Snatchers Box Set | Vol. 5 | Books 13-15

by Whittington, Shaun

  “Shame?” Karen scoffed.

  “I thought he was okay at first.”

  “That prick stabbed Stephen to death, and for what? To make the Colwyn lot uncomfortable and send a message to us that we’re not welcome? We fucking knew that anyway. They didn’t have to do what they did.”

  “I only spoke to Findlay a few times,” Mildred said. “I think he saw himself as a bit of a player.”

  “I think he hit on every woman under the age of fifty, dirty bastard. I think, like Drake, he had a few on the go as well.”

  Mildred leaned her head back, enjoying the cold wind and the light rain on her features. “I wonder where they are now?”

  “Who?”

  “Findlay and Drake’s brother, Alan, and ... I don’t remember the rest of them that were thrown out.”

  “Who gives a fuck? Once we’ve sorted this Pickle thing, we can make ourselves at home back at Colwyn Place.”

  “You certain that we can get him out of there?”

  Karen nodded with confidence. “We have to. You saw what they did to Stephanie, Richard and David. If they can do that to three kids, they won’t hesitate with Pickle. They hate each other’s guts anyway.”

  “Are you sure we’ll be welcome at this Colwyn Place. Vince mentioned that a guy called Terry—”

  “Terry will be fine. He’ll mump and moan, but deep down he’ll be glad for us to be back.”

  The pickup began to slow and Karen and Mildred took a peek at the side and looked up ahead.

  “Who could that be?” Mildred asked.

  “No idea.”

  Two men were standing in the middle of the road, waving their arms at the oncoming truck.

  “They look desperate,” said Mildred. “I wonder if Drake will stop and pick them up.”

  Karen’s eyes narrowed and focused on the two men as their faces became clearer. “He will.” She smiled. “He will.”

  Chapter Nine

  Pickle and Graham trudged through the long bracken, as there was no real dirt path to follow.

  Pickle kept looking to the side, smothered in paranoia.

  He could see a little part of the main road and then turned to see how Graham was getting on.

  The nervous man kept looking down and watching where he was stepping. He was lagging and Pickle told him to hurry up.

  “I can’t help it, man,” Graham called from behind. “I’m shit scared of snakes.”

  “Snakes?” Pickle laughed. “The world is plagued with the dead and yer worried about a little grass snake.”

  “Adders as well,” Graham cried. “Don’t forget adders. They’re the poisonous ones.”

  “Just speed it up,” Pickle responded. “It’ll be Christmas by the time we get to the hospital.” He turned and stopped, watching Graham continue to make slow progress towards him.

  Graham looked up and knew he was keeping Pickle back, and apologised and said he couldn’t help it.

  “That’s okay.” Pickle smiled and mentally told himself to give the guy a break. After all, Graham Fellows had saved his life. “I think I’m being too hard on yer. Yer set me free, and I haven’t even thanked yer.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Graham was now only yards from Pickle.

  “I appreciate what yer did.”

  “Thought it was a perfect opportunity. The four of them don’t always go out together.”

  “It was a brave thing to do.”

  “It wasn’t brave.” Graham thinned his lips and shook his head. “It was selfish of me.”

  “How?”

  “I only did it when the four of them were out, and I knew I’d be in safe hands with you.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’ve heard all about you, Pickle.”

  “It was still a risk, but if we stay away from the road we should be okay.”

  Pickle then raised his chin, as if he had picked up a smell. Graham was about to ask him what was the matter, but Pickle raised his index finger, telling Graham to be quiet after hearing his intake of breath.

  The wait was killing Pickle’s companion and he spoke up. “What is it?” Graham eventually whispered.

  “I can hear a noise.”

  “What kind of noise?”

  Pickle shushed him and told him to stay where he was. He then crept towards the main road and took a peep out. He then turned and urged Graham to come over to him.

  “We’re flagging this vehicle down,” Pickle told him. “Come on. We’ll stand in the road and wave our arms.”

