Bill turned back to look at him. It was getting harder all the time to deal with his brother.
He had been thinking a lot about things over past few weeks and he had started to believe that maybe they could survive all of this. He had started to think about the future. He had tried to talk to his brother about it. Tried to explain his thoughts about finding somewhere to live properly, about getting together with other people, about the need to grow food after all the tins and stuff had gone. He had also asked him to try and think about maybe not just beating up everyone they met. It had been a waste of time of course. It would have been easier to talk to a pig about building a sausage factory. Jeff had called him a whining pussy and told him to shut the fuck up. Bill had just smiled at the time but he wasn’t smiling now. No, he thought. Jeff was his brother, but he was fucking crazy enough before the flu and he was a lot worse now. He doubted that he would ever change, but he had to try and stop him from hurting these people.
‘This is different Jeff,’ he tried. ‘Remember what we spoke about?’ Bill was feeling tired now, tired of it all. ‘These look like nice people Jeff. Maybe they have some alcohol and food. He spoke over his shoulder without taking his eyes off his brother. ‘Do you have some food lady? If you have some alcohol it would calm him down a bit.’
‘We have some food,’ Beth answered him. ‘And some beer.’ She glanced over at the boy. He still hadn’t moved. She thought he was probably dead. She had seen the blow from the bat, swung by that big mad bastard. It had caught him right across the side of his head. He had gone straight down, knocked out on his feet.
She couldn’t see much of the big bastard now. He was blocked from her sight by the bulk of his brother and her anger was leaching out of her fast. It was being replaced by a kind of acceptance. It was the same acceptance that had come to her as she had watched the flu take her mum and dad. She fought it though, pulling back the anger.
She still had her girls to think about. Thankfully they actually had the sense to stay quiet. She looked at the broad back of the man in front of her. He had said his name was Bill and he was trying to calm his brother down so maybe there was a chance.
‘Yes we have some nice food,’ she repeated. ‘We have some beer as well,’ she placed her hand gently on the broad back before her, and she felt a slight flinch. ‘Thank you for helping us,’ she whispered to him. She would use all she had.
Chapter six
Dan woke to pain. His head felt really bad. He could feel the hot sun burning his face as he lay there on his back and he remembered the big bloke swinging the bat. He could hear voices, talking, arguing. He opened his eyes and immediately shut them again in pain. The sun was blindingly bright and his head was a pounding hot ball. He lay still, wanting to sleep but he couldn’t because his head hurt too much. He could hear them all talking about food. He opened his eyes again. Just a tiny bit this time and he watched as the girls moved about, handing food to the two big men who lay sprawled on a blanket about twenty feet away from where he lay. He wondered if they were from that gang. The two men were arguing. He couldn’t see the woman from his position, but he could hear her voice.
‘Kay, Sammy, go and get those beers that we found.’ Her voice sounded different, she was really scared, he thought. She was also acting, he could tell. She was trying to make them her friends so she was being nice. He knew that it wouldn’t work. He had tried that before. They are only nice to you for a little while then they turn on you. Except Nick, he thought. He had been horrible first and then nice to him afterwards. He wished that Nick was here now.
The woman and the girls were in deep shit though. Dan knew that, and he was too. He had to get away. He thought of Nick again. He would be back at his camp by now. Packing up and getting ready to leave. Maybe if he could find him he would save them, but the thought didn’t last long. Even if Nick wanted to help, he didn’t know if he could beat these two, they were massive. Still with no other plan Dan made his decision. I’ll try to find Nick, he thought because he definitely couldn’t help them on his own.
The strain was starting to make Beth nauseous as she sat there between the two men. Her head was pounding with tension but she couldn’t let it show. There was still a chance that they could save themselves here, and she was not going to give up yet. She wished once again with all her heart that she had listened to Sammy and just driven off in the beginning. They would have been long gone from here before the two bastards had turned up. Then she thought that it would have only be a matter of time before they caught up with them. Or someone else did. What did she expect? This isn’t a film where the good guys always win and then live happily ever after. This was real life. In real life the bad people always seemed to win against the good. The strong always won against the weak. That was how nature worked. She looked at the man who had smashed her car up and hit Dan with the bat. He was biting the lid off of a bottle of lager. His big teeth made an easy job of it and he spat it at his brother. Bill picked it up and flicked it back.
