Chapter 9 – witnessing a killing
Tuesday, 5th April 2072
I woke up at three-thirty in the morning, as a glance at my watch told me, because I was freezing! Damn, was it cold! My fingers and toes felt stiff and I shivered uncontrollably in the sleeping bag.
When I’d planned this trip from the safety and warmth of our house, I hadn’t been able to imagine how cold the nights still were this early in spring.
Mistake! Serious mistake! Unless I found somewhere a lot warmer for the next few nights, I’d be in serious trouble here. Even my face felt stiff from the cold! When I yawned, the muscles twisted into a painful cramp. What wouldn’t I have given for a warm tea or the shelter of a heated room now? I felt totally exhausted and what with the cold, I knew that I had to do something to avoid hypothermia.
So, with awkward, stiff movements I disentangled myself from the sleeping bag and got up. The darkness was still total, but I couldn’t sit and wait for daylight to come. I was too cold; I had to move in order to get warm. I packed up everything, forced myself to chew a granola bar, put on the night vision goggles and started walking. It wasn’t even four o’clock yet. I had about three hours of darkness ahead of me before it would be getting light, then another hour or so before the sun would come up, if it did.
As soon as I hit the path along the river, I set out at a brisk pace, rigorously swinging my arms back and forth to warm my body. It worked. Sort of. But it took a while before I could walk normally again, without stumbling every now and then, both because of the darkness as well as my shivering, stiff body.
About thirty minutes after I’d set out, I reached the railway bridge which I intended to use to cross to the other side of the river. I paused for several minutes, checking out the situation. But there was nothing unusual. I couldn’t hear much anyway coz of the water rushing over some big boulders just underneath the bridge. Still, when I finally climbed the bridge, I tried to cross over as swiftly and silently as I could. Just in case. I had a bit of a view from the bridge; not like before when there’d been always trees all around me. So, I glanced around, but everything was just pitch-black; no lights anywhere, even though there was a village just beside the bridge. Had I not crossed over the bridge, but continued on that walking path I would have walked right into that village. But there was no-one, no lights, nothing. Just utter and complete darkness and me, totally alone.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around what the world had obviously turned into. It simply seemed impossible that all these people here had died. How could it possibly be that we had survived, but no-one else? It was unfathomable. Horrific.
I shied away from that train of thought. It frightened me too much. Maybe later, when I’d have the company of Nin, Yuki and Alice again, I would contemplate all this. But for now, let me just make it home; let me just find them all safe.
Please!
The way after the bridge was much as the one before had been. A narrow hiking path lined with trees on both sides, following the river. About two kilometres downstream there was a small tributary joining the river and I had to make a little detour, following that little river upstream to a bridge, before I could cross over and get back to the main river. Afterwards it was just a matter of walking on, more or less straight, always with the river on my left and the forest on my right. I paused several times to check-out the situation. Thanks to the trees on both sides of the path I was well hidden from view. But it also meant that I couldn’t see far ahead. I figured that I was safe as long as it was still dark and cold. I couldn’t imagine anyone else out and about here at that time.
When I was level with the public swimming pool situated right alongside the edge of the river just one village south of where we lived, dawn broke.
First, there was just a promise of light in the East, but the sky quickly changed from pitch-black to those wonderful, absolutely gorgeous shades of blue you’ll only see at the break of dawn.
I stopped and admired that display of colours for a while. Being so close to the river and the rushing water, I couldn’t hear the birds’ singing, but I was sure they were there, it was just the right time of day for their morning concerts. The beauty of that cold glorious morning jarred with the seriousness of our situation and danger I faced.
But I just stood there and enjoyed it all. It was wonderful. Absolutely beautiful and I was thankful to be alive. Let reality catch up with me later.
Finally, I headed on. Now that daylight had come and I could walk without the night-vision goggles, the world around felt less frightening. That feeling of walking in a tunnel, a green tunnel at that, was finally gone. It was exhilarating to be able to see things normally again. So much less scary. I had discarded the face mask earlier on and now that I could take off the night-vision goggles too, it felt gorgeous.
Soon the sun would come up behind the hills. It looked like another sunny spring day. Elated I walked on. About two more hours and I would be home!
All that remained to be decided was, whether I should follow the river right up to our house or whether I should approach our house from the southeast, which would mean that I’d have to circle away from the river soon. When I’d planned this stunt, I had not been sure of the best way to approach our house. I had already decided on the place where I would hide out and watch our house for the next few days, but I wasn’t yet sure how to get to that place.
What would be the safest way?
If I circled away from the river I would have to cross several open stretches and roads. And, as I didn’t dare to cross these open parts during the day, this would mean to stick out here somewhere and wait for nightfall.
No, I wasn’t ready for that!
Last night’s cold still lingered all too clearly in my memory. I didn’t, for the life of me, feel like freezing again so soon. I wanted and needed warmth now. And walking would provide that.
