The Fight for Life

by S G Read

  The woman lay there panting and peering into the gloom. Jericho picked up her pants and thrust them into her hand.

  ‘You might want to put these back on.’ He said quietly. ‘I don’t think they will bother you again.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She wriggled where she lay and put her pants on, then Jericho helped her up.

  ‘Thanks for the diversion.’ He said as Will walked across toward them. ‘I’ll check that they are dead Will.’

  ‘Wash your mouth out with soap.’ Will retorted. ‘When I shoot someone they don’t get up again!’

  ‘Better safe then sorry Will, you look after the young lady.’

  ‘I’ll get the others then.’ Barry said from right next to them.

  ‘I wish you wouldn’t creep up on people like that!’ Will complained.

  ‘You’re the one with the night vision.’ Barry answered.

  ‘And you must eat too many carrots.’ Will answered. ‘Yes go and get the others but remember you will have to carry Terry up or he will never make it.’

  ‘We’ll get him up here, now he can be looking after the lass.’ Barry answered.

  ‘Or give me a gun and I could look after him!’ The woman replied. ‘I am Debora.’

  Will and Barry shook her hand in the darkness and then Barry slipped out of sight.

  Will was torn. If he gave her a gun would she turn on them or was she really hating every moment of what was going on? On the face of it there was no decision to make but he still hesitated.

  ‘When we find their guns we will find one of them for you to be able to protect yourself with.’ He said quietly.

  Jericho drove the jeep to the side and dumped the two bodies in it, over it into the woodland below. He drove back to the others with its lights on and stopped right next to the woman. Will helped him throw the other two over the edge of the bridge; then they all climbed into the jeep and drove round to meet the others as they came up from the river below.

  Ray and his group waited until it was getting dark before they moved. They drove down onto the airports fourth terminal where they would not be seen by anyone on the bridge and stopped. They unloaded two bicycles and two men who had the same abilities of Jericho and Barry rode off after it had grown completely dark. They both wore the night vision goggles and skirted round the area to keep out of sight of someone wearing the same things. It was a long ride and they stopped for a rest halfway round, out of sight of those they were leaving and hopefully unseen by those they were approaching. They rode on, looking up at the bridge and assessing how visible they were to those on it, this time there would be no distraction walking across the bridge.

  They were soon approaching the tunnel which led onto the M4 and the bridge. They stopped and looked for a few minutes to see if it was better to climb up to the motorway but decided against it. Instead they were faced with moving slowly down the road to take out all those on the bridge before they had a chance to call for help on their radios. They rode up the slip road and on to the M4 proper and headed for the bridge. As soon as they were close enough they hid the bikes, in case a patrol came by and then started forward on foot. They were on the final few metres when they heard an engine approaching. They hid in the foliage on the edge of the motorway and watched the patrol car drive by. The patrol stopped and the men in it had a talk with the men on watch so the two stalkers moved close enough to hear what was said. As they neared them the lights they were using to play cards with made them lift up the night vision glasses and look past them.

  ‘Anything happening?’ One man asked from the jeep.

  ‘Nothing much except I reckon he is cheating!’ Another man answered.

  ‘What do you mean?’ A third man retorted. ‘Just because I play better than you.’

  ‘Just make sure you keep a proper watch.’ The man in the jeep declared. ‘Someone took out one patrol on this bridge one night and Jamal was not happy.’

  ‘I don’t expect the men were too happy either.’ The third man joked.

  The jeep drove across the bridge and out of sight and the men there returned to their game of cards.

  ‘Do we take them now or what?’ Roger the taller of the two men asked quietly.

  ‘If the patrol is going onto the airport they may never come back but if they have a quick look round on the other side and drive back they might interrupt us so we will give them a few minutes.’ Brian the slightly shorter man answered.

  They moved closer and waited patiently. Brian tapped Roger on his shoulder and pointed. Two men were sneaking across the bridge keeping to the edges where it was still gloomy despite the lights. They recognised one from the patrol jeep and Roger smiled.

  ‘Trying to surprise them.’ He whispered.

  ‘I think so.’ Brian answered. ‘Ours will be much more permanent.’

  They watched the scene unfold before them. One man slipped away from the four handed poker and put a dummy in his place, another did the same and they both moved to lay an ambush for the others.

  ‘What say we let them find the other two dead when they have finished playing about?’ Brian suggested.

  ‘The idea has its merits but then we would have to take out the patrol and the sentries.’ Roger answered. ‘So much as I would like to say yes, I have to say we let the patrol go after they have had their fun, before we take out the sentries.’

  ‘I know you are right Roger but it’s a damned shame.’ Brian answered with a wry grin which was wasted in the darkness.

