by Ryan Casey
And if he went too late… they’d see him under the first car.
He looked at Nina. She looked back at him.
Then nodded.
And then Mike watched as the footsteps reached the front of the car they were under.
He took a deep breath.
And then he rolled under the next car.
But something wasn’t right.
In fact, something was very wrong.
Nina.
She was still under the first car.
She hadn’t moved.
She looked at Mike with wide eyes.
And then the man started to lower himself to look under that car.
Mike saw it all happening so slowly, all dragging on in slow motion.
He saw it happening, and he knew he had to do something.
He went to roll himself back from under the car so he could be with Nina, so he could help her, because his instinct to look out for someone else overrode everything. Especially when she’d given up the comforts of her life at the hospital to be here with him.
But then something else happened.
There was a crack.
A blast.
Somewhere in the distance.
The men stopped looking under the car. They looked up. Over into the distance.
And then Mike saw that Nina had her moment. They both had their moment.
He rolled out from under the car.
Nina rolled out from under her car, right on cue.
And then the pair of them ran as quickly but quietly as they could.
Mike kept moving. Kept silent. Kept low. He tried not to think about the people behind. But more pressingly, he tried not to think about the bang in the distance. He didn’t want to think what that was. He didn’t want to think what it might’ve been or where it might’ve come from.
He just had to keep his focus on the distance.
He just had to keep—
“Hey.”
When he heard the voice, his stomach sank.
He turned around.
Looked over his shoulder.
The two men were standing there, looking right at him.
Rifles in hand.
“Don’t move another muscle,” the one on the left said.
And he wasn’t going to listen. He wasn’t going to hear them out.
They had the advantage of distance.
They had to take it.
He went to throw himself further forward.
And that’s when he stopped.
Because he saw one more person in front of him.
One more man with a rifle.
“Listen to my friend,” he said, rifle raised. “Don’t you dare move another muscle. Understand?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kelsie looked into the eyes of the two men pointing rifles at her, and she wanted to disappear completely.
She was still in that space underneath the fallen tree. Heart racing. Nausea crippling her. And she wanted to believe that if she just kept still, she could find a way out of this. She could vanish. She could be safe.
But she knew that wasn’t reality.
The only reality was making a choice right now.
And as far as she saw it, she only had one choice.
“Get out,” Dom said. “Get out and put your hands above your head so we can keep an eye on them, girl.”
Kelsie looked around. Looked at the darkness behind her. There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.
Then she looked back out of this space and saw the two men staring down at her.
She looked into their eyes. Looked at their faces. Dom, he looked like he was enjoying this a bit too much. A slight smile on his face.
But Aiden…
He was looking at her with a frown.
He was looking at her in another way.
With concern.
“Hey!” Dom shouted. And he surged forward suddenly in a way that made Kelsie jump. “What don’t you understand about ‘get the hell out of there’?”
“Dom, she looks pretty rough,” Aiden said.
“I don’t give a shit how she looks. She’s a runaway. She saw something.”
“We don’t know—”
“She frigging saw something. She saw what happened. Back at the gates last night. She ran away. And now she knows the truth. You know what we have to do to people who know the truth.”
So there it was. A confession. An outright admission of what they had planned for her.
There was no way out.
There was no escape.
There was no hope.
This was ending in tears.
But then she saw the way Aiden looked at her this time, and she knew she was out of luck.
“Get out of there,” he said. “Get out of there right now. So we can figure out… so we can figure out what’s next.”
Kelsie wanted to stand her ground and argue.
But in the end, she was too weak to protest.
She clambered her way out of the roots of the trees. Shaky. Weak.
She could barely stand, now.
She saw the way the pair of them looked at her, now. And that made her worry about herself. Was she really that bad? Was she really that ill?
They were realising what kind of a state she was in. And in the end, that had to count for something.
Maybe they’d sympathise.
Maybe they’d take pity.
Dom stepped towards her. “Shame,” he said. “You really do look like shit. Maybe we could just leave you out here. Nobody would know any different. Nobody would have to know the truth.”
Kelsie managed to crane her neck up so she was looking right into Dom’s eyes. “Why?”
Dom smirked. Shook his head and sighed. “I am sorry. Truly. But rules are rules. And the rules of that nice little extraction point are that you stay in line. If you don’t stay in line… well. You’re in trouble. And you. You’ve stepped way, way out of line. Not even been around that place a week and you’ve caused a lot of trouble. I hope you know that. I hope you realise. This is no doing but your own.”
Kelsie looked at Aiden. She wanted him to take pity. To show some sympathy. But even he was looking at her now in a different way. Like he was detached from the situation, somewhat.
“Please,” she said. “I just… I just want my friends to be okay.”
“Oh, they’ll be okay,” Dom said. “As long as they stay in line. As long as they respect the rules. Until the day comes that they’re taken away from that place, anyway. And then… well. You’ll get your wish. They’ll be on their own. They’ll be able to start again. If they can get over the shock.”