So that was settled: I would follow the river further downstream and would approach our house from that direction. I planned to leave the river about a kilometre south of our house and make my way through the forest and bushes there. I’d pass a big farm house with stables on the way and I planned to check whether I could shelter down there for the night.
When I had planned all this I had intended to camp out nearer to our house, out in the open in the forest. But after yester-night’s experience in the cold of the forest, I knew I couldn’t survive many more nights like this. I needed somewhere warmer. When spinning out the plan in the warmth of our house I hadn’t been able to imagine how cold and long the nights still were and how little I could tolerate this cold. I already shrank from the idea of another cold night ahead! For now, I was walking and warm and didn’t want to think about the cold of next night just yet. I’d have to find a warm place for the night. I just had to.
I had been walking under cover of trees for so long now that I longed to have a view, to see further. It wasn’t safe, of course, but I longed for it. This walking in that tunnel-like path along the river was kind of creepy and certainly got on my nerves. I could see about one fifty metres ahead and back. I knew these parts by heart. Soon I would come across a spot where a little brook from a swampy area to my right joined the river Aare. A tiny metal bridge crossed that brook. Afterwards I’d be basically at home!
Right now I came to a little junction, if I took the path leading away to my right I would leave the forest in about two hundred metres and be in open country.
Should I go this way?
It was tempting. For one, I would be out in the sun for a while. And I was sure that Steve wasn’t looking for me, for us anywhere near. So, it would be safe, wouldn’t it?
Should I or shouldn’t I?
I stood there for some minutes, debating what to do, taking a step in one direction only to retract and take another one in the other.
Suddenly a shot rang!
No doubt about it: a gunshot!!!
I spun around wildly, trying to discern which direction it had come from
. It had sounded deafeningly loud; as if the person who had fired that shot had been close by.
But where! How far away was this person? And why had the gun been fired in the first place? How many people were around? Could they have seen me?
I almost cried out with panic, but I forced myself to calm down and think.
I hadn’t been all too silent these last minutes, I had already pictured myself home and safe and hadn’t paid as much attention to my surroundings as before.
Think! Think hard!
First things first! Step away from that path, it’s not safe. You can be seen from far right now. Try to find cover!
I rushed toward some bushes to my left, paused and listened hard.
Above the sound of the river, I could hear the noise of a car!!
And, if my ears didn’t fool me, it came from the direction to the right of the path. The direction I had intended to go just a few minutes ago!!
Yes! A car, unmistakably!
The gunshot had come from a slightly different direction, hadn’t it?
Then, there was the sound of a motorbike from further ahead!
Straight ahead!
Whoever rode it came racing right along the river!! Along the path I had just left!!
I spun around, panicking, desperately searching for some kind of real cover!
There was a fallen tree trunk. No good, too close to the road!
Close to the bank of the river, maybe ten metres from where I was standing, I saw a little crevice. Some stones from the river embankment had been dislodged and between them and the natural embankment a crack had opened. It wasn’t really a good spot to hide because I wouldn’t be able to flee from there easily. But I couldn’t see any other possibility and the motorbike came roaring along the river fast!! It felt as if it must be here within just seconds!
I ran over to the little crevice and found that it was deeper than I had seen from the path. At the bottom there was mud but I could crouch down in such a way that I wouldn’t get wet. The forestry people had been busy cutting trees here not too long ago and there were some branches of spruce trees laying around. I grabbed two and pulled them over my head, hoping that they would obliterate me from view completely.
I hadn’t been a second too soon!
I had barely pulled those branches in place, when a motorbike spun by and stopped basically right where I had been standing just before!
Had the driver seen me? Why else would he stop exactly here?
Crouching down in my ditch as far as I could, my heart pounding hard, I almost fainted with anxiety and hardly dared breathing.
The man on the bike cut the engine but didn’t get down from the bike. He began talking; I could clearly hear what he was saying.
“Chris, I haven’t seen anyone here. I am at the little junction now. How shall I proceed?”
A walkie-talkie! He’d used a walkie-talkie. Which meant that there were other people around! Would they come here, too?
Somebody answered.
“They are not far away! They are trying to get to the river. They should come straight your way. Get them. We are coming.”
A third person chipped in.
“I am over here by the farm and also heading toward the river. There are two of them running from me. They’re heading your direction, too, Pete!”
The man on the motorbike got down from the bike now, parked it and reached for an automatic weapon he’d strapped to his back. Releasing the safety, he levelled the gun and waited.
The sound of a racing car could now be heard from a north-eastern direction, further away from the river. Branches were cracking, then the engine was cut and the opening and closing of car doors could be heard.
Then another gunshot!
What was happening here?
Before I had time to think much, the sound of running feet could be heard. Many!
The man by the motor bike stood with his back to me, I couldn’t see much of him through the branches, but I heard him bark out with laughter.
“Well, well. And here they come. Almost too easy a chase, really!”
