The offer was tempting. Maybe I should? I thought about it for a few seconds, saw Nora’s face, and made up my mind.
“You already have your rifle, Mr. Wheeler,” I replied, “That should be enough. Hopefully you won’t even have to use it.” I shuffled my feet self-consciously. “Probably better not to have more than one deadly weapon in a confined space,” I added hastily, as if I knew what I was talking about.
Wheeler gave me a contemptuous look, turned and pulled a heavy sofa across the already locked door.
“That’s it” he said, “We’re in here for the rest of the night. I’m having a stiff drink to make the time go quicker. You can help yourselves.”
Toby pointed at the big, barricaded window. “The light outside is fading fast. Should I draw the curtains?”
“We’d better,” Wheeler agreed, “We don’t want them watching us from outside.”
Toby went over to the window and pulled the heavy drapes tightly closed, making sure there was no gap in the middle.
“You really think they’ll make some kind of move tonight?” I asked Wheeler.
“I’m sure of it,” he replied, “It’ll be their last chance to recruit us.”
“What if they manage to get in some other way?” I said, “We won’t be very safe trapped in this one big room if Sanders smashes the door down.”
“That’s what this is for,” Wheeler replied, slapping the stock of his rifle, “It’ll be too bad for them. A house invasion means I’m entitled to defend myself, that’s the law.”
“You can’t do that,” Nora protested.
Wheeler gave her a ‘you poor little girl’ look. “Listen, little lady, those creeps aren’t normal humans anymore. Unless you want us to become mindless robots like them, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Which means what exactly?” I asked.
Wheeler looked at me coldly. “Didn’t I just spell it out? It means I’ll use this damn rifle, if and when I have to. I’ll use lethal force, kiddo.”
I stared at the big, high-powered hunting rifle cradled in Wheeler’s arms, and had no doubt that he was perfectly serious.
* * *
Behind the thick double drapes there was now only darkness on the other side of the ugly wooden slats. I slouched in my beloved shiny green leather chair and dozed on and off for short periods. Toby was stretched out on a couch, snoring noisily. Nora lay on her mattress, propped up on one elbow, reading her Kindle.
The hours ticked by incredibly slowly, so slowly that I made a point of no longer looking at my watch. But I knew it had to be “in the wee small hours” as my dad likes to say.
Something made me open my bleary eyes and my ears pricked up. For a second or two there was nothing, then a loud crashing sound of breaking glass at the back of the house. Wide awake now, I jumped up out of the chair.
Across the room, Wheeler grabbed his rifle and rushed to the door.
“Sounds like it’s coming from the kitchen,” he said, “Toby, Nick, come with me. Nora, stay here and lock the door behind us.” He pushed the stacked furniture out of his way.
I glanced at my watch; it was only just after eleven o’clock. My sense of time was seriously out of whack. I rubbed sleep grit from my eyes and hurried after Wheeler and Toby.
At the end of the hallway, Wheeler paused outside the kitchen door. “Careful, they may be waiting to jump us. Nick, open the door slowly. I’ll be ready with the rifle.”
I reached for the door handle and felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Wheeler’s rifle pointing at a spot only a little to my right. Sanders could be just inside the doorway ready to grab my arm when I opened the door and pull me in front of the gun barrel. I could almost feel the bullets in my back already and shuffled left as far as possible. Then I turned the handle and pushed the door open, yanking my hand away quickly.
The door swung open. Toby flicked on the light switch and Wheeler strode into the room, moving the rifle back and forth like a soldier in a movie, Toby and I behind him. I scanned the room, my chest pounding. There was no-one there apart from us.
“Looks like they tried to get in and failed,” Wheeler said, and lowered his weapon, “Or they could have heard us coming and cleared off. Let’s check around.” He went to the back door and gripped the handle. “Still locked.”
Toby examined the window. “This is what we heard alright,” he said, “The glass is smashed to pieces and some of the cross posts are split. Not enough to get in though.”
