The group continued their vigil at the window for a few more minutes, but then they all jumped as a panicked shout rose from outside the office.
“Jules, Jules,” came the cry.
Jules charged to the door, followed by the others. Everyone who had a weapon on them raised it as they ran out into the large, well-lit reception area.
"Drop your weapons or he buys it, followed by one of you," the blonde-haired American woman who had been driving the lorry commanded.
"Jesus fucking Christ!" blurted Jules as she saw Andy had been beaten to a bloody mess, while Rob had been stabbed and now had a knife at his throat. "Lower your weapons.” The others immediately obeyed. "Do you mind taking the knife from my brother's throat please?" she asked politely.
“Your brother?” the American asked, surprised. She looked towards the woman she had arrived with then back towards Jules. "Who are you people and what do you want with us?"
We don't want anything with you other than to find out why you broke into our place and get you the f—get you out of here," Jules replied. "Now, please take the knife from my brother's throat."
The American’s expression softened as she looked beyond Jules towards the assembled faces behind her. She reached down and unbuckled Rob’s belt.
"What are you doing?" he screamed, terrified this American psycho was going to torture him further.
"Do you have any bandages or medical supplies? I need to see to his wound before he loses too much blood,” the American said.
"You're a doctor?" Jules asked, amazed.
The American nodded while helping the young man onto the floor. She took off the belt and carefully removed his trousers as he let out a whimper. She wrapped the belt around his leg above the wound to stem the flow of blood. "The cut's not too deep, I didn't hit anything major, but I'm going to need to suture it."
“Get her what she needs," Jules said to the others in the group as the room sprang into a hive of activity. She looked towards the unconscious figure with the pummelled face. "And can someone see to Andy?" she asked, looking to one of the older women. "In the meantime, please come with me," she said directly to the dark-haired woman who had arrived with the American. "Nice work you did on my brother."
"That was Lucy, not me, and anyway, he had it coming. He was lucky to get away with just a cut," the dark-haired woman said, not feeling the need to justify their actions.
"Not him, the other one." She gestured back to the battered, unconscious figure who was being dragged across the floor for Lucy to look at after she had attended to her own victim.
"How many brothers have you got?"
"Three, the third is the one who screamed like a girl when you took out the other two," Jules replied.
"You must be so proud," the dark-haired woman said with a smirk.
"You have any brothers?"
"Two."
"I'm guessing you love them more than anything, but that doesn't stop them from being a constant pain in the fuckin' tits."
"One of them's only six and he's adorable, but it sounds like you've already met the other... My name's Emma," she said, extending a hand as they entered the office from where the group had emerged.
"Aren't we fucking formal now?" Smiling, Jules extended her hand and curtseyed. "Delighted to meet you, Emma, my name's Julia, but everyone calls me Jules," she said in an affected English accent before falling back into her friendly Belfast one. "So, do you mind telling me who the fuck you are? And what the fuck are you doing here?"
The Beginning
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acknowledgements
A very, very big thank you to my better half, Tina. She never, ever lets me down and is always there when I need her.
Massive thanks to the gang across in the fan club on Facebook. I will never get used to the incredible support and loyalty you guys give me. Thank you for everything you do, you’re amazing.
Thanks to my editor, Ken, and a massive thank you to the amazing Christian Bentulan, for always designing such amazing covers to accompany these books.
And finally, thank you to you for downloading this book.
a note from the author
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The End of Everything: Book 4
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The End of Everything: Book 6
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Anthologies featuring short stories by Christopher Artinian
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christopher artinian
Christopher Artinian was born and raised in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Wanting to escape life in a big city and concentrate more on working to live than living to work, he and his family moved to the Outer Hebrides in the north-west of Scotland in 2004, where he now works as a full-time author.
Chris is a huge music fan, a cinephile, an avid reader and a supporter of Yorkshire county cricket club. When he’s not sat in front of his laptop living out his next post-apocalyptic/dystopian/horror adventure, he will be passionately immersed in one of his other interests.
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Before Safe Haven (Book 4): Jules Page 15