The Last Survivor (A Wilde/Chase Short Story)

by Andy McDermott

  She turned her head – and saw him.

  Surprise and relief jostled for position on her face, the latter winning out. He gestured, trying to communicate silently that he was about to slip through the gap and creep up on the Nazi. She nodded in understanding —

  Kroll paused, his gaze flicking back towards Nina – and noticing that her expression had changed. He turned to find out why …

  And spotted Eddie at the opening

  His gun came up—

  Eddie threw himself backwards to the floor as bullet holes exploded in the drywall where he had been standing. Plaster fragments spat over his face, briefly blinding him. He rolled to get clear – as another bullet ripped through the wall and blasted concrete chips out of the floor beside him.

  Kroll fired another shot at the wall, hoping to hit the man who had been lurking behind it, then rushed towards Nina. ‘Get off me!’ she yelled, pushing him away—

  The USP’s butt cracked against her head. She gasped, feeling as if he had just driven a spike into her skull. Before she could recover, the Nazi dragged her to the centre of the room.

  He tugged the noose down over her head and yanked on the cable hooked over the pipe, pulling the loop tight around Nina’s neck. The redhead clawed at it, managing to clutch her fingers around the wires, but he kept up the pressure, forcing her knuckles against her throat. She struggled, but was unable to break loose of his hold – and before she could resist, he had lifted her on to the crate.

  He hauled harder on the cabling. Nina’s eyes went wide with fear as the noose pulled upwards and tightened still further around her neck. She almost fell, desperately shifting her weight to remain upright. The crate’s upper surface seemed to shrink to a pinhead. She struggled to choke out a word: ‘Eddie!’

  Eddie heard his wife’s strangled cry. He jumped up, grabbing one of the ductwork sections as he rushed to the opening.

  Nina was wobbling on top of a wooden box, the hangman’s rope taut above her. Kroll turned away from his prisoner to locate her husband, raising his gun as the Yorkshireman pushed through the gap—

  Eddie hurled the ducting.

  The boxy metal piece hit Kroll’s outstretched arm as he pulled the trigger. The round went wide and smacked into the wall beside the window.

  The Nazi lurched back, then took aim again—

  Nina lashed out with one foot, almost losing her balance – but managed to catch Kroll in the ribs. He staggered, another bullet cracking past the Englishman as he charged.

  Eddie hit the Nazi head-on, knocking him backwards. ‘Natalia!’ he yelled as he wrestled with the other man. ‘The cops, get the cops!’

  He clamped one hand around Kroll’s wrist and shoved it away from him just as the younger man fired. The window burst apart in a cascade of glass spearheads.

  Kroll tried to twist the gun towards his opponent’s head, but the Englishman slammed an elbow into his ribcage, making him convulse in pain. He took advantage of the Nazi’s momentary distraction, sweeping his hand along his arm to catch the gun and knock it from his grasp. The weapon spun through the broken window and fell to the construction site below.

  The Nazi shot a dismayed glance after his pistol; then, realising he had lost his advantage, summoned up a desperate burst of strength to force his adversary back towards Nina. Eddie swerved sideways just in time to avoid a collision with his precariously dangling wife …

  Only for Kroll to kick the box out from under her.

  Nina dropped two feet before the cable snapped taut. Her clenching grip on the noose literally saved her neck, as her straining arms absorbed much of the force of the abrupt stop – but she couldn’t prevent the loop from pulling crushingly tight, her trapped fingers grinding into her throat.

  Eddie instantly released his grip on Kroll and swung a fist at his face. The punch missed, the Nazi reflexively jerking back, but it accomplished its goal, deterring him from an immediate counter-attack. That gave the Englishman the moment he needed to grab Nina by her legs and lift her upwards. Eyes bulging, mouth gaping in a silent scream, she tore at the noose, loosening it just enough to tug it up over her chin.

  Her husband lowered her. The knotted wires scraped over her face, briefly catching her nose before coming free. Eddie hunched to drop her to the floor, already turning to face Kroll – only to take a painful blow to his head as the Nazi charged at the couple.

