by Sue Rabie
Then David went back for Michelle.
❄
She was still in there, of that he was sure, because there was only a single set of tracks in the snow outside the door.
Kyle.
It must have been Alex Kyle who had escaped. He had run to save himself, leaving his partner to die.
Let him run, David thought, let him go. It was better this way, it gave him more time to find Michelle and get her out before the whole place went up in flames. That moment was not very far away. The centre of the main hall was almost completely engulfed in flame now; the silent grader itself a dark silhouette against the fiery backdrop. The outer walls of the club would go up soon, and the grader’s petrol tank would be next.
Or the other way round, David thought with dismay.
He made his way as quickly as he could to the far corner of the bar where he had last seen Michelle.
Kyle had been with her then …
But Michelle wasn’t there. She was closer than he thought, already halfway towards him, staggering blindly through the rubble of the collapsed ceiling. It was dark in that part of the bar, the smoke and dust making matters worse, but he could still see the blood on the side of her face, a thin rivulet from a knock she must have received when the roof caved in. He shouted for her to stand still so that he could get to her. The roof shuddered above her, but she must have heard him because she hesitated.
She turned in the direction of his voice, a hand to her head where she had been injured. ‘David …?’
The outer walls ignited at that moment.
It started slowly at first, a distant gush that could be heard outside the front of the club, turning into a roar as it spread to encircle the building. He turned his head to follow the roar, his heart sinking as the flames began licking at the door behind him. It was his one and only route out of the burning building.
He had to get to Michelle, had to get her out.
He scrambled around a sagging island of jagged steel and leaning wood, then ducked beneath the groaning ceiling barely suspended above him.
‘Michelle!’ he yelled above the roar of the fire. ‘Michelle! Here …’ He took her by the arm, but she pulled away, shocked and confused and clearly afraid. ‘It’s all right,’ he shouted, ‘it’s me.’
It was only then that he noticed the bag. It was a school bag by the looks of it, a satchel. She had it over her right shoulder, was shielding it from him with her body.
‘Come on!’ he yelled, taking her around the waist and starting back the way he had come, but before they got two paces, the section of roof that had been threatening to give way finally collapsed in front of them.
David turned his back on the fall, protecting Michelle from the steel sheets and wooden beams that came crashing down around them. He heard her scream, felt her sag against him as he bent over her to try to shield her body from the cascading debris. Something hit him on the arm. Something thudded painfully against his back. He was thrust forward and they fell together, the sound of the falling roof a screaming cacophony of noise above him.
❄
David found himself on top of Michelle, a burning section of ceiling board across his back. He could barely breathe, could barely think. He kicked instinctively at the flames at his legs, thrusting the light board away easily.
He dragged hot air into his lungs, struggling to get a decent breath as he looked around frantically. The rest of the roof was about to come down any minute and the fires were getting closer.
He had to find a way out.
He grabbed Michelle and hauled her up.
‘Wait …’ she gasped. ‘The bag …’
She was struggling to get it out from under a sheet of steel. David pulled her away and wrenched it free himself and pushed her to get her moving.
She wanted the satchel, was still reaching for it, but he shouted her on. The room was a death trap; a warren of flames and sharp-edged steel and ragged spurs of torn wood.
He guided Michelle towards the side door.
If they were fast they could make it before the flames took hold.
If they were lucky.
David pushed Michelle through the maze of debris that now lay scattered in front of them. Even with the gaping hole in the ceiling the smoke worsened dramatically as they moved.
The flames leapt higher, spreading quickly.
Into the bar area, then into the kitchen.
And in the main hall, beneath the buckled and beaten grader, more flames were building.
David knew it would be only seconds before the tank went.
Michelle tripped, almost fell, but he pulled her upright and kicked out at the door.
Thirty
❄
It was suddenly quiet outside in the cold air, almost calm next to the roar of the flames and the groans made by the collapsing roof.
David’s breath gushed loudly in his ears as he exhaled.
They had made it out.
Made it as far as the place where David had left Phiwe.
Only the Zulu wasn’t alone anymore …
Kyle was behind him, with a gun in his right hand, the barrel of which was pressed up against Phiwe’s neck.
And Kyle was smiling.
He should have known, should have realised Kyle would come back.
He had nowhere else to go, had nothing else to wait for but the helicopter.
And David.
Kyle had wanted him from the start, had wanted to kill him from the very beginning.
David could see it in his eyes, in his smile.
Kyle’s mouth twisted as he dug the gun into Phiwe’s throat. ‘So you found it,’ he said.
David carefully stepped in front of Michelle to shield her.
‘I was coming back,’ Kyle said. ‘I was coming back to get you.’
David kept Michelle behind him as he slowly took one of the blades from his back pocket. He kept his hand hidden, kept the blade between him and the woman behind him.
‘Well, here I am,’ David said. ‘So now you can let them go.’
Kyle stared at him for a moment and then laughed. ‘Did you hear that, baby?’ Kyle called. ‘He actually thinks he’s protecting you.’
He pushed Phiwe forward, forcing him a step closer towards David and Michelle. Phiwe tried to pull away, but Kyle’s grip on his shoulder was too strong.