‘Wanker!’ he said, excepting a bottle from Sammy. ‘Have you got a bottle opener love?’ he asked. ‘Unlike my brother, I’d like to keep my teeth where they are for a while yet.’
Bill didn’t seem to be the same as his brother. They looked very similar but madness seemed to ooze from Jeff’s skin along with his sweat. He looked like a real evil bastard. Jeff smiled and tipped the bottle to his mouth, taking a long drink. Some of it spilt down his hairy chin and onto his tee shirt. He looked like he had a demon inside of him, Beth thought. No, that’s just the films again, but if she was going to get anywhere it would have to be with Bill. She pulled her face into a smile, and leant across Bill, placing a slim hand on his huge thigh.
‘I’ll have one of those Sammy please.’ She held up her other arm, putting more pressure on Bill’s leg. He shifted slightly and Jeff noticed straight away.
‘Ha-ha! I think she fancies you bruv. What about me bitch? D’you fancy me to? Ha-ha! Three in a bed and the little one said roll over.’ Jeff then laughed and made a grab for Beth’s arm as she reached for the bottle Sammy was holding out.
The poor girl was terrified, and so she should be. None of them will ever be the same again after this. If they lived that is, Beth thought as she pulled her arm back quickly causing Jeff’s lunge to miss as she sat back down.
‘Calm down Jeff,’ bill said quietly. ‘Plenty of time for that later eh? Let’s wait until after dark eh? That’ll be more fun.’
‘Ha-ha! I knew you had it in you bruv. I knew it.’ Jeff lay back. ‘Hey give me that! Ha-ha-After dark. I like that.’ He reached up for the bottle that Sammy was still holding out. She handed it to him then backed away quickly to go and sit with her sister by the car.
They were both good girls. Beth had been through some things with them over the last few weeks. She was constantly trying to teach them that the world was going to be different now. If in doubt, she had told them. In any bad situation be quiet and follow my lead, and they were doing just that. They were good girls. Beth looked up at the clear blue sky. What a lovely day, she thought. She looked at Bill again. He wasn’t smiling. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw the boy start to move.
Dan began to slide himself backwards. He needed to get to the woods. Nobody was looking in his direction and he hoped that they carried on not looking. He moved by sliding his feet up and then pushing with his heels against the ground. It was very slow. He didn’t have far to go but it had gone a bit quiet over there and he was worried someone would notice him moving soon. He then glanced behind and saw that the trees were only a few feet away. He decided to risk it. He rolled over and slowly pushed himself up to his hands and knees. His head spun and still hurt badly but he managed a slow crawl. When he finally reached the edge of the woods he pulled himself up to a crouch using an overhanging branch. Just as he was about to take a step forward into the woods though a hand reached out and grabbed him from behind a tree. He was then pulled in and held up firmly.
&n
bsp; ‘I thought they had you there Danny boy,’ Nick’s voice whispered in his ear. ‘Well done son.’
Tears filled Dan’s eyes and a feeling of relief flooded through him as Nick lowered him gently to the ground behind the tree line.
‘Help them Nick,’ he said quietly. ‘Please.’ Then his last thought before the darkness came over him was of Nick saying that he had done well.
Nick gently lowered the unconscious boy to the ground. Well that’s one problem sorted, he thought. He really hadn’t meant to hit the boy earlier. It had been completely instinctive. His fighting reflexes were almost completely automatic now after years of training and fighting.
