“No!”
“But-” Cassie doesn’t finish the sentence and instead turns and walks to the shop’s door, walks through and strides down the aisles picking up handfuls of chocolate bars.
Heavy footsteps sound behind her and her heart pounds hard in her chest. Hands trembling, she picks another handful of chocolate bars. A hand grabs her shoulder, pinching down on her shoulder blades, pressing her collar bone hard. She drops, breaks the grip and twists round to face Ray’s scowling face.
“I’m taking these—for the kids,” she returns defiant, standing tall. He stares at her intently. “You’ll have to fight me for them, Ray. Is that what you want? Huh? To fight a woman over a few chocolate bars. Chocolate bars that will make the kids you say you’re looking after happy? Huh? Is it Ray? Is it?” A flicker of uncertainty flits across his eyes as she stares into them. “No. I didn’t think so. So, I’m going to walk past you now, Ray. I’m going to walk past you and back up to the others and we’re going to sit down and me and Dan and Rick, we’re going to make their lives a little better, even if it is just for a few hours and, in the morning, we’ll be gone. Ok?”
She doesn’t wait for a reply and, shoulders back, stomach churning, she strides past him, mustering all the fake confidence she can. Walking past Celie, she smiles into her wide and staring eyes, grabs her small hand and walks back up to the main building. With each step, she walks a little faster, waiting for the hard fingers to sink back into her shoulder. With relief, her breath tight in her chest, heart pounding, she reaches the service station café, pushes through the doors and breathes deep, safe among the others.
Hands shaking, she looks across to the children gathered round Dan. They sit on cushions or soft chairs pulled into a circle and smile at her as they turn around, an excited cheer going up as they see the bars of chocolate clutched in her hands.
“Did you get popcorn?”
“I forgo-”
“Yes! I did,” Celie says triumphant as she holds up a large pink bag of sweet popcorn and a blue of salted. She turns to look at Cassie. “I got it when you were telling him off,” she adds in a low, conspiratorial voice then smiles and turns to the children. “You should have seen her! She was awesome.”
Chapter 16
The last child settled down for the night, Cassie crosses back to the grouped chairs where Dan and Rick sit.
“Guess we’ll be sleeping here tonight then.”
“Yeah. Well it’s better than sleeping in the car.”
“Don’t think I’ll be able to sleep well though. That guy gives me the creeps. I half expect to wake up and find him standing over me.”
“He’s pretty desperate to get rid of us.”
“You’d think with so many kids he’d want us to help him out.”
“That you would, Cassie. That you would.”
“Celie—the blonde girl—she wants to come with us.”
“We can’t take them with us, Cassie!”
“Why not?”
“Well … we haven’t got enough room in the car for a start.”
“And Becca and Justin—they’re only expecting me.”
“Yeah, I know, but—.”
“No, Cas. We can’t take them with us.”
Rick watches the disappointment grow on her face, but she quietens and lays down next to Dan on the patchwork of sofa cushions laid out on the floor.
He stares at the ceiling, his empty gun clutched across his chest, and fingers the trigger. The gun is next to useless now, but he can’t let them know that. It’s his best defence, even if his very last round is back in the city in the druggie’s head. He closes his eyes, takes a breath to soothe the hammering anxiety that grinds at him and listens to Cassie’s soft breathing and smiles as he thinks back to the evening as she’d sat with the children leaning into to her listening to Dan’s silly stories. He’d made them laugh though. The stupid, despised man had made them laugh. He really wanted to hate him, tried to cling on to that satisfaction, having someone to blame for the state they were in felt good, but after watching the pair tonight, seeing a little happiness glimmer in those kids’ eyes, he was struggling.
From this angle, head propped up against the arm of the long sofa, he can see the bright silver of the full moon. As he takes in its beauty, the lights in the forecourt flicker and die, the moon seems all the brighter against the black that envelops the petrol station. He pulls himself up and walks with quiet steps to the large, glass doors, pushes one open and looks out into the night. The orange haze of the street lights that marked out the nearby village have disappeared and the tall lights that brighten the entrance to the services are dead. That’s it then—at least around here. The electricity is off. Only the pinpricks of light from the solar lamps that light the route from the entrance to the services and down the roads to the main facility and the petrol station are left. He takes one last look at the moonlit petrol pumps and shrubs and closes the door. That’s one thing he’ll need to make a priority—finding solar panels and lamps—they’d have to make their own electricity from now on. He lays back down on the sofa, closes his eyes and drifts into an uncomfortable sleep.