‘Come over here, doll.’
David grabbed Michelle as she started to move. He wanted to protect her, but for some reason she was following Kyle’s orders. ‘Stay here,’ David told her. ‘Don’t listen to him.’
But Michelle wrenched her wrist from his grip. ‘He’s got a knife behind his back,’ she said as she stepped away from him.
Kyle laughed at David’s expression. ‘A knife!’ He dug the barrel of the gun harder into Phiwe’s neck. ‘Against a gun?’
David looked at Phiwe, saw the pain there, the anger.
But the anger wasn’t directed at Kyle. It was directed at the woman standing beside him, at Michelle.
‘You poor sod. You still haven’t figured it out,’ Kyle said and laughed. ‘Tell him, baby,’ he said. ‘Tell him.’
Michelle’s demeanour suddenly seemed to change as she tilted her head sharply at Kyle. ‘Were you coming back for me, Alex?’ she asked with an odd smile on her face, a soft smirk that made David finally realise what was going on.
Kyle seemed offended. ‘Of course, baby! Of course!’
He had been deceived all along.
‘I’m sorry,’ Michelle said as she turned to him and smiled coyly, ‘but I’m with him.’
❄
Kyle looked at David and grinned, then his smile faded. ‘Drop the knife,’ he ordered.
The gun was still in Phiwe’s neck, the threat clear.
David dropped the blade. It disappeared into the snow.
‘Get the satchel, baby.’
Michelle stepped closer.
She did it almost casually, reached up to touch his face as if she was a friend, a lo
ver. She smiled seductively as she traced the line of his jaw with her fingers. Then she slipped her hand to his chest and shoulder, almost gently taking the sling bag off his arm.
She started to turn away with the satchel.
And then the grader’s petrol tank blew.
David wrapped his hands around his head to protect himself, but the blast was devastating, the force of it slamming all four of them to the ground.
Slowly the ringing of the blast faded away, slowly the air settled once more as rolling black smoke mushroomed over their heads.
David lifted his head in a daze.
He had fallen on his stomach. In front of him the ground was darkened with soot and debris, the snow covered in black swathes. The satchel lay directly ahead, its squat form barely three feet away from him.
He took his hands from his head and looked at them. His knuckles were raw from the blast, the skin peeling away. He felt heat on his back. His jacket had protected him from the blast, but it was almost on fire. He sat up, shrugged the jacket off clumsily and shoved the tattered garment away.
He turned to look behind him. The club was burning steadily. He could feel the intense heat on his face, but he could hear nothing. He should have been able to at least hear the roar of flames, the dying cries of the building as it lay shattered and burning in front of him, but all he could hear was the echo of the explosion ringing in his head.
He couldn’t hear anything else.
Not even Kyle’s approach.
Kyle had lost his weapon in the blast, but he had recovered faster than David.
He kicked David savagely in the back as he tried to get to his feet.
The force of the kick slammed David to his knees, the agony in his kidneys flaring as brightly as the fires in front of him.
He looked up just in time to see a fist flash for his face. He tried to twist away, to roll with the punch, but the blow caught him and David went down hard.
He lay in the snow, his senses fading. Above him the clouds in the night sky shimmered with a faint rose-coloured glow.
In the back of his mind he knew it was from the fire.
Beautiful, he thought vaguely, then realised he was about to pass out.
He tried to focus on the stars as someone came to stand over him.
Kyle was rubbing at his fist. He scowled down at David then turned away and yelled at someone behind him.
David could taste blood in his mouth. He managed to roll over onto his side to spit weakly into the snow.
The bag with the money lay just behind Kyle, and further away was Michelle.
She was on her knees, digging in the snow for something.
Something she or Kyle had dropped?
Kyle must have told her to look for his gun.
So Kyle could kill him with it, David told himself.
But he was wrong.
He realised this as Kyle’s steel-tipped boots turned back towards him.
Kyle wasn’t going to wait for Michelle to find the gun. He was going to finish David off now, was going to kick him to death.
❄
David waited for Kyle to strike. He lay on his left side without moving, his right arm behind him and the other lying in the snow in front. He wanted to protect himself, wanted to curl himself into a ball to cover his stomach. If Kyle landed a solid kick there was a chance he could rupture something.
But David just lay there and held his breath, waiting for Kyle to take a step forward.
Kyle grinned savagely and kicked.
David rolled to meet the blow. It was a slow movement, without power or precision, but it served its purpose. He trapped Kyle’s leg against his body with his left arm, then swung up with his right.
In his hand was the second scalpel, and he sank it deep into Kyle’s leg just as the kick came.
The blade entered the thigh just above the knee, in the fleshy part of the joint where the popliteal artery came down from the groin. Kyle howled in pain and tried to pull away. He hadn’t seen the second blade in David’s hand, hadn’t expected the man to even fight back.
He howled again as David twisted the scalpel free and drove it home again. This time he went for the groin. There was a big artery there, the femoral artery leading to the thigh.
He felt the blade go deep, then fell back as Kyle hit him.
It was a feeble blow, Kyle’s punch frantic and uncoordinated, but it was enough to drive David back down.
