by Ryan Casey
There was no point pushing on. He had to be rational and he had to be pragmatic. He’d lost those closest to him. He’d failed, once again.
And now he was alone.
He remembered how he was before the EMP; where his life was at. He didn’t mind being alone. He hated other people; hated making any kind of attachment. So was going it alone really any different to how it used to be? And was that really so bad?
But then something gnawed at his stomach. The memory of Villain. The knowledge that he should be beside him right now.
He had never really been alone.
He went to tumble to his knees when he saw something up ahead.
Movement.
He moved around the side of a tree. Held his breath. His heart raced. Was it them? Had he actually stumbled upon them after all?
“You can come out from hiding,” the voice said. “I know you’re there.”
Jack recognised that voice.
He stepped out, slowly, a piece of sharpened tree bark in hand.
Susan was standing there.
She looked drenched, too, like she’d spent the night out here. She didn’t smile. She just stared at him with those wide eyes.
And at that moment, Jack felt total hate. Because she was the one who had led his people into a trap. She was the one who had betrayed them.
He raised his hands. Forced a smile. “Here to capture the last of us?”
She shook her head, walked towards him. “I warned you. I told you to stay away.”
“You did a runner. What were we supposed to think?”
“I took you to somewhere safe.”
“You took us to a ghost town.”
“I did it because I cared about what happened to you,” she shouted.
Jack looked into her eyes and as much as he didn’t want to believe her, he couldn’t shake the impression that she was sincere.
“Your people couldn’t handle mine. They never would. Because you… you aren’t in the same position of authority as I am. But Emma… Maybe I could’ve got there. Maybe I could’ve helped her. But not anymore. At least, not in the way I would’ve hoped.”
He studied her. Waited for her to make a move, or for someone to reveal themselves behind her. “What Matthew said. About you working for him. About how you draw groups in by playing the shrinking violet. Where does that fit in with your little holier than thou mission?”
Susan looked away and sighed. “I’ve done things. Things I’m not proud of. But… but that was my responsibility. I went through all kinds of hell before I got to the point where Matthew said he could trust me. I did play that role. But… your people were different. I saw what I was doing. And believe me, there were times where it looked easier to just go along with what Matthew wanted; to just do what he said. But I couldn’t. Not anymore. That’s why I’m here, now. I can’t say I was always sure about what to do with you… but you have to believe me when I say I really, truly wanted to help you.”
Jack shook his head. “And what are you doing out here now?”
“I came here to find you because I need to warn you.”
A bitter taste filled Jack’s mouth. “Warn me about what?”
“About what’s going to happen at sunset tonight.”
The hair on his neck rose. “At sunset?”
“Matthew has something planned. A show of strength. The kind of thing he does every now and then to keep his people aware of just how strong he is. A festival.”
Jack nodded, as cautious as he felt about it. “What are we talking about here?”
“We’re talking about a massacre,” she said.
It was so cold and so blunt that Jack actually thought she’d said something else at first.
But there was no denying her words.
“A massacre? Of who?”
“Lots of people. But namely, your friends. Your dog. Emma. All of them are going to die. Unless we can do something about it.”
The taste of vomit filled Jack’s mouth again. He looked away. “What am I supposed to do?”
Susan frowned. “Really? That’s really how you’re going to approach this?”
“I tried leadership,” Jack shouted. “I… I tried working with other people. I tried connecting with others. But it all went to shit. All over again, it all went to shit. I should be alone. That’s… that’s the only way I can stop myself hurting anyone.”
Susan was silent for a few seconds.
And then she did something Jack didn’t see coming.
She slapped him right across his face.
“What the hell?”
“I’m sorry I don’t subscribe to the Jack pity party right now, but you need to wake up. You have people who care about you. And you have people who rely on you. And whether you think you’re a good leader or not… you are a leader. It’s who you are. And you’re going to have to wake up and realise it fast or everyone you care about is going to die. And then you will truly know what it’s like to be guilty for your actions. Because choosing not to step up is an action, Jack. Whether you like it or not.”
Jack heard Susan’s words and he could barely believe just how much she’d broken free of that cold emotional shell. She was revealing another side of herself. A truer side of herself.
And as painful as it was to hear… he knew she was right.
He was a leader. Whether he liked it or not, people looked up to him.
And if he abandoned them, he’d have that on his conscience forever.
Not only that… but he was kidding himself when he said he didn’t want to make connections with other people.
Because as painful as the lows had been… the time spent with the people around him had seen some of the most content moments of the last ten years.
Jack took a deep breath and he smiled. “What’re you planning?”
For the first time since they’d met, a warm, genuine smile stretched across Susan’s face. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Matthew watched the sun creep through the sky and felt the sweat trickling down his face.
