SAFE HAVEN: REALM OF THE RAIDERS

by Christopher Artinian

  “That was... impressive, Emma. You and Mike are like peas from a pod.”

  The bravado of the moment made her smile. “Yeah, I taught him everything he knows.” She walked away, still smiling to herself, as Raj wondered whether it was true.

  She flopped down on her knees and extended her arms. Sammy and Jake ran into them, still sobbing. Emma held them tightly, kissed them roughly on the cheeks and stood up. “C’mon, we need to move.” The pair hoisted Mike back up, looping his arms around them.

  “Your brother is very heavy,” said Raj as he struggled to get into a comfortable carrying position.

  “You should tell him when he wakes up. I’m sure he’ll welcome any criticism.”

  “I mean, obviously it’s his muscle, I doubt if he has a gram of body fat on him, but it makes it no easier to carry him.” The two got into their stride, dragging Mike between them, his boot caps scuffing the floor as they went. “Your brother is going to be very angry when he wakes.”

  “Oh, Raj, that’s like saying the centre of the sun is quite warm. He’s going to make the vengeful God they describe in Leviticus look like a sweet little schoolgirl. I’m starting to get an ulcer just thinking about it.”

  *

  “I still think we should have killed him,” said Thomson as he steered the ambulance around another sharp bend in the road. He checked the rear-view mirror. More than a dozen vehicles were following, among them a coach full of villagers, four vans full of supplies and two military Land Rovers. At the front and rear of the convoy were the sandy-coloured Jackal 2 armoured cars.

  “I’ve told you,” replied Shaw firmly, “Mike wasn’t an enemy, there was no justification or need to kill him.”

  “Ha!” laughed Lucy from behind the passenger seat. Her hands and feet were bound and she had been wedged in between the gurney and the seat for the duration of the journey. “You honestly think he’ll just walk away?”

  “See, I fucking knew it,” said Thomson angrily, “I told you, we should have taken him out when we had the chance.”

  “Both of you shut the hell up now! Firstly, Mike doesn’t have a clue where we’re going. He knows it’s somewhere near Morecambe, but what’s he going to do, trundle around the countryside with his little sister and little brother? Do you think he’d risk their safety for a woman he’s only known for a few days? No offence, Doctor, but I doubt if you’re that good a lay. Secondly, if by some absolute fucking miracle he finds us, he’s only one man. We’re eleven trained and heavily armed soldiers, plus we’ve got some reservists and we’ll have the home ground advantage. It’s mad to think that he’d be a threat.” Shaw paused as he justified his reasons in his own head before continuing. “No, we did the right thing. We gave him a fighting chance to get up to Scotland with his family, and good luck to him. Good luck to all of them.”

  “I still say we missed a trick,” said Thomson under his breath.

  “And what about the villagers? What about Hughes? How do you think they’re going to react when they find out what’s happened, when they find out what you did to Mike, to me?” asked Lucy angrily.

  “The villagers will be grateful that they’re somewhere safe and they’ll be even more grateful that there is a qualified doctor. I’ll explain to them that you were conscripted before everything went south and just because you decided all bets were off, doesn’t mean that’s the case. Effectively, you’re an army doctor who’ll be working at an army base. Just because you want to run off into the sunset with Romeo doesn’t mean it’s going to happen,” said Shaw calmly.

  “I underestimated you, Shaw. I thought you were a decent guy who’d just got caught in a tight spot, but there’s a bit of a sociopath lurking under your skin. You’ve reasoned all this out, and it all seems acceptable to you, doesn’t it?” Lucy’s eyes, puffed from all her crying, now narrowed with hate. “So, what happens when the supplies run out, Shaw? Maybe you raid the odd village or farmhouse looking for food? And what happens when your boys get horny? Maybe you kidnap a few girls here and there, set up a little harem?”

  “We are not like them!” he spat angrily, causing Thomson to look across in surprise.

  “You keep telling yourself that, Shaw. You tell yourself that in six months’ time when you’re hunting for supplies and you’ve got a small village surrounded. You tell yourself that when you half kill someone who saved your life and then kidnap his girl. Oh, wait. That sounds familiar.” Lucy spewed venom with each word.

