“They’re all dead,” Barnes said.
The others greeted and hugged Mike and Barnes, and their collective relief was palpable. Conscious of the fact that their night was not yet over, they cut the mini celebration short and headed back to the vehicles.
Shaw hung behind with Barnes while the others boarded. “Was everything … y’know, was it…”
“Mike took care of it,” Barnes replied.
“What does that mean?”
Barnes turned to look at Shaw. “He did what had to be done.”
chapter 31
“Another hour and we can grab a kip ourselves,” Sam said.
“I might stay up. I don’t know if I can sleep tonight,” Talikha replied.
“I know what you mean, but if I don’t get my beauty sleep, I’m not nice to be around.”
Talikha giggled, and Humphrey licked Sam’s hand. “I don’t believe that for a second. Humphrey is an excellent judge of character; he would not slobber over anybody’s hand.”
Sam looked at the saliva casting a sheen over her fingers. “Yeah, thanks for that, Humphrey, I feel really honoured,” she said, wiping it off on her jeans.
Talikha laughed again. “You’ll get used to that.”
“That’s something to look forward to.”
Both dogs suddenly sat bolt upright. Their eyes fixed on something beyond the night, and their ears stood to attention. Talikha picked up her makeshift spear and Sam reached over her shoulder to place her fingers on the grip of one of her swords. They both peered down the road but didn’t see or hear anything for some time, until…
“It’s a car,” Talikha said.
“It’s two cars,” Sam replied.
“This is either going to be very good or very bad.”
“Come on, let’s head to the entrance, we can see if they drive by, and if they don’t, we can wake the others.”
The two women and two dogs ran over to the grand entrance of the hotel and crouched down taking watch at a porch window. The vehicle lights got brighter until, finally, they turned into the car park.
Sam jumped to her feet, starting to head into the hotel to wake the others.
“Wait!” Talikha said, grabbing her arm.
Sam crouched back down, a little irritated. “We should be waking people. If we need to put up a fight—”
The vehicles, one Land Rover, one vintage VW campervan, came to a halt in the sprawling car park. Two figures immediately climbed out of the smaller vehicle.
Sam turned to Talikha, and the younger woman could see tears of joy were running down her face. “It is him. It is my Raj.” She stood up and sprinted out of the building; Humphrey ran by her side, let out two joyous yelps, and Raj knew there and then that his family was safe. He ran to meet them, and they fell into a tight embrace in the beam of the headlights. They kissed and touched faces and whispered, “I love you,” over and over, and then they both crouched and Humphrey knocked Raj to the ground. Each time he tried to get up, the ecstatic Labrador Retriever would push him back down and lick his face again, causing both Raj and Talikha to laugh uncontrollably.
Meg burst from the doorway next, more than likely catching a whiff of Jenny’s expensive perfume on the breeze she moved across the car park like a puppy. Jenny burst out crying. Earlier on that day she had been convinced she would never see her beautiful dog again. Meg stood on her hind legs, extending her paws onto Jenny’s shoulders. It was their greeting, their hug. “I missed you, little girl,” Jenny said as tears ran from her face onto Meg’s fur.
The others slowly emerged from the vehicles and into the headlights to greet their friends. It had been the longest day, and, finally, they were on the home straight. Wolf jumped down from the campervan to go say hello to his pals, and Mike, Barnes and Shaw stood back watching everything with sad smiles on their faces. They had lost so much that day, but seeing this gave them some small amount of happiness.
Suddenly, two little figures came dashing out of the hotel towards the vehicles while another taller one followed them out more sedately. Their silhouettes immediately brought a bigger smile to Mike’s face as he dropped to his knees and opened his arms wide. Sammy almost knocked him over as she flew at him.
“I was so scared,” she cried. “I tried to be brave like you taught me to be, but I was so scared.” Mike squeezed the pair of them tight, the warmth from their happiness radiating through him.
“You’ve no idea how good it is to see you two.” Eventually, they pulled back, and Mike stood up, taking their hands in his and walking them over to Shaw and Barnes. The two children wriggled loose at the sight of Ruth and Jenny and both ran across to hug them too. The taller figure that had appeared from the hotel walked up to greet him, it was Tabby.
“Emma … is she…?”
“She’s fine. She’s back at the house with Luce and Jules.”
“Oh, thank God. That’s all I needed to know.”
“So, what now?” Wren asked, walking up to them.
Mike wiped the tears of happiness from his eyes. “I’m going to go find Andy, Jon and Rob.”
“Need some company?”
“I think you’ve done enough for today, Wren. I’ll go with Mike,” Barnes said.
“Honestly,” Wren replied, “it’s not a big deal, there’s no way I’ll sleep anyw—” Suddenly she sensed something. She didn’t know or understand what, but she stopped talking and looked towards the entrance of the hotel.
“Wren? Wren, are you okay?” Mike asked.
