by Ryan Casey
Aoife thought back to standing there, looking down at that circle of flames. She thought of Geoff, there behind her. At the time, she wanted to believe he’d looked down with hatred. But now, when she thought back, she wasn’t sure he looked down at all. Wasn’t sure he could.
“So what?” Aoife said. “You’re with her now? With her on her revenge mission? That’s it?”
“I promised her I’d help her get what she wants. Then… then she’ll help me get what I want.”
“And what’s in it for you?”
“Geoff’s family went missing a long time ago,” Grace said. “Karen. And his daughter, Coleen. I can help him find them again. Because I know where they are.”
“And that’s it?” Aoife said. “Destroying our entire community for that bullshit?”
“It’s not bullshit,” Geoff said. Shaking his head. Visibly crying now. She’d never seen him like this before, and she didn’t like what she saw. “It’s... If they’re out there, if there’s even a tiny chance they’re out there, then it’s worth it.”
She heard Geoff’s words and realised just how little she knew this man. How little she knew about the pain he’d been through. How much he’d covered it up. How many secrets he’d kept.
“So go on,” Aoife said. Shaking. Barely able to stand. “How long have you two been in bed together?”
“Geoff helped me acquire the explosives I needed. And he helped me plant them, too. After that… well. It was just a case of timing it right. Absolutely right.”
Aoife looked over at Geoff and shook her head. At Hailey, in front of him, tears rolling down her face from her bloodshot red eyes. “How could you do this? You were supposed to be one of us.”
“I’m sorry,” Geoff said, crying too. “But if there’s any chance my family are out there—”
“She’s using you. Don’t you see that? Your family is gone. And you know what? They’re better off without you.”
“No!” Geoff shouted.
He yanked Hailey closer to him.
Buried the gun deep into her temple.
Tears spilling out now.
“They’re still out there,” he said. “They have to be. And she can help. Grace can help. And this… this is what we deserve. It’s what we deserve. For what we did. For everything that happened.”
Aoife looked into Geoff’s eyes. And all the hate she’d felt towards Grace, she felt it towards Geoff now, too.
“You’ll pay for this,” Aoife said. “Both of you. You’ll pay for this.”
She looked around at Grace.
Standing there with her rifle pointed at her.
Face covered.
Those eyes, staring at her. Piercing.
She looked at Geoff.
At Hailey, shaking, crying.
“I’ll make sure you never get away with this. I’ll make sure you never—”
And then Aoife heard a bang.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Aoife heard a bang, and immediately closed her eyes.
That bang. Right in front of her. She didn’t want to see it. Didn’t want to see Hailey slumped on the floor. She’d heard something thud. Something fall to the floor. And the thought that it was Hailey filled her with hatred, filled her with dread. Because Hailey didn’t deserve this. Nobody deserved this.
But at the hands of Geoff, too.
The bastard. The traitorous bastard.
He deserved all the bad things that were coming his way.
All the bad things that Aoife was going to bring to him.
And then she heard something, right ahead.
First, Rex by her side. Growling.
Then whimpering.
A whimpering that sounded like… Hailey?
She opened her eyes and couldn’t believe what she was looking at.
Hailey was still kneeling there. Gag around her mouth. Crying.
But she was covered in blood.
And behind her, she could see someone lying there.
Kicking out.
Writhing around on the floor.
Geoff.
He was bleeding out from a hole in his neck. Clutching that hole, trying to stop the blood flow. His eyes were wider and more bloodshot than Aoife had ever seen.
He reached out. Clawed at the air.
Grace stood over him. Rifle in hand. Pointed down at him.
“You served me well,” she said. “But you’re a dumb fool. A dumb fool who betrayed his people the second a shred of hope was thrown your way. You weak, weak man.”
She pointed her rifle, right at his shaking head. Thick, dark blood still pouring out between his fingers.
“But you did a good thing for me. It can’t bring back my people. It can’t bring back my brother. But you helped me. And for that, I’ll be forever grateful. But you stood by her side. And for that…”
She pulled the trigger.
The bang echoed through the warehouse.
Geoff’s head exploded, right there on the floor.
Aoife stood there and watched. Watched the blood pool out of Geoff’s neck. Watched Hailey sitting there on her knees, kneeling, eyes shut, crying. That fear clearly inside her; that fear she was next.
And Grace standing there. Rifle in hand.
Standing over Geoff.
She looked up at Aoife, and as much as Aoife wanted to launch herself at her, as much as she wanted to chase her…
She saw the way Grace lifted the rifle.
Pointed it at her.
And she knew there was only one thing she could do right now.
She turned, and she ran.
“Come on, Rex!”
They ran together. Away, through the door.
Heard a blast.
A blast crack against the wall beside her.
“Rex, quick!”