  “Are you sure it’s safe?” Graham asked, still looking down and checking for snakes. “It could be Marsden.”

  “It’s not.”

  “How do you know?”

  “There ain’t many people out there with a red pickup. Trust me.”

  Graham reached Pickle and the pair of them stepped out into the road and began to wave. The vehicle slowed and Pickle could see Drake and Vince in the front of the vehicle. It came to a stop, and the girls were first to jump out and greet them. Pickle smiled with surprise and didn’t realise they were there.

  Karen jogged her way over to Branston and he and Karen hugged, as Mildred hung back, and Drake and Vince exited the vehicle with smiles on their faces once they broke away from their embrace.

  “Well, that’s ruined the fun,” Drake remarked. “We were planning the great escape. Even had Shelley Tavernier spending hours, drawing a map of the place.”

  “Sorry to disappoint yer,” said Pickle.

  “How did you do it?” Vince asked.

  Pickle pointed at Graham. “This man. Marsden and his three pals are out and... I suppose I can tell yer at a later date. First, I need a drink.”

  Drake nodded and reached inside the truck and pulled out a small bottle. He tossed it over to Pickle who shared it with Graham.

  “Well, you can tell us all about it when we get back to the hospital,” said Drake. “You two can get in the back with the girls.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” said Pickle. No one responded. He could see the baffled looks on the faces of Karen, Vince, Drake and Mildred, and he explained his comment. “Marsden, no doubt, will use this road to get back to Gnosall.”

  Knowing what he meant, Drake said, “You can’t take on all four, even if you do manage to stop their vehicle.”

  “You’ll need at least two.” Vince stepped forward. “They can’t live. Especially after what they did to Stephanie and David.”

  It was something Pickle wanted to do by himself, but he could see the determination on Vince’s face and knew he was hurting and the man was close to Stephanie.

  “Me and Vince will stay behind,” said Pickle. “Everyone else go. We’ll walk back to Stafford once we’re done.”

  “I’m staying as well,” Karen spoke up.

  “I’ll wait if you need me,” said Mildred.

  “No, yer not,” Pickle snapped. “Two’s enough.”

  “Just get in the fucking van,” snapped Drake. “All of you. They wouldn’t attack us. We have too many people. They wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “This isn’t about getting them before they try and get us. I don’t think Marsden is stupid enough to attack the hospital right now. But one day he will, once he has enough guys. Anyway, this is about revenge as well. Yer never witnessed or heard what I had to when they killed the three o’ them.”

  “I’m staying,” Karen said defiantly.

  “This is not a sexist thing,” Pickle told Karen. “Vince and I will take care o’ these cunts. We deserve to kill them.”

  Vince nodded. “I can’t let Stephanie’s killers walk free.”

  “And yer didn’t see what I saw, or heard.” Pickle pointed at Graham next to him. “I knew what happened after they were killed. He was instructed to drop off the sack.”

  “Was he now?” Drake gritted his teeth.

  “He had no choice and he didn’t know what was in there,” Pickle spoke up, defending a petrified Graham. “And anyway, it was Graham that cut me f
ree. There was a possibility they weren’t gonna let me live if they got the vehicles or not, so Graham helped me escape.”

  “Look, Pickle,” Drake began. “I know you’ve had a shitty week, but hanging about and getting yourself killed isn’t going to help anyone.”

  Pickle paused for thought for a few seconds. Did Drake have a point? Then the sound of Stephanie screaming filled his head.

  “I need to do this,” he said.

  “If I have to hang about on my own,” said Vince. “I’ll do it. You don’t need to hang about, especially with what you’ve been through.”

  “I have to.”

  “Why, for fuck’s sake?" Karen snapped. “This is ridiculous.”

