by Ian Chapman
‘We’ll need light to work,’ said Casper.
I turned the torch on and flicked it around. The Eblis was halfway over the lower section of blocks. Either side of us was the rest of the barricade, much higher, made of piled up rubble that hemmed us in. The block that we were on had been worn down. Three thick steel rods from the reinforced concrete poked out. One had sheared-off in the track but the other two were still jammed in it where it had snapped.
Casper shook his head, put his gun on the tank and took out a selection of heavy tools, then he shouted up to Becky. ‘Take the right track back a little,’ he said.
A few seconds later the drive wheel started to turn and the track pulled tight before springing free of the rods.
‘That’s it,’ he shouted up and the motor stopped. He turned to me and pointed at the rods jutting up. ‘We need to hammer these flat.’
‘Right.’ This was going to be some work.
‘There’s a hammer in the tank.’
I propped up the torch on the concrete aimed at where he was working. Then I went back into the Eblis as he began removing the broken section of track.
Becky and Daniel both looked up at me when I went back in.
‘Everything okay?’ she said.
‘I need the sledgehammer.’
She reached into a compartment and fished it out.
‘I don’t like it here,’ said Daniel.
‘Me neither.’ I took the hammer and went back out.
Casper had a battery powered drill, which whirred away on the riveted section of track. The sound bounced back off the embankment.
I put my gun next to Casper’s, lined up the sledgehammer and aimed at the steel rod. It was in barely lit and when I swung I caught it at a bad angle. Second time was better and it clanged like a church bell as the rod bent slightly. I did it again, got into a rhythm and bit by bit folded it over. The sound rolled off down the road.
Casper was still busy with the drill. There was a ping and the rivet fell out of the track.
‘Got it,’ he said.
I hammered some more and folded over the first rod. Then I started on the second. Its position was worse and I had to take long swings. The sledgehammer bounced off. Missed.
‘How’s it going?’ said Casper.
‘It’s going.’
He carried on doing something with the track and I shifted round to get a better swing. The rod started to fold over and I swung harder to flatten it down.
‘That’ll do,’ he said. ‘I need some help here.’
I put the hammer down. It was quieter than ever. I held the track where he showed me as he slid in a new pin and finger-tightened its nut. There was still no movement or sound from the embankment. Maybe we were going to get away with it.
He lined up the second pin but couldn’t get it in. The track was at the wrong angle.
‘Shit,’ he said and he shouted up to Becky. ‘Back it a little.’
‘How much?’ she shouted back.
‘Millimetres.’
The track shifted but it now pulled too tight and the pin still wouldn’t go in. He got her to move it forwards again. It went too far. This went on for some minutes. Forwards and backwards. I held the torch and watched the embankment. The faint shadows of grass. I listened for sounds: anything that suggested reivers were coming.
At last the track’s hole lined up. He slid the new pin in and started to tighten it up.
As he worked there was a sound from behind us, a rustling. I turned towards the noise and flicked the torch up. The dead grass was still and there was no one there. I whispered up to Becky. ‘Is there anything on the infrared?’
Before she answered there was a zing, a high pitched sound and something shot over our heads. It bounced off the tank and disappeared into the dark.
‘Are you finished?’ I grabbed up a pistol and aimed the torch up to where the object had come from. There was still no sign of anyone. They must have chucked it from the other side of the embankment. At least this meant they couldn’t aim. It was tempting to fire off a couple of shots but I wanted to save ammo for when someone appeared. When the reivers showed themselves.
Casper grunted. ‘Can I have some light?’ He worked on the track as two more objects shot over our heads. One disappeared across the road and the other bounced off the hull. Landed near us. I picked it up and examined it. It was an arrow, barbed and fletched with what looked like dried skin.
‘See movement up there, Becky?’ I shouted.
‘Nothing.’
‘Nearly done.’ Casper gave the track one last tap and put the tools into the box before closing it. As he straightened up a couple of arrows flew over. One landed on the ground. The second hit him.