Kelsie’s head was spinning. The ground around her felt like it was opening up. “I just… I just don’t get why.”
Dom sighed. “Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we want them to in life. Now go on, Aiden. Shut her up before she gets a chance to do any more squealing.”
Aiden looked at Dom. A flash of horror on his face. “What?”
Dom pointed at Kelsie. “Shoot her. Finish her off. Put her out of her misery.”
Aiden looked down at her. Wide-eyed. And Kelsie saw it again. She saw the uncertainty. She saw that he wasn’t as confident as his friend. He wasn’t as sure about any of this.
“Can’t we just… can’t we just find another way?” Aiden said.
“Another way?”
“Like you said. We could leave her. Leave her to die. Leave her to—”
“You really talking about breaking protocol?” Dom asked. “You really talking about going against orders? Richard’s orders?”
Kelsie saw Aiden’s jaw shake. Heard his teeth chatter in a way she’d never heard before, quite loud, too.
She saw the way he looked back at her, rifle in hand.
“Finish her off,” Dom said. “Get it done. Before I do it myself.”
Aiden looked at her, right into her eyes.
He looked at her, and she stared back at him.
She didn’t have any fight left in her anymore.
She didn’t have any resistance. Any resolve.
She only had the way she could look up at this man.
“Do it,” Dom said.
Aiden looked at his rifle.
Then he lifted it. Slowly. Pointed it at Kelsie.
“Pull the trigger,” Dom said. “Get it done with. Don’t torture the poor girl.”
Kelsie saw things, then. Flashes. Some of her life before. Some of Mum and of Dad and of her life when she didn’t have big things to worry about.
But mostly she saw flashes of her recent memories.
Flashes of Arya.
Of Alison.
Of Gina.
Of Mike.
She thought of these people as she kneeled there, eyes now closed, and she felt a smile stretch across her sick-stained, tear-drenched face.
“Do it!” Dom shouted.
“I’m sorry, Mike,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”
“Do—”
And then she heard the blast.
And after that, nothing.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gina sat back in her room and tried to wrap her head around what she’d learned.
It was getting late. The afternoon clouds were covering the sun. Outside, everything seemed to be settling down, getting quieter. Only here a matter of days. Shit. It felt like they’d been here longer. A hell of a lot longer. Especially with all the things that had happened; with all the things they’d witnessed and been through already.
But all the while, as she sat on the edge of her bed, she couldn’t help thinking of one thing in particular.
Kelsie.
She thought about what Richard had told her and Alison. About what the pair of them had learned. Kelsie. She’d got out of the extraction point, somehow. And then when they’d sent out a couple of guards to track her down, they’d found something.
Her body.
They’d found her dead.
But Gina wasn’t certain about any of this. She wasn’t happy about any of this. Namely the fact that there wasn’t any proof of the body. There wasn’t any evidence of the body.
It just didn’t sit right with her.
She thought about her options. She had two choices that she could see. She could stay here. She could get along with things. Try to rebuild. Try to start a new life here.
Or she could step out of here and try again elsewhere.
And it was difficult. She found herself being tugged in two directions. She could see the advantages to both sides. Staying here was going to be difficult, especially when it looked like there was something being covered up; like the people here weren’t being totally honest or straight with her.
But on the other hand… leaving this place. Trying to start again outside the confines of the walls of this place.
That too wasn’t going to be easy. Especially not after they’d got here so recently. Especially not after they’d been offered so much hope.
She stood up. Looked out of the window. She looked at the people outside. Looked at them getting along with things so happily, so easily. Even after what’d happened to Kelsie. And it made her wonder. Did it mean anything to them, really? Did they even know the full extent of what had happened? Of what Gina and Alison had been told?
She didn’t know. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to know.
She just knew she had a decision to make.
She looked around this room. Looked at the cabinets. Looked at the bed. She looked at its homely comforts. And as much as she’d been telling herself she could stay here, as much as she’d been telling herself she could adapt… she knew it wasn’t going to be possible.
She’d wanted to believe this place was good at heart. Mostly because her mum had insisted otherwise before she’d killed her, which had made her want to believe even more that her mum was lying about this place. That she was just doing her usual thing, trying to control and manipulate her.
But she was starting to see her own reality about this place.
She was starting to form her own opinions.
And her own opinions were screaming out at her that something was wrong here.
Something was seriously wrong.
She looked back out of the window, and she took a deep breath. She’d have to speak to Alison. They’d have to come to an agreement about the next step together.
But as far as Gina could see it, she was certain about her next step.
As hard as it was, she couldn’t stay here.
As difficult as it was to accept, she couldn’t just go along with a place that wasn’t being completely honest. Not that she could see.
As much as she wanted to believe in this place… the cracks in its illusory idyllic nature were already beginning to split apart.
