by Ryan Casey
She felt a hand on her shoulder and she yelped.
Another hand covered her mouth, and her eyes opened, fear paralysing her body.
When she saw who it was, she felt something different. Like her body was lighter. Like everything was okay again.
The nasty man’s body was on the caravan floor. It looked like he was bleeding from his head.
And in front of her, it was him.
It was Scott.
Chapter Fifty-Five
“Holly? It’s Scott. You’re okay. I’m here for you now, darling. I’m here.”
Even though it was dark, I couldn’t get over how broken down Holly looked. It was painful to see. She was shaking, and she looked pale. But other than that, she looked unhurt. No bruises. Nothing like that.
For that much I had to be relieved.
But at the same time, it just furthered my resolve that something had to be done about Phillip.
I put my hand on her arm again, and she flinched once more.
“Ssh,” I said. “I’m going to get you out of here. You and Lionel and…”
I didn’t say Haz’s name, because I’d seen the state he was in when I came in here. I’d knocked the man who was threatening Holly to the floor of the caravan, and I’d hit him hard on the head. I was sure that this man couldn’t have survived a blow like that. Especially when I’d hit him again.
I didn’t have long to do what I had to do.
I freed Holly from her cuffs. And I felt relief flush through my body when I was done; like the first part of my goal had been achieved, even though I knew I had such a long road ahead no matter what happened.
“I’m just going to check on Haz, okay?” I said. “I… I’ll check on him and then we’re going to leave. We’re going to go far away from here, to somewhere safe. Okay?”
Holly looked at me with uncertainty. She clearly didn’t know who could be trusted anymore.
I looked beside her at Lionel, who was sitting there with his ears back, wagging his tail.
A smile stretched across my face as I started to cry. “Good lad,” I said. “Good lad.”
I patted his head, and he licked my hand.
I’d be damned if I didn’t get the whole lot of us out of here.
I moved over to Haz, past the decapitated heads, then. It was the bit I was dreading the most. I didn’t want to face up to losing another friend, or seeing another friend in a terrible state. No. That wasn’t going to happen. I was going to get Haz out of here. He was going to make it.
When I reached him, I saw that his eyes were open slightly, but he was bleeding all over. His face was bruised, swollen up to twice its normal side. His breathing was raspy and forced. He was barely recognisable. Seeing him this way just made me feel like I too had been beaten, because what happened to the group happened to me now, too.
We were all one.
“Haz?” I said.
Haz peeked through the slits between his eyelids, right at me.
“Haz, it’s me. It’s Scott. I’m here for you. Okay?”
Haz sounded like he started to talk. Then, he just started coughing and spluttering.
“Ssh. It’s okay. You don’t have to talk.”
“Shouldn’t have come here,” Haz said.
I shook my head. “Don’t you be stupid. Of course I should.”
“He won’t let us get away. None of them will. They’ll… they’ll stop you. Before you can leave.”
I looked down at my rifle, then back up at Haz. “That’s not going to happen.”
I could see then that Haz was crying. His teeth were cracked at the front. He was a broken man, literally.
“Come on,” I said, reaching for his side. “Let’s get you out of those cuffs.”
I uncuffed Haz’s chapped wrists, but even that wasn’t easy. It looked like he’d been pulling against them, trying to escape.
Eventually, I got there. Haz was free.
“Now let’s get you on your feet.”
I tried to lift Haz up, but he was even heavier than I’d expected. Not just that, but he winced loudly as I tried to lift him.
“It’s okay,” I said, as we fell back down. “We can do this.”
I tried to stand again with Haz by my side, but this time it was even more difficult. It was like I’d unsettled what was already broken, leaving the pieces falling apart.
I knew I couldn’t persevere forever. I needed to get out of this place, Holly and Lionel too.
We didn’t have forever.
But I wasn’t giving up on Haz.
I went to lift him again when I heard the footsteps approaching, the voices rising in volume.
“They’re coming,” Holly said. “They’re coming, Scott.”
“Go,” Haz said. “Leave me… leave me here.”
I shook my head, the weight of the situation dawning on me. “I won’t leave you behind.”
Haz put a withered hand on my arm. “Holly. She’s… she’s the most important one. Remember the promise you made. The promise you made to Sue. You promised you’d look after her.”
“Scott they’re really close.”
“I can’t leave you,” I said.
“I’m done for anyway,” Haz said.
He half-smiled at me, as painful as it looked, and he seemed totally defeated.
I knew right then, tears rolling down my face, footsteps oncoming, that I didn’t have much time.
I knew what had to be done.
“I can… I can make you more comfortable,” I said.
Haz shook his head. “I want to look them in the eye.”
“Haz, you don’t have to—”
“There’s no choice. Not anymore.”
“They’re nearly here, Scott!”
I looked back at Holly. I could see and hear people approaching from outside.
Then I looked up on top of the caravan at the sunroof.
It was the only place I could think of.
It was the only way we could go.