Sam slowly appeared from the entrance porch, slowing even more as she reached the edge of the headlights’ beams. She stopped completely and just looked. Wren took a few paces forward then stopped too.
Sam and Wren burst out crying, and for a few seconds everyone fell quiet, not understanding what was going on.
“Wren?”
“Bobbi?”
They ran towards each other like children in a playground; whatever was going on around them, whatever had happened that day didn’t matter anymore. This was everything. The two sisters locked in an embrace, making it impossible to see where one ended and the other began. Their cold cheeks pressed against each other, immediately creating warmth that neither had felt in the longest time.
They could have stayed like that forever, but Sam – Robyn – opened her eyes and saw an old man just a few feet away from them. Tears were running down his face too as he shared the moment.
“Robyn?” It was a desperate, disbelieving question. The silent salty streams became torrents as he walked towards the two girls, understanding for the first time that his eyes were not deceiving him.
“Grandad?” Robyn reluctantly broke her embrace with her sister and ran towards George. “Grandad!”
The tears were infectious as they spread around the assembled group like whooping cough. It was several minutes before George and Wren pulled themselves together enough to walk hand in hand with Robyn back to the others.
“Friends, this is my other granddaughter, Robyn.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Mike drove the Land Rover while Barnes rode shotgun. They snaked along the country roads, high hedgerows making every turn and bend a surprise. “I’m not an idiot, y’know, Mike.”
“Eh?”
“You think I believe that you and Wren happened to stumble across a RAM that had become caught up in some barbed wire?”
Oh shit! “I thought Wren was pretty convincing. Hell, I believed it, and I was there.”
This was no time for humour. There was an icy silence in the car as it took another bend. “I was going to wait until it was all over today and then knock seven bells out of you.”
“So is this it? We’re going to pull up in a layby and hammer it out?”
“No … no.”
“I thought it was all over, Barney. I thought it was me against them and it was a last-ditch attempt to try to save Lucy, Em, Raj, Shaw and the rest of them. And…”
“And what?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Tell me.”
“And it wasn’t John,” Mike whispered, on the verge of being overcome with emotion.
“I don’t follow you.”
“John was a sweet little boy. He was the rosy-cheeked kid I found curled up next to his mother in the pantry back in Leeds. He was the friend who always made Jake laugh, no matter what. He wasn’t that grey, ghoulish monster. That thing I cut up was just dead flesh.”
“I miss them so much.”
Mike did not look across towards Barnes, but he could tell the soldier was trying his hardest not to cry. “I’m not a religious man, Barney. I don’t believe we all go to some wonderful place when we die, but I do believe that we live on forever.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Every conversation, every interaction, every kindness, every time we laugh, everything. Whether it’s John, Beth, Annie, Bruiser, David, Samantha, my gran, my mum, Alex … whoever it is. All that stuff lives on inside our heads. It shapes us, so, in a way, they live on through us and the interactions we have with other people. I don’t know … maybe it’s because my gran was an old hippy, but that’s what I believe. None of us ever really die. Our bodies might, but we don’t.”
Barnes didn’t answer for a long time. He sat there, digesting what Mike had said. “You’re right; it probably was because your gran was an old hippy.” They both laughed. “Actually, that does make me feel a little better. It’s a nice way to think. I do really, really miss them though.”
“I know exactly how you feel, Barney, and I’m always here for you, mate.”
“Holy shit!”
“What?” Mike said, braking.
“I saw lights in the distance.”
“You sure?”
“There, look!” he said, pointing. “They look like torch lights. They’re too dim to be headlights. Three of them.”
“It can’t be Andy, Rob and Jon. No way could they have made it this far on foot.”
The car set off once more, and Barnes reached for his Glock. He checked the magazine and placed it in his lap. “No point in taking any risks.”
“I don’t see the lights anymore.”
“Whoever it is they’re obviously as suspicious of us as we are of them.”
They carried on for a while longer but then slowed down. “I’m pretty certain it was around here somewhere,” Mike said, pulling on the handbrake and climbing out of the car. He reached into the back and grabbed his rucksack then killed the lights. Barnes got out as well, and they both stood in the darkness, listening … waiting.
“If you can hear me, we’re not looking for trouble. We’re out here trying to find our friends,” Mike shouted.
He pulled the shotgun from his backpack and both he and Barney walked around to the back of the Land Rover to give themselves cover in case of a fire fight. A few seconds passed, and then a familiar voice called out, “Mike?”
“Rob, is that you?” Mike opened the driver door and flicked the lights on. Rob, Andy and Jon emerged from a hedgerow wheeling small bicycles. The smallest one had a little woven basket attached to the front.
“Oh, I would have paid good money to see them riding those,” Barnes said under his breath.
“That makes two of us,” Mike replied.
“Where’s Jules?” Andy asked.
“She’s at our place. She took a bullet.”
