Escape To Survive

by Ryan Gawley

  Lucy and Kathy agreed they would share and Sam pretended not to be disappointed at missing the chance to spend the night with Lucy. He knew it was the right thing to do and besides, the couch would provide more comfort than he’d had most nights of late.

  As everyone settled down and the house grew silent Sam found even though he was exhausted he couldn’t switch off. He reached down and stroked Molly’s coat as she whimpered softly and twitched a leg, lost in a dream. Reflecting on how good it was to be here with everyone he cared about and listening to the calming rhythm of the ocean eventually his eyes grew heavy and a peaceful blanket of sleep fell over him.

  Kathy awoke with terror as a gloved hand was clamped over her mouth and lean muscular arms dragged her from the bed. She tried to scream but a strong hand held her jaw tight. She could smell leather and sweat from the glove as she fought for breath and in her struggle she kicked out and struck Lucy who sleepily turned to adjust her position then sat bolt upright as she heard Kathy’s muffled protests and she detected two large figures in the room.

  Molly pricked up her ears and barked loudly waking Sam. ‘What is it girl, what’s wrong?’ he asked knowing not to doubt his loyal friend for she had saved him from trouble many times before.

  As Molly barked and scratched at the door leading down the hall Sam raced to pull on his jeans and boots then lifted his baseball bat which Arthur had left along with his pack and other gear in the corner of the room. He ran down the hall noticing the charred door at the end was lying open and the light of the near full moon was flooding through the missing section of roof.

  ‘Lucy, are you alright?’ he shouted as Molly reared up on her hind legs and clawed at the girl’s bedroom door ahead of him.

  ‘What are you waiting for?’ snarled a breathless angry voice. ‘Kill her and then let’s get out of here’.

  Lucy felt a sickening coldness creep into her stomach. ‘Sam, help!’ she managed to shout before she was struck hard across the face by a vicious backhand from Henderson that stung but also brought her fully alert only too late to react.

  Arthur opened his bedroom door rubbing his eyes as Sam raced past. He didn’t need to ask and immediately slammed the door shut, woke Alice, pulled on his boots and a tattered old dressing gown then grabbed his pistol from under his side of the mattress. He had only two rounds left but two was better than none.

  He burst from his bedroom closely followed by Alice who kept tight behind her husband. They entered the hall just as Sam emerged from the guest room, backing out slowly with hands held high and commanding a snarling Molly to back up with him. Arthur froze and steadied his aim over Sam’s shoulder but he couldn’t fire without risking hitting Sam.

  Next Kathy appeared still wearing only her night dress and walking barefoot. She was held tightly by Derek Stone who gripped the terrified girl around the neck from behind and used her to shield his withdrawal as he pointed a silenced pistol at Sam then quickly shifted his aim to Arthur who posed a greater threat now he also held a weapon. Stone paused in the narrow hall as Lucy was led out next in a similar fashion by Henderson who seized the opportunity to ensure his safe exit. His restraint technique proved to be less effective and Lucy sidestepped driving an elbow deep into his stomach then stamping her heel hard onto the small bones in the top of his foot. Henderson yelped in pain and Lucy fought her way free then ran to Sam who held her close but kept his eyes locked on the killer.

  ‘How did you find us?’ asked Kathy.

  ‘You forgot about the chip, it was a simple matter of using a GPS locator coded for the chip and it led us straight to you,’ answered Stone as he motioned with his raised pistol for the others to move along the hall toward the front door.

  ‘I didn’t know you could track my chip,’ said Henderson as he followed Stone, suddenly wondering how many times before his personal guard had spied on his movements.

  ‘Oh yes, it’s a security precaution sir in case of a kidnap situation,’ but what Stone didn’t reveal was that he had acquired the GPS tracker to locate the chip implanted in his own lost dog years earlier then discretely coded the device for Henderson’s arm chip allowing him to know his boss’s location at all times in order to keep one step ahead of him.

  Sam checked his pockets and found the plastic bag containing the tiny device. He realised his mistake and knew he had forgotten to destroy the chip when he had smashed Henderson’s network tablet.

  They all moved slowly up the hallway, Kathy struggling occasionally but Stone’s iron grip was unbreakable. Alice led Arthur backward as he kept his own pistol trained on Stone while Sam and Lucy stayed flat to the wall to keep out of the line of fire as best they could as Molly continued to bare her teeth and growl at a heavily sweating Henderson. Clearing the corridor Henderson bolted to open the front door and stepped out onto the sandy lawn where he waited for Stone to provide cover for their retreat to the car which he was relieved to see still parked in gleaming moonlight farther down the rutted lane.

  ‘That’s far enough, stop there,’ shouted Henderson now that everyone had moved outside into the cold night air. ‘Tell them Stone, no further,’ he shouted again since his command was ignored.

  ‘Okay, hold it there folks,’ said Stone turning the pistol to Kathy’s head and all froze except Lucy.

  ‘No, leave her alone,’ she screamed and ran toward Stone and Kathy in spite of her fear and the painful red welt rising in her cheek.

  ‘Lucy, wait,’ shouted Sam as he moved to follow her but Stone instantly aimed the pistol at Sam halting his advance.

