When Darkness Falls, Book 3

by Ryan Casey

The wind blew strongly against me, lashing sharp, thick chunks of hailstone in my direction.

  I tried to walk against it, tried to push against it. But I had to stop. I couldn’t go any further.

  No.

  I had to.

  I had to.

  I felt a hand grab mine. When I looked, I saw it was Suzy.

  Will and Kaileigh were hiding behind her. The hail chunks were so thick that one of them had bust Will’s nose. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen.

  “We have to find shelter,” Suzy said.

  I shook my head. “We keep on going.”

  “If we keep on going, one of those chunks of hail could knock us out and kill one of us. Is that what you want?”

  I listened to the roar of the wind, felt the blast of the hail as it struck me. I looked at Sarah, doing everything she could to cover her belly, to protect our baby. She looked like she was struggling to walk. Which of course she was. We were all struggling. I didn’t know how much we had left.

  “We can keep on moving,” Suzy said. “Once this stops. But this… this is madness, Alex. We have to find shelter. Now.”

  I heard what Suzy was saying. I knew she was right. Hell, she always was.

  But that final stretch… and I knew it was only a final stretch now. A chance to get away from here. A chance to get out of this hellish existence once and for all.

  I looked at her and I shook my head. “I’ve trusted you. I’ve trusted you for so long. But right now, you’re going to have to trust me. Just a little further.”

  She opened her mouth. Looked like she was about to say something.

  Then she nodded. “Just a little further.”

  I nodded back and turned ahead.

  I pushed against the wind, Sarah’s hand in mine. I felt harder, heavier chunks of hail hitting my face. And I knew that Suzy’s fears were right. One big chunk was all it took to hit one of us and end it.

  But I couldn’t let that happen.

  That wasn’t going to happen.

  I saw the top of the road in the distance. Saw a high point. And I kept on pressing towards it, kept on going.

  I tightened my grip on Sarah’s hand. “We’re going to do this.”

  “I’m not sure if I can…”

  “Sarah,” I said. “We’re going to do this. You have to trust me.”

  I walked further, holding Sarah now, helping her move. And no matter what, the pair of us were getting there—or neither of us was getting there at all.

  I saw the high point in the road just a few steps away.

  “Not much further,” I said, as the hail came down heavier, as Suzy’s words started to resonate in my mind. As her fears started to spread to me. “Not much further.”

  I stepped to the high point in the road.

  That was when I saw it.

  I froze. Froze completely. Hail kept on hitting me. The wind was so strong I felt like it could knock me down with one punch.

  But none of that mattered.

  None of that was in focus.

  The only thing that was in focus was right ahead of me.

  “Okay,” Suzy said, staggering to my side. “Now’s the time we stop this. Now’s the time we give up. Now’s the time we…”

  She stopped talking.

  And when she stopped, I knew she’d seen it too.

  I looked at her.

  Then I looked at the others.

  Then I looked at Sarah, tears in her eyes.

  “We did it,” I said, my voice cracking. “We—we made it.”

  I looked back ahead as my wife’s hand tightened around mine.

  At the large walls.

  The huge gates.

  And the helicopters.

  The helicopters.

  “We made it,” I said. “This is it. This is the extraction point.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Ian stood and stared at the extraction point in the distance, and he couldn’t deny a part of him wanted to just walk over there and leave this world behind once and for all.

  The glow of the morning sun made it look all the more beautiful. The morning sun was deceiving, in that way. The weather always was, really. It could make the most scruffy, run down area look almost idyllic. The reverse effect was true too—it could make the nicest places on Earth look like crap.

  But right now, as he stared across the open landscape at that extraction point, hearing the sounds of the helicopters, smelling the fuel from their engines… there was no denying this was a quite beautiful scene.

  Especially when he saw the small group walking right towards it.

  Alex and his people.

  He felt his fists tense reflexively the second he saw Alex and his people. He knew, really, he should just let them go. Let them reach that extraction point. Let them be taken away to whatever bullshit world was out there. At least then he’d be out of Ian’s mind and out of his hands.

  But he didn’t like the way Alex and his people had defied him. He didn’t like that, not only had they stood against him when he’d gone to their camp to… make an alliance, let’s say. But they’d escaped, too. They’d defied him, time and time again. They’d kept on running when really what they should’ve been doing is figuring out how in the hell they were going to repay him.

  He didn’t like that about them.

  But he was going to find a way to make them pay.

  There was certainly no question about that.

  He heard chatter behind him then. People growing disgruntled upon seeing the extraction point, no doubt. This often happened. And Ian knew it was natural. And honestly, he’d had no problems with his people defecting. Not in the past.

  But as he turned around and looked at his mass of people and the weapons they held, he knew now that he needed each and every one of them on side.

  “I know what I’m asking you to do is tough,” Ian said. “I know that desire for self-preservation kicks in like it always does. But think about it. Just think about it. Go onto one of those helicopters and you take yourself back to a world where this whole mess was allowed to happen in the first place. You go back to a world where the rich and the powerful exploit the poor. You go back to a world where war is profit. And you go back to a world where you are a nobody. Not like the kings you are here.”

