‘Chris,’ Terry spat. ‘He lied to us. How do we know he isn’t still working for the monsters that did this to us? Huh? My wife and daughter are dead because of him, because of you.’
I flinched. I knew he blamed me for freezing instead of firing, but the words out loud almost sent me running. He was too angry to listen, too full of hatred for everything. I had to get rid of it.
‘No, Terry,’ I said. ‘Chris never killed your family, you heard him. He tried to stop this before it started. He has the same pain you do, that we all do.’
‘What do you know about pain?’ he glared, tears flashed in his eyes. ‘If you had just, if you had just…’
‘Terry, I am so sorry for your family. Truly,’ I choked. ‘But it’s the people behind this to blame. My Mum and Dad are God knows where, maybe even dead.’
Once I’d said those words I didn’t know how to go on, the realization was like a knife in the gut, and I tried to push the thought out. Terry clenched and unclenched his hands. He looked enraged and sympathetic, his new attitude in battle with his old nature. I had to finish.
‘We’re all in the same boat, all in this together,’ I said. ‘We have to stay that way if we want to survive, all of us, and Chris has done that to some extent. I want to survive, Terry. I don’t want to die. Amelia and Hannah wouldn’t want you to die either.’
Tears were in my own eyes and Terry’s fist flew for my face. It hit and sent me sprawled onto the floor. Anna rocketed over from where she sat, followed closely by Jane. Chris and Paul had stopped to look at the commotion, and everyone turned to watch.
‘I’m sorry,’ was all I could whisper.
Terry looked at everyone in surprise, his eyes wide as he stared at his hands. He fled from the room and vanished round a corner. I turned to Chris and nodded. He seemed to understand, and headed after him, followed closely by Paul. Anna bent down, and Jane pulled a pack of tissues from her pocket.
‘What the fuck did he hit you for?’ Anna hissed as she wiped the blood that stemmed from my nose.
I stayed silent.
‘I’m sorry, Lucas,’ Jane said. ‘If I knew he would attack you I wouldn’t have said anything.’
Anna looked at Jane confused then back at me.
‘I had a word with him, tried to convince him to put a stop to this,’ I said.
‘How?’ she asked.
‘By hopefully burning out his anger,’ I replied. ‘He blames me for not saving his family. After what Jane said I realised he was the only one who could stop us breaking. People trust him, value his opinion. The only thing holding him back was me.’
Anna looked doubtful, but an hour passed and Chris walked in flanked by Paul and Terry. The latter avoided my eyes, but the weight behind his had lessened. Paul’s arms were folded and his nostrils flared. The group looked expectantly at Terry, as I hoped they would.
‘We’ve made it this far with Chris’s help,’ he said. ‘I know we’re all scared. I feel the same as you do. But Anna was right, it took a lot to tell us what Chris did, and he’s more than made up for it. We are proof of that. He didn’t need to help us, but he did and I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt, as should you.’
‘Fuck this,’ Paul snorted and moved away from the group.
The rest just looked at each other and broke into whispers.
‘Crisis averted?’ Jane asked.
‘For now maybe,’ Anna answered.
When Anna’s watch struck midnight people moved to the places they had grown used to and settled down. Most were still afraid to sleep, but the room hushed, and Terry appeared beside me. I was afraid he was going to start lashing out again, but he didn’t look angry; his face almost sagged, full of sorrow and resignation.
‘I’m sorry, Lucas,’ he whispered. ‘I shouldn’t have hit you. You’re right. I took a vow to help people, but after, after…’
He couldn’t go on.
‘I know,’ I said. ‘I know.’
He nodded and clamped a hand on my shoulder. He looked ready to say more, but he swallowed it, and walked away. I lay back down, going through the hell we’d been through. There was someone down there, someone who couldn’t be trusted. Chris hadn’t told them that part, and only he, Anna, and I knew. We were being watched, and there were no shortage of suspects.