  “That’s enough!” Shaw bellowed. He unfastened his seat belt and stumbled into the back of the moving ambulance. He reached for the duct tape from one of the shelves, tore off a piece and stuck it tightly over Lucy’s mouth. “That’s enough!” he said, more calmly this time. He looked at Hughes, who was still unconscious on the gurney, and realised he hadn’t addressed the second part of her question. “Hughes is a soldier. He knows tough decisions have to be made for a greater good, and this is a greater good.” He climbed back into the front seat, fuming that she had made him lose his temper.

  “You okay?” Thomson asked, giving Shaw a suspicious look.

  “Just drive, Tommo.”

  *

  “You were right, Fry, this place is a fucking goldmine,” sniggered Lorelei as she walked into the dining room of the hotel. “I mean, look at it. We’re never going to have to buy another dining table or chair for as long as we live, and let’s not forget the curtains, look at the velvet curtains. Oh man, you outdid yourself this time, Fry.” She snorted a false high-pitched laugh as she stood with her hands on her hips surveying her surroundings.

  Fry’s blood began to bubble in his veins. “We need to send scouts out now. They can’t have got far, we’ll track them down.”

  “Forget it, Fry,” said The Don.

  “Look, I’m telling you, this haul is worth it,” he replied desperately.

  “Fry, forget it.” The Don always wore some form of military garb when he went into battle. Today he wore combat pants like all his men and an army-issue jumper. They had raided several barracks in the past few weeks and had liberated tons of supplies from various quartermasters’ stores. Although they had more than enough combat trousers for everyone, tops were a different matter. The Don insisted that if his troops couldn’t have official army issue tops then they would wear plain dark colours. It was essential some order was maintained in his army. The Don, however, always had official army-issue clothes. He was the leader, the commander-in-chief, and it was vital he wore the proper uniform. He marched up and down the room with his hands behind his back. “Come on, Fry, let’s have a drive around.” Lorelei started following them out, but The Don sharply turned his head. “You stay here.” She stopped in her tracks, a little taken aback, but did as she was told.

  The pair climbed into Fry’s Range Rover. “I’m telling you, we should send scouts out,” said Fry again as soon as the doors closed. He started the engine and slowly pulled away.

  The Don took off his beret and patted his hair back into place. His tired face betrayed the years of excess he had indulged in. He put his head back, removed a small plastic bottle from his top pocket, and placed drops in each eye.

  “Kenny, are you listening to me?” asked Fry, frustrated that he was not getting an answer.

  “Fry, in business you’ve got to know when to cut your losses. We can always get more supplies, but this place... This place seems like all you said and more. To be honest, I’m amazed you got as far as you did. I think you and your men worked a miracle getting to the hotel. Can you imagine what we can do here, Fry? We can make this place impregnable. This is going to be our first outpost. I’m happy, Fry, very happy. You’ve done well to find this place. This isn’t a defeat, this is a big victory.” The Don pulled out two cigars from his pocket along with a silver cigar cutter. He clipped the ends and handed one of them to Fry before placing one in his own mouth. He took out a gold pocket lighter and lit them up. Both men took deep satisfying pulls on the cigars, filling the car with thick b
lue smoke.

  “So do you want me to handle this place?” asked Fry.

  “No, I’m going to give it to Potts.” Fry began to cough, the acrid smoke almost choking him.

  He looked across at The Don, furious. “Kenny, you can’t do that to me.”

  “Fry, you and I go way back. You’re the oldest friend I’ve got. You’ve got to have a little faith in me,” he said, taking another puff on his cigar. Fry wanted to kill him there and then, just reach over and strangle the life out of his fat neck.

  “I deserve an explanation. Potts is a fucking minion. You gave him some men just because Lorelei had the hots for him, but he’s not a leader. He doesn’t have what it takes.” Fry was almost pleading for The Don to see sense.

  “I’m going to send Potts down here under the watchful eye of my daughter. I love Lorelei with all my heart, Fry, but she’s an infuriating, cantankerous bitch, just like her mother. If I don