  ‘Arthur, shoot him,’ cried Alice.

  ‘I can’t, I’ll probably hit Kathy,’ he said feeling his arm tiring from aiming the pistol for so long.

  ‘You little bitch, you caused all this trouble. You and your pathetic boyfriend, you don’t know what you’ve done. Do you know who I am?’ Henderson snapped and launched himself toward Lucy as she ran to help her sister. He drew back and flung his fist round hard catching her on the cheek, the blow lifting Lucy from her feet and landing her on her back with a painful groan.

  Henderson dropped to his knees in front of Lucy, forcing her legs apart and beginning to unbuckle his belt.

  ‘This is what you’ll get too Kathy, before I kill you myself. It’s what you deserve but first you can watch what I do to your friend here. You can all watch,’ he said wheezing with stinking breath as a semiconscious Lucy fought in vain to free herself from Henderson’s massive bulk.

  Instinctively Sam sprinted forward to help Lucy as both Stone and Arthur turned to shoot at the same moment but both men held fire for lack of a clear target. Sam dived low and ran into Henderson throwing all his weight into the charge ramming his shoulder into Henderson’s side cracking several ribs and tumbling them both into a heap a couple of metres from Lucy. Alice ran forward to help Lucy and took her back toward the house where Arthur maintained cover. Sam was quick to his feet and seeing Lucy was safe stepped away from Henderson keeping behind him on the right while watching Stone and Kathy on his left.

  Henderson grimaced as his broken ribs protested his movements but it served only to fuel his growing rage. He raised himself to his full height and bellowed into the night. ‘You’re all dead, do you hear me? You’re all dead. Nobody does this to Victor Henderson, nobody. I’ll kill you all.’

  ‘No Victor, it’s you who’s dead,’ said Stone icily as he turned the gun on Henderson. ‘I’m so sorry Kathy, are you okay?’ he asked as he released her. She didn’t answer but tears erupted from her frightened eyes as she ran past Sam to Lucy who held her close as the group looked at Stone in disbelief.

  ‘Stone, what the hell are you doing? I made you, I can break you. Without my money you’re nothing, just a filthy Dreg for hire, a whore like my bitch wife and my traitorous daughter. I’m ordering you Stone; kill her then kill the rest of them. Now Stone!’

  ‘My name’s not Stone and Kathy is not your daughter. She’s mine.’

  ‘Shut up and do what I te
ll you or, wait, what the hell are you talking about Stone? If you’re not Derek Stone then who the hell are you? What do you mean Kathy’s your daughter?

  Stone stepped closer to Henderson and kept the gun trained on him.

  ‘It’s your turn to shut up and listen. My name is James Nolan and I was in love with your wife. Claudia kept our affair secret from you for years. Think about it Henderson, your wife was pregnant with my child; she knew you would kill them both if you discovered the truth so she convinced you the child was your own. She gave birth to a beautiful little girl and named her Kathy. I stayed away at first to keep her safe but me and Claudia, we were so much in love we risked everything to continue seeing each other.’

  The friends listened in shocked silence as the former Derek Stone circled around Henderson as he spoke, his voice turning as cold and hard as the steel of the pistol aimed at Henderson’s head.

  ‘When you murdered Claudia you sent your Enforcers to arrest and torture me. When they’d finished their work they left me for dead in the streets like a dying rat but I couldn’t leave my girls. I crawled on my belly to a back alley bar. A friend found me outside on the step, unconscious and bleeding. He took me in, got me patched up enough that I was able to walk again. The scars on my face and my missing eye helped hide my identity. I used that to my advantage and I sought you out. I bought fake papers and work references from a mob forger and earned the trust of one of your club friends to get one step closer to you. It was only by chance that I became your driver so quickly but it was Kathy I was protecting all along. I had to get close as it was the only way I could protect her from you.’

  As he processed the information Henderson’s jaw flapped open and closed but no sound except his laboured breathing was audible. He froze, a shocked expression crossed his face and he gripped his chest which felt to him like someone had rammed an ice pick into his heart. Driven by a raging fury and burning hatred for everyone that had betrayed him Victor Henderson willed his failing body back under his control. With an intense burst he leapt forward much faster than anyone could have thought possible and in a second had closed the gap between himself and James Nolan who with trained reflexes managed to get off a couple of shots before Henderson was on top of him. The first bullet ripped through Henderson’s left shoulder, the second went higher and took off his left ear also gouging a track of flesh along the left side of his head but in his murderous rage Henderson felt nothing except intense anger and hatred. He pinned James to the ground, landing heavily on his chest with a massive weight advantage forcing the air from his lungs then clamped his chubby fingers around James’ neck, tightened his grip and began to squeeze. James struggled for a few seconds trying to smash Henderson in the head with the butt of the pistol he still gripped but quickly weakened as he fought for breath.

  ‘Help him!’ cried Lucy.

  ‘Keep back Sam,’ shouted Arthur running forward aiming and firing the first of his remaining two rounds. His first shot was wide and missed the target. He took a deep breath, held it and fired again but Henderson moved at the last second and the shot passed clean through his arm, partially loosening the strangling grip but not enough to have any real effect. As James began to lose consciousness the pistol fell from his grasp. Sam darted forward and dived for the gun sliding on his belly, grabbing the weapon just as Henderson lunged to take it. Sam rolled onto his back as the red eyed Henderson stood and focused his attack on him.