  They watched the sentries set their ambush as the other two played cards with the two dummies; they also saw two more men coming up the slip road from the M25, it was like a game to them. The two men coming across the bridge were pounced upon by the sentries but so were the two still playing cards with the dummies. When it was all over one man went off to retrieve the jeep and the patrol drove past them. They watched the patrol go and moved in, this time watching the four playing cards like hawks in case anyone slipped away and stuck the dummy in their place. The dummies did not move, nor did the card players. It was like the fun for the night was over and now they could settle down to proper cards. How wrong they were! Brian and Roger worked out the best plan of attack and moved into their positions. It was important that they did not shoot each other but as there were four men they could not knife them, as they were all sitting together. They had their allotted men to kill, took aim and fired two shots each. All four men fell dead to the floor.

  Brian and Roger did not move, just waited and listened for half an hour; Brian watching the bridge and Roger watching the M4 where they had just come from in case the patrol heard the shots and returned. The only thing to move in all the time they were waiting was one of the dead men’s hands; it slipped off the table dragging some of the cards they had been playing with as it went. The hand fell onto the floor where its owner was lying; with the cards falling down after it.

  When they were sure no one had heard the shots they lifted the bodies up and sat them at the table again to make it look like they were still playing. One looked like he had been shot so they heaved him over the parapet out of sight and sat one of the dummies in his place.

  ‘Drive back and tell the others.’ Brian said less quietly than he had been talking earlier. ‘I’ll keep an eye on things round here until you get back.’

  Roger did not argue, he drove of without the lights on using his night vision glasses and no lights, just to make sure the idea would work. He drove across the airport and parked.

  ‘Anyone about?’ He asked.

  ‘Who do you want?’ Dai asked from the shadows.

  ‘A rich wife?’ Roger answered.

  ‘But what is rich nowadays?’ Dai asked emerging from the gloom.

  ‘Hard to put a handle on that at the moment but the sentries are all dead so we can move on slowly to the next place.’

  ‘Well done, did you get any more night goggles?’

  ‘Enough for all the drivers I think, if one takes mine.’ Roger answered.


  ‘Good show boyo, we’ll move on then!’

  They passed goggles out to all the drivers and the convoy moved out slowly. No racing of engines and no excessive speed. The lookout must not hear them and look their way in case they saw them. Each vehicle had removed all the side light bulbs apart from the number plate light at the back in case one had to follow the other, now no lights were turned on except for the last vehicle which Roger was following. They drove on to the M4, this was where Roger turned off and headed up towards the bridge; now it was their job to take out any patrols which came along so that no one knew they were there. All they would know was that a patrol or two were missing and anything could have happened to them; especially if they found a cache of drink in a house somewhere.

  The convoy drove along the M4 until it turned into the A4 and on into Chiswick where they parked behind a church. The lookout was in Westminster and from there they would go forward on their bicycles. They knew that the lookout post used a generator and had walkie talkies to call the stadium. What they had to do was to knock out the generator and draw the men down to fix it, knobble them and sneak up to finish off the others ready for their own team to take over the lookout tower.

  The bicycles were unloaded and the team prepared to move forward then they put on their goggles and pedalled away into the night. They headed for the tower following a route selected by Ray which would keep them out of sight for most of the way by keeping them behind buildings. They arrived at the tower without any problems.

  They could hear the generator so they knew where it was but there was a camera set up on the doorway leading into the building the generator was in. There was also a light shining all the time from inside a glass cover.

  ‘Didn’t reckon on that!’ Ray declared when he saw the camera. ‘Can’t smash the lot and not have it noticed.’

  ‘So what do we do about it?’ Dai asked.

  ‘We need a photograph of the scene in front of the camera so that we can get in and sort out the generator!’ Ray answered.

  ‘A photograph?’ Dai asked.

  ‘I get it.’ Peter declared. ‘We put the photo in front of the camera so that it looks normal and walk past the camera to sort out the generator!’

  ‘Or just take the bulb out and give it a tap to break the filament then put it back into the cover.’ Ray added. ‘That way we could work on with the glasses.’

  ‘Better to keep the light and stop the generator without the glasses on, you can see better with the light on.’

  ‘How the hell do we find a Polaroid camera with film in it and a working battery at this time of the morning?’ Dai asked.

  ‘Probably with great difficulty and we are running short on night time. So let’s get looking.’

  Ray answered.

  James helped load the wounded on to the coach and settled them on the beds made up in there: The man who had been unconscious was now awake and complaining but he could not stay there alone. With the coach all loaded James switched the diesel supply to the generator off leaving only a drum full of fuel to keep it going while they drove out then it would run out and the place would be in darkness. He made sure Blue was on board before they drove out of the gates, closing them again after they had passed through, to keep out unwanted visitors; then he headed for the coast. It was a long drive for the wounded but it only lasted an hour in real time. With the sun coming up he stopped in front of Matilda and Otis’ house. Otis came out to greet them, climbed aboard and directed him to the entrance to the sea life centre, they would be well hidden in there, in case anyone came looking for them. They drove down a concrete road. Otis climbed out to unlock the gates and open them before directing him into the area on the other side of the gates. They drove below ground level until they were underground and stopped in an unloading bay.