The door on the far side of the room opens. Slow and barely audible, someone walks, with muffled steps, towards their sleeping area. Instantly alert Rick lies completely still, his gun still clutched against his chest, and waits. As the footsteps draw closer, he can hear breathing close to him. He opens his eyes to slits. Celie! She stands watching him, turns her head to look at Dan and Cassie, then looks at him again. Curious, he holds completely still. Let her think he’s asleep. Cool fingers touch his. He doesn’t flinch. They wait a second then grip his fingers, prising them away from his gun. He feigns sleep as first his index finger, then his second finger is loosened. Celie lifts his hand and slides the gun over his belly. He grabs her small wrist tight. She yelps.
“Shh!” he reprimands.
“Let me go!” she whispers, her eyes staring into his, terror lurking there.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
She yanks at his hand.
“Settle down. Now, tell me. What on earth you think you are doing? Huh!”
“Sleep-walking,” she says.
“Yeah right! Tell me the truth, Celie. I thought you liked us, so why are you trying to steal my gun.”
“For Ray.”
“Ray told you to get it? That figures.”
“No. I wanted it so I can shoot Ray if he …” He waits for her to finish the sentence, but she remains silent.
“If he what Celie?”
“If he hurts Lina again.”
“Hurts Lina?”
“Yeah. We try to stop him, but he’s too strong.”
“Lina’s the tall blonde girl, right?”
“Yeah. That’s her. She was seventeen last week.”
“Well, if he’s hurting her then he needs stopping, Celie, but you can’t take my gun. It’s too dangerous.”
“I know, but … maybe you can kill him them.”
“You hate him that much?”
“Yes. He hits us.
“Oh?”
“He says he’s taking care of us and if we want to stay alive we have to do what he says. If we don’t then he … well he hits us.”
“Did he do that to you Celie?” he asks nodding towards the bruise that sits on Celie’s brow.
“Yeah,” she says, hanging her head. “He was grabbing Lina. He was trying to kiss her and she didn’t want him to and I shouted at him to stop. He got angry then, said to mind my own business, that she liked it really. But she didn’t. She didn’t like it and when I told him that he hit me.”
The knots in Rick’s stomach tighten.
“Does he make her do things she doesn’t want to Celie? Grown up things?”
Celie hangs her head down low.
“Yeah. I tried to stop him. So did Zak. But he hit him too and said we were his kids now and he’d do what he wanted with us.”
“Why don’t you a
ll just leave?” he asks as Cassie sits up to listen, her eyes staring hard through the moonlit room towards Celie.
“Where would we go?” she says, anxiety rising in her voice. “This is the only place round here with food and Ray says there’s worse than him out there,” she finishes, jerking her head towards the door and catching sight of Cassie as she pushes herself up from the makeshift bed.
“It’s OK. Don’t fret, Celie. Don’t fret,” Rick soothes.
“You can come with me and Dan and Rick, Celie,” Cassie offers as she steps up behind her. “Can’t she Rick,” she states, looking to him for confirmation. “We’re going to find somewhere safe to live. You can come too.”
“What about the others? I can’t leave them.”
“Well …” All of them? “Yes. You’ll all have to come with us.”
Cassie raises her eyebrows as she smiles at him.
Celie looks up, her eyes wide. “He won’t let you take us.”
“Let him try to stop us,” Cassie says, adamant.
Chapter 17
Shefton Services, 22 Days After Infection
Cassie looks across at the huddle of silent children in the greyed-out foyer and across to the glass doors at the entrance, waiting for Rick or Dan to give them the signal.
“How long will it take, Cassie?”
“Shh! Keep quiet. Ray might hear!” Celie reprimands.