  ‘Look out Sam!’ shouted Arthur.

  Still lying on his back Sam brought the pistol up in both hands and fired five rounds into Victor Henderson, three in the chest and two in the face blowing the back and top of his head to pieces and raining blood, brains and bone over the sandy lawn. Arthur ran forward to Sam who was still aiming at where Henderson had been standing and took the gun from him.

  ‘It’s okay Sam, you got him. It’s alright now my boy, it’s alright.’

  When Molly bounded over and pressed her wet nose into his cheek and licked him gently Sam relaxed a little and Arthur helped him to his feet.

  ‘He would have killed Stone, I mean James. I had to Arthur.’

  Arthur put his hand on Sam’s shoulder. ‘It’s okay Sam; he would have killed all of us if he had the chance. You did good and we’re safe now. You did good Sam.’

  Lucy and Kathy knelt beside their father who was alive but coughing and fighting for breath. Alice came from the house with blankets for the girls who were still in their night wear and brought a glass of water for James.

  ‘Daddy, is it really you?’ said Lucy in shock, still recovering from her injuries and her father’s revelations.

  ‘Aunt Susan told me you had been killed. Why didn’t you come back for me daddy?’

  ‘I’m so sorry Lucy,’ croaked James through his damaged throat. I thought if Henderson knew I was still alive he’d come for me through you. It was the only way I could protect you.

  Kathy was wary of the man she had only ever known as the ruthless Derek Stone.

  ‘If you’re my real father why did you help that monster keep me locked up? Why couldn’t you have just taken me away or let me go free?’

  ‘I’m sorry Kathy, I truly am. Henderson was a very powerful man with dangerous friends. I had to be sure you were safe and that he’d not come looking for you. I stayed close and kept you safe the only way I knew how.’

  ‘Well, won’t they come looking for him now? I mean the Enforcers and all, they’ll never stop looking for him,’ Lucy worried.

  ‘I was there when he lost his seat of power, believe me. What’s left of the military will be under better command now Victor and his cronies are gone. They have enough work to do in the cities and the General has no love for Henderson. Don’t worry; I don’t think anyone is going to miss him.’

  James shed a tear of emotion; something Kathy had never seen him do.

  ‘My beautiful girls, you found each other and now I have found you both. Can you ever forgive me?’

  Lucy leaned in and kissed her father on the forehead and after a hesitation Kathy did the same. They helped James to his feet and led him to the house where Kathy helped Alice tend to his and Lucy’s injuries.

  ‘Go to the house Molly. House,’ said Sam sending Molly in so he and Arthur could deal with the final gruesome task of the night.

  ‘Burial at sea I reckon,’ said Arthur.

  ‘What, you think this piece of shit deserves that?’

  ‘No, I say we bring him up there and throw him off the cliff,’ laughed Arthur pointing to the rocky outcrop.

  Sam and Arthur discussed the options and finally agreed they would drag the body to the beach and bury it in a shallow grave above the high tide line. Henderson might have been a monster but they weren’t. They worked in silence covering the body with the sand they dug from the pit then built a mound of large smooth stones from the beach leaving the burial site unmarked. If anyone ever did find the final resting place of Victor Henderson no one would know who he was, or who he had been.

  A few weeks later in the isolated north-western corner of the country, Sam rode his motorbike on winding roads through dense pine forests high into the mountains. He was followed by a father and his two daughters in an expensive executive car and an old man and his wife in a battered truck with a golden haired dog excitedly sticking her head out from under the canvas cover in the rear.

  They reached a large wooden cabin set into the side of the mountain and surrounded by woodland. The front of the cabin looked out over the valley and to the deep crystal lakes far below. As the others stretched cramped limbs and gathered some of their belongings Sam found the key under a small rock on the porch right where his grandfather used to keep it. He went inside and found things just as he remembered. The stone chimney and natural wood floor, a worn brown leather couch and a huge multi-coloured rag rug his grandmother had made lay on the floor in front of the hearth. Pieces of simple furniture his grandfather and father had built together still sat in the rooms and even the beds
in each of the four bedrooms were made up with old patchwork quilts and thick wool blankets to ward off the cold mountain nights. Everything except for a few treasured keepsakes and photographs was left as it had been when his family hurriedly moved away.

  Forgotten memories flooded back to him and Sam knew he was finally where he belonged. As his companions busied themselves moving into their new home he stood on the porch, savouring the scent of fresh pine as a cool mountain breeze sighed through the boughs of ancient trees. He watched a solitary hawk soar high above the valley and Sam felt he knew how it was to be so free.

  THE END

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  Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed the story, perhaps you might have a moment to leave me a review at your favourite retailer?

  Thanks!

  Ryan

  About the author:

  Ryan Gawley was born and raised in Northern Ireland.

  He lives with his wife Kira and their dog Tasha.

  Escape To Survive is his first novel.

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  Email: ryangawleyauthor@gmail.com