He remembered one time years ago. He had been in a strange town. He and a good friend had gone out for a drink in a very dodgy looking local pub. The locals had taken an instant dislike to the two strangers and they had shown their dislike by giving long hard stares and quietly muttering to each other. This had put Nick on edge. They had stayed for a couple of hours though and both of them had been drunk by the time they left. There had been no real problems with the locals, but as they were leaving his drunk friend had decided to leap onto his back and grab him round the neck. His friend had only been playing about but Nick’s body had reacted on its own. He had instantly thrown his head back hard and crushed his friend’s nose, knocking him unconscious. The Police and an ambulance were called.
Nick spent the night in the police cells and his friend had spent the night in hospital. It was similar to driving a car. After a while all the moves become automatic. The body reacts without consulting the brain first. That’s why in training you carry out the moves over and over again. The response becomes automatic and very quick. Unfortunately this also meant that people around him stood a chance of getting hurt sometimes and on the flip side it meant his reactions might be dulled when people were around him. That was not a good thing right now.
He had regretted pushing Dan over the second he had done it. He meant what he had said though. He was better off on his own. After going out through the back of the services and into the woods though, he had decided to have a closer look at the girls. Just to make sure Dan was ok with them. That was when he had seen the second car pull up. Everything had happened too quickly then for him to do anything and there was too much of a risk at that point, so he had settled down to watch.
Chapter seven
Nick stood back up and sighed tiredly. He really wasn’t sure what to do now. He wasn’t even sure he should do anything. This sort of shit was happening everywhere and it really wasn’t his problem. Dan had asked him to help them but the boy didn’t understand the problems that it might cause if he did. Those two big fuckers looked mean and hard and there might be more of them on the way. They could even be part of the same gang as yesterday. Nick had long ago resigned himself to the fact that he would not die old and in bed. But he did try to avoid walking straight into these situations. Somewhere out there was a man who could take him. In fact, he told himself. Somewhere out there were thousands of men who could take him. He smiled to himself, so arrogant.
He took a look at Dan. He was still out for the count. ‘Well I’m not carrying you,’ he whispered to himself. He decided to wait for a bit. See what happens. Maybe they will all become friends and live happily ever after, he thought. He doubted that very much though so he settled himself down. ‘Might as well be comfortable,’ he told himself quietly.
A scream woke him. It took him a full second to remember where he was and that he had dozed off. He glanced at Dan and saw that the boy was still out. That worried him a bit, then another scream echoed across the car park. Nick stood up slowly and stretched his back. It seemed to be aching more lately. Must be all the stress, he thought. The sun had gone west quite a bit and Nick realised that he must have been asleep for at least an hour.
‘Twat,’ he said to himself. ‘I’m getting too old for this.’ He moved to the edge of the trees and looked across at the people. It took him a moment to work out that the two big blokes were fighting each other and that the three girls were huddled together. He stepped out of the trees and began to walk slowly over to them.
For a while things had calmed down. Jeff had drunk most of the eight bottles of lager and then he had fallen asleep in the sun. Bill had drunk only a little and he had just sat there watching his brother. Beth could tell that he was on edge. The two girls had sat still as statues by their smashed up car and their faces showed the strain that they were both under. Beth worried that Kay would get sunburn. A couple of years ago, on a holiday in Spain she’d had an allergic reaction to sunburn and her face had swollen up. She had needed anti histamine tablets to bring it down. Beth tried to remember if she had packed any. She looked at Bill again. He glanced back at her and smiled tensely, then he put his finger to his lips. Quiet, he motioned silently.
The sun had just begun to create long shadows across the car park when Jeff suddenly sat up.
‘Fuck it!’ Jeff shouted. ‘I’m bored. It’s dark enough!’ He stood up and shook himself like a big ugly dog. ‘Time to play lady.’ For a big man he moved extremely fast. He took a quick step towards Beth and before she could move he landed a hard kick on her outstretched leg. She couldn’t help it. She yelled. Jeff grabbed her around the neck, pulled her up and then off her feet. His strength was immense. He held her off the ground in front of him and laughed. ‘Not so cocky now are ya bitch?’
