Only it wasn’t. As her mind cleared from the fever she had suffered, she realised that she had been ill but had not died. She suffered exactly the same symptoms, so she thought, but the virus had not killed her. She saw her digital voice recorder abandoned on the floor next to where she lay sweating and shivering. She had left it on and flattened the battery. Hopefully she could charge it in the car when she got moving again, but first she needed water.
She needed water, food and clean clothes. She had to admit, she stank.
She gathered what she needed, taking aspirin to try and numb the pain in her head and body. She found clothes to wear in an abandoned shop after climbing in through the window. She washed with cold water, helped herself to deodorant and fresh clothes before leaving through a fire escape. She paused at the sign which told her that the door was alarmed, and pushed the bar anyway. She doubted there was anyone alive close enough to hear it. She started her car, and continued north.
Completely unaware that she was being watched.
The two men in the car followed her. They kept back in the distance, keeping her car over a mile away when the geography allowed and waiting for the right time.
Dan whistled Ash and told him “IN”. The dog launched himself through the open window of the Discovery. He started to walk sideways, keeping the car in his scope as he moved towards the driver’s side.
“Get in, Marie” he said calmly.
“We’re not going after them are we?” she asked “I don’t, I think, let’s call up the others” she reached for the CB.
“No time” he said, and started the big three litre as she watched the car approach without the need for the optic.
“Female. Alone” he said as he reversed and went to drive down the exit slip to get behind the car. Benefits of no traffic, he thought. He stopped, turning the nose of the car to the left and moving to lean out of the window and raise the gun again.
“What is it?” asked Marie, flustered and more than a little annoyed at him.
He didn’t answer, just reached for the CB.
“It’s Dan, anyone there?” he said, keying the switch.
“Here Boss. Go” Leah snapped back efficiently after a few seconds.
Damn. “Who’s there with you?” he asked.
“Just me. Lexi and Steve are off site, Rich is swimming in the lake and Joe is sleeping off the night shift” she replied, sounding curious.
Shit, he thought. He either had to do this alone and keep Marie safe, or ask Leah to drive to find them. If she left now she could be backing him up in ten minutes. He looked at Marie, agonising over the decision.
“Is she ready?” she asked, reading his thoughts easily.
He nodded and keyed the mic again. “Fastball op, kid. I need you to write the following down, ready?”
A second’s pause, then “Go”
He gave very succinct directions to his current location, then “one vehicle seen, second vehicle looks to be stalking it. Suspect hostiles. I need you to back me up, get on the motorway THE WRONG WAY and follow. Take a car with a CB and go. Now.”
I WON’T LET YOU DOWN
She froze for a second, letting it sink in. She threw on her vest and added the Glock and mags to it then selected her carbine with a scope. Four magazines were charged ready, and she seated one in the weapon before adding the others to her vest. She still had the loaded Walther and a spare magazine on her left hip. She also carried a hidden sheath knife inside her trousers by her kidneys; a short blade, more of a punch knife really. The really disturbing thing about all of this was that she knew how to use them all. If any Kelvin Parkes had tried to abduct this girl, he would have been found piece by piece over the course of a few years.
She opened the cabinet where they kept the spare keys to the vehicles – those brand new ones they had found that was – and threw herself in Steve’s Defender. She fired up the engine and accelerated hard up the driveway.
“At the motorway” came the young voice over the crackling radio.
Dan snatched up the mic “Hard right, down the slip, then back on yourself. Go fast until you find me then tuck in behind me” he instructed.
“Roger” came the reply.
Almost fifteen agonising minutes later she caught sight of the back of Dan’s big discovery cruising along. She called him to say she had him in sight, and he explained what he wanted her to do.
“Next vehicle up ahead is possible hostile. Match speed and force a stop on them, then you go ahead and stop the one in front.” He said.
“Confirm you want me to force stop on hostiles and then chase the other one?” she asked
“YES” he said clearly.
“Negative. You have Marie on board. You force stop and I’ll deal with hostiles” she countered.
Dan nearly threw the mic in sheer exasperation. She was right really, and was only doing what he would do. She had tried so hard to be like him that she now was him, and he hated it. He looked at Marie for help.
“You made her a child soldier; you deal with it!” she said with amusement to cover her rising fear.
Dan shook his head at her and tried again “Negative. You are to assist in forcing a stop and then...” he stopped talking as the vehicle in front started to speed away.
“Change of plan, we’ve been made. Take out hostiles now” he yelled into the radio as he accelerated hard, kicking the automatic gearbox down twice. Marie pressed herself into her seat and looked frightened. He leant over and opened the glove compartment, exposing a Sig and two spare magazines. She stared wide eyed at him.
~
The two men in the car saw the flash of movement as the Discovery crested the rise behind them too close. They never knew that the driver was distracted by a radio argument with a young girl, but their plans were forced into early execution by the intrusion. They planned to follow her to the blockage up ahead and trap her.
