshots… So, you know if you don’t come out here, things are gonna get a little tense.”
Kieran scrunched his face up in anger at this threat, slowing moving his hand towards his own pistol as his anger rose.
Valorie grabbed Kieran’s trigger hand and pleadingly shook her head at him.
“Why not??” He whispered to her, completely mystified by this action.
She didn’t give an answer.
“I’ll count back from ten if I have to!” The man continued to taunt.
“I could kill him right where he stands!” Kieran grumbled to Valorie, despite not knowing where exactly their unseen foe stood.
Valorie continued shaking her head to dismiss Kieran’s suggestions.
Swallowing his anger, Kieran felt obliged to comply with Valorie’s request, out of respect for his late friend.
“Fine… Ten!” The man had indeed begun counting down.
“I don’t think he’s bluffing, Val!” Kieran groused at her. “Just give me permission—Let me do it!” Again, out of respect for Richard, Kieran was not willing to go against Valorie’s wishes, though it was not above him to pressure her into changing her mind.
“Nine!”
Valorie held Kieran’s hand firmly, deterring him from taking up arms.
“Eight!”
Valorie cleared her throat as she gave Kieran a soft answer, “Because if we kill him… We’re no better.”
“Seven!”
Kieran rolled his eyes, “Val, are you serious right now?”
She nodded sternly, “Think about all the threats we’ve encountered over the years.”
“Six!”
Valorie took Kieran back down memory lane despite the desperation of their present situation, “When Harry, Richard, and I first came across your group, we were being chased by savages.”
“Five!”
“It’s the same reason we didn’t kill them until we absolutely had to: We’re better than that!” Valorie passionately clenched her fists, though still kept her tone low.
“Four!”
“…And that’s what Richard believed.” She affirmed with sombre eyes.
“Three!”
“Like you said, we had to kill them in the end Val!” Kieran reminded her. “It’s the same damn thing right now!”
“Two!” The man bellowed the numbers with more intensity now.
“You hear that?” Kieran pointed up to the window over the counter, “We’ve got two seconds before our heads are blown into oblivion!”
“One!”
“Stop!” Rubin cried out as he threw open the door to the backroom and stepped out into the main area of the store. “I surrender!” He quickly raised his hands.
Kieran and Valorie both looked up at him with worried eyes that said, ‘What are you doing man?’
Without turning his head, Rubin darted his eyes down at Kieran and Valorie and winked at them, as if to let them know that he knew what he was doing.
“Step out here quietly, friend.” The man calmly ordered.
“I’m unarmed!” Rubin desperately noted as he took slow and long strides towards the front door.
Kieran and Valorie remained low, still extremely unsure of what Rubin’s surrender was supposed to accomplish.
“What do you want from me?” Rubin asked, deliberately using a singular pronoun so as not to give away the existence of his comrades.
“We want to know what you’re doing in our territory.” The man stated firmly, though Rubin could still not see him outside.
“Your territory?” Rubin asked in kind.
Kieran and Valorie looked at each other perplexingly.
“We’re The Bandits, and we own these streets.” The man affirmed as Rubin came closer to the door now, just inches away from the counter which Kieran and Valorie were ducked behind. “So, I’ll ask you again,” the man’s rifle could be heard priming, “What are you doing in our territory?”
Swallowing hard, Rubin gently pulled the door open – the bell above it ringing as he did so – and took several steps outside…
…The street was just as dead and desolate as it had always been. There was no sign of life anywhere.
“Yoo-hoo! Up here!” The man called down to the bewildered Rubin.
“Oh.” Rubin was slightly surprised to see the man was standing on the roof of the pub opposite the technology store. “How British.” He remarked to himself.
“So, for the third and final time,” the man’s voice quickly went from neutral to aggressive as he aimed his rifle down at Rubin, “What. Are. You. Doing. Here?”
Rubin’s eye twitched as he passively answered, “I’m just trying to get by.”
The man laughed, “Well, aren’t we all?”
“That’s why I’m here—I didn’t realise this was your territory, for which I am sorry.” Rubin deliberately overdramatised his façade.
The man slowly lowered his rifle, “Well, I guess I could accept your apology… But I’m gonna need something from you.”