“No! Is she okay?” The three brothers looked towards each other with panic-strewn faces.
“Lucy’s looking after her. She’s had a blood transfusion. The last thing she asked me to do before I left was to find you three, so I know if there is anything that’s going to help her, it’s hearing your voices.”
Mike put his foot down on the return trip to the hotel. He dropped off Barnes and collected Sammy, Jake and Tabby. The car was cramped, but twenty-odd minutes later he was bringing the Land Rover to a stop on the track outside the gate to the cottage. Andy, Rob and Jon piled out of the car, hurdling the gate and sprinting to the door. They charged through, nearly giving Lucy and Emma a heart attack.
“Jesus, guys,” Lucy said, placing her hand over her chest.
“Where is she? Is she still alive?” Andy was almost crying as he asked.
“Calm down. She’s okay. I’ll take you through to see her.”
Lucy led them down the hallway to the dimly lit living room. All three brothers walked over to the sofa and knelt down. None of them spoke as Jules opened her eyes and smiled. “Took you fuckin’ long enough to get here, didn’t it?” she said quietly before a contented smile washed the pain and drowsiness from her face.
“We were so worried,” Rob said.
“I don’t know what we’d do if anything happened to you,” Jon added.
“Andy’s the eldest, he’d look after you.”
“Exactly,” Andy said, “we wouldn’t last five minutes.”
Jules smiled again and put her hand out. Rob took it; then, feeling the need to touch her, to make sure she was real, Andy grabbed her wrist, and Jon clutched her forearm. “It’s good to see you boys. I was so worried about you.”
“We found bikes. We knew our people would be heading north, so that’s where we headed,” Rob said.
“Bikes? Cool.”
“Yeah,” Mike said from the doorway. “There was a Barbie one, a My Little Pony one and I think the other was Pokémon. They were awesome.”
Andy looked irritated for a moment, but then he laughed. “Yeah, they were pretty lame, but they got us here quicker than if we’d been walking.”
“You leave my brothers alone, you little gobshite, or you’ll have me to deal with,” Jules said in little more than a whisper.
Mike walked over to the sofa, leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Good to see you’re getting back to your old self. Hell, now that you’ve got a pint of my blood inside you, you’ll probably turn into some kind of superwoman.”
“Oh, Jesus. Not in the door two minutes and he’s already mentioned it.”
“Don’t worry. That was the first and last time. It’s not like I’m going to mention that my blood saved your life at every available opportunity, is it? I mean it’s only blood.”
“Please. Get him out of here,” she said, smiling.
“Did I mention I saved your life?”
“Somebody kill me. Kill me, please.”
Mike started to walk to the door but then looked back. “Love you, Jules.”
“I love you too. Now fuck off and let me be with my brothers.”
Mike entered the kitchen to see Jake glued to Emma and Sammy squeezing the life out of Lucy. Tabby was leaning against a counter, her arms folded, a relieved smile decorating her face. It was several minutes before the joy and excitement waned.
“Is it true what Sammy said, that Wren found her sister?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah. It was pretty surreal.” Mike flopped down into a chair and reached for the hot mug of chicory that was sitting on the table in front of Emma. He took two gulps then placed it down again. “Don’t mind, do you?”
“Like I’ve got a choice.” She turned to Sammy and Jake to see they were struggling to keep their eyes open. “I think you two have had way too much excitement for one day. Go on, bed, I’ll be up in a minute.” The two children reluctantly said their good nights, first hugging their family then going in to do the same with the visitors before finally climbing the stairs.
“We should set up a lookout shift,” Emma said.
“We’re seven miles out of the village, and I don’t think they’ll stray far from the hunting ground for the time being,” Lucy said.
“Nevertheless, Em’s right. We can’t be complacent. There’s no way we can risk moving Jules at the moment, so we need to make this place as secure as possible.”
Lucy let out a sigh. “So, what comes after this?”
“Well, tomorrow, you, Em, Shaw, Jen, Ruth and Raj are going to sit down and figure it all out,” Mike said.
“Err… Mike, I
don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”
Mike took hold of Lucy’s hand. “You’re our council. A place doesn’t make a town, the people do. Whatever we end up deciding, wherever we end up going, there will always be Safe Haven.”
THE END
Acknowledgements
To the amazing woman I get to share this journey with, Tina. None of this would be possible without you. I can never say thank you enough.
As always, a huge thank you to the gang across in the fan club on Facebook. You guys never let me down, and I am so honoured that you continue this rollercoaster ride with me.
A great big thank you to my pal, Christian Bentulan. I love his artwork, and he is such a great guy to work with. Also many thanks to my editor, Ken – a great editor and a lovely chap to boot.
And last but by no means least, a very big thank you to you for purchasing this book.
A note from the author
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Safe Haven (Book 6): Is This The End of Everything? Page 27