  Heads dropped amongst the group. People realising he was right—or at least believing in him. But there was still a strain on them. Still a pressure. A pressure he was going to find a very unique way of relieving.

  “Alex. The man walking away from us, walking towards that extraction point with his people. We’ve given him more than enough chances. We gave him a chance at his camp and he defied us. We gave him another chance when we killed his friend, and he defied us again. Chance after chance, guys. And every time, what does he do? He defies us.”

  He looked back at the horizon. Saw Alex and his people disappearing into the distance like small specks on a painting. But it wouldn’t take long for Ian and his people to reach them. It wouldn’t take them long to stop them, once and for all.

  He looked back then at his people. “I don’t think, somehow, Alex is gonna co-operate with us. Now I know it’s a bummer. I know there’s been enough bloodshed already. But… but I figure there’s a chance for one last lesson for him, right? One fiiiinal little teaching.”

  The group clearly saw where Ian was looking because they stepped aside, shuffled out of the way.

  And then there she was.

  Crouching on her knees, gun to her head.

  Hailey.

  Her eyes were bruised. Her head was cut. Her hair had been torn away in chunks. And the blood of her people—the ones Ian had taken down right in front of her—covered her in specks.

  He felt a smile twinge at the corner of his lips. Then he walked over to her. Slowly.

  He crouched opposite her. Lifted her chin up so she was looking right into his eyes.

  And then he pressed a knife to her neck.

  “Maybe you can be a part
of the plan,” he said. “A part of making Alex co-operate.”

  Hailey’s breathing intensified.

  Ian felt a bolt of pleasure as he kept the knife in place.

  The fear growing in Hailey’s eyes.

  Then he pulled the knife away. He wiped it on his handkerchief, then stepped back. “Or perhaps not,” he said.

  He walked back to the front of the group, stood right ahead of them so he could see Alex and his people in the distance.

  “Maybe we need to find something that’ll hurt him even more,” he said.

  He lifted his binoculars.

  He looked at Sarah, hand on her pregnant belly.

  Then, he smiled.

  “Come on, team,” he said. “It’s time to go pay our friends a visit to remember.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  I watched the extraction point get closer and closer and I couldn’t shake the excitement spreading through my body.

  The morning was progressing rapidly. The clouds were parting. All of this just seemed too perfect, too impossible to actually believe.

  But I had to believe it. I just had to. Because there was no denying the truth.

  This was real.

  I looked at the helicopters as they rose from the extraction point, disappearing into the distance. Just the sound of their blades spinning was enough to send goosebumps up my arms. My entire body shook, and although I knew some of that was as a result of the storm we’d been drenched by, I knew it was also the adrenaline of what was happening; the reality of a new future looming on the horizon dawning on me.

  We were all walking together, all alongside one another. Sarah held onto her belly. I looked at her and I smiled, and she smiled back at me. I was still wary of what’d happened to her. I was still nervous after her collapse. And I feared for the future and the safety of our child, especially after the rumours we’d heard.

  But right now, at this moment, in a strange kind of way, it didn’t matter. None of it mattered.

  All that mattered was getting to this extraction point, together.

  Then we’d consider the next step.

  Then, we’d think about the future.

  I looked past Sarah and I saw Ellie. She was smoking away. But not in the frantic, rapid manner she usually did. She looked like she was actually taking her time with that cigarette; enjoying that cigarette. I thought about how hard this must actually be for her; how difficult it must be, knowing that the people she’d led originally were still back home at her campsite somewhere and she was out here with us. I’d asked her whether she’d been tempted to go back before, and she’d smiled and thought about it.

  Eventually, she’d answered. “Sometimes,” she said. “Perhaps more often than I should. But really, when I think about it… shit. I realise they’re probably doing just fine without me anyway.”

  Then she took a drag on her cigarette.

  I looked at Ibrahim and I felt sympathy for him. He’d lost his best friend. Watched him as he was gunned down. And for what? For what?

  It would’ve been so easy for Ibrahim to go off the boil. But he’d kept it together. He’d become a part of our group. He’d even saved my life back on the bridge. For that, I owed him everything.

  I looked past him, at Suzy now, Will and Kaileigh beside her. I had to admire Suzy. She’d taken Kaileigh on as one of her own. And Kaileigh had taken to her like… well, not a mother. Not exactly. Because surely no one would ever truly replace her biological mother.

  But she’d taken to her. And Suzy deserved enormous credit for enabling that to happen.

  Suzy looked up at me then, caught my eyes. I could see the happiness there. I could sense the delight.

  I turned away. But when I looked back, I saw she was still looking at me.

  “We’re all proud of you, Alex,” she said.

  I felt my cheeks warming as I looked at the ground. “It’s not me you should be proud of—”

  “You didn’t trust a soul. Or at least that’s what you told yourself. But that’s wrong. That’s never been true. Not really. Because you trusted me. You trusted my Will here. And you trusted each and every one of us. Most of all, you trusted yourself.”

  I looked up at her and she smiled back at me.