  “They butchered Richard first,” Pickle began, and a blanket of hush covered the group. Pickle gulped, fighting back the tears. He tucked in his bottom lip and could feel his eyes becoming moist. He added, “Manson took his head off in front o’ me. Then David was next. Poor bastard had to watch Richard, realising he was goin’ to go through the same thing. He screamed ma name before Manson sliced through his throat and there was nothin’ I could do.”

  Karen choked back the tears, and even Drake could feel a small lump in his throat on hearing Pickle’s words.

  Pickle said, “And then he raped Stephanie. I never saw it, but I heard it. I couldn’t look. And then he took her head, so don’t try and persuade us to come back with yer. It’s not happening.”

  Drake took in a deep breath and nodded in agreement. He beckoned Karen, Mildred and Graham into the pickup, and raised his hands at the two men. Graham got in the front and the girls went in the back.

  “We can all stay behind,” said Drake. He was the only person left to go into the vehicle. “We can hide the pickup and wait around.”

  Pickle smiled. “Just go, Drake. We’ll see yer by the end o’ the day.”

  Drake nodded in defeat and walked to the driver’s side and got in. He eventually drove away after doing a turn in the road manoeuvre, with Karen and Mildred gazing at Pickle and Vince until the vehicle hit a bend and disappeared.

  Chapter Ten

  “So...” Drake eased his right foot off the accelerator as he approached a sharp bend. “You’re the guy that dropped off the heads?”

  Graham nodded. He looked shamefaced and was gazing out of the window, watching the trees and bushes fly past his eyes.

  “And you definitely didn’t know what was in that sack?” Drake persisted.

  Graham shook his head, like a child in trouble.

  “But it wasn’t tied up or anything. You could have had a sneaky peek.”

  “Marsden told me not to look inside, so I didn’t look inside,” Graham said with conviction.

  “And if you did?”

  Graham shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I think I probably would have still done it, if I’m honest. Marsden and his crew were strict, but they did provide the rest of us with more food and water than what we were all used to.”

  “But you guys were getting by before they showed up?”

  Graham nodded. “Just about.”

  “It was a bit risky by Marsden. If you’d looked inside the sack, freaked, and then fled, he would have lost a man, his message, and more importantly a vehicle.”

  “But I didn’t. He trusted me.”

  “He should have picked someone with a family,” said Drake. “And told the messenger that he had to return, otherwise family members were going to get hurt.”

  “Yeah, well, like I said, he trusted me.”

  “Didn’t the smell make you intrigued? I know the heads had been washed, or whatever, but there was still a pong when we opened the sack.”

  “I couldn’t smell anything,” said Graham. He was beginning to get annoyed with all the questions. He had helped Pickle to escape and now he was being given the third degree on the way back to his new place. “The sack was shut when I put it in the car and remained shut when I dropped it off at the hospital gate.”

  Drake nodded with satisfaction at Graham’s response.

  “I had no idea at the time, Drake.”

  “I know.” Drake believed the man and added, “If I didn’t believe you, you’d be on foot by now, but I suppose the question is: what camp will you be staying at?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “We’re losing a few of our people, including Pickle, as they’re going somewhere else. Are you going to stay in Stafford, or go to Little Haywood with Pickle and the other lot?”

  Graham remained silent and had no idea how to respond to Drake’s query. Drake told him to have a think about it.

  *

  Mildred Huxtetter closed her eyes and groaned with delight as the wind massaged her face. The drizzle had stopped, but it was still nice to have the air caressing her features as she half dozed.

  A small smile emerged under her nose and the woman sitting opposite her, Karen Bradley, asked her what she was thinking about.

  “My partner,” Mildred spoke up, keeping her eyes closed. “She used to give me great facials.”

  “Better than any man?”

  Mildred giggled, “I think men have different ideas when a woman wants a facial, know what I mean?”

  The two laughed and Karen was warming to this woman she had only known for a handful of days

  Karen said, “My Gary used to give me foot rubs whenever I came off nightshift.”

  “Really?” Mildred opened her eyes, and sat up straight.

  “Without fail.”

  “He sounded like a keeper.”

