SAFE HAVEN: REALM OF THE RAIDERS

by Christopher Artinian

  The four of them headed down the stairs and through the dining room, which was becoming less hectic by the moment as people finished grabbing supplies and concentrated their efforts on finding a place in the convoy. The family entered the room behind reception where Lucy had her stethoscope in her ears, listening to Private Hughes’s breathing.

  “How’s he doing?” asked Mike.

  “He’s a tough son of a bitch, I can tell you that much,” replied Lucy. “I’ve urged them to let him come with us so I can monitor him, but they haven’t let me know one way or the other yet.” She pulled the stethoscope from her ears and let it rest around her neck. “How are the preparations going out there?”

  “Nearly done, we’ll be setting off pretty soon.”

  “Before we do I’m just going to see if there’s any food left in the kitchen,” said Emma. “I need to find Jake and Sammy something to eat, it’s going to be a long day.” She took the two children by the hands and led them out.

  It was the first time Mike and Lucy had been alone since the previous morning. They embraced tightly as soon as Emma and the children left. “How are you holding up, sweetie?”

  “Better now,” he replied, tightening his grip even harder. After a minute he pulled back and took hold of her hands. “I’ve been thinking about when we get to Scotland,” he whispered, kissing one of her hands and then the other. “I’ve been thinking that I’m going to hold you in my arms and never let you go again.”

  Lucy’s tired face warmed as if it had been hit by sunlight. “I could live with that.”

  Mike let go of her hands and was about to leave when he turned back nervously. “I know we haven’t known each other that long, and I know I don’t have a lot of experience with this kind of thing, and the last thing in the world I want to do is scare you away. But knowing the journey we’ve got ahead of us, I won’t forgive myself if I don’t say it.”

  “Say what, sweetie?” asked Lucy.

  “I think I’m falling in love with you. No, I am definitely falling in love with you.” Mike looked Lucy in the eyes. She did not answer, she just stared an unfathomable stare. “There, at least I got it off my chest.” He gulped and smiled before heading off to find Emma and his younger brother and sister.

  As Mike left the office, Private Thomson beckoned him across to the small guest lounge adjacent to the dining room. He opened the door for Mike and followed him in. Shaw was waiting along with another soldier whose name Mike didn’t know.

  Shaw smiled, “It’s my last chance, Mike, I’ve got to try one more time. Is there any way I convince you to come with us?”

  Mike returned the smile. “’Fraid not, sorry.”

  “Oh, well. Look, before, you go, there’s a few things I want to say. Firstly, I want to thank you. If it wasn’t for you yesterday, I don’t think any of us would be standing here now. Secondly, I want to wish you luck. We’ve filled a transit with supplies and weapons for you, and I think if anybody can make it to Scotland it’s you, mate.” Shaw extended his hand and grasped Mike’s firmly, before releasing it and stepping back. “Finally, Mike, I just want to tell you how sorry I am.”

  “Sorry for what?” asked Mike, confused, but before he got an answer everything went black.

  Thomson stood over the collapsed body. The butt of his rifle glistened with a small amount of Mike’s blood.

  Shaw let out a sad sigh. “I’m sorry for that, mate.” He shook his head, angry that he had been forced to take this action. “Right, you know the plan. Emma and those kids, we don’t harm a hair on their head. Likewise, Raj and his wife. They aren’t the enemy, they’re good people. “Right, Tommo, get the doctor in here.”

  Thomson burst through the door. “Doctor, it’s Mike, he’s had some kind of seizure.” Lucy didn’t pause for breath. She sprinted out of the room and followed Thomson. She didn’t notice the two soldiers in the room as she knelt down by Mike’s side. Then she felt a hand lifting her shirt, and before she could react, Thomson had removed her Glock and was pointing it at her.

  “What’s happening?” she screamed, almost in tears. Her world had been turned upside down again. Mike was on the floor unconscious and the soldiers who she thought were their protectors were now aiming guns at her.

  Shaw stepped forward and pulled Lucy’s arms behind her back while the other soldier bound her wrists together with cable ties.

  “What are you doing?” she screamed again.