I pushed it open, then lifted Holly up through it. After that, with some struggle, I managed to push Lionel up after her.
Then it was just Haz and I.
I stood and stared at him for a few seconds, unable to accept what was happening, unable to believe that another of my people—my friends—was leaving me.
“I’ll hold them off as long as I can,” Haz said.
I nodded. “You’re a good man. A strong man.”
“You too. The strongest person I’ve ever known.”
There was a pause. Then the moment I knew was coming finally arrived.
“Goodbye, Scotty-boy,” Haz said.
I wiped the tears from my face and smiled. “You might be in the shit but you’re still not calling me Scotty-boy. That’s never okay.”
Haz smiled back, painfully. “Whatever.”
I turned away, then. Climbed up into the shaft.
I looked back down, just before I climbed my way out, joining Holly and Lionel on the roof.
“Goodbye, Haz,” I said.
And then I climbed away, leaving Haz on his own as the people made their way up their steps and towards the “WORKERS” caravan…
Chapter Fifty-Six
Haz listened to the footsteps climbing up the steps towards the caravan and he felt his whole life flash before his eyes.
Even though it was dark, late at night, Haz swore he felt a light from above. It was the same light he’d felt above him when he’d had his incident. He didn’t like to talk about his incident with anyone. He didn’t even like to think about it, because thinking about it made it all the more real in his mind, and if there was one thing Haz had learned in his twenty-eight years on this earth, it was that he couldn’t let his mind run wild because bad things happened when he did.
But after the incident, when he’d lay in a hospital bed hooked up to all kinds of drips and needles, he remembered, for the first time, feeling this warm light above, and a total sense of calm running through him. He wasn’
t sure whether it was the drugs at the time, but now he was sure it wasn’t, because he wasn’t drugged up right now and he could feel that calm again.
Even though he had been beaten to within an inch of his life.
Even though he was alone.
And even though he was certain he didn’t have long left.
The footsteps moving up the steps of the caravan seemed to take forever. He wasn’t sure whether time was slowing down because his body was slowing down. He didn’t know why it was happening, not really.
All that he knew was that he was calm. He was at ease.
That, for him, was something.
He’d been a wreck for six years now, ever since he’d left university. He’d been a relatively sociable guy at uni. Not one of these wilds lads you hear about on the internet. Just someone who liked to go out, have a few drinks, and got along with pretty much anybody. He was well liked, and he had a large circle of friends.
So many years on and it was hard for Haz to believe that side to him had ever existed at all.
He felt tears rolling down his cheeks, and they stung at the cuts and bruises on his face. He thought about his mum, and all the help she’d tried to give him, which the anxiety had got in the way of. He thought of his friends, all promising that they’d stand by him, but gradually falling away, one by one. He thought of all those dominos in his life toppling over and eventually leading to the incident where not living seemed superior to living after all.
He remembered coming around. Recovering. And the bliss that had come with that, for a time. It was like someone had hit a reset button on his life, even though there wasn’t much radically different going on. It just felt like he had a fresh start.
And then not long after that, when he was falling into a rut once again, the power had gone out.
He felt himself smiling then. Because for all its downsides, for all the loss and the pain that he’d been through since the blackout, Haz had actually had some happy times. He’d made some real friends. Genuine friends. And he’d felt like his life actually had a purpose.
He’d felt brave. Which was something he never thought he’d feel.
The door flew open then. He felt a twinge of nerves building up inside him. There were lots of them. Twenty, at least.
They were led by Phillip.
Phillip looked around the caravan, and even though it was dark, Haz knew what the expression of his face would be. He’d be mortified. He’d be furious that Holly and Lionel were gone; that Scott had actually come here and taken them away.
And Haz found himself actually opening his mouth and laughing at the thought.
A few of Phillip’s group turned to him, Phillip included. There was a pause, as they tried to figure out why Haz would be laughing, in spite of everything.
“What’s so funny?” Phillip asked, stepping forward towards Haz.
Haz couldn’t talk. He was too weak. All he could do was laugh and cry at the same time, as thoughts of all his friends filled his mind; as the memory of Scott, Holly and Lionel climbing out of here and getting away filled him with joy.
They had got out of here.
They were his friends.
They were going to be okay.
Phillip crouched right opposite Haz. He pushed a knife to his throat. “I’ll let you live if you tell me where the hell they were going.”
Haz could tell from Phillip’s voice that he was trying to intimidate him. But he was beyond intimidating. Way, way beyond. He stopped his laughter, just for a second. “I don’t know,” he said.
The knife pushed further against his neck.
“And—and if I did know, I’d rather die than tell you.”
He closed his tearful eyes and started laughing again. This time, he knew he didn’t have long left to laugh. So he thought of Scott and Lionel. He thought of Holly, Aiden and Sue. He thought of Remy. Of Jenny. And he thought of Hannah.
All of them sitting together inside a tent, a fire crackling just in front of them, laughing and joking together.