“It’s OK, Celie. If we whisper he won’t hear,” Cassie soothes although her own heart hammers hard in her chest at the thought of Ray’s cruel eyes finding them here, waiting for escape. “I don’t know, Harry,” she continues as she turns to the boy, arm around Celie’s shoulder, eyes searching the landscape beyond the glass doors. “Rick said it was hundreds of miles to the farm and it depends if the roads are blocked.”
“Blocked!”
“Yeah, blocked,” Lina interrupts. “With all the cars smashed up on the motorways.”
“Smashed up!”
“From when people died at the wheel and crashed into each other.”
“Oh! Cassie, is that true?”
She turns to look at the questioning boy, his eyes wide with concern. “I think sometimes that did happen, Harry,” she tells him calmly, remembering the blocked road outside the penthouse and the crashed cars they’d seen on their walk through the city. “But we’ll be fine. We’ve got Rick and Dan to look after us.”
He sighs with relief at her words. “Yes,” he agrees. “Rick and Dan—they’ll look after us.”
“And Cassie,” Celie adds squeezing her hand. Cassie smiles down at the girl and a surge of anxiety runs through her. She’s never been maternal, never wanted kids and certainly never wanted to look after other people’s. Her life had been just fine without them, she’d wanted for nothing—had everything she could ever wish for. Sure, it had been a bit lonely when Dan was busy with work, but she’d managed to fill her days. There’d always been so much to do just to keep up with … well, appearances. She looks down at her chipped acrylic nails, one broken at a sharp slant, and sighs then looks again at Celie then Harry, their tight little faces pale with fear. As she returns their gaze a new determination, one that grips her heart, washes over her. Ray can go to hell and so can any other psycho that tries to hurt them! She’s going to make sure they get to the safety of the farm where there’s a chance of a normal life, even if she does have chipped nails.
The door swings open.
“We’re ready,” Rick whispers through the gap, beckoning to Cassie. “The cars are down on the forecourt.”
This is it! “OK, kids,” Cassie turns to the children, a calm smile forced to her lips, heart beating hard in her chest. “We need to get down to the petrol station as quickly, and as quietly, as we can.”
The canopy over the petrol pumps casts the car in dark shade as Cassie waits for Celie to follow Harry into the car and then shuts the door.
“Lina, come with me into the shop. We’ll get some supplies from there before we leave,” she says as she locks the car doors with the fob.
“Sure,” the girl returns and walks across the herringbone blocks to the shop, her stride matching Cassie’s.
Minutes pass as they grab bottles of water, withering fruit, and packets of biscuits and crisps.
“There’s a travel rug here. This will come in hand-”
Bang!
The sound of metal scraping against glass penetrates into the shop. Ray! That’s got to be Ray!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Cassie’s heart thuds hard in her chest as she stuffs the last of the food into her bag and stands to look out to the forecourt. Ray stands at the car, steel-pronged fork in hand, rapping at the windows of the door. He stops and leans down to the window and shouts at the children locked inside.
“What you doing?”
Bang! He raps on the window with his fist. The children cower away and turn to look up into the shop window.
“Open this door!” his muffled voice shouts as he pulls at the handle, his body jerking with the effort, his face an ugly scowl.
He lifts the steel-pronged fork and with the handle raps against the glass. The children scream and bang on the door window closest to the shop.
“Cassie!” Lina shouts. “He’s going to break the window.”
As she stares out at the scene Rick appears at the top of the slope, gun trained on Ray, shouting at him now. Ray turns, throws the fork in Rick’s direction and sprints to the shop door and barges through, smashing the doors open with the force of his shoulder.
“Lina!” he shouts at the girl. “What’s going on?” he asks stepping towards her, anger clear on his face. She backs away. “Lina?”
“We’re leaving,” she shouts and takes another step back as he strides to her. She doesn’t move quick enough and he grasps her arm.
“Ow! Let me go,” she demands as he pulls her to him.
“You can’t leave me!” he returns. “You’re mine. I look after you now.”
“She’s not yours!” Cassie shouts across to him.