  They both fell to the bare concrete, Eddie managing to twist to let Nina land on top of him. The combination of the hard landing and her weight drove the air from his lungs. He grimaced, pushing her aside in anticipation of Kroll’s next attack—

  It didn’t come.

  The Nazi hesitated, the hatred in his eyes telling the Yorkshireman that he wanted nothing more than to smash his boot down on his enemy’s face, but instead he broke for the exit. ‘Natalia! He’s coming, run!’ Eddie yelled as he scrambled back upright. ‘Get out of here!’

  Now it was his turn to hesitate, his head telling him to pursue the Nazi before he could catch the young woman – but his heart demanding that he help his pregnant wife first.

  No contest. ‘Nina! Are you okay?’ The noose was caught in her hair; he worked it free and tossed it aside.

  She drew in a whooping breath. ‘Yeah, yeah!’ she managed to croak. Red marks were already visible on her neck, from both the strands of the wire noose and her own knuckles. ‘I’m all right. Where is he, what happened?’

  ‘Natalia’s going to get the cops – and he’s going after her. But I need to—’

  ‘Go on, go,’ she said, struggling to her feet. ‘Get after him!’

  ‘You sure you’re okay?’

  ‘I’ll be right behind you. Go help her!’

  Eddie gave her a last look, then turned and ran after Kroll.

  Natalia hurried down the stairs, panic rising as she heard running footsteps growing louder behind her. She glanced upwards as she reached the second-floor landing, glimpsing a shadowy figure practically vaulting down the steps to the third floor. With a frightened gasp, she continued her descent, again looking up to see the man gaining on her—

  The moment of fearful distraction was enough to make her misjudge her footing in the near darkness. Her sole skidded over the edge of a step, and she fell with a scream.

  Her cry was harshly truncated as her head hit the wall. She tumbled to a painful stop in the corner of the stairwell. Dazed, she tried to sit up—

  Hands yanked her forcefully to her feet.

  ‘Get up!’ Kroll snarled in German. ‘You’re coming with me. If you try to escape, I’ll kill you!’ He dragged the woozy woman down to ground level. She heard her name shouted from above.

  ‘Eddie!’ she managed to cry. ‘Help! He’s—’

  The Nazi slapped her hard across the face. ‘Shut up! Keep moving!’ He pulled her through the lobby of the unfinished building and out into the open. He was about to head for the gap in the fencing when he spotted something lying on a mound of sand amongst shards of broken glass.

  The gun.

  He changed direction to scoop it up, shaking sand out of the barrel before pushing it against Natalia’s side and driving her onwards to the fence. ‘Go through!’

  With no choice, she obeyed, Kroll squeezing through the opening right behind her. ‘Move, run, run!’

  Eddie leapt down the last few stairs to the ground floor. Natalia’s shout had told him that Kroll had caught up with her, and as he emerged from the building, the sight of their footprints making a sudden diversion to a sand pile with a distinctively shaped impression on its top also warned him that the Nazi had recovered his gun.

  He could be waiting in ambush …

  The Englishman ducked and jinked sideways to take cover behind a cement mixer, eyes rapidly scanning the construction site. Nothing. Kroll’s instincts had gone to flight, not fight. He hurried to the fence.

  ‘Eddie, wait!’ Nina called from inside the building, breathless. He looked back, seeing her reach the lobby – then
dropped again at a gunshot.

  ‘Get down!’ he shouted. Nina hurriedly took cover. Another shot, but he had already realised that the gunfire was not aimed at him. It was coming from somewhere down the street. He pushed through the gap. The alley where Kroll had dumped the stolen truck was not far away.

  Two shots. Two cops—

  ‘Shit!’ He ran to the alley, slowing to check around the corner.

  The Nazi was not in sight. The truck was still parked near the other end, driver’s door open. He raced towards it—

  Tyres shrilled as a car set off at speed. Eddie glimpsed the police vehicle as it flashed past the alley’s entrance. No sirens – it wasn’t the cops who were driving. He ran to the street, finding one of the officers lying on the ground clutching both bloodied hands to his stomach. His partner was slumped against a wall nearby, grimacing at the pain from a wounded arm as he struggled to pull his radio from his belt.