Kyle’s pants were soaked through instantly. He stared in horror at the blood that pumped from his thigh, at the splattering and smearing of it in the snow, then yelled as he twisted the blade out of his groin.
Kyle held up the scalpel so he could see what it was that David had killed him with. ‘You bastard …’ he mouthed, and attacked.
David didn’t have the strength to avoid him. They fell heavily together, David underneath, groping for Kyle’s arm in an attempt to keep the scalpel away. Above him Kyle was too strong.
He got his arm free and drove the scalpel into David’s side.
David yelled and tried to roll free, but Kyle was too heavy on top of him, pinning David’s right arm to the ground.
Kyle twisted the blade deeper into David’s side. David cried out and grabbed Kyle’s wrist, holding his hand so he couldn’t force it any deeper.
They were inches apart. ‘I’m gonna kill you …’ Kyle seethed.
The pain was awful, tearing at David’s side. His arm shook as he tried to hold Kyle’s wrist. He felt the warmth of blood soak his side, felt it flood across his leg … and then he felt something else.
He felt Kyle weaken, felt him sink closer as his strength suddenly went. It was Kyle’s blood that he felt across his leg, not his own. It was Kyle’s life force that was spreading pinkly into the snow beneath them, and as David realised this, as Kyle sank even closer above him, David used the last of his strength.
He struck upwards with his head, catching Kyle on the nose with his forehead, so that the man went over backward and collapsed sideways into the snow. David didn’t go after him. He could barely move, and the blade that Kyle had driven into him was still deep in his side.
David pulled it free and let it fall to the ground as a wave of nausea hit him.
Kyle remained still, his chest moving up and down rapidly as if he was having difficulty trying to get enough oxygen into his lungs.
He turned his head and looked at David … and gave a single barking laugh. He tried to speak. ‘You …’ he said to David, ‘you have to help me.’
David stared at him. The noise of the blast still filled his head, but he knew what Kyle wanted.
Kyle tried to push himself up from the deeper patch of snow where he had fallen. ‘You have to help me …’ he said.
He fell back, his arm outstretched towards David.
‘You’re a doctor …’ Kyle whispered. ‘You took … an oath.’
His voice faded.
David staggered to his feet and stumbled towards Kyle.
He needn’t have bothered. There wasn’t anything he could have done, and even if there was, David didn’t think he had the strength to do it. He knelt over Kyle and watched him as the man’s eyes closed.
David sat back on his knees.
Kyle was dead.
❄
David closed his eyes. His side ached, but he knew there was no danger of him bleeding to death. Not like Kyle. He knelt there looking at the body, his hand pressed against his side and his shirt sticking uncomfortably to his stomach.
He looked up.
Phiwe was in front of him, also kneeling in the snow where he had fallen after the explosion. There were others behind him too – two men, one old and the other younger. The third was a woman.
May. With M’Kathle and Inga.
More people gathered behind them. They were the survivors from the club.
David felt relief flood through him. They were okay. Everyone was all right.
He saw Phiwe lift a hand and wave, he was sho
uting something, but David still couldn’t hear anything.
He smiled weakly and lifted his hand in acknowledgement.
Phiwe shook his head frantically and shouted something else.
This time David sensed the urgency, if not the words.
‘Behind you!’ Phiwe yelled, and David turned slowly to see what it was.
Michelle.
She had found the gun, she had seen David and Kyle fight, and now she stood behind him with the weapon in her hands, pointing it at the man who had killed her lover.
Thirty-One
❄
David looked along the length of the gun barrel at the woman standing over him. She didn’t seem at all interested in him. Instead, she was staring down at Kyle’s body, at the blood-splattered snow around him and his white, lifeless face.
‘You … killed … him?’ she said.
Only then did she look at David, the tears in her eyes spilling over the lids and down her cheeks.
‘You killed him?’
David lifted a hand to stop her. There were streaks of blood on his skin, his own or Kyle’s, David didn’t know which.
‘Michelle,’ he managed.
The gun wavered in his face. ‘You bastard …’ she gasped. She was crying freely now, her face twisted in pain, her shoulders shaking. ‘I loved him,’ she sobbed, ‘I loved him …’
David didn’t know what to say. Did she understand what had happened here? Did she understand what Kyle was going to do?
‘I’m sorry, Michelle,’ he said carefully. He wanted her to lay down the gun, wanted her to take it out of his face. ‘He was going to kill us. He was going to kill everyone …’
‘No! No, he wasn’t …’
Michelle jerked the weapon up again, her anger making the end of the barrel shake. ‘He would have done what I said! He would have done what I told him!’
David tried to understand. He remembered the credit card: Mrs M Roberts. Why had she stayed on the farm to help Anri and Miriam with the boy? Had she wanted to stay as close to the bus as she could, as close to the bag as possible, just as Kyle and Jake had wanted to do?
David tried to edge back on his knees.
‘He listened to me, he did everything I told him to do right from the start,’ Michelle continued, shaking uncontrollably as she took another step forward. ‘You were the one that drove him over the edge. It was you! You killed him!’