But Rex was standing his ground.
Kicking back.
Barking at Grace.
And she had her rifle pointed at him.
Aoife jumped back.
She dragged Rex out of the way.
And then she realised she was standing there, in the way of Grace’s rifle.
She stood there. Blocking Rex. Shielding him. Hailey was nowhere to be seen.
Just Grace.
Just Grace and her rifle and her opportunity. Her chance.
She saw that look in her eye.
Hatred.
But also… hesitation.
She didn’t hesitate herself.
She spun around and ran.
Another blast.
Another gunshot, narrowly missing her.
Saw the door ahead of her.
The door out to the wild.
The door out of this place.
A chance of escape.
She ran as fast as she could, the sound of footsteps approaching. Wanted to go back for Hailey. Wanted to help.
But she knew there was no chance.
She had to just keep going.
She had to get Rex out of here.
She reached the door. Dragged Rex outside. Turned around, saw Grace standing at the other side of the warehouse. Rifle pointed right at her now.
She pulled the trigger.
A click.
A blank.
That realisation in her eyes.
That look towards her rifle.
A moment Aoife had to take.
She turned around and, Rex by her side, she did what went against all her instincts.
Because all her instincts were still to hunt this Grace down and make her pay, even if it was the last thing she did.
But she turned.
And she ran.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Grace watched Aoife run into the distance through the scope of her rifle, dog by her side, and she tightened her finger on the trigger.
Seeing her here. Seeing her running away. She felt a whole mixture of emotions about everything that’d happened. Because she hated her. She wanted to put her through hell. She wanted to make her suffer. She w
anted her dead.
But at the same time…
She’d had an opportunity to shoot her. Plenty of opportunities to shoot her.
And she’d either missed, or she’d frozen.
Coward. Absolute fucking coward. Because she’d killed so many people, all in the name of getting to Aoife. She’d done so many horrible, awful things, all in the name of revenge.
And yet when it actually came to Aoife—when it came to the woman who’d looked her in the eye while around her, the rest of her people burned—she couldn’t act.
What did that say about her?
What did that make her?
She watched Aoife disappear further into the trees, dog by her side. And as much as in any ordinary situation, this might seem like the final time they’d meet… Grace knew that wasn’t the case.
They’d meet again.
Aoife would come for her. Or she’d go for Aoife.
They were connected now. Connected, like magnets.
And they’d keep on drawing towards each other. Because they both wanted the same thing from each other.
And yet…
The more Grace thought about how close she’d been to killing Aoife, the more she thought about how much she hated her, despised her… the more she remembered the woman she used to be in the world before.
Caring for kids with special needs. How much she got from her job. How much purpose she got from it. How she put it before anything else.
And how caught up she’d got with Christopher and his people.
The shame she felt about how caught up she’d got with Christopher and his people.
How out of hand it’d all got. But how she’d just done what she’d done, quietly, hoping to break free eventually. Hoping for a better opportunity, eventually.
Getting that opportunity, then Aoife taking it away from her. Completely.
She watched Aoife disappear completely behind the trees. Lowered her rifle, turned around, walked back inside the warehouse.
She saw Hailey standing there right away.
She was holding something.
The pistol Geoff had dropped.
Grace sighed.
Lowered her rifle.
“Looks like I got a bit complacent, doesn’t it?”
She walked towards Hailey, who stood there, hands shaking. Still crying.
Walked towards her with confidence.
Hailey backing away, even though she was holding a gun.
Shaking her head.
Like she was trying to stop Grace walking towards her.
Pleading with her.
“Go on,” Grace said. “If it’s what you want to do… pull the trigger. I’d understand it. After what I did to…”
It all happened so fast.
Hailey pulled the trigger.
The gun clicked.
No bullets came out.
Hailey’s face dropped.
Grace sighed. “You really think I’d give a snake like Geoff a loaded gun? Really?”
Hailey backed away even more now. But there was nowhere she could go.
Grace kept walking towards her.
Lifting her balaclava from her head.
Watching the horror spread across Hailey’s face as she saw her, standing there, backed into a corner.
She looked into her eyes.
Stood there, right over her.
“You’re the same,” Grace said. “The lot of you. Cowards.”
And then she grabbed Hailey by the side of the head.
Grabbed her, and instead of seeing Hailey there, she saw Aoife there.
“You came in handy. But you’ve served your purpose.”
It’s a good job Hailey had a gag on.
Because otherwise, Aoife would have heard her screams from a mile away.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Aoife didn’t stop running until she was absolutely sure Grace wasn’t following her anymore.
She crouched in the woods, behind a few trees, staring down at the warehouse. She couldn’t slow her heart rate down for anything. Her breathing wasn’t much better. Grace hadn’t fired any bullets at her for a while. She’d stepped back inside, disappeared from sight.