That wasn’t the only thing haunting me. Beside the fates of my family, there was something else that sent ice through my stomach. When I’d been attacked at home, I’d passed off the people who’d done it as common criminals, obviously not burglars, but coincidental to everything else. But if Terry was right, and I had a sinking feeling he was, that sniper made sure I wasn’t killed. Sure, I could have died from blood loss, but luck would just have it there was a doctor down in the tunnels with us. I didn’t believe in that luck. We were all there for a reason.
I drifted off into a light sleep, the revelations bouncing in my mind.
*
‘AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!’ a gut-wrenching shriek filled the air.
I bolted up and staggered, Anna next to me bleary-eyed and half-asleep. Chris charged out of the room and down the tunnels. We followed, Anna still with her gun, and Paul, his son and a few followers behind us. We sprinted around corners and into a room like ours only smaller. I scanned the space, and my eyes found Jane. Her mouth was still open, silently screaming, and her hands clutched at her chest.
‘I knew that woman was hellspawn!’ Grace screamed from behind.
In front of Jane was Terry. He dangled a few feet in the air, a rope tight around his neck. It wrapped around a pipe that jutted out from the wall and travelled through the ceiling. His eyes stared blankly at the room, and pinned to his chest was a photograph. I couldn’t see it so I moved closer and wished I hadn’t. Chris, Paul, and Anna looked confused, and I saw Chris shrug. They didn’t know who it was.
I did.
In the picture, tied to what looked like a hospital bed, was my father.
The Hospital
I couldn’t process it right away. I felt sick and faint and I swayed on my feet. Terry was dead, and my father looked close to it. The picture had writing on it in what looked like a black marker.
The Hospital.
It had been half an hour, Chris and Paul had taken down the body and moved it further away from the group. Word spread fast though, and it hit them hard. People screamed and shouted, they cried and some were just silent. There was an evil glint in Paul’s eye, and I realised, with Terry dead, he could start up his little campaign again. That was all we needed. However my priorities had shifted, if there was any chance my Dad was alive, any, then I would do whatever I had to do to get him back.
Once the body was gone, I told them all who the picture was. I spoke in a rush, explained his condition and what I intended to do. No one looked happy. My spirit deflated with their silence, part of me had expected they would have been as happy as I was.
‘It’s a trap,’ Anna said eventually. ‘Whoever did this wants us there, or more specifically you, and I doubt it’s for the best. Your Dad might not even be there.’
Chris, Anna, Jane and I had broken off from the main group.
‘I don’t care what it is,’ I said. ‘My Dad might be there, and if there’s any chance he’s still alive, then I’m going.’
‘Lucas, it’s obvious,’ Chris said gently. ‘Someone wants you there, and a dead body with your father’s picture isn’t a great message.’
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
‘Sorry to cut in,’ Jane grimaced. ‘How do you know the good doctor didn’t just do that himself?’
I looked at Chris and his face sank. The bags under his eyes had their own bags, and the weight of leadership was beginning to stretch him thin.
‘If the picture of Lucas’s father isn’t a bad enough omen, when Paul and I got the body down I noticed something,’ he whispered. ‘Terry’s arm was broken, and his back was bruised. From the looks of it someone must have snuck up behind him and surpris
ed him. They twisted his arm around his back and pinned both it and him down from behind to strangle him.’
Anna gasped and I winced, the colour had gone from Jane’s face and she swallowed any further questions. My mind whirled. Someone down there with us was working against us, first, by shutting the opening to the tunnels on us and probably starting the car alarm in the first place, and then? They had killed a good man to send a message, a message that inexplicably, was for me. What the hell did they want from me?
‘Paul never noticed, I took the picture down and told him it was Terry’s wife and child,’ Chris whispered. ‘So for now, everyone believes he took his own life, we can’t have another meltdown. But someone is here with us, and I don’t mean just in the tunnels, they’re here, in this group.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ I cut in. ‘I’m going to the hospital and I’m going to find my Dad. You said it yourself, Chris. That sniper could have killed me, but he didn’t, which means they want something, or at the very least nothing will happen to me there.’
‘And you’re willing to test this?’ he growled. ‘What if you’re wrong, what if they’re just playing with all of us, and they’re baiting us out to kill us, one by one. Using what we want the most.’
