by Ryan Casey
“Not kill them,” Pedro said. “But…I dunno. Makes no sense for us to get involved. Got summat good here. Summat…summat worth laying low for.”
“You can lay low as much as you like,” Anna said. She stood up and made for the door. “I’m going to have a word with Rodrigo.”
“And what good’s that gonna do, eh?” Pedro asked.
“More good than sitting around here and pretending everything’s okay.” She grabbed the handle and lowered it.
“Wait,” Riley said. “Just…just wait.”
Anna bit her lip. Hesitated. Then, she turned back to the room. “Better be good.”
Riley rubbed his temples. Tried to think of a solution, but none of them had a happy ending. There was no way they were coming out of this the same people as they were before Claudia and Chloë were escorted through those gates.
“There’s…The only way I can see is…well. We talk to Mike—”
“Which is a fucking reckless idea, bruv.”
“I agree,” Riley said, raising his voice to counter Pedro. “If we went and spoke to Mike, we could make him understand the situation. Or we could end up hostages ourselves. And the way Rodrigo’s talking now, I’m not sure he’d be all too keen on a safe exchange.”
“So, okay. Chatting to the castrator and his group is off the list,” Anna said. “Massive relief. What else?”
Riley could see the answers all laid out in front of him. He could see them, but he had no clue what kind of future they might cause. “We can…we can leave. Leave Heathwaite’s. Take Claudia and Chloë with us and go.”
Pedro shook his head. “Go where? I mean I like this place and I know you do too. Don’t wanna just give it up and freeze in them woods over Christmas.”
“As much as it pains me to admit it, I kind of think Pedro’s right. We can’t leave this place, not now. You saw the first specks of snow last night. It’s only going to get more wintry out there. Food’ll be low. Walking out of those gates at this time of year will be nigh on to suicide.”
“Maybe we don’t have to spend winter on the road,” Riley said.
Pedro looked at Anna, then Anna back at him in turn.
“Care to elaborate? Just we don’t have many other—”
“There’s a bunker,” Riley said. He twitched open the curtains and pointed over at the Arnside Knott hill, towering in the distance. “Old military place. When we went out with Dave to switch on the loudspeaker, Rodrigo told me about it. Said it’s in a pretty remote area, so there’s a good chance it’s unoccupied.”
“The bunker near Grange,” Pedro said, nodding.
“You know it?”
“Not to look at or hunt out, like. But it’s an old military place. Turned it into some kind of surveillance summat-or-other. But yeah. If it’s not already taken, should be good. Them bunkers have stacks of cereal and crap like that hidden away under the floors and in the walls.”
Riley nodded. He’d never been more simultaneously certain and uncertain about an idea in his life. “Then…then that’s what we do. Unless anybody has a better idea.”
Anna opened her mouth to protest. “How…What if it’s already occupied? What if we end up stuck in the hills over winter? What then?”
Riley shrugged. He shrugged because he really didn’t know. But they had a choice. A choice between staying here and getting caught in the crossfire of an impending war—staying here and allowing their friends to take the punishment for something beyond their control—or running away.
And Riley knew himself that he was nothing more than a runner. Always had been, probably always would be.
It just depended what he was running for.
“Still not sure, bruv,” Pedro said. “Them guards around the caravan. How we gonna slip past them and get Claudia and Chloë free if that’s what we’re saying?”
Riley’s head was throbbing so much. It felt like he’d had a leather belt tied around it, and it was just getting stronger and stronger as time went on. “We…we can only do so much.” He looked at Anna. Gulped.
“Why are you looking at me?” Anna asked. She twiddled with her necklace, a nervous twitch she seemed to have.
“Yeah,” Pedro asked, also looking at Anna. “Why are we looking at Anna?”
“I’ve been in there already,” Riley said. “Rodrigo won’t want me lurking around there again. But, I dunno. Maybe if they don’t know we’ve talked—maybe if they don’t see us together—you can go in and pretend you just want a word. And then…then we can get something to them. Something sharp. A way to get them free. And then…and then the rest is up to them.”