Beth couldn’t breathe. Her head was pounding and her lungs heaved as they tried to pull oxygen through her restricted throat. She had started to black out when another yell sounded out and Sammy threw herself against the huge man holding her mum. Beth was dropped to the floor in a heap of arms and legs as Jeff lashed out at Sammy. He then threw her from him. She flew backwards, hit the tarmac hard and then rolled to a stop.
Beth pulled in a couple of harsh breaths and then tried to stand but then Bill stepped in and landed a punch to the side of his brother’s head that would have knocked out a horse.
Jeff looked at his brother then he just shook his head and laughed. ‘Well, well little brother,’ he said smiling. ‘You want to play now to do you?’ He took a step back. ‘Well come on then! Let’s play. It’s a long time since I gave you a good kicking.’
Bill said nothing. He just lowered his head and run at his brother. As they both went down punching and kicking, Beth stood up straight. Her leg hurt where Jeff had kicked it and her throat felt bruised. She limped over to where Sammy lay. Kay was already with her and she had her sister’s head in her lap.
‘I think she’s alright mum. She spoke to me then she went to sleep,’ Kay told her.
Beth didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t move Sammy. God knows what injuries she had received, and where would they go? Then she saw a man in a green shirt and army trousers calmly step out from the woods and begin to walk over to them.
‘Hello,’ Nick said smiling, still feeling a bit muggy from his sleep. He quickly noticed that one of the girls was unconscious and the woman looked beaten up. The other girl with the brown hair looked to be ok. He glanced over at the two big men. They were still rolling around on the ground. Nick was happy about that. Maybe they’ll kill each other and do them all a favour.
‘Are you Nick?’ Beth asked, looking up at him.
‘Dan told you about me then did he?’
Beth nodded then turned a worried face back down towards Sammy.
‘Is she breathing?’ Nick asked.
‘Of course she’s breathing!’ Beth replied angrily.
‘Don’t move her then.’
Beth just raised her eyebrows.
‘I’ve been keeping her really still,’ Kay told him.
‘That’s a good girl,’ Nick said. ‘Well done.’ With that, he set off towards where the two men were rolling around. There were muffled grunts as blows landed between them, then one of them threw a massive punch into the side of the others head and he went limp. By the time Nick got over to them one of them was now sitting on
the other hammering punches into his face. The one underneath was not moving at all. The one on top was so engrossed in his punching that he failed to notice Nick until he was right there beside them. Jeff stopped and looked up at him. He was breathing heavily and his face showed his confusion.
‘Where the fuck did you come from?’ the big man asked.
‘Nice work,’ Nick replied pointing at the other man’s smashed up face.
Jeff looked down, glanced back at Nick and then looked down at his brother’s face again.
Nick smiled. ‘You didn’t mean to do all that, did you? I know the feeling. I’ve been there myself a few times. But I must say not quite as badly. Did you fall out over something?’
‘His name’s Bill,’ Jeff told him. ‘He had it coming.’
‘I’m sure he did. Is he breathing?’ Nick asked.
‘Huh?’ Jeff looked down again then brought his head down nearer to Bill’s face. ‘Yeah.’ He sat back up. ‘Who the fuck, are you?
‘I’m Nick. Pleased to meet you,’ Nick said. ‘What are your plans now then?’ Nick stepped back a couple of paces.
‘What the fuck are you talking about?’
‘Well,’ Nick said. ‘You have beaten up some children and a woman and now your friend. I just wondered what you planned on doing after you had beaten everyone up. Do you have any other friends near here?’
Jeff slowly stood up and stepped over Bill.
‘He’s my brother.’
‘Ok so do you have any other brothers or friends near here?’ Nicked stepped back another pace and looked up at the man. He was big. He was very big. ‘Wow! You’re are a big one.’ Nick rolled his shoulders and tried to loosen his muscles up a bit. He tested his back. It felt ok but if he had to fight this bloke he couldn’t afford to let himself get caught by him. He was just too big and too dangerous.
New World: Nick Smith Book one (Nick Smith Series 1) Page 5