‘I’m still going,’ I answered.
‘What so now you’re ready to face the world outside?’ Chris said, his voice rising. ‘What? You’ve suddenly got over your overwhelming cowardice?’
I flinched and rounded on him, my eyes caught his and I wanted to punch him. Screw before, I had no idea whether my family was alive or not. The picture had set a fire ablaze in my stomach. I was still petrified, but my family trumped that, I’d been too afraid to leave before, but I had no idea where to start. The picture changed that, it looked like he’d never been moved from the hospital. It was a trap, no doubt, but if there was any chance…
‘Fuck you, Chris,’ I shouted. ‘Tell me, huh? If it was your wife, tell me you wouldn’t go?’
Paul appeared and headed toward us.
‘What the hell are you shouting about?’ he snarled.
‘Nothing that concerns you,’ I growled.
Chris had faltered at my jab, and Anna stared at me critically. Jane looked stricken and had no idea what to say. They understood what I was feeling, they knew I had to go, but still they stood in my way.
‘Lucas, we just don’t want you to get hurt,’ Jane whispered. ‘We don’t want anyone to get hurt.’
‘I don’t want them to either,’ I said. The painful throb in my head had returned. ‘I’ll go myself, that way if it is a trap, it’s only me.’
I suddenly felt alone. I knew they had good reasons, I knew how much of a bad idea it was, but if I didn’t go the guilt would cripple me. There wasn’t any way the situation would be a win for anyone, but even with the cowardly voice in my brain, I couldn’t stay there and wonder. We lapsed into silence again, war inside my head and selfishly, part of me wanted to stay down in the tunnels, to stay safe, whatever that was anymore. I turned away from them and headed for one of the holes in the wall.
‘Lucas,’ Chris muttered.
I turned back.
‘I’m sorry, Chris,’ I said sadly. ‘Thank you for saving me. I know you didn’t want to hear it, but thank you.’
His face fell and he opened his mouth, but no words came out. I didn’t want to leave them, in a way they had also become a sort of family, even if a bit dysfunctional. Their faces gave away their fear though. Nothing they could say would stop me. There was also that unspoken thought between us that whoever had killed Terry wanted me at the hospital, and if I didn’t go, who else would die to send me the message again? Another thing I couldn’t bear to have on my conscience, I had to go, and they knew it.
‘Dammit,’ Anna sighed. ‘I’m going with you.’
I was about to protest when she stopped me.
‘I’m not about to let you walk into a trap on your own,’ she said. ‘And if you think otherwise you’re an idiot.’
I swallowed the lump in my throat and smiled my thanks. Paul stood there with his snarl looking confused, I almost laughed at the sight. Chris stepped forward and pulled a gun from his trousers, extending it towards me. The light dimmed and part of me wanted to run, but I took the cold, black metal into my hands and nodded at him.
‘That’s not my only gift,’ Chris said, resigned. ‘You two won’t make it far without me, plus, I know a quick way to the hospital through some abandoned factories.’
‘You’re leaving?’ Paul smiled.
‘I’ll be back, don’t worry,’ Chris replied. ‘Try and not shoot anyone while I’m away, okay?’
The smile vanished from his lips. I began to worry about everyone else, the group was fragile and the last thing we needed was for someone like Paul to start trouble. Luckily, Jane stepped forward and smiled like butter wouldn’t melt at Paul.
‘I’ll keep an eye on things,’ she said. ‘We’ll be fine, won’t we, Paul?’
Paul stared at her and stuttered.
‘Anyway, with Terry’s death the group need a little hope,’ Jane continued. ‘Grace seems to be sinking her teeth into it. She’s already started to try and convince everyone they should take to the streets and beg for mercy.’
I started to think no one was stupid enough to fall for that, but I remembered the way they’d been to start with, malleable and easily persuaded. Grace could walk them straight to their deaths. I closed my eyes and sighed, not only was there outside problems to contend with, there were inside ones too. We all looked expectantly at Paul and he avoided our gaze, reaching the same conclusion.