Susan was gone. That was a problem. She hadn’t let anyone free. She’d just disappeared in the night, soon after she’d got back.
And despite how well she’d done these last few days, luring the people from the caravan site, he couldn’t help feeling aggrieved. He couldn’t help wondering if there was something else going on here. Something he should be concerned about.
He hoped not. For Susan’s sake. For everyone’s sake.
But it wouldn’t be the first time doubts grew in her mind and in his.
And besides. His pistol. It was missing.
It couldn’t just be coincidence, as much as he hoped it was.
He stared inside her tent, then across at the other tents. The Festival was getting closer. It was something he’d been planning for ages. A true show of strength. A clear display of who the apex predator of this region was.
And a way of really displaying just how far he’d come.
Just how strong he w—
He coughed again. Felt that blood in his mouth. The pain in the right of his chest, tightening, squeezing.
“You okay, boss?”
Matthew spun around.
Lance, one of his workers, was standing there.
He looked at him with an expression that concerned Matthew. A look of curiosity. Like he was worried about Matthew.
Matthew couldn’t be having anyone worried about him.
He couldn’t have anyone questioning his strength.
He walked over to Lance and put a hand on his shoulder.
“You didn’t see anything here.”
Then he buried his knife into Lance’s stomach and pushed him to the ground.
He looked at him lying there, blood pooling from his stomach, and he wondered whether he was losing his grip. Because killing Lance in cold blood like this wasn’t like him. He was usually so calm. Usually so composed.
But it wa
s Susan’s disappearance that got to him.
He looked around at the camp. He wanted her to be here for this. He wanted her to see it first hand, just like everyone else. He wanted her to enjoy it. But more than anything, he wanted her to know just how fortunate she was to be on this side.
And as strong as she was… that he was stronger.
He walked over Lance’s body and through the camp, over towards the tower.
It was a thing of beauty, really. Beside the tower, there were pikes that people would hang from. And then there was the tower itself. Logs stacked on top of one another. In the centre, a cage.
A cage that the victims sat inside.
A cage they burned inside.
He would light it when the sun set. That was the plan. The sun set, and the night sky illuminated. The smell of burning would spread afar. The screams would echo for acres.
That was the plan.
But then… you had to be willing to adapt if you were worried a plan might be in danger.
He thought back to what Susan said when he’d reached her. Something she’d said, when Jack and his people had been approaching. A look of regret in her eyes.
And the words she’d said, seemingly to Jack and his people.
Words he hadn’t allowed himself to think about much at first. He was just so happy she’d completed her goal.
But words he couldn’t stop thinking about now.
“You shouldn’t have come here. I told you to stay away.”
He thought about those words, about that look of regret.
And then he thought about the way she was gone.
Gone, on the most important day of all.
He thought about it all, and he knew he had to be ready to adapt.
“Step down,” he said.
The workers looked around at him. “But we’re not quite done—”
“Step down this second,” he said.
They stumbled down. They looked worried. Concerned. Like they’d screwed something up.
But Matthew smiled at them.
“You’ve done a great job. Round up the candidates.”
A puzzled look on Romil’s face. “But it’s not Festival until sunset.”
Matthew looked at this tower of pain before him, the sun creeping towards midday, and a smile crossed his face.
“Hang the first candidates. Festival starts early.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Jack followed Susan through the woods and he knew what he had to do now.
Midday was approaching. They had plenty of time to get to Matthew’s camp and position themselves perfectly for the next stage of the plan, according to Susan anyway.
The plan was simple on paper. Susan was going to go back there. She was going to plant something specifically for Jack. She was going to loosen the ties around the wrists of Emma, Candice, Hazel. She was going to let Villain and Mrs Fuzzles go.
Meanwhile, Jack was going to take out one of the guards. He was going to dress up in that white gear and take a rifle.
And when the time came, they were going to get their people out of there, no matter what it took.
And Jack was going to eliminate the threat of Matthew.
He’d heard what Susan said about Matthew. He was dangerous, but expose his weakness and his followers would soon fall into disarray. Cut off the head of the snake. That’s what he had to do, as impossible a task as it may seem.
They didn’t say much on their journey. The urgency just kept on building inside Jack. The sense that something was going to happen. Something… wrong.
He knew plans like this. He’d faced them before. There had been so many times when things seemed straightforward—at least on paper. And they very rarely went to plan.
He couldn’t be blamed for his scepticism when experience had taught him that scepticism was wise.
He looked at Susan. He wasn’t sure whether he could trust her. She could still be double-crossing him. She could have other motives. Hell, she could be trying to lure him back to the camp so that Matthew had everyone.