  Shaw placed some tape over her mouth and Lucy began to panic. “Calm down, Doctor. Mike’s okay, he’s just going to have a bit of a headache.” Lucy gained control of herself again, but began sobbing. “What it boils down to is this. We can get food, water, ammo, even medicines. We can find those things all over the place, but a doctor is just too precious a commodity to let go. Now I tried to convince Mike to join us, I virtually begged him. Trust me, this is the very last thing I wanted to do because I really like Mike, we all do, we like all of you. No harm is going to come to you. You’ll be the safest person around, you’re going to be well looked after. You don’t need to worry about Mike and the others either. We’re giving them more weapons and supplies than they could possibly use. It’s going to be really hard for both of you, but he’ll get his family to Scotland and you’ll be the most respected person at our new camp.”

  Lucy tried to shout, but her mouth wouldn’t move underneath the duct tape.

  “Get her back into the other office and put her in the ambulance when the other vehicles have set off. We don’t want anybody to see this. We’ll explain everything at the other end.” Thomson took her roughly by the arm, checked the way was clear and marched her out. She took one last look back at the body lying still on the floor and shouted something incomprehensible. If the tape hadn’t been covering her mouth and she hadn’t been crying, everyone would have heard, “I love you, Mike.”

  *

  Fry was in the passenger seat of a black Range Rover, contemplating the day ahead. His driver was a lieutenant in The Don’s army, one of the few people Fry could stand, one of the few people on his wavelength. They were the tenth vehicle back in a huge convoy making its way south. The Don hadn’t slept in as late as Fry feared, and hopefully they would arrive at Elsdon Reservoir at around midday. Fry leaned forward to look in the wing mirror. Just behind them was a purple coach that used to be a tour bus for a big rock band. That was The Don’s vehicle, and with him was the usual entourage of sycophants, bimbos and that demon bitch of his loins, Lorelei. Fry ruffled his ginger and grey whiskers pensively and looked suspiciously across to his driver.

  “So, TJ,” began Fry, “I hear The Don’s thinking about expanding?” A smile came to TJ’s mouth. Fry let out a belly laugh and shook his head. “I knew that bald, fat cunt wouldn’t have an idea like that himself. I thought to myself, who do I know who could plant a seed like that in his head?”

  “I just mentioned it in passing.”

  “Like bollocks y’did. Got your eye on a place of your own have you, TJ?” asked Fry, smiling.

  “I know where I stand, Fry. I’ve got no delusions. There’ll be a few in line before me, but yeah, I’d like to get as far away from that bitch as I can.” The biggest thing the pair of them had in common was the fact they despised Lorelei with the heat of a thousand suns.

  “This place we’re heading to today. The Don, he’s thinking maybe this could be the first satellite camp for us. I tell you now, if he gives it to me, I’m going to ask to have you as my second in command.” Fry trusted TJ to a degree, but although he believed TJ would be loyal to him if he overthrew The Don, he didn’t trust him enough to tell him about his long-term plans. “I think you and me could do pretty well for ourselves if we had a place of our own.”

  “Cheers, Fry,” replied TJ in his faint Geordie accent. “I think you’re right, I think we could.”

  *

  A lantern and two candles lit the small storage cupboard. Several of the shelves housed computer stationery and toner cartridges, some of t
hem had boxes of Christmas decorations, but there was nothing that could aid the occupants with planning an escape. Emma sat with her back against the thick door. Sammy and Jake clutched her tightly; they were terrified. Raj and Talikha sat at the opposite end of the cupboard with Mike laid out flat in the middle, still unconscious.

  “I cannot believe what they have done. I cannot believe they have taken Humphrey from us, too. What kind of man takes another’s dog?” said Talikha to no-one in particular.

  “What kind of man bludgeons someone over the head and kidnaps a doctor who has done nothing but helped them?” asked Emma bitterly.

  “It makes no sense,” said Raj. “I understand why they would not want to take Mike along if they were kidnapping Lucy. But why leave us locked in here? Why leave us for the raiders if they return? It seems uncharacteristically cruel. I have spent time with these men and they do not seem cruel. It makes no sense.”