Stuck in his back.
He cried out and extended up, stretched out. Another caught on my sleeve, missing my skin. I jerked it out and dragged him sideways, as he moaned and tensed up. There was a sound from the bushes and several arrows bounced off the tank near me. Another caught my trousers and one hit Casper’s shoe, sticking in the laces.
I dropped him onto the ground and lay beside him, behind a lump of rubble that formed part of the barrier. I raised my pistol and fired several shots in the direction the arrows had come. The shots thudded into the soil.
‘Becky?’ I shouted. There was no reply. ‘Becky?’
Another hail of arrows came but this time there was another sound, louder. The machine gun on the tank hammered out a stream of bullets. They thudded into the embankment and pinged off rocks. There were no shouts or signs that anyone had been hit but there was silence after the gun stopped.
‘Trent, Casper, are you okay?’ said Becky.
‘Casper’s been hit,’ I said.
‘Shit.’
‘It doesn’t look critical.’ Not that I could tell. But I didn’t want to worry her.
‘Can you both get back in?’
‘I’ll have to drag him. Give us covering fire.’
The turret rotated and the Eblis’ gun clattered but another arrow bounced off the tank. Seemed they weren’t easily scared.
‘I can’t see them,’ said Becky.
‘Just keep it up.’
There was no more gunfire for a moment. From some way off there were voices. A conversation then laughter. More talking. The reivers were planning. Working out what to do. Whether to fire more arrows or something worse. Whether to rush us.
Then the main gun of the Eblis roared out, a deafening sound as a great ball of fire appeared, vanishing into black smoke. The top of the embankment exploded in an eruption of soil and small stones, raining down on the tank and us.
This was it. I slid the pistols away and hauled Casper up onto the rear flank. I carried on to the turret, dragging his heavy body. Becky appeared and helped me. Without removing the arrow we twisted and shifted him to slide him down, putting him in the bottom of the tank on his side.
Daniel stared at him. ‘Is it hurt?’
‘Yes,’ I said.
He leant over and took Casper’s hand.
I shut the turret and scanned the screens, watching for movement. The shell might have scared them off. But there could be hundreds of them over the other side and they’d probably have other weapons besides arrows. Bigger weapons.
Casper pushed himself up as Becky slid into her seat. ‘Take it back,’ he said. ‘Then forward. So we don’t get caught again.’
I set the screens to show the road in front, checking the obstacles before us. There was still no sign of anyone out there. Maybe they’d lost interest. Becky powered up and eased us back half a metre. The repairs held as we moved. She ran the right track on its own to twist the Eblis round, set us up for the gap. Then she eased us forward over the block and onto the road.
There were thuds on the outside of the Eblis, not loud, like rocks being thrown. If that was all they had we’d be fine.
Becky pushed us forwards, faster.
Then there was an explosion. The vehicle rocked and the lights dimmed, flickered
off. They came back up but there was another blast.
Daniel cried out as the lights went off.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Off
WE SAT IN DARKNESS for a few seconds then red lights came on. Daniel rocked back and forward in his seat but didn’t make any sound.
‘Everyone all right?’ said Becky.
Casper groaned and Daniel continued to rock.
‘We need to get going,’ I said. If they had grenades they could have other stuff. Worse.
Becky pushed the controls and we picked up speed, bouncing over rubble and burnt-out wheel hubs. There was another explosion in front of us, the screens flickering off.
‘Can they do any damage?’
‘I need you to drive.’ Before I had time to ask why, she slid out of her seat and released the controls. The vehicle slowed. I squeezed past her and took her position as she went up into the turret. I grabbed hold of the controls and shoved them both forward. The Eblis jerked and pitched. I eased off and it steadied.
Becky loaded the gun then shifted into the gunner’s position. She checked the sights and moved the turret.
