1 Life 2 Die 4
Page 13
I’d only known Veronica’s mum for perhaps twenty minutes, yet the realisation gutted me as much as when I’d sat in the safe-room cradling Veronica’s dead body.
But I had no time for sentiment now. I knew that if she could speak to me, she’d beg me to just get her daughter to safety.
And that’s what I intended to do.
Yanking the terrified girl to her feet, I started dragging her towards the side of the bridge. At least if we jumped we’d have a slim chance of survival – which was a lot better than our chances if we hung around here.
I was still accelerating when we reached the railing that separated the footpath from the road, my mind set on trying to launch the two of us up and over both it and the one a metre further on at the edge of the bridge. Just as it occurred to me I might be being a little ambitious, a volley of cannon fire erupted from either end of the bridge. The air around us shook violently with a massive explosion and Veronica dragged me to sudden a halt.
I turned to see what was left of the car ablaze, dark smoke and long, wicked tongues of orange and red flames billowing up through a jagged hole in its roof.
“MUUUMMMM!” Veronica screamed, and her shrill, terrified cry sent a deathly chill up my spine. I knew the sound would haunt me forever. Just as I knew there’d be no way to reason with Veronica right now. A minute ago, she’d been relaxing in the back of her family car listening to some idiot her mother had picked up in the city. Now the woman she cared most about in the whole world had just died in a flaming inferno right before her eyes!
I peered miserably across at the trembling, distraught girl and abruptly recalled my bewilderment earlier today when people had first started shooting at me for no apparent reason. And, I also thought of the devastated sensation I’d felt when I’d discovered the woman I cared most about in the world was dead. Now poor Vee was struggling to come to terms with both of these situations simultaneously, and as I peered at her wide, disbelieving eyes, I felt my heart melt.
But I had a job to do.
“It’s okay, Vee – I saw her get out and climb over the far side of the bridge,” I lied, barely meeting Veronica’s eyes before I spun back to the railing. “Now we’ve got to go too or we’re both dead!”
I knew she’d be sceptical; but I also knew she’d desperately want to believe me.
“Come on!” I urged as I threw a leg up over the first railing and scrambled over, painfully aware that the thick smoke which had temporarily screened us from our enemies was rapidly dissipating.
When I glanced down over the second railing, I breathed a sigh of relief – at least our luck hadn’t entirely deserted us. Almost directly below the spot where we stood, a ladder ran down the side of the bridge! Perhaps we could avoid jumping after all.
Spinning back, I helped Veronica up over the first railing, thankful that despite her shock she came willingly. Then we both scurried over the second railing and I directed her down the ladder ahead of me. Just as my head sank below the level of the road, I glanced between the rails and through the clearing smoke I saw the eastern gunner aiming directly at us. A moment later, the entire bridge shook as a shell hit the surface just above us, blasting heavy chunks of bitumen and concrete out through the air above us.
A second later, I was standing beside Veronica on a small platform at the base of the ladder while we stared in surprise at a rope which hung over a hook protruding from the ladder. Bizarrely, attached to one of two loops which were knotted into the end was a small piece of paper with some writing on it. When I bent closer to read it, my eyes widened in surprise:
“Swing or die!”
*****
About the Author
Dean Waite is a teacher from Brisbane, Australia. Like many authors, he is forced to write in spare snippets of time while spending most of his time doing a job that pays a regular income. Fortunately, he also enjoys teaching. Like almost every other author, however, he would love more time to create new stories for others who love losing themselves in intriguing imaginary worlds.
Dean has also written the first book in another series for young readers, but hopes to find time to write book 2 in the series before publishing.
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