Both were concerned it was some kind of government team; a second black 4x4 appeared next to the first, and they were coming hard at them. The girl still hadn’t seen them as they pressed up behind her. They had been anticipating catching her ever since she went to ground somewhere last week, now that she surfaced their excitement was turned to fear.
~
Leah used the power in the gears and brought herself up level to Dan. She had the vehicle with the heavy winch bumpers, not to mention a lot less chrome than his Discovery had. She keyed the radio.
“I’ll take lead and give them a nudge” she said. It occurred to Dan that she wasn’t asking, she was telling. Again, it was the best idea as she had the vehicle which would end their pursuit of the girl instantly. He thought back to the only basis she had for this kind of thing that wasn’t on the television; a demonstration using kids toy cars on how to make contact to stop another vehicle. It was so ridiculous that she had taken such idly given information and turned it into real-world tactics.
“Do it” he said back to her. She looked over at him and nodded, before gripping the wheel tighter and pushing ahead. Dan dropped back a couple of car lengths behind her right quarter. They gained on the car quickly. As Leah got to within ten metres, the passenger window opened and a man leaned his head and shoulder out with a gun in his hand. Definitely hostile.
Leah stood hard on the accelerator and swiped her wheel to the right, hitting the smaller car in the rear doors and pushing it at an angle. She lifted off to give herself space, and saw the passenger aim directly at her as their car lost control and spun. She floored the throttle, hitting the car side on and bouncing it away from her. She lifted off again before stamping down and ducking low to avoid the shot. She hit the car again and peeled off to the left as she flinched away.
She heard a metallic clang as a single round ricocheted off the roof. She glanced to her right and saw the car skidding sideways, then spin so violently back towards her that she didn’t believe they could survive the crash.
The uncontrolled back end of their car had hit a stationary vehic
le which was crashed nose first into the central barrier. It spun out three times before coming to a mangled stop.
Dan timed it perfectly. He saw Leah hit the car and destabilise it, then hit it again to turn it sideways. He saw her final shunt and then she peeled away, leaving the uncontrollable car to smash into the back of an abandoned Vauxhall. The car spun back around the other way, just as he timed it right to squeeze his big vehicle through the gap it left as it went. Marie screamed, and Dan tried to pretend he wasn’t holding his breath.
Leah had come to a stop and had was starting to reverse. She changed the plan again.
“I’ll cover them, you bring the civvy back and help clear it” she said, breathless with adrenaline or fear of both.
“Hurry up” she added.
“Will do” Dan answered, and accelerated hard to hunt down the quarter mile distance between them and the little car.
~
Emma first realised she wasn’t alone when a sound behind her made her glance in the mirror. She saw a car spinning after a big crash, and through the flying debris came a big black vehicle. It got bigger in her mirror.
She panicked. Her breathing was rapid and threatened to become uncontrollable.
The car wouldn’t go any faster; she tried and it just made more noise but the speedo wouldn’t go over sixty-eight miles an hour. She should’ve tried to find a better car.
It gained on her fast, and she knew she wouldn’t get away. She tried to get the laptop from her bag one handed to hide it, but lost speed by doing so. The big car surged past her, pulling in front, and slowed. She tried to get past but lacked the acceleration. It was hopeless. She slowed down to stop and her mind raced with what these people would do to her. The words of the senior analyst came back to her.
“You’re like a hamster on a wheel. We should use you as a test subject”
She stopped, and tried to prepare herself for the worst searching the bag desperately for the gun.
~
Leah climbed over the passenger seat and out of the vehicle to give herself cover. She took the gun with the scope and lay flat on the ground, watching the wrecked car. Both men were still in their seats, motionless. She forced her breathing to slow down and watched both carefully at six times magnification, watching for signs of life and waiting for help to come back.
~
Dan told both of his passengers to stay down then got out and held both hands up in front of him. He kept them away from his weapons, and approached slowly. He saw the young woman frantically moving before coming up with a gun pointed at him held in both hands. He was about to dive back to the cover of the vehicle but couldn’t risk her firing and hitting Marie or Ash.
~
Leah lay flat and watched the two men. The passenger stirred, shaking the shoulder of the driver. She held the reticule over the man's head, hoping she could keep one of them alive to answer questions.
~
Emma panicked. She held the gun shaking in both hands and pointed it at the man who emerged from the big car. He was dressed like a soldier, and he walked slowly with his hands up. She didn't know what to do; but she was sure that she couldn't get away.
Dan kept his hands clear of the weapons, not wanting to scare the girl further; she already looked terrified.
"We've stopped the men chasing you" he said. She was confused; she thought he was chasing her. Her mouth opened and closed but the courage to ask anything deserted her.
"Please put that down, we're not going to hurt you. There's a young girl back there who needs my help and the longer you fuck about the more danger she's in" he snapped. She wanted to trust him. She thought he seemed more annoyed than threateningly.
Marie grew quickly bored of the lack of reassurance coming from her emotionally constipated partner. She carefully put the gun down on the seat and got out, walking towards the car showing her empty hands.