“Maybe Sanders still has the axe from the shed,” I suggested.
“Be careful if you come over here,” Toby warned, “There’s glass everywhere.”
He was right; the floor around the sink was a mess. I saw a broom in the corner and quickly swept most of the shards into a small pile. Wheeler and Toby lifted the table and stacked it sideways across the window, forming a solid, heavy barrier above the sink. I added two chairs, one on each end of the table to keep it in place.
“If they try again, this will slow them down and give us time to get back here,” Wheeler said, like a general revealing military strategy. He seemed to be enjoying this. I just wanted out and made for the door.
“Not so fast, Nick. Now that we’re here, let’s make some fresh coffee,” Wheeler said. “I’m still master of my own house.”
“Hot drink good for the troops, eh?” I replied, knowing I was expected to brew it. Wheeler ignored me.
“Alright, I could do with a mug,” Toby agreed, “But let’s make it quick.” He gave me a sympathetic look, knowing I was worried about Nora being left on her own. “Don’t worry, Nick, it’ll only take a couple more minutes.”
“I’ll have the Las Chicas City Roast,” Wheeler said as I reached into the cupboard. I found the right beans, ground them, and poured water into the coffee-maker, totally concentrated on what I was doing.
That’s when all hell broke loose.
* * *
An explosion of breaking glass and shattered wood pierced the night air, so loud that it sounded like a tank driving through a wall. It came from the front of the house; the living room, the big window. There was a tremendous thump of something very large and heavy falling down, and the floor beneath my feet vibrated. I dropped the empty carafe I was holding, and my heart froze into a hard lump.
A terrible scream got me moving again. Nora, it had to be her.
We ran down the hallway to the living room. Wheeler tried the handle, but the door wouldn’t budge and he banged on it with his fist.
“Open up! Nora, let us in!”
There was no reply.
“Stand back.” Wheeler charged at the door and slammed his broad, heavy body into its wood panelling. There was a loud crack and the door opened about an inch before closing again.
“I busted the lock, but it still won’t open,” Wheeler said, rubbing his shoulder.
“Someone must be holding it closed,” Toby said.
“No,” Wheeler replied, “It opens a little bit but there’s something heavy on the other side barricading it shut. They must have piled furniture against it.”
“Nora are you okay?” I shouted. All I could hear inside was the sound of something else being stacked against the door.
“Quick,” I said, “Start pushing. They’re piling up more furniture.” I put my shoulder to the cracked panelling.
Wheeler and Toby leaned in either side of me and we shoved as hard as we could. The combined strength of three of us pushed together in unison. The door opened another inch or so then stopped.
“I think it’s one of the mahogany bookcases,” Wheeler panted, “Somehow they got it across the door.”
“If we can get our hands in we can topple it over,” I replied.
“Give me a minute to catch my breath,” Toby gasped.
“We don’t have a minute,” I screamed at him, “My sister’s in there!”
All three of us planted ourselves back in position and began a sustained push. The door opened ano
ther inch, then another.
“Harder,” I demanded.
The gap between the doorframe and the edge of the door increased, but still too little to squeeze inside. My arms and shoulders felt like breaking and a deep pain swelled up in my side nearest the door. I barely had enough breath to gasp out, “Harder. Come on!”
Toby, on my left, grunted an acknowledgement and for the first time ever I heard him swear under his breath. Wheeler lowered his head like a charging bull. I locked my arms and torso in position and from somewhere deep inside found a little more strength. Sweat trickled down my forehead and stung my eyes. The door moved, inch by slow, slow inch.
Beside me Toby moaned, suffering in his supreme effort. Overweight and out of shape, he wouldn’t last much longer.
“Do it!” I screamed the words out mercilessly. Time seemed to stand still. The great weight on the other side only got heavier, not lighter, and I realised the bookcase must be stacked against the door at an angle. We had to get it upright and beyond the perpendicular, then gravity would do the rest. I ignored the pain and gave one more supreme effort.