There were more blocks ahead but these were smaller. I steered to the right but the Eblis turned too hard and thudded into the embankment’s side. I straightened up and increased the speed. We needed to get away. Set some distance between us and the reivers before the got a clean hit. Blew us to bits.
An explosion off to our right sprayed us with chunks of road. They bounced off the bulkhead and rattled on the turret.
Then Becky fired. The gun boomed and shook the tank. She reloaded and checked the sights, fired again. The sound filled the vehicle. I concentrated on the screens and kept the power on. For several minutes we picked our way through obstacles.
At last the debris thinned out. Becky reloaded and stayed at the gunner’s position but didn’t fire again. The road cleared of junk and the land around us levelled.
‘Think we’re okay,’ said Becky. She flicked a switch and the normal lights came on.
‘Hope so,’ I said. My hands were tight on the controls. I eased off. Daniel was rocking with his eyes shut. Casper lay sprawled at the side.
‘We need to sort him out,’ I said. The arrow was now coated with blood and a pool of it had formed around him.
The road ahead and land around us was clear. But there were several things behind us. Shapes in the darkness. ‘They’re following,’ I said.
Becky moved to my old seat and checked the screen. ‘Jesus.’
The things behind us were indistinct but there were at least two of them. I picked up the speed. The motors’ pitch rose as the Eblis sat up on its suspension. There was little visible ahead so I put the lights on. There was no need to worry about attracting attention. We’d already done that and they were on our tail.
The things behind us paced the tank. Closed on us. They grew in the monitors. By the size and shape they looked to be military vehicles, squat and windowless.
‘Can you hit them?’ I said.
She loaded up, rotated the turret so it faced backwards and spent ages with her eyes pressed against the sights.
Then she fired.
The Eblis moved on its suspension. There was the roar of the weapon. The rear view flared then dimmed. For some time there was static and distortion. Nothing clear. Then something showed. A lump, a distorted mess. Chewed up with flames coming from it. No movement around it. She’d hit one of them. Blown it to bits.
‘Good shot,’ I said.
‘Lucky.’
‘Either way you hit it.’
‘Still one out there.’ But with the wreck in the road the other would struggle to get past. Even if it did it might suffer the same fate.
I kept the speed up but there was now nothing behind us. No dark shape on our tail. Casper lay on the Eblis’s floor and groaned.
‘How is he?’ I said.
‘We need to stop,’ said Becky. ‘Check him over.’
‘Let’s get well away from here first.’
Daniel shifted out of his seat and went over to Casper. He placed his hand on his forehead and held one hand. Casper said nothing but gripped him.
We carried on for a while. The road ahead and behind was empty.
‘We should stop soon,’ I said.
‘Yeah,’ said Becky.
We came to a patch of woodland and I slowed us down. There was nothing to worry about on any of the screens, just the trees that hemmed us in.
I pulled the Eblis on the overgrown verge. It stopped with a jerk.
Becky joined Daniel and leant over Casper.
Suddenly one of the monitors lit up.
The Eblis shook as we were hit by something. It pitched to the side.
We’d been fired on.
Another vehicle was ahead of us, possibly the second one that had followed us. Maybe some other. It didn’t really matter. What mattered was that it had appeared out of the trees several hundred metres up and attacked us.
Becky climbed back into the gunner’s position and took the sight. She swore and moved over to the ammunition store. She’d not reloaded after the last time.
I grabbed my controls and moved us back, away from the other vehicle. It was visible now. It had heavy armour and shuttered windows. One of these was open and a long weapon poked out, no doubt an anti-tank weapon. There was a crater in the ground near us. They’d missed with the first shot.
There was another explosion and the Eblis rocked from side to side.
‘Becky,’ I said. ‘You're going to have to fire. Now.’
‘I know.’
She was at the ammunition store and messed around with the catch. She had hold of it but couldn't get it to release. She pulled and banged on it. The thing ahead was about to fire again. They’d have our range. Have us.
Daniel jumped up beside her. He moved Becky’s hand aside. Opened the store, rolling out the shell and handing it to her. She took it but for a second did nothing then she opened the breech and loaded.