She reached for the handle of the door.
Then she heard a knock.
She froze. Took her by surprise more than anything.
She lowered the handle.
Opened the door.
Alison was standing there.
There was a different look to her, now. A different expression on her face.
And there was something else about her.
She wasn’t alone.
Richard was beside her. He had a strange look on his face.
Almost like he was smiling.
“Gina,” Alison started.
But then it was Richard who spoke over her.
“We’re sorry about what happened,” he said. “And by our way of apology… we’ve got something for you. An offer for you. I know nothing will ever make what happened to Kelsie right… but I at least hope you’ll appreciate what I’m proposing.”
Gina frowned. “What? What’re you talking about?”
Richard turned around and pointed at the helicopter sitting there stationary in the middle of the extraction point.
“We’ve bumped yourself and Alison up the extraction list,” he said. “We’ve fast tracked you right to the top, by way of apology. It’s time for you to go to Albion, Gina. It’s time for you to step into the new world.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mike looked at the people surrounding him and Nina, and he knew they were in trouble.
There were three of them. The two who they’d hidden under the cars from, and another now, standing in their way. All of them had rifles. And none of them looked happy to see Mike or Nina.
Mike’s heart raced. Because he felt the urgency of this situation. His life was precious mostly because he had to get to that extraction point and he had to find Kelsie; he had to find his friends. Not for any other reasons of self-preservation or anything like that; purely because of the other people he felt needed him.
Sure, there was a chance they hadn’t even made it there yet, and he had to take that opportunity if that’s the way it was. The opportunity to stop them getting to that extraction point. To stop them before anything happened to them.
Because if what Nina was telling him about this place was true—and he had no reason to doubt her—it wasn’t the kind of place he wanted the people he cared about ending up. On the surface, maybe. But in the long run… disaster and despair were too real a possibility.
But he had to deal with one thing at a time. Because right now, he was in some shit of his own.
The man on his own was tall and thin. His cheekbones were bulging. He looked chronically malnourished, to the point that Mike was surprised he was even alive at all. His skin was pale, and he was missing patches of hair. “What’re you doing here?” he asked.
Mike was surprised, at first. This guy, he sounded calmer than he’d expected. Not that it made him trust him or anything, but it wasn’t the sinister tone he’d prepared himself for. He cleared his throat. “We—”
“We don’t have to explain ourselves,” Nina said. “Now get out of our way and let us keep on going where we’re going. Right now.”
Mike looked at Nina.
He felt dread building inside. He didn’t want to play it the way she was playing it. He knew how people could be when they were spoken to like that. He knew better than to stir the pot—and so too should Nina.
The man smirked. Looked over the top of them at his two friends, who were closer behind Mike and Nina now. Still with their rifles in hand. “That’s funny,” he said. “Standing up like that when you’re in the shit like you are. You’d have thought you’d have learned some manners if you’ve made it this far.”
“Well, you’re mistaken,” Nina said. “I show respect to those who show me respect. Not blindly.”
The man’s smile dropped then. He sighed. “You’ve got guts; I’ll give you that. If you’re not careful, though, I’ll spill them all over this road here. So now’s the time to tell us where you’re going. Now’s the time to start talking.”
Nina started to say something. But Mike didn’t want to antagonise these thugs anymore. Nina’s approach wasn’t going to work here.
“We’re heading to a place a few miles away from here,” Mike said. “A place where they’re promising salvation. Hope. But a place that has… secrets.”
The man smirked. “Just about sounds like every place I’ve ever heard of. Offer hope. Offer some kind of idealistic future. Then, bam. Turns out not quite as sweet as you expected. But hey. Isn’t that how it’s always been? Isn’t that the way it’s gone, right from the start?”
Nina cleared her throat. “I appreciate the philosophy lesson, but if you don’t mind, we’d really like to keep going—”
“This place,” the man said. “This… safe haven, you’re talking about. Where’s it at? And what’s its deal?”
Mike looked at Nina.
Nina didn’t say a thing.
The man rolled his eyes and sighed. “Okay. Kill them.”
The men behind started to walk towards Mike and Nina.
Mike raised his hands. “Whoa. Wait. Wait. This—this place. I haven’t been there. But Nina was there—”
“Mike,” she said.
“Nina was there. They were promising her extraction. Helicopters, that kind of thing; they were taking people out of that place and promising to take them into a new world. Albion, they called it. At least that’s what I’ve heard. But anyway. There’s—there’s a chance that place has some people in it. People who I care about very much. And I won’t give up until I find them. I won’t stop until I make sure they either never reach that place or that they get out of it safely if they’re already there. I don’t know how exactly I’m going to get them out. I don’t know what lengths I’m going to have to go to. But if it’s for them, I’ll do it. Because it’s what I have to do. I love those people. They are my family. And I won’t stop for anyone. So please. Just let us keep going.”