My God! What was happening?
Then, abruptly, the sound of running stopped and the man stopped laughing and took aim.
“Please! No! NO! Please, don’t! Anything you want. But please don’t shoot us!” A man’s desperate voice could be heard; then a woman sobbing. I couldn’t make out whether they were just the two of them or more.
“As if!” the motorbike man sniggered and pulled the trigger. Again and again.
I was so shocked I almost cried out loud!
Somebody shouted out, someone else cried, pleading for mercy, but the man just continued shooting. The noise was deafening. When he stopped after what seemed an eternity, there was nothing but silence!
I cowered down in my hole and bit myself in my arm in order not to whimper out loud.
That man over there had just callously gunned down at least two human beings!
And he was less than ten metres from me!
If he saw me I’d be dead!
A thousand thoughts and nothing raced through my mind. Everything focused onto this man and his gun. And at the same time I was hyper aware of myself, my life, Alice!! … Please!
Please!
“Pete, you got them?” Somebody asked over the walkie-talkie.
The motorbike man, Pete obviously, answered with a short and callous. “Yeah, all four of them; no trouble there.”
“Good! We are coming to you now, stay put.”
The man called Pete lowered the gun, hung it over his shoulder and reached for a packet of cigarettes in his pockets.
As he lit one he turned around, scanning his surroundings, suddenly facing my direction.
I didn’t dare breath or move! Closing my eyes, as if I could thereby block out any signal or vibration or whatever might alert him to my presence.
Please, please, let him not see me! Let something distract him!
Just as it seemed to me that I wouldn’t be able to bare this situation any second longer, I heard the voices of several fast approaching people.
The motorbike man turned back, away from the river and me, but remained standing next to his bike.
“Good job, Pete!”
The man who had spoken earlier over the walkie-talkie had reached the motorbike man and was clapping his shoulders.
“Well done! Another four taken care of! How many more to go? What do you think?”
He laughed and another man joined in his horrible laughter.
“Where did they come from? Do you know them?” That third man asked.
The motorbike man shrugged his shoulders and the other man answered. “I don’t know them, Chris. But they came from the area assigned to us for clearing. So, I guess, they either were from here originally or just stumbled in here by bad luck. As if I’d care. We got them. That’s all that counts.”
He laughed again.
“By the way, did you hear from Steve?” The third man wanted to know.
Steve! They knew him! Was he part of their group?
“Yeah, I talked with him this morning. He’s really pissed about that ex-girlfriend of his or whatever she was. It seems, she and her family disappeared straight from his radar and can’t be found anywhere now. Steve’s livid; fit to be tied.”
The man called Chris laughed again, an evil, menacing laugh.
“It looks like somebody was cleverer than him!”
“Not a hard task to achieve!” Pete commented sarcastically. “He isn’t the brightest cookie around, is our Steve. And he wouldn’t accept our help, would he.”
“Will he come here? Did he say?” The third man wanted to know.
“Of course he will! He’s predictable as a clock”, the man called Chris mocked. “As if anyone were interested in these people. We’ve got far bigger fish to fry.”
“It’s something personal, you know.” the third man said almost apologetically. “He really hates that family. Whatever. All I
know is that he really wants to see them dead!”
“Be this as it may, I am certainly not going to help him with this feat. He had his chance yesterday. He bungled it, now it’s me calling the shots. And I say, we leave that girl and her family be; at least for now!”
The man called Chris paused before continuing.
“But knowing Steve, I will probably have to let him rant and rave a bit before he’ll see reason.”
At this he laughed his evil laugh again and I shivered.
“Anyway boys! A job well done! Let’s go and get our reward; we are done here!”
He clapped the motorbike man once again on his shoulders and shook hands with the third man.
“We’ll meet at the base, see you in a minute!” With this he disappeared from my view, probably he was walking back toward his car. The third man disappeared too, and the motorbike man climbed on his bike and started it. With just a brief glance at where those dead people must be, he drove away, up along the river.
I remained cowering down in that ditch for what seemed like hours.
First, I was paralyzed with fear and shock.
Then, when I had calmed down a bit and was able to think again, I was just too scared of what I would encounter, were I to get out of this ditch.
But I must move, I must go. The cold was also getting to me. Down there in that ditch it was wet and cold. Finally, I gathered up enough courage to lift the branches. Slowly, forever checking for danger, I stood up and climbed out of that crevice.
I felt so exposed.
And what was I to do now?
Twice I thought I heard gunshots, far away. But I couldn’t be sure about it because of the sound of the rushing water in the nearby river. But each time it took me endless to recover from the fright.
I forced myself to move. My watch showed that it was approaching noon, when I finally made it up to the path and the junction.
They lay there!
A pile of four bodies, sprawled out!
A man in front of a woman. Had he tried to shield her from the gun? And two men besides them. All killed by several bullets each! Bodies twisted!
Lia's files 1_Presumed extinct Page 17