  At the mention of the raiders, Sammy began to sob more hysterically. “Could we not talk about that right now?” asked Emma.

  “Yes, of course. I apologise.” Raj put three fingers up to each temple and rubbed gently.

  “How long have we been in here?” asked Talikha.

  “I don’t know. About half an hour, maybe a little more,” replied Raj.

  All heads jolted upwards as a loud crackling noise emanated from one of the boxes.

  “It came from that box on the top shelf,” said Emma, relinquishing the grip she had on her brother and sister and standing up. Raj sprung to his feet and lifted the box down. Inside there was an array of tinsel and other Christmas decorations. He plunged his hands in like he was playing a lucky dip game at a fairground. He found something heavy and withdrew his hand. It was a radio.

  He depressed the talk button. “Hello.”

  “This is Shaw. Listen carefully. Taped to the back of the walkie-talkie is a key to the storeroom door. We’ve left a bag with some water, and some weapons in the reception office. There are two well-stocked vehicles waiting for you on the farmer’s track that runs parallel to the main road heading into Skelton. It’s about a three mile hike. The keys are underneath the driver’s seat of each vehicle. I’m really sorry it came to this, but we didn’t really have a choice. I hope you get to where you’re going safely. The doctor will be well looked after, so please don’t worry about her. We’re about to go out of range now, so good luck and Godspeed.” The voice crackled off as quickly as it had come.

  Raj passed Emma the key and she unlocked the door. The cool air rushed into the stuffy room and they tasted the sweetness of freedom. They stepped out one after the other into the large foyer. The clock on the wall read 11.30. “We were in there longer than I thought,” said Raj, stretching his shoulders.

  “We need to get out of here now,” said Emma.

  Raj looked back into the small room. Mike was not moving. He quickly scanned the foyer, then the dining room, for anything that could be made into a stretcher, and then he remembered Jenny kept a sack cart in the beer cellar. He ran across, vaulted the bar and opened the trap door. “Talikha, find two strong pieces of wood that can be used for poles, about six feet in length,” he shouted before disappearing into the cellar. His wife ran to the pile of rubble. There were all shapes and sizes of debris from the previous day’s efforts, and she quickly found what she was looking for. They would give anyone who touched them splinters, but they would serve the purpose for now. Raj re-emerged from the cellar carrying the heavy metal two-wheeled cart behind him. He placed it down flat, took the poles from his wife and carefully positioned them, one at either side. He realised he needed something to tie them into place and looked up at his wife. “Washing line,” he said, but before he had finished speaking, she was running to the kitchen for a knife. Within two minutes she was back with enough washing line to moor a cruise liner.

  While the pair were working on the stretcher, Emma dragged her brother’s unconscious body out of the storage cupboard and across to them.

  “I don’t think it would be regarded very highly by the people at the Red Cross, but it should get the job done.” The three of them lifted Mike onto the cart and tied him to the poles. Raj took a deep breath and lifted the handles. It was heavy but infinitely better than having to carry him unaided.

  “Okay, let’s go.” Emma ran ahead and collected the holdall with the weapons. She took out a crowbar and put it in her belt. She placed a sheathed knife on her other side and stuffed some shells in her pocket before loading a pump-action shotgun, just the way Lucy had shown her. She gently grabbed Talikha by the arm. “Would you mind looking after Sammy and Jake? I think it’s best if I have my hands free.” Talikha nodded. The sight and sound of Emma readying the shotgun for use was quite frightening, and she preferred a more sedate duty.

  Raj struggled getting Mike down the stairs, but once they were on the even road, the job became easier.

  Out on the street, Emma took the lead. She had seen Mike and Lucy in action enough times to know what to do, and it all came down to her now. She had little doubt Raj would fight if it came to it, Mike had spoken highly of him, but to lead the group, that took something else, and with her brother down and no Lucy, she was stepping up. The group made good progress out of the centre of the village and were well on their way to the south bridge when Emma heard a familiar sound, a low guttural growl. She put her hand up to stop everyone in their tracks and quietly placed the bag and the shotgun down on the floor. It was coming from just beyond the next bend in the road.