  “He was,” Karen said with a sad tone.

  Mildred picked up on Karen’s voice. She knew that it was going to be a sad story, but she still asked her, “What happened to him?”

  Karen took in an intake of breath, thought for a moment, and then released a sad sigh. “He was out with the lads on the Saturday night,” Karen began to explain. “I came back from work, dreaming about my foot rub, and went upstairs to find him in the room. He was standing up, but it wasn’t him anymore.”

  “So he was bitten or scratched when he was out with his friends?”

  “Or on the way home.” Karen nodded. “Then went to sleep and never woke up as the real Gary, the human Gary.”

  “Married?”

  Karen shook her head. “Engaged.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Yep. Me too.”

  The girls fell silent and took in the scenery.

  They were now entering Milford and not far away from Stafford at all. Mildred took a glance at The Barley Mow pub where she was invited in by a stranger the week before. His name escaped her, but it was a lucky escape. Killing him was the only option she had.

  “I have a question for you?” Karen asked the woman.

  “I think I know what’s coming.” Mildred smiled. She was already annoyed, but she knew some people didn’t understand.

  “What’s your real name?” Karen smiled. “Vince told me that Mildred was a fake name.”

  “It is.”

  “Why do that?”

  Mildred shrugged her shoulders and puffed out her bottom lip. “New world, new me. I don’t know.”

  “But it doesn’t stop you from thinking about the past, the people you’ve lost, does it?”

  Mildred sadly shook her head.

  Karen scratched at the back of her head and questioned further, “So what’s the point?”

  “Does it matter?”

  Karen lowered her head and said, “I suppose not.” She lifted her chin and asked Mildred, “So where did you pluck the name from?”

  Mildred looked at Karen and smiled. “Made it up.”

  “Bollocks!” Karen waited a few seconds and received no verbal response from Mildred. Karen could see that the female was a little stand offish, so she decided to ease the tension. “Anyway. Doesn’t matter, I suppose. I like Mildred.”

  “Me too.”

  The pickup suddenly pulled into the side, turning right, making the women fall over an
d releasing expletives. The vehicle went to the side of the lane, as if it was hiding, and the girls saw a bus going by.

  “A bus?” Mildred exclaimed.

  “You don’t see that very often,” Karen remarked.

  “I wonder who was in it.”

  Drake wound down the window and popped his head out. “Sorry about that, girls. Saw it up ahead and turned in while we had the chance. Probably harmless, but you can’t be too careful these days.”

  Drake popped his head back inside, and did a U turn and pulled the vehicle along the main road.

  Karen dropped her head as the pickup began moving forward again, and Mildred could see that Karen was nervous. Her hands were shaking, and her right hand was to her mouth. She was chewing the skin at the side of her fingernails.

  “Try not to worry about Pickle and Vince,” Mildred said.

  “I can’t help it.”

  “I don’t like the idea of people killing people, but in this case it sounds like these guys deserve all they get.”

  “We’ve had run ins with people before.” Karen hunched her shoulders. “Not this bad, though.”

  “Look, I don’t really know this Pickle guy very well, but if he can get away with a beheading, he should be okay. It sounds like he has luck on his side.”

  “You’re right.” Karen smiled, leaned her head back, and tried to relax for the remainder of the short journey.

  Seven minutes later, they were back at the hospital.

  Chapter Eleven

  Pickle and Vince sat on the grass bank, near the road, and the two men shared a bottle of water.

  “Just finish it,” Vince said. “We’ll be parched, but we can get a drink when we get back.”

  “True.” Pickle nodded.

  “And you’re sure they’ll come by this road?”

  “There’s two roads to take when yer come out o’ the Gnosall village,” Pickle said. “The other road is a windy country one. If I was Marsden, going out on a run, I’d be using the main road, not the windy roads that could be filled with danger.”

  “If you say so.”

  “The other week, Karen and I used a narrow country road and it was blocked off by a dead cow.”