Rubin gulped, “As long as I get to walk out of this city alive, you can have whatever it is you want—”
“Your pack, your knife, your gun, your clothes,” the man wasted no time in laying down his demands, “I want everything that you’ve got on you.” He grimaced.
Rubin sighed, “You can have my pack, my knife, and my gun, sure, no problem—But I’m keeping these overalls.”
The man became uneasily silent for a moment.
Kieran and Valorie were peering over the counter now, watching the commotion through the smashed store window with great interest.
Then, the man’s sinister smirk suddenly lit up into an agreeable smile, “Well alright then! You’ve got yourself a deal, my friend.”
Rubin smiled in kind, “Good. I’m glad that we managed to sort that out civilly—”
“Put your fucking hands back up!” A woman ordered as she approached Rubin with a revolver from the alleyway next to the technology store.
Once again, Rubin sighed, “There was really no need for that. I’d just sorted things out with your buddy up there.”
“Shut it!” She ordered as she waved the gun right in Rubin’s personal space. “Don’t play dumb! Your group killed our friend!”
Now, Rubin had suddenly lost his leverage, “I’m sorry? What are you talking about?” He asked the woman in genuine puzzlement.
She flicked her greasy long hair out of her eyes, still holding the revolver up at Rubin as she answered him, “Benji? Remember him? You fuckers were so desperate to get to the safe zone that you killed him!”
Rubin stammered, “I—Ma’am, I assure you, whoever you’re talking about, it wasn’t my group that did that… I didn’t take these roads to get to the safe zone.”
The woman laughed, “Really? Then how did you get in there?”
“My plane fell out of the sky.” He bragged a brief answer, his eye not twitching in the slightest as he declared this.
“Ha!” The woman didn’t believe him. “How stupid do you think I am? You really think I would’ve missed a massive fucking airplane crashing down in the middle of London?”
Rubin shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe you just weren’t looking up.” He tried to be humorous, but this only served to anger the woman even further.
“Don’t play games with me!” She whipped Rubin with the butt of the revolver, causing him to drop his knees and cradle his head.
As Kieran motioned to get up and help Rubin, Valorie held him back, for she had realised a certain something that he had not; Nikola was conveniently missing from the vicinity.<
br />
The other man had now descended from the roof and was approaching his comrade at the same time that she had hit Rubin with her revolver.
“Alright, Donna, take it easy.” The man gestured for her to lower the handgun.
“Why should I, Nolan? They killed Benji!” Donna clenched her teeth as she reminded Nolan of this fact with great anger. “If we take this one out, the score’s even!”
“Oh, but we don’t want to be even, do we?” Nolan murmured to her. “Euan’s got a plan, remember?” He tried to calm her.
As Rubin continued to cradle his head, he noticed something else coming out of the alleyway from which Donna recently had. Whatever it was, it had just made him smile lightly.
“Euan this, Euan that—It’s all about what Euan wants, isn’t it?” Donna refuted. “How about what Kyle would’ve done?” It was clear that The Neo-Bandits had idolised their deceased leader.
Nolan grinned brutally, “Kyle would be proud of Euan’s plan; Benji’s death was only the beginning. They took one of ours, and now, we have a reason to take all of them.” He tried to subtly remind her of what Euan’s plan actually was, whilst also trying to avoid being overheard by Rubin.
‘CLICK!’
“That’s a nice little plan you’re talking about there.” Nikola taunted Nolan and Donna as she approached them with her Glock 17. “Mind sharing it with the rest of us?”
As Donna turned her revolver on Nikola, she felt the tip of a knife pressed against the side of her neck.
“Don’t even think about it.” Valorie advised her in a threatening whisper.
“Nor you, old man.” Kieran approached Nolan from behind, aiming his own pistol at the back of his new nemesis’ head.
Nolan sighed, “You win this round…” Conceding, he dropped his rifle on the ground.
Rubin stretched over and grabbed the rifle by its’ barrel, pulling it along the ground and into his own reach.
But Donna still had her revolver up.
“Just do as they say, Donna. We’re still in control here, alright?” Nolan counselled her rationally.
Human Nature (Book 4): Human Nature IV Page 13