She was on the sights. Fired. The Eblis shook, there was a flash outside and our vehicle was filled with sound. Shifted back and forward. The screens were blank for a second then the vehicle showed again, untouched. She’s missed.
‘You didn’t get it,’ I said.
‘I know.’
‘You need to fire again —’
‘I fucking know, Trent!’ She fumbled for the ammo but Daniel was there again. Calm as anything. He handed a shell to her.
She reloaded, fired again. The Eblis rocked and the lights flickered. I watched the screen waiting to see whether she’d hit.
The vehicle was there. But it was split in two. Smoking.
A few figures staggered around.
‘Take us to it,’ said Becky.
I rammed the controls forward and the Eblis lurched off. She reached over to the machine gun and fired. It rattled out sending the figures backwards onto the ground. They lay still. She fired some more then stopped. There was no more movement.
I stopped a few metres away from it and we sat and watched the screens. There were flames and crackling but nothing else.
‘Let’s drive on,’ Becky said.
‘No yet.’ I climbed up to the hatch, popping it open, stepping out.
‘Where are you going?’ she said.
‘Just making sure.’
She followed after me, bringing her pistol. We left Casper and Daniel.
The air smelled of hot metal and burning plastic. Smoke came from the smashed vehicle and fires burnt around it. There were several bodies splayed on the ground. Beyond the light from the flames the road and trees were pitch black. Becky walked around with a pistol in her hand. I carried on to the other side. There were bits of metal and components all over: a wheel and suspension parts. Busted bits of panels. Amongst it was a jerry can. It stood in a burning pool of liquid so I grabbed it up. The metal was warm and something sloshed around inside. I took it to the side, away from the flames and opened it. Sniffe
d: it was petrol, a good few litres. I had enough fuel to leave now.
I sealed the can and walked round to Becky.
‘Can we go?’ she said.
‘Yeah.’
There was a groan and a body slid out of the wreckage. It was a young woman, long haired and dressed in rags. Her legs were chewed up and bloody.
‘Help me,’ she said. She was only in her teens by the looks.
Becky held out her pistol and aimed it. But she didn’t pull the trigger. She put the safety catch back on and slid it into her pocket.
Then the woman started the laugh. It was a cruel sound, harsh and loud.
I put my arm around Becky and led her away. Left the bloodied woman in the wreckage. We returned to the Eblis and I slid in, stashing the fuel at the back. ‘Do you want to drive?’ I said.
‘Yeah,’ said Becky.
We pulled off and Casper gave out a moan as he rolled against the arrow in his back. Daniel was at his side again.
‘We do need to sort him out,’ I said.
‘I know, Trent,’ said Becky.
She drove on with the lights off. The night-sights picked out the star-lit road as the trees gave way to open moorland. No one followed us and there were no other vehicles. After a few minutes she steered us across rough ground into a small valley. She flicked the lights on to show a small stream and pool with rocky outcrop. We stopped beside it.
The three of us examined Casper. He was white faced. Covered in blood. His breathing was slow and shallow. Together we took hold of him. His flesh was sweaty. We manhandled him out of the tank, Daniel at his feet and me taking the lead. Becky in the turret feeding him out. We slid him into the cool night air and laid him on a blanket on the ground.
Becky set up a torch then we stood around him like we were in an old painting or something.
‘What now?’ said Becky.
‘We’ll have to pull the arrow,’ I said. The arrow’s tip was stopping him losing too much blood but there was obviously some damage going on.
‘Just like that?’
‘We need to turn him over and have a look.’ I knelt and Becky brought the light over. We slid our hands under Casper. Eased him over as he exhaled, groaned. With him turned onto his face I shone the light on the wound. The arrow was jammed in low down, just above his pelvis, close to his kidney. The tip was buried deep in his skin, well into the flesh. It was going to take one hell of a yank to get it out, if it was possible without doing more damage.