  “If you hadn’t found that strength to trust, we wouldn’t be here. None of us would be here.”

  I wanted to counter what Suzy was saying. I wanted to tell her she was wrong—that she’d have found a way.

  But instead, I felt proud, deep down. Proud that I’d battled my demons. Proud that I’d made it this far.

  All with this family of people around me.

  I took a deep breath of the damp air, the warmth of the sun beating down on my head.

  Then I looked at the extraction point, the gates so close now.

  We were so close.

  So close to home.

  So close to a new reality.

  So close to…

  I stopped when I heard the engine.

  When I turned around, it was already too late.

  Two vehicles circled us. Small trucks.

  Then I saw a third.

  And a fourth.

  And a fifth…

  And before we knew it we were surrounded.

  The trucks stayed still. The people inside them stayed put.

  Then, after a moment’s silence, one of the doors opened, and Ian stepped out.

  “Hello, team,” he said, gun in hand, smile on his face. “Fancy seeing you here.”

  If I knew what was about to follow, I might’ve done things differently.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  I looked around in every direction and I knew I was screwed.

  Ian’s trucks surrounded us. In every direction. There was no way through them. No easy way of escaping. We were trapped. Totally trapped.

  Ian was standing there, gun in hand. There was a smile on his face like he was enjoying this way too much. Like he got some kind of sick pleasure from it. Some kicks. But that was hardly surprising. I’d seen what this man had done already. I’d seen what he was capable of.

  And that worried me.

  It worried me because I feared what steps he was going to take next, especially after the threats he’d made already.

  I looked at him and I thought about begging. I thought about getting on my knees again, begging for forgiveness, for something else. But I could tell already from the look on Ian’s face that wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Not this time.

  I’d tried that route already. I’d lost someone—Harvey.

  And here we still were, so close to the extraction point that I could hear the sounds of the helicopters.

  Surrounded by Ian and his people.

  “So, Alex,” Ian said, that performing tone to his voice as ever. “I don’t need to go through this shit again, do I?”

  “Just let us leave. Please.”

  Ian tilted his head and smiled. “Begging already? How in the name of hell did you make it this far?”

  “I’m not begging,” I said. “I’m asking you to let us go. I’m asking you whether you really need us as a part of… of whatever you’re doing. I have a wife. I have a child on the way. Just think about—”

  “I don’t need you to tell me what to think about,” Ian snapped. And honestly, it was the first time I’d seen his attitude shift in this way so rapidly; the first time I’d seen his performing mask drop and he get genuinely wound up about something.

  Seconds later, his smile returned, the mask slipping back over his face.

  “I’ve thought, Alex. Boy have I thought. And you know, it’s hard. It’s hard, the decision you’ve left me. I don’t like it. Nobody likes it. No sane person would like it.”

  “You’re not sane,” Suzy said.

  Ian turned to her, slowly. He looked at her, smile on his face widening. “Well, well. I started to wonder whether the rest of you were even capable of speaking. Nice surprise.”

  “I don’t understand what more you bast
ards want from us,” Ellie said. The ash dropped from her cigarette, which she held nervously between her fingers.

  Ian walked over towards her. Immediately, my hackles raised. “Don’t touch her.”

  He stopped, just inches from her. He frowned at me. “Hey,” he said. “Can’t a man ask a pretty woman for a cigarette these days anymore?”

  He turned back to Ellie. Held out his hand.

  “Go on,” he said. “Humour me.”

  Ellie was still. She puffed out smoke into his face. I thought she wasn’t going to comply. That she was going to resist.

  But then she put the cigarette into his fingers.

  Ian smiled. He lifted the cigarette to his lips, took a little puff. “Now,” he said.

  Then he spun around and pointed his gun right at Sarah’s head.

  I couldn’t think. I couldn’t do anything. Only react.

  I lunged in Sarah’s direction. “No!”

  “Hey, hey, hey,” Ian said, tightening the trigger. “Let’s not do anything rash here, okay?”

  He moved the gun down to Sarah’s belly. To the baby bump. To our child.

  “I want you to answer the question, Alex. I want you to answer it, straight up. Who do you care about most?”

  I kept my focus on Sarah, started shaking my head. “Don’t make me answer that question. Please.”

  Ian laughed. And in that laugh I heard something that terrified me. I heard total insanity. “Oh, please, Alex. Please. You’ve seen what I’m about.”

  “And you’ve seen what I’m about,” I said.

  I wasn’t sure where it came from. I wasn’t sure where that moment of total courage sparked from at all, not really.

  But I’d said it. So I was going to stick with it.

  Ian narrowed his eyes. He looked bemused. “What’re you saying?”

  My heart raced. My chest tightened. I thought about backing down on my words… but it was way too late for that. “You’ve seen how far we’re willing to go. You’ve seen how much we can be pushed through. And you’ve seen that we never give up.”

  I swallowed a dry lump in my throat.

  “And I promise you, no matter what, that if you do this—if you harm my wife, if you harm my child—you will pay for it. You will pay for it like the last person who harmed my son paid for it. That’s a promise.”