“You! This is all your fault. We were happy until you came. Weren’t we Lina? We were happy,” he pulls her hard against him. “Go on then. Tell her. Tell her you’re happy here.”
“You’re hurting me, Ray!”
“Hurting you. Hah! That’s not hurting you.” Cassie watches as his grip tightens around Lina’s arm, his fingers white, knuckles angular.
“Please, Ray.”
“Tell her then,” he demands again, steps behind her and clasps his arms around her chest.
Rick bursts in through the door.
“Hands up or I’ll shoot.”
“These are my kids. They’re stopping with me,” Ray shouts as Lina struggles against his embrace.
“Let me go!”
“No! You’re not going anywhere.” His eyes flit to the back of the shop. “I told you, you’re mine now,” he seethes, bending into her, his voice a hiss. “You belong to me.”
Rick raises the gun, his finger stroking the trigger, watching the scene unfold.
“Let me g-” Lina’s shout is cut off as Ray tightens his grip around her waist. “Ugh!”
Locked tight in his arm, he looks across to Cassie then to Rick and heaves the girl backwards. His hand grasps her hair, locking it through his fingers. She screams.
“Shut up, Lina!” he seethes.
“Let her go,” Cassie says with a slow beat.
“Shut up, bitch. Or you’ll get what’s coming to you,” he sneers as he pulls at the girl’s head and drags her towards the doors of the shop. “She’s mine and you’re not taking her anywhere.”
“We’ll see about that. Rick! Shoot him.”
“I … Come back here or I’ll shoot,” he calls.
Ray ignores the raised gun and continues to pull Lina along by her hair.
“Rick stop him! Shoot!”
“Cassie! I can’t get a good shot if you keep yelling.”
“Now! Before he gets out the back. What’s wrong
? Why don’t you shoot?”
“No bullets.”
“What?”
“I used the last one back in the city—the druggie with the bullet in his head—that was my last bullet.”
The pain in his fingers makes him yelp as she grabs the gun from his hand, twists on her thick-soled boots and charges after Ray’s disappearing figure.
“Cassie! Come back,” Dan yells as she runs down the aisle.
Cassie follows the pair to the back of the shop, gun gripped in her hand, the barrel held firmly in her fist. She raises it high above her head and bears down on the disappearing figures.
“Let her go,” she commands as Ray stands with his back the door at the far side of the shop.
“That’s the exit, Cassie,” Dan shouts as he pushes past Rick. “You know what to do.”
Cassie turns to smile at him then returns to Ray and the girl. Rick watches as she holds the gun across her arms and moves her feet enough to give her good balance. He frowns. What is she doing?
“Pah! That gun’s not loaded. I’m taking my woman and you’re not going to stop me. If you try it, I’ll break her neck,” he sneers. A chill runs through Rick as he looks at the dishevelled man with disgust growing in his belly.
“She’s not a woman. She’s a girl,” Dan shouts back. “You’ll let her go now—if you know what’s good for you.”
Ray shifts, his eyes scowling, and shuffles closer to the door. Cassie’s knuckles whiten around the gun. She shakes her long hair and squares her shoulder.
“Lina. Do exactly what I say, when I say. Do you understand?”
Ray scowls as the girl nods, her eyes wide with fear as he yanks his arm up against her throat, forcing her chin high.
“Trust me, Lina.’
Ray, his eyes dangerous, full of malice, flicker from Dan to Rick as they step closer to Cassie.
“Stay back,” he growls and takes his hand from Lina’s hair and reaches down to the handle of the door.
“Drop as a deadweight, Lina. Now!”
The girl drops to her knees, the weight of her body heaving at the arm held tight around her throat and Ray jolts forward, off balance. Within that second, Cassie makes her move. Pulling her arm back as if to throw a javelin, she the thrusts the butt of the long gun at Ray’s head and propels forward. Her feet leave the floor, the full weight of her body launched behind the butt of the gun as it smashes down into his face. His head jerks back and thuds against the hard plastic of the door, the butt of the gun still driving into his face as he slides, unconscious, to the floor.
The Road to Ruin: A post-apocalyptic survival series (A World Torn Down Book 1) Page 11