  “What is it?” asked Raj loudly. Emma threw back a look of pure venom. His question was answered as a RAM, alerted by his voice, came running around the corner. Jake and Sammy screamed. Talikha clutched them tightly and watched in dread as the beast sped towards Emma. Emma pulled the knife from its sheath with her left hand, held the crowbar with her right, and braced herself for the attack. It came at her head on, arms outstretched. At the last second she danced to the side like a matador and swung the crowbar, knocking the creature to the ground. Without missing a beat, she straddled it and plunged her knife up through the nape of its neck. A single judder and the beast was dead. She wiped off the knife, put it back in its sheath, replaced the crowbar, picked up her shotgun and bag and carried on. Raj and Talikha glanced at each other in shock. Emma and Mike were clearly formidable siblings.

  Shortly the group arrived at the south bridge. Some of the vehicles from the previous day’s raid could still be seen abandoned on the opposite side of the road. Emma signalled once again for the group to stop, and she angled her head to the side to try and listen. It was the sound of an engine. No, not a single engine, several. Had some of the abandoned vehicles been left with their engines running? No, wait, these engines were revving; these vehicles were moving. The raiders were back.

  “Run!” she ordered in a hoarse whisper. Talikha grabbed the children’s hands and began sprinting across the bridge and towards the dirt track. Emma ran back to help Raj with Mike. Talikha and the kids were already out of sight by the time Emma and Raj got to the bottom of the dirt track. Within a second of arriving, they realised pushing wasn’t an option, so they swung the cart around and began to pull Mike up the hill. His head bounced up and down as the tyres hit stones and dips.

  The engines were getting louder as the vehicles got closer. The incline levelled off for a few metres, but then one of the wheels got caught in a puddle of thick mud. Emma lost her grip on the handle as the sack cart stuttered, and the whole thing toppled over, crashing down a dip and into a tree. The pair ran to it but the wheel had buckled and the hastily put together contraption was now useless. Emma took out her knife and cut all the rope binding Mike to the cart. She looped one of his arms around her neck and Raj did the same. The pair grimaced as they took his weight and continued their struggle up the hill. They were fifteen metres from the top when they heard Sammy, Jake and Talikha scream. Emma dropped the full weight of Mike on Raj’s shoulders and sprinted up the hill. She reached the top to see her
siblings twenty metres in front of her. Two RAMs were heading towards them from the farmer’s field that the track ran alongside. Emma bolted, dropping the gun and bag. She didn’t know if she could take two on at the same time, but if she used the shotgun, the raiders would definitely hear and they would be done for. “Run towards me, run towards me,” she shouted to Talikha and her brother and sister. The three of them began to run, giving Emma the vital few seconds of advantage she needed to get between them and the creatures. She carried on running even when the three of them had passed her. Emma knew she didn’t have Mike’s strength and accuracy, but she also knew she was the group’s one and only line of defence. She hurled herself at the two monsters feet first. Her left foot smashed one of them in the chest, knocking it backwards, and her right kicked the second beast’s head with the force of a sledgehammer, snapping back its neck with an almighty crack. Emma landed heavily on her side and stifled a scream of pain. She grabbed her knife and crawled towards the first RAM, which was now trying to scramble to its feet. She knelt up and brought her hand down heavily on top of its head, grabbing its straw-like hair. The beast snarled, and its fumbling grey hands reached towards Emma. She brought her knife round quickly and punctured its temple. The enlarged black pupils shrunk to pinpricks in the chilling milky-grey eyes. She withdrew her knife, dropping the creature’s head like a bowling ball before swivelling round to her second attacker. She tensed, ready for action, but the beast was lifeless. She had killed it with her kick. Emma felt a burst of something unfamiliar running through her body. She had taken speed a couple of times in her life, and this feeling was not too dissimilar. She had single-handedly killed three RAMs in the last ten minutes, one of them with a flying kick. That promise she had made to herself that morning in the kitchen, that promise of pulling her weight, of being more like Mike, of not being scared any more? It was coming true.

  She wiped her knife clean on the red lumberjack shirt of one of the creatures, then got to her feet and rejoined her family. Talikha was comforting the children. Raj had propped Mike up against a tree.