He muttered he would help Jane take care of it, and she beamed at him. He blushed. So, Paul had a sweet spot after all. Anna rolled her eyes and Jane laughed.
‘Good luck you guys,’ Jane said. ‘Come back alive, okay?’
I nodded, and she and Paul took their leave. They left us alone in the room we had found Terry’s body. I wondered how well this would go down with the rest of the group, but shut it from my mind. We needed to be cautious, and we couldn’t let anything else take up our attention. Chris led us through the dark tunnels, Anna behind him, and me bringing up the rear.
I boiled with emotions. My father could be alive and my heart warmed at the idea, but then again, he might not be there at all, and like Chris and Anna had said, it could be a trap to lure us out and kill us. I tried not to dwell on the latter, focusing on the deadly weapon in my hand.
I wasn’t comfortable with killing someone, but as always Chris’s words drifted through my mind. If I wanted to survive I had to conquer the fear, and accept the guilt. It was us or them, there was no reasoning. I wished I had the strength Anna did, or to be the way Chris could be: Cold and clinical, finding the best way to stay alive.
After a while, maybe forty-five minutes, Chris stopped beside a ladder. It looked no different than the others we’d ascended, but then again, everything down in the tunnels looked the same. Chris’s job had been to keep people out, but the place was like a labyrinth, even if they had gotten down, only by luck would they have gotten out. I shivered, it was a good thing we had Chris’s knowledge, and it further cemented the idea that each of us was placed down there for a reason.
‘Okay,’ Chris whispered. ‘At the top of this ladder we should come out into an old warehouse on an abandoned industrial site.’
I knew the place, although I’d never been in it.
‘How far from the hospital is it?’ Anna asked.
‘Not far,’ Chris replied. ‘I just don’t know what’s up there, so be ready.’
He looked at me hesitantly, and I couldn’t blame him.
‘I’m with you, Chris,’ I tried to sound sincere. ‘I can do this.’
He nodded and laid out a rough idea about what we’d do. I was absorbed in my own thoughts though. I shouldn’t have been, but what I’d said earlier drifted through my mind. If they wanted me dead, the snipers could have done to me what they’d done to others so ea
sily. But they hadn’t. They also had us blocked from leaving town, and wanted us down there. None of the creatures up top had gotten down, so I assumed if any got close, someone stopped them. I also assumed that if they wanted me at the hospital, they’d make sure we got there.
We climbed the ladders and entered a small, empty building. The place was vacant, and there was only one light left in the entire room that hadn’t been destroyed. It swung in the middle of the room, eerily. Chris started to move, but I froze. Déjà vu punched me in the gut, and my brain pulsed in warning. What was I missing? I was missing something!
The walls were cracked and withered with age, and the floor was the same. There weren’t any red stains like there were in my memory, but bolted to the ground underneath the only whole light, was a chair. My breathing turned ragged.
‘Holy crap,’ Anna whispered. ‘What kinda crazy shit went down here?’
Chris turned to shrug, but caught sight of me. He said my name, but it didn’t quite reach my ears, which had filled with the thumping of my heart. I knew this place. I visited it every time I slept. It was the place of nightmares and pain. I clutched my chest.
I had never been there, but I’d dreamt of it, which meant one thing.
My nightmares weren’t dreams, they were real.
The Trap
I fell to my knees and clutched at my chest as Anna crouched beside me. She tried to calm me down and squeeze something out of me. She sounded far away though, and I couldn’t think straight. My nightmare was real, but how? How could I forget something like that? I didn’t, the thought shot through my mind. Chris searched the room quickly and came back.
‘Look I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but can this wait?’ he asked impatiently.
‘Lucas?’ Anna whispered. ‘What is it?’
Don’t tell them, they’ll turn on you.
I could only look at her and shake my head. Tears gathered and I wiped at them furiously with my hands. Chris was right, there was no time for this, and we had to move. I stood and gave myself a shake. I nodded at Chris and Anna, and we started off again. A door stood in one of the corners, engulfed in darkness. Dim light filtered through the broken skylights above.
Fear of God (Trials of Strength Book 1) Page 8