Anna stared back at Riley. He was growing accustomed to her face going pale lately.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want you to think I’m wimping out,” Riley said. “Just I don’t think it’ll work if I go back inside. But—but maybe if you try, Anna. Maybe if you try to get inside, it might work. We might be able to get them free.”
“And what then?” Pedro asked. “What happens when Rodrigo’s goons find they’re gone? What happens to us?”
“Hopefully we’ll be long gone by then,” Riley said, regret in his voice.
Anna sighed. As she did, the entire mood of the room dropped, like a stone sinking to the bottom of a pond after floating on top for days. “I can’t actually believe this is happening. So close to Christmas. Always did have bad luck at Christmas, my family.”
“Apology accepted,” Pedro said, scratching the beard that was forming on his chin. “But y’know. Nowt good lasts, ey? We’ll find somewhere else.”
Riley nodded. He wasn’t sure how much he believed Pedro. He wasn’t sure how much Pedro even believed himself.
“So how do we do it?” Anna asked. “How? When?”
Riley was still formulating the plan of action in his head. But shit—wasn’t he always? “We…You go down to Chloë and Claudia’s caravan and you get inside there somehow. They won’t give you long, but when you do get in there, take this.” Riley held out a blue paperclip. Plonked it in Anna’s hand.
Anna stared at it in amusement. “You’re not seriously suggesting I use a paperclip to un-cuff them, are you? Like, is that even possible outside the movies?”
“Yes,” Riley said. “I saw the cuffs. They’re flimsy and cheap. Straighten it out and shove it inside. When you’re in there, you’re going to want to bend it about seventy, eighty degrees. Then the same again, the other way so it ends up like a squiggled angle. Then go in again and wiggle it in so it’s pointing towards the locking arm. Keep it at a right angle to the keyhole. Twist it—and be gentle here. But mostly, be patient. Twist in both directions and it’ll work.”
Anna looked back at Riley, wide-mouthed. Pedro also had a look of taken aback bewilderment on his unshaven face.
“What?” Riley asked.
“Nothing,” Anna said, taking the paperclip. “You just seem to know a hell of a lot about getting out of handcuffs, that’s all.”
Riley felt his cheeks going warm. “I might’ve once been in a situation where I needed to free myself from some cuffs, yes.”
“You’ve been in prison?” Anna asked.
Riley’s eyes twitched towards Pedro. Pedro had a cheesy yellow-toothed grin on his face. “He didn’t say that, did you, bruv? Didn’t say nowt about being arrested.”
It took Anna a few seconds to get what Pedro was implying—what the truth was.
“Ugh,” she said. “Bear with me a moment while I get that image out of my head.”
“My only question’s why you wanted to escape,” Pedro said, nudging Riley on the arm.
Riley laughed. In spite of everything—in spite of the whole bullshit situation—he laughed. Because it was absurd. It was absurd and it was crazy and it was probably going to get him and everybody else killed.
But if he didn’t do anything to help Claudia or Chl
oë, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. Not ever.
And he already had too many things he couldn’t forgive himself for.
“Well, I’d best get to it,” Anna said, slipping the paperclip into her pocket.
“Do you need me to explain—”
“No, Riley,” Anna said, raising her hand in his face. “One more description of your kinky endeavours and I might just spew all over you.”
Riley’s cheeks went warm again, but he allowed himself a smile. “When you’ve done it, tell Claudia and Chloë to wait until they’re absolutely sure nobody’s outside the caravan. Me and Pedro will find a way to distract the guards and the mob around the place.”
“How?”
“We’ll find a way. We have to.”
Anna nodded reluctantly. Seemed she’d resigned herself to the fact that this was as long a shot as they got, too.
“Me and Pedro will pack our bags. Pack any essentials we need. And we’ll leave via the side gate. It’s safer that way. Less guarded. Less watched. We’ll wait for you and meet you just over the gate. Sound good?”