And all Aoife wanted to do was go down there. Take Grace the fuck down. She still couldn’t quite believe what’d happened. Getting there. Finding Grace. Hearing Grace’s side of the story, her version of events.
Then Geoff.
Geoff with his gun to Hailey’s head.
Grace shooting Geoff…
Then her and Rex running, escaping, fleeing…
She thought of the way Grace stood there, pointing that rifle at her. That momentary hesitation, where she’d been able to run away. The bullets crashing into the walls and the floor around her, but never quite hitting her.
For a moment, Aoife wondered why she hadn’t been more accurate with her shots. But then it struck her. It struck her in a way that made total sense.
She wanted to keep Aoife alive.
She wasn’t done torturing her yet.
Aoife looked down at that warehouse. Rex lay by her side, on his front, panting. She was trying to take deep breaths. Trying to calm herself. But she couldn’t see past what Grace told her.
About what Aoife did to her.
To her people.
And how not all of those people were as evil and savage as Aoife wanted to believe they were, as much as they’d done godawful things.
But no. Those bastards were cannibals. They gave up any right to any kind of forgiveness when they started eating people.
There’s no way Aoife could’ve gone along with shit like that. She’d be out of there at the first opportunity.
But what if there hadn’t been an opportunity?
What if she’d had no choice, and the only way to survive was to toe the line and wait for the perfect chance to get out? To start again?
She shook her head. She couldn’t keep thinking that way.
She couldn’t feel guilt, and she couldn’t feel regret.
The only thing she could feel was rage.
Rage towards the bitch who’d done this to her.
Rage towards the bitch who’d murdered Max and murdered all her people.
She thought about Geoff. Fucking fool. He should’ve known better than to fall for that bullshit about his family.
But then she thought about what he’d said. About hope.
Would she have been any different in his shoes, really?
If she caught wind that someone she cared about was out there, wouldn’t she go to any lengths to find them?
Even if there was no evidence at all?
No. Not that far. Never that far.
But then she thought about what she’d done to Grace’s people.
People she didn’t even dare to consider the circumstances of.
She’d just seen them all as the same cannibalistic scum as Christopher. But already, as much as it pained her to admit it, she knew that wasn’t the case.
Because Christopher’s people were the ones who’d lowered their weapons.
Who’d let the people of the estate go.
And now they were all dead.
Now all of them were dead.
And it was all on her.
She felt her heart skip a beat. Gasped for a breath. Her head spun, and her body shook. She gritted her teeth, and she curled up into a ball.
Because as much as she tried to hide the thoughts, as much as she tried to suppress them, as much as she tried to run from them… the reality was right there, staring her in the face, inescapable.
The estate was gone because of her.
Max was dead because of her.
She shook her head and cried into her knees. Beside her, she could hear Rex whining. She wanted to comfort him. She wanted to stroke him. She wanted so, so much.
But then she felt that old demon of not wanting to connect with anyone resurfacing again. Because Rex was in danger, too. Rex was in danger, and if Grace had her way, Aoife w
as going to lose everything—before losing herself.
But not before a world of torture.
But then Aoife felt a tightness in her gut.
A sudden bolt of realisation.
No.
This wasn’t on her.
Aoife might’ve done the savage thing. But she’d done it because those people were savages.
And Grace’s response to what’d happened—the way she’d slaughtered so many innocent people—only went to prove Aoife’s point even more.
She stood up. Wiped her eyes. Took a deep breath of the cold winter air. Stared right down at that warehouse.
She was going to hunt Grace down.
And she was going to make her pay for what she’d done.
She wasn’t the prey.
Not anymore.
She was the predator.
She gritted her teeth, tightened her fists.
Every instinct in her body made her want to walk down there towards that warehouse.
But she had to be cleverer than that. Smarter than that.
And one thing was for sure.
She knew Grace wasn’t going to give up on her.
So she could use that to her advantage.
She took another deep breath, looked down at the warehouse, then turned away.
“Come on, Rex. There’s somewhere we need to go.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Aoife waited until dark before she went back to the estate.
It felt strange being back here. Sad. The flames had gone out, but there was still the smell of smoke in the air, the taste of burning. Every now and then, she swore she heard sounds—footsteps, rustling, voices. Crows cawing. And the thought of them swooping down and eating the charred remains of so many people made her feel sick.
But she’d watched this place for a good while now.
And she knew exactly where she needed to go in order to load up and gather some supplies for the next stage of her journey.
She stood there, right by the gates of the west wall. The entire wall had been shattered with the explosions. She had to clamber over the brick and the debris to get over. Every now and then, she felt something nudge against her foot, realised it was a limb. A loose hand or an exploded leg. A reminder of all that’d happened here. Everyone she’d lost.