But he didn’t think so.
And if there was one thing he’d learned in this whole sorry facade, it was that he should trust his instincts more often.
Because his instincts were often right.
She looked around at him. “Come on. We’re close.”
That tension gnawed at his gut the moment he heard her words. There was still something about this that felt wrong, and it took him a moment to realise exactly what it was.
Then it dawned on him.
Susan.
She was still leader here.
He was still following.
He thought about all the times he’d faced up to his role as leader or follower and he knew that there had to be more to come.
“Wait,” Susan said.
She stopped, dead. Jack stopped too. He didn’t like that. The way she said the word. That look of concern on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
She was still, really trying to focus on something. “There’s something… something wrong.”
Jack didn’t know what Susan was talking about. Not at first.
And then he smelled it.
There was something… burning.
He looked at her, heart racing, muscles in his body twitching. “What is that?”
“Oh no,” she said.
“Susan? What’s wrong?”
She didn’t say anything.
She just turned around and ran further into the woods.
“Susan!”
Jack raced after her. He wasn’t losing her again. Not now he was so close.
He needed to know what was wrong. He needed to know what’d scared her so much.
“Susan!”
She kept on running through the trees, moving silkily between them. She was getting away. He didn’t know what this was or why she was doing it but she was getting away.
He couldn’t let that happen.
He couldn’t—
He slammed into her and tumbled to the ground.
He brushed himself down. Dragged himself back to his feet.
“Susan?” he said. “What is it? What’s…”
Then he saw it.
The smoke in the distance.
The flame-lit torches standing on tall branches, leading down towards somewhere. A pathway.
And then voices up ahead.
“Susan?” Jack said. “What’s happening?”
She looked around at him with total fear. “The festival. It’s already started.”
Jack didn’t know what to say. “But I thought you said—”
“He must’ve changed his plan. He…”
She grabbed his arms, then. “Jack, you need to go ahead with the plan.”
“What? I—”
“I’ll get to your friends. I’ll let them go. But you need to keep on going.”
“This wasn’t the plan, Susan.”
“Plans change. Now quick. Before someone…”
No sooner had she said it than Jack saw movement over Susan’s shoulder.
People walking in their direction.
People in white.
“Hide,” Susan said. “And then do what you came here to do.”
She tightened her grip on his shoulders.
And then she took a deep breath and stepped out into the line of people.
Jack backed away, crouched in the grass. He watched her walk away. And then he saw the other people pass by. Three. Four. All in white. All smiling.
All walking towards this festival.
He held his breath and wondered how the hell he was going to get out of this.
Then he looked around and saw someone.
A loner. A big bloke, all on his own. Walking in Jack’s direction.
Rifle in hand.
He swallowed a lump in his throat and took a deep breath.
He knew what he had to do.
Chapter Forty-Four
Susan walked towards the
scene of the festival and she knew just how dangerous this really was.
It was light. The sun burned down on her from above. She felt tired already. Sweaty. Humid.
And with every step she took, she hoped she was making the right choice.
She glanced over her shoulder. There were a couple of Matthew’s people behind her, following. She recognised them. Martin and Tina. They looked uncertain about all this. Susan knew why. They’d never really been fans of Matthew’s more violent impulses. A number of people here were in the same boat: it was out of convenience more than anything. There was order here. There was a structure in place. Much like people who fell under the rule of extremists in foreign lands, it was easier to just fall in line and keep your head under the radar than it was to start an uprising.
As long as you held on to that belief that one day, everything would come to some kind of resolution, you could just take things one day at a time.
But there were lunatics here, too. Real lunatics. And they were the ones she had to watch out for.
She looked further beyond Martin and Tina. She looked for a sign of Jack. She was torn. Part of her hoped he was out there, dressed in white. Another part of her wanted to just lose him and crack on as normal.
But she had to keep on fighting against that voice in her head.
She was strong.
She was strong when she’d survived the plane crash.
She was strong when she’d looked out for Tommy.
And what happened to Tommy was tragic. What happened to Tommy was something she would never forget.
And the way she’d fallen in with Matthew’s group, it was forgivable.
She was at a low moment.
She’d lost everything.
It was understandable that she’d fallen into her old bad habits.
But now she had a chance to make a change.
Now, she had a chance to step up.
She walked further past the torchlit walkway. She saw people appearing in the corners of her eye. Matthew’s group had a presence that always frightened her, in a sense. A way of it seeming like there were more of them than there actually were.
She looked ahead and felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
The tower was right in front of her. Logs had been stacked on top of each other. Branches were propped up everywhere. And there was an opening right in the middle of it.