Anna didn’t nod and she didn’t shake her head. “Let’s just get the paperclip great escape done with first.”
“Good. I’ll take that as a yes.”
Anna sighed as she stepped up and opened the door. She smiled at Riley, and then at Pedro, but then at Riley again. “It’s a shame. Shame it has to…had to end up like this.” She looked like she was going to say something else, but she didn’t.
Riley nodded. All he could do. Any more talking or thinking about the dilemma they were in—the runaway they were about to catalyse—and he might just change his mind in fear.
“I’ll see you on the other side then,” Anna said.
“You will,” Riley said. “You will.”
Anna lowered the handle of the door and walked out into the fresh, cold December breeze.
She stood there a few seconds. Closed her eyes. Took a deep breath.
Then, she shut the door and she walked away from the derelict caravan.
“Spose we best get packing our bags, bruv,” Pedro said.
Riley stared at the spot where Anna had stood. “I suppose you’re right.”
Chapter Four
Riley and Pedro walked down the main road of Heathwaite’s Caravan Park, away from the caravans and towards the front gates; towards the leisure centre. Even though they were supposed to be planning a way to distract the guards around Claudia and Chloë’s temporary prison, they hadn’t exchanged many words. As they walked down the road, their breath frosting with every breath, Riley realised just how silent this place was compared to normal. Nothing but the distant buzz of the mob surrounding the caravan.
“So Anna’s gonna go in there, set um free, then what, bruv? Cause that’s the part I’m strugglin’ to work out.”
Riley knew Pedro had a point. It was all fair and well Anna unlocking Claudia and Chloë from their cuffs. But if they couldn’t find a way to get those guards away from the caravan somehow, the plan was pretty much useless. Rodrigo wouldn’t let them just walk out of the site, no way. People would recognise their faces. They had to think. Fast.
“I mean there’s only two ways we’re gonna get them guards from around that caravan, I’m tellin’ you.”
“And what two ways are they?”
“Well, first option is killin’ ‘em—”
“Out of the question,” Riley said. “They’re good people. They’re just as innocent as Claudia and Chloë.”
Pedro shrugged. “Won’t be sayin’ that when they’ve got their dicks in them girls’ mouths, I tell you.”
Riley ignored this remark. But killing them wasn’t an option. He was trying to flee a war, not start another. “And the other option?”
Pedro shrugged again. “Well, we need to catch their attention with summat more distracting than them two women in the caravan.”
“And what’s more distracting than that right now? Cause I can’t think of anything.”
Pedro tilted his head over to the front gate. “It’s clear out there, eh?”
Riley nodded. “What are you suggesting?”
Pedro brushed his fingers through his beard, which seemed to be getting more stubbly by the minute. “If it’s clear out there, then maybe we can open them gates temporarily or summat. Just summat to distract ‘em—make ‘em worry. And before they have a chance to even realise it’s us who did it, we’ll be gone over that hill.”
Riley contemplated Pedro’s idea in his head. It was dangerous, that was for sure. Any idea that involved opening those gates and leaving Heathwaite’s at risk of an invasion—whether from creatures or humans—was dangerous.
But it wasn’t a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all.
“What about Donald and the other gate guards?” Riley said. “All fair and well putting the frights into the caravan guards a bit. But these gate guards—all four of them. What are we supposed to do with them?”
Pedro sighed. He glanced at Riley then turned away again, shaking his head.
“Don’t suggest killing them again. We’re going to do this without anybody ending up hurt or—”
“Perhaps we could just put ‘em to sleep,” Pedro said. “Old cloth round the mouth. Fluothane, it’s called. Works pretty good too.”
“And where would we get some of that?” Riley asked. All fair and well knowing a kind of sleeping chemical, finding it in the next half an hour was a different matter altogether.