All at once the weight gave way. Inside the room, the seven-foot tall bookcase fell over and hit the floor with an enormous crash. The door swung ajar wide enough for me to squeeze into the narrow opening. Toby’s hands pushed me from behind, and I burst into the room like a cork escaping a bottle.
I stumbled over the fallen bookcase lying on the floor and found two more face down in front of it. Somehow we’d managed to push all three of them over. Books were scattered everywhere. Wheeler shoved in beside me, raised his rifle, and shot off a round. My eyes automatically followed the direction of the barrel.
On the far side of the room, where the big window had been, there was now an enormous black hole framed by splintered fence posts and torn curtains. Through the gaping hole, and extending well into the room, lay a roughly hacked tree trunk, big shards of window glass glittering all around it.
Figures crossed the room and retreated to the black hole. Ned and Abby Mackie straddled the window frame, with Peterman and Georgia close behind. Sanders followed, his left arm hanging limp and dripping blood. Marie was last, and for good reason. She was bent over to one side and dragged her right leg, which stuck out at an odd angle. But even so she was moving quickly. I scanned around the room for Nora and prayed they hadn’t already taken her.
Toby came up behind Wheeler and pushed his rifle barrel down until it pointed at the floor. “No more shooting,” he said.
Sanders and Marie rapidly vanished into the darkness and it was over. The room became eerily silent. I had hollow emptiness inside me, a void where Nora should have been. A loud clang made me jump and I turned in the direction of the sound.
In the furthest corner of the room, almost behind us, Nora stood. She was shaking uncontrollably and started sobbing in great convulsions of tears. A fireplace poker lay at her feet. As I watched, her legs gave way and she collapsed in a ragged, quivering heap.
Chapter Nineteen
“Nora, it’s okay. You’re safe now; they’re gone.” I kept repeating it over and over as I picked up her limp body and dragged it over to the nearest couch. Toby propped a cushion under her head and checked her pulse. She seemed to revive a little and frowned and pulled her hand away. Gradually, her breathing became calmer and her eyes opened. I fetched a bottle of Evian water from the bar, unscrewed the top and watched as Nora glugged down half the bottle. She wiped the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand, coughed and sat up suddenly, stared across the room where the poker still lay, then at the window. Finally, noticing me kneeling beside her, she managed a strained smile.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
She ran her fingers nervously through her hair in a familiar gesture that I knew meant she was thinking carefully before she answered. She lowered her hand again and watched it shaking and trembling in front of her.
“Take your time and tell me about it,” I said.
“They were smart,” Nora replied. “The noise at the back must have been a diversion. The main attack was here. They shattered those old wooden barriers like they were matchsticks.”
“I shouldn’t have left you,” I said.
“If we’d all gone they’d still have got in,” she replied. “I think that’s what they wanted. When they found me here, they stopped in their tracks. But only for a minute.”
“They barricaded the door, to deal with you uninterrupted?” Toby asked.
“Right, it was weird. They looked like they were adapting, receiving new instructions. Maybe I’m imagining that.”
“It nearly worked,” I said grimly.
Nora nodded. “That big beam they used to smash the window – it’s enormous. Where’d they get it?”
“It’s a leftover from the house building,” Wheeler explained, “I’d forgotten all about it. The workers dumped unused lumber at the edge of the forest. Peterman knows exactly where to find it.”
We all stared at the massive log. “It must weigh half a ton,” Toby said, “How could they have got it here?”
“Probably dragged it downhill with ropes,” Wheeler replied, “Remember, there are six of them now.”
“Five. Marie looks like she’s broken her leg,” Toby said sadly.
I frowned, still puzzled. “Wouldn’t we have heard all that going on outside?”
Wheeler shook his bull of a head. “These windows are triple-glazed and soundproof. When they got here all they had to do was lift the log and charge forward a few yards. It made a damned good battering ram.”