The girl's gun switched wildly between the two targets. Dan considered rushing forward and breaking the window, but now couldn't risk Marie getting hurt.
"Please" Marie called out "we can help you"
Dan took another step forward as the girl's grip on the gun faltered. Just as he heard two gunshots pierce the air.
~
Leah watched him try to wake the driver, then give up and force the mangled door open. It was twisted and bent where she had rammed into the passenger side and he had to kick out to give himself space to escape. He fell to the floor on all fours and looked around, his eyes resting on her Land Rover. He had a big, heavy looking automatic handgun in his right hand and was dressed all in black similar to herself.
He raised himself up, dazed by the impact, and pointed the gun at her.
She fired, hitting him in the lower leg; an easy shot through her scope. He spun to the floor, pulling the trigger and sending a harmless bullet into the air as he fell. She stayed in position, silently willing her hero and mentor to come back. The scream seemed to take an age to escape his mouth; the shock of the pain making it build until it finally escaped and tore the air.
~
He couldn't see Leah or the car from where he was, and shot a pleading look at Marie. "Go" she said to him.
He had to trust that the girl was not a threat, just scared. He threw himself behind the wheel and turned around to launch the big 4x4 towards Leah.
The seconds it took to cover the ground felt like minutes, and he pulled up short to get out. He left Ash in the car with the door open, telling him to stay. Taking cover behind a vehicle and raising his carbine he called out to his protégé.
"Leah!" He yelled.
"Here" came the instant reply, easily heard over twenty metres "driver’s out of it, passenger armed with one in the leg. Covering" she called back, not taking her eye off the bleeding, writhing man.
Dan moved up along the central reservation, keeping the car visible over his weapon and seeking cover from the side where the passenger was.
At five metres away he slowed, sidestepping to his right to get a view of the injured man. He stepped in quickly, kicking the gun away from him.
"Move up" he said.
Leah abandoned the G36 where it was, drawing the Glock from the holster on her chest with a well-practiced hand. She rounded the front of her vehicle and took a line of cover to stand behind Dan, all the while keeping the immobile driver in her sights. The hours of practice showed as they performed their contact drills in silence.
She tapped him on the back, and he slung his carbine to grab the man she had wounded. He dragged him up and held him against the side of the car, looking for more weapons and spare ammunition for the gun. He said nothing and kept his eyes screwed shut. Dan out him back on the ground and moved to the driver's side. Leah automatically switched her aim to cover the man Dan had searched.
He drew the Walther and went to open the driver's door, finding it similarly wedged from the impact. He took his finger off the trigger and smashed the window using the butt of the gun. The driver didn't move as the beads of broken glass cascaded over him; little wonder he thought, as he saw the huge injury to the right side of his head. The skull was crushed on one side just above his ear from the impact and it leaked blood slowly.
He nodded to Leah, and went to the injured man. He was groggy from the crash, and the bullet that passed through his calf had taken enough blood from him to make his face pale.
"Who are you? Why were you after the girl?" He asked. He received no reply other than the man opening his eyes and staring straight through him.
"Who are you?" He asked again, more forcefully.
He smiled, dribbling blood from his mouth and said in a heavily accented voice "fuck you" before his eyes closed and his head sagged. Dan checked for a pulse, finding him alive for now. He left him where he was.
"Good work kid, really good" he said to Leah, prompting a smile of pride.
A noise made him look up, seeing the little car heading back to them. Marie drove, and the girl sat in the passenger seat, hugg
ing her bag with eyes wide as she saw the mess in front of her and still gripping the gun tightly.
They stopped, and the girl stared at the carnage in front of her. She glanced at Leah and visibly did a double take at the child.
"These men were chasing you" said Dan "any idea why?" She shook her head slowly, unable to tear her gaze away from the pool of blood on the ground.
"Dan, this is Emma" Marie said. On hearing her name, Emma snapped out of her trance and looked at him.
"And this is Leah" she finished.
Leah kept her gaze over the sights of her gun still trained on the unconscious man, but said "'sup", trying to sound cool and succeeding.
Emma didn't recognise the men, nor did she know why they were coming after her.
"We'll take him back for questioning, Marie - can you drive mine with Emma?" Dan said.
Marie nodded, but the girl woke up from her daze again.
"No! I've got to keep going!" She said, almost believing it herself.
"Fine, but rest with us and go on after with supplies and a better car" Dan said. Emma didn't think she had much of a choice, and in the back of her mind she longed for a conversation with anyone but herself.
Marie sealed the deal. "Hot showers" she said, leaving the rest to Emma’s imagination.
She shuffled off to the big car and let out a small scream as she saw a huge dog in the window displaying rows of big, sharp teeth. Marie gently reached out and took the gun from her unresisting hands, subtly checking that the safety catch had been on the whole time.
"Ash, heel!" Dan said with a smile, and he slunk out of the open door to stand by his feet.
"Watch him" he said quietly, pointing at the unconscious man. Ash turned a snarl on him, adding a snap of his teeth but got no response.
Society: After It Happened Book 3 Page 7