Because you didn’t need electricity to create moments like those.
You didn’t need power to create friendship.
Phillip tilted his head to one side and sighed, the knife still to Haz’s neck. “Very well, then.”
He pushed the knife as hard as he could.
And for a moment, Haz felt panic. He felt fear. He felt the anxiety creeping up inside his body once again.
But not for long.
He looked Phillip in the eye and he smiled.
The light above him got brighter.
He was going to see his friends now.
He had been so brave, and he was going to see his…
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Phillip sat on the edge of his bed and listened to the thunder crackle outside.
The rain lashed down heavily from above, marking summer’s true end. This was it now. They were heading into the flooding season, as it now was in the UK. It hadn’t always been quite as dramatic as it was nowadays. But over the last couple of years, winter floods had been a real problem, affecting villages and small towns, mostly in this area of the country.
He just had to hope the floods wouldn’t wreak too much havoc now it was their sole responsibility to fend for themselves.
He sat in the total darkness and he felt himself shaking. He was alone. And not only that, but he felt so far from home, too. He’d come here because Scott had been heading here—with his people. And when he’d got here, he’d been surprised to find that Mike had vacated the place, instead choosing to push on to some mythical sanctuary or other.
Phillip didn’t believe in sanctuaries. He believed in justice, and he’d served justice to Scott’s friends, who had helped him ransack his supplies and escape. He’d felt guilty about what he’d done, sure. He felt ashamed of what he’d had to do to those other people; the ones Haz and Holly were with.
But that was just the way of the world now.
That was the monster he had to be willing to be.
He closed his eyes, options opening out in front of him. On the one hand, he didn’t like this place. It scared him. Besides, Mike could show up back here any time, and that wasn’t something he wanted to think about too much.
But on the other hand, it was a better location than their old home. It was in a good position in relation to the woods and the lakes. It was ideal, and no surprise that Mike valued it so much.
But it wasn’t home.
And Mike had left here, after all, in search of a better place.
So what if it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be?
He leaned back against his bed. Tomorrow, he’d make a decision. It wasn’t going to be a popular decision, but he wasn’t a fool. He knew where Scott would be going, with Holly and Lionel. He knew where he’d be taking her.
The sanctuary.
And for that reason, Phillip had to go there too.
Because he had unfinished business.
He would not be made a fool of.
He was about to roll over and get under his covers when he felt a presence standing over him.
He opened his eyes and went to grab his knife.
Then he felt something sharp slam into the middle of his chest.
The pain was instant. It spread right around his body. He could feel warm fluid pouring from his chest muscles, and he knew it was blood.
There was a man above him, holding onto a knife. He was pushing that knife further into him, moving closer to his eyes.
It was when he was right up close that Phillip realised exactly who it was.
“I didn’t want to have to do this,” Scott said. “Not when I came back here. I just wanted to know that Haz was okay. But then I saw. I saw what you’d done to him and I knew what I had to do.”
Phillip’s heart raced, which didn’t help matters as more blood poured out of him. His head spun. “Ga—Gary!”
“Gary won’t hear you. I’ve made sure of that.”
He pushed
the knife further, harder.
Phillip grew rapidly more light-headed, still in disbelief that this was really happening, that this was the end.
“You can pass out soon. But not yet. Not until I’ve had my say.”
“Please,” Phillip muttered, like it’d make any difference. “I didn’t… I didn’t…”
“I used to be afraid of pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I used to be afraid of trusting other people, because I was afraid of losing them. And you’d think with everything that’s happened that it’d be even more the case now, wouldn’t you? You’d think I’d be terrified to ever trust anyone again.”
Scott pulled the knife out of Philip. It was like tearing a scab off a wound.
“But that’s not what’s happened,” Scott said. “I trust people more, now. I am closer to people more, now. Holly. I’ll do anything to protect her. To make sure she’s safe. And if that means killing other people who I think might be a threat to her… well, that’s just the man I’m going to have to be.”
He turned away, walked over to the caravan door. Rain lashed down outside, the wind rattling the caravan, sounds muffling and drifting from Phillip’s consciousness.
“Please,” Phillip said, clutching limply at his bleeding chest. “Don’t… don’t just go. Help me. Help me. Please.”
Scott’s dark silhouette looked back at Phillip. And as lightning flashed, Phillip saw the total look of hate on his face. “That’s what those people I was with cried at you when you ordered your people to kill them. And you showed no mercy. None at all. So spare me the bullshit.”
He turned around and stepped outside, into the rain.
“You can—you can have this place,” Phillip said. He realised how pathetic he sounded, how desperate, especially when there was no guarantee he was going to survive even if he was miraculously seen to by an expert. “It’s all yours. If you just help me.”
Scott stopped then. And in the light of the moon, he smiled. “You can keep it,” he said. “Goodbye, Phillip.”
“No! Please!”
Scott slammed the door shut.
Phillip was left trapped in the darkness.