“Sure destroyed this room,” I said, looking around.
“No kidding, Nick,” Nora replied, quick as lightning, “You’d better get the vacuum cleaner out.”
“I can tell you’re feeling better already,” I replied sarcastically.
Nora gave me an answering grin. Her face was getting some colour back into it.
“What’s with all the poker stuff?” I asked her.
Her grin vanished. “Yeah, explain the poker, right.” She took another swig of water before continuing. “I’d actually begun to doze off when the window shattered. It made me jump out of my skin and the big log nearly hit me when it came crashing down. I ended up with glass all over me too. Somehow I didn’t get cut.”
She paused and drank more water.
“By the time I got up they were already coming in the window. Sanders got between me and the door, so I couldn’t make a run for it. Then they just stood there and did the talking in their heads to each other thing, or whatever it is they do.”
She gave a big shiver that went all the way through her body. “Then they came for me, Sanders first. He’d cut himself on broken glass but just plucked out the shards and threw them on the floor, blood dripping everywhere. Ned and Abby were behind him, Georgia and Peterman at the back. Marie’s injured and can barely hobble around.”
She sipped water again. “Marie and Georgia kept an eye on me while the rest of them moved bookcases. I don’t know how they managed it. Ned’s face turned purple and Peterman almost burst a blood vessel. You should have seen their eyes nearly popping out with the effort. The whole time, I was looking around for a weapon. The fireplace was close by, so I grabbed the biggest poker in the rack.”
She handed me the empty water bottle.
“Sanders came at me like a robot. I screamed at him to stop but he just kept coming, and reached out at me with his big, blood-dripping arms. He backed me into the corner and that’s when I did it.”
“Did what?” I asked quietly.
“I held the poker with both hands and swung it as hard as I could. Hit him right across the side of the head with it, you should have heard the smack. Swung so hard his head nearly came off.” A ghost of a smile came briefly on her lips. “His ear will be like a dinner plate by now. Anyway, that’s when I got the real shock.”
Her chest heaved in a deep sigh and she looked up at us, real fear all over her face.
�
��I connected so hard, guys. He should have gone down and not got up again. I’m pretty sure I heard his skull crack. But he just straightened up and stood there, looking at me.”
Her voice cracked. “It was like I’d just given him some new information to think about. He stood there processing it, like he was downloading an update. Then he reached out and grabbed me.” She shivered and pointed at bruises on her arm. “I could hear his voice in my head, telling me I’d soon be one of them. That’s when you guys got the door open and the bookcases came crashing down.”
“They turned tail pretty quick, the cowards,” Wheeler said.
Nora nodded. “They made straight for the window. You three got inside and I saw Mr. Wheeler fire his rifle. I think you got Sanders in the fleshy part of his arm. That’s the last thing I remember.”
“I pulled the shot wide,” Wheeler said, “I was aiming for the bastard’s heart.”
Toby frowned. “You need to cool it in situations like that, Julius, or you’ll be facing a murder charge. Sanders was leaving, they all were. You don’t need to shoot them in the back.”
“Shut it, Toby,” Wheeler spat back. “What matters is what we do now. With that window gaping open, we can’t stay here.”
“How about the kitchen?” Nora suggested.
“The window there is smashed too,” Wheeler informed her, “And my office is too wrecked.”
“They know we’re leaving tomorrow,” I said, “So they won’t give up. We need a safe place.”
“Agreed,” Wheeler replied, “They’ll be back before morning. We have to go upstairs.”
“That’ll just let them back into the house,” Toby objected.
“We can’t stop that,” Wheeler replied, “They’ll get in now anyway. Upstairs, at least we’ll be ready for them. We can barricade the stairs and I’ll keep guard.”
I asked the obvious question. “How are we going to get to the helicopter when it comes?”
“Climb out a window if we have to,” Wheeler answered, “Tie some sheets together. You can manage that, can’t you?” he said, looking at me.
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