“When you got ‘ere. When you hurt your leg. They used some of this stuff to put you to sleep while they cleaned your wound up. And I might’ve…y’know. I struggle sleeping, like. With all that’s happened. And it works good, like I say. So I’ve got some in my van. Should be good to use. Should be safe.”
Riley nodded. This plan was coming together fast. They could knock Donald and the gate guards out swiftly with this chemical that Pedro had sneaked. Open the gates. Create a bit of a panic and force the guards around Claudia and Chloë’s caravan to go and shut them. Force the mob, terrified, back into their caravans. And all the while, they could make their escape through the side gate. It could work. It really could.
But there was another problem.
“How do we open the first gates? Only the gate guards know the code.”
Pedro smiled. He tapped his nose. “Pop a few glasses of whisky down a fellow comrade and he’ll tell you anythin’, bruv. 6-5-7-4-2. Bet my left bollock on it.”
Riley nodded. “You go get that chemical then.” He sat down on the step outside the leisure centre and stared out at the front gate, the guards stood around it like they were guarding Buckingham Palace or something. “I’ll meet you back here as soon as possible. Don’t want to come with you—it’ll look too suspicious if anyone’s watching. So meet back here. Then we’ll move onto the guards.”
Pedro nodded. He looked at the gate then back up towards the caravans.
“I hope Anna’s pullin’ through, bruv. I really do.”
Riley bit his lip. His stomach churned up with nerves and anticipation. “Me too.”
Anna held her breath as she approached the mob surrounding Claudia and Chloë’s caravan. She could smell the collective sweat of these people—they reeked of anger and scapegoating fury. Daft bastards, the lot of them. Just so typically British, too. Desperate for somebody to blame, so go and blame a woman and her daughter. She’d loved to have thought that this was just a fault of the Heathwaite’s community, but she knew damn well from her time as a doctor that the desperate liked to blame factors way out of their control.
As she approached the steps of the caravan, she realised the mob was actually a little bit smaller than earlier. Obviously people had got bored, or they were waiting for something else to happen before tuning in to the human bear baiting, or whatever else they were going to do to poor Claudia and Chloë. Sick bastards. Sick, sick bastards.
She did ma
nage to maintain a kind of smile as she approached the steps of the caravan. She twiddled the paperclip around in her pocket. She didn’t want to lose it. She didn’t want to get in there to find out that she didn’t even have the escape weapon. Escape weapon. That made her grin even more. Here she was with a fucking paperclip, and she was actually calling it an escape weapon. What had Riley even said, anyway? Shape it like a key, bend it to a right angle, twist and twist and twist…something like that.
And shit. If Riley had found his way out of some kinky handcuffs, she’d sure as shit be able to get Claudia and Chloë out of their current predicament.
“Wait there, Anna. Can’t let you in I’m afraid.”
James was holding his hand up as she approached the steps of the caravan. He was standing right in front of the door.
“James,” Anna said, forcing a sympathetic smile onto her face. “What Riley said…he was right. But only partly. I…I can’t believe these two would side with Mike. I—I need to hear it for myself. Hear their reasoning.”
James shrugged. His eyes wandered behind Anna at the small crowd of people, which the other caravan guards were pushing back gradually further and further. “No can do. I’d let you in but it int my decision.” His Northern English accent seemed to get thicker the stronger and tougher he wanted to come across, the “ain’ts” becoming “‘ints” and the like. “You’ll ‘ave to ‘ave a word with the boss if you wanna go anywhere.”
Anna’s face dropped. She felt her cheeks burning and her stomach turn.
“Sorry,” James said, raising his eyebrows. “Just the rules am afraid. All gotta follow ‘um.”
Fuck. She’d been flat out rejected, right there on the doorstep. She had no idea how much time Claudia and Chloë actually had before…well, before whatever commenced, whether questioning or something much worse. Knowing the collective nature and mentality of men, it wouldn’t surprise her if it was a bit of everything.
And then, out of nowhere—or at least, out of that part of her that was desperate, way beyond rational thought or contemplation—a warm tear dripped down her face.