  ‘Where are we?’ James asked when Otis returned to the coach.

  ‘The sea life centre, this where their deliveries come in so we thought it was the best place to hide a coach full of people.’ Otis answered. ‘Matilda will be down later, she is just checking the area for clan patrols. We brought that in for you as well.’

  James looked where he was pointing and saw a sports car.

  ‘It is a bit juicy but it will get you where you want to go fairly quickly.’

  A big smile lit up James face. ‘Just what I wanted. Are you sure you lot will be okay?’

  ‘You go and make sure nothing happens to Clem, James.’ Donna replied. ‘We will be fine.’

  Otis walked off to open the gates as James climbed into the sports car; it was full of petrol. As soon as the gates were open he drove through them and up the road with a wave to Otis. He waved to Matilda who was walking down to the sea life centre with a basket on her arm, as he passed her but did not stop; he had somewhere he had to be.

  Jericho lay on the road watching a car approach.

  ‘It will be a patrol.’ The woman warned. ‘They were coming to check on their progress with me and probably to join in.’

  ‘They are using their lights to drive so they won’t have their goggles on if they have any so we can surprise them but I need you to be in a compromising position.’ Jericho answered.

  The woman draped herself over the jeep with her legs apart to suggest the others had been successful and waited. The jeep pulled up with its light shining on her.

  ‘Alright so you managed it but did you leave any for us?’ One man asked and jumped out of the jeep.’ He died before his feet hit the ground and crumpled into a heap.

  The second man had time to raise his gun before a bullet hit him between the eyes and he slumped back.

  ‘You’re slowing down old man.’ Jericho called.

  ‘It is way past my bed time.’ Will answered.

  ‘Well get your head down and I will keep watch.’ Jericho ordered.

  ‘We can keep watch.’ Giles declared. ‘We may not be able to do too much but we can keep watch!’

  ‘Go for it.’ Jericho replied and settled down for a sleep on the newly arrived jeep after dragging the dead man out and dumping him over the side of the bridge. ‘The dogs are going to feed well in the morning.’

  The four walking wounded took up positions to keep watch leaving the others to sleep.

  The search for the Polaroid camera went on for some time but they found one. The sun was threatening to show itself when they found it and they hurried back to the camera to take the picture.

  ‘What if they see the flash?’ Dai asked.

  ‘They might think there is something wrong with the generator so when it suddenly stops they may not be that alarmed.’ Peter answered. ‘But you need to take the picture from as near the camera as you can, preferable without showing an appendage in front of said camera while you do it!’

  To get someone up to the level of the camera and take the picture took a while and ended up with a sort of pyramid underneath Peter, who took three pictures, before the pyramid collapsed.

  Up in the control room one of the card players saw a flash on the camera.

  ‘We might have trouble with the generator or the camera.’ He grunted.

  ‘Well it is your turn to sort it out this time.’ Another player declared.

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Why not go down and sort it before hand, it might save you walking down the stairs.’ The second man asked.

  ‘Two reasons.’ The first man answered. ‘I have a winning hand and I am going to win back all I have lost.’

  The statement was met by a lot of scoffing and guffaws.

  ‘Second.’ He continued. ‘I would probably get halfway down and the generator would go out: Then I would be stuck in the lift.’

  ‘There is that.’ The man looking out of the window with powerful night vision binoculars agreed. ‘We would have to go and sort it out for him, just to get the lift going so he could get out!’

  The hand continued and the man returned to looking out the window. No one noticed a slight change in the picture on the camera
in question.

  With the picture in place, Ray and the men with him walked inside, one to work on the generator to make it stop; the others to work their way upstairs. Dai, the man on the generator looked at it before the others started into the building proper and gave a thumbs up sign to say it was no trouble. They started inside but they had to dive back out of sight when they saw the next camera. Dai did his work and the generator stopped. The emergency lights came on giving them light to see by and, as the little light on the camera had gone out, they moved forward again. Dai joined them. On the first landing two men peeled off to be the rear guard in case anyone from outside came looking. The rest moved up the stairs.

  ‘See what I mean.’ The first man who had spoke in the control room cried. ‘I would have been halfway down when the bloody thing cut out. I bet it is muck in the fuel again.’

  He left the game, taking his cards with him and walked to the stairs. At the top he listened but heard nothing, halfway down an arm grabbed him round the neck and he felt the sharp knife thrust into his stomach. He tried to call for help and fight back but he could do neither. He slumped lifeless in the arm which held him and he was dumped unceremoniously in one of the rooms nearby.