  ‘Here,’ Eddie said, tugging it free for him before looking down the street. The stolen Taurus was heading south at speed, and he could see Natalia’s silhouette in the rear seat. ‘Call it in—’

  ‘No shit,’ gasped the cop.

  ‘And tell Detective Martin from the 12th Precinct that Eddie Chase is going after him!’ Before the man could reply, he hurried back to the truck.

  Nina reached the vehicle at the same time. ‘Eddie! What happened?’

  ‘He’s got Natalia,’ he said as he climbed into the driver’s seat. ‘Shot two cops and took their car.’

  She opened the passenger door and joined him. ‘Give me your phone, I’ll call nine-one-one.’

  ‘They’re already on it. Buckle up!’ The keys were still in the ignition. Eddie started the engine and shoved the gearstick into reverse, over-revving before letting out the clutch with a bang and sending the vehicle lurching backwards out of the alley. He spun the steering wheel, stamping on the brake pedal to send the truck into a skidding J-turn that left it pointing down the street after the escaping police car. The cop broke off from his radio call to shout for him to stop, but the Yorkshireman had already slammed the truck into first gear and set off in pursuit.

  Nina had only just managed to fasten her seat belt before being thrown sideways. ‘Jesus, Eddie! You remember I’m pregnant, right?’

  ‘So that’s why we’re always out of ice cream!’ he replied, working through the gears to pick up speed. Ahead, the Taurus had been forced to brake hard at an intersection to avoid a car crossing its path, slewing almost sideways before Kroll could recover. He accelerated again, but the truck was already closing the gap.

  Nina looked past the police car. ‘He’ll have to turn soon.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because he’s running out of island!’

  She pointed. Ahead of the Taurus was the elevated Franklin Delano Roosevelt Drive, which ran along the shore of the East River. A moment later, the flare of brake lights told them that Kroll had also seen the end of the road. The car rocked on its suspension as he vacillated between turning left or right before choosing the latter. It made an awkward, slithering turn around the corner to head south-west on the ground-level street running parallel to the raised freeway.

  Eddie dropped down hard through the gears as he prepared to follow. ‘If he gets on the FDR, we’ll never catch him.’

  ‘He can’t, not from here,’ Nina replied. Her husband gave her a questioning glance. ‘He doesn’t know the city! The only place he can get directly on to the FDR is all the way down at the ferry terminal. If he tries to go around the ramps at the Brooklyn Bridge, he’s guaranteed to get stuck in traffic – even in a police car. And the odds are this is the first time he’s ever driven anywhere bigger than that little village in Argentina. He won’t have a clue what he’s doing.’

  ‘And we do?’ said Eddie as the truck approached the corner. ‘Hang on!’

  He jammed on the brakes – and threw the vehicle around the ninety-degree turn.

  Nina grabbed hold of the door handle to keep herself upright as they careered through the intersection. What cargo remained in the back was sent flying out of the still-open rear door, scattering across South Street in an explosion of produce. A couple of cars had made emergency stops as the police car skidded in front of them; one of them set off again, only to veer hurriedly into the other lane to avoid the delivery truck. Nina cringed as the car whipped past her window.

  Eddie hauled on the steering wheel. The truck straightened out, lurching back upright. They were now heading south-west down South Street, the thick steel pillars supporting the FDR flicking past to their left. The stolen police car was visible ahead, and it was clear from its desperate swerves around other traffic that Nina was correct. The only vehicles available for driving lessons at the Enklave had been ex-military jeeps and lumbering trucks, and Kroll was finding that experience all but worthless for dealing with the busy roads of a megacity.

  Nina cringed as their quarry barely avoided a head-on collision with a car coming the other way. ‘Oh my God! He’s going to kill someone!’

  ‘Hopefully just himself,’ Eddie replied, but he knew that if the chase continued, casualties would become increasingly likely. They were already approaching the Brooklyn Bridge, the knot of flyovers connecting the great span to both the FDR and Manhattan’s street grid coming up fast. ‘If he’s turning, he’ll have to do it soon—’

  He didn’t. The Taurus continued straight on, its driver either unsure how to reach the freeway or unwilling to slow to make a turn. But its frantic slalom had already reduced its speed to a point where even the delivery truck was gaining. ‘If he’s not taking the bridge or the FDR,’ Eddie asked, ‘where can he get to from here?’

  His wife was already checking her mental map of her home city. ‘If he turns right off this road, he’ll be heading into Downtown, and he sure as hell won’t get anywhere fast around Wall Street. If he keeps going, he’ll loop around to the Battery Park tunnel, but he won’t get far there either. The cops will be able to cut him off.’

  ‘We’ve got him, then!’ The gap kept closing as they raced under the bridge and continued towards Manhattan’s southern tip, whipping past the parked ice-cream trucks marking the entrance to the South Street Seaport.

  ‘He’s still got Natalia, though,’ Nina reminded him.

  ‘He can’t do anything to her as long as he’s driving. If she keeps her head down and I can force him to stop—’

  He broke off with a stifled obscenity as the Taurus clipped the back quarter of another car. Kroll had misjudged the overtake, sending the police car slewing wide into the oncoming lane and knocking the recipient of the fender-bender into a spin.

  Eddie braked hard to avoid the imminent collision. Nina’s seat belt caught her as she was thrown forward. He veered sharply to follow the stolen vehicle around the now-stationary car, missing it by inches. ‘Jesus!’ he gasped, straightening out. ‘That was too bloody close.’

  Nina pushed herself back into her seat – to see Kroll making another hard turn, but in an unexpected direction. He swung left, throwing the Taurus over a kerb with a shower of sparks from the car’s underside. It barely missed one of the FDR’s supports as the Nazi angled across a pedestrianised zone underneath the expressway, skidding on to the East River Bikeway along the edge of the waterfront.

  Eddie tried to make the turn after him, but the truck’s greater momentum carried it directly towards the steel pillar, and a structure beyond left him with no way to follow. He hurriedly spun the wheel the other way. ‘Shit,’ he muttered, swinging back on to the street. ‘If he doubles back, I’ll never be able to turn this thing around fast enough to catch up!’

  Nina watched the speeding police car, glimpsing Kroll’s silhouette at the wheel as he raced along the riverside. Startled pedestrians leapt out of his way, a cyclist crashing into the railings as he tried to avoid the onrushing vehicle. ‘I don’t think he’s got enough room to turn. He’s still going straight on.’

  ‘Where’ll he end
up?’

  ‘He’ll be able to get on to the FDR before it goes into the tunnel, but there’s also the ferry terminal, Pier 11 – the heliport!’ she cried as she remembered what lay ahead. ‘If he gets to a helicopter …’

  She didn’t need to say any more. Eddie dropped down a gear and accelerated, blasting the horn to encourage other drivers to clear out of his path. ‘He’s not getting away,’ he said coldly.

  They flashed past the Wall Street ferry terminal. Kroll was still ahead of them, running parallel on the far side of the FDR. ‘Get across there, there!’ Nina said, pointing. Coming up fast was one of the expressway’s off-ramps, cars cutting under the elevated road to emerge on South Street, but just before it was another, smaller exit, this from the Bikeway. ‘Run over the bike lanes and we can get right behind him!’

  ‘Yeah, if we don’t run over a bike!’ Eddie blasted the horn again as he swung the truck across the other lane towards the little intersection. A car that had just emerged from the off-ramp screeched to an emergency stop moments before a collision. More cyclists scattered as the truck bounded over the kerb and charged across the paved area beneath the expressway, emerging in daylight on the other side. He made another hard turn to bring the delivery vehicle on to the pedestrian walkway, swinging around a line of shrubs in concrete planters to follow the police car along the water’s edge.

  The heliport was directly ahead. An L-shaped pier extended into the East River, over a dozen landing pads marked on it. Several were currently in use, brightly painted helicopters coming and going in an almost constant stream as they took tourists on aerial tours of the city.

  ‘He’s definitely heading for the heliport,’ Nina confirmed. The Bikeway ran alongside the FDR as the freeway dropped down towards the entrance to the Battery Park tunnel, only open pavement separating them at ground level, but Kroll was sticking to the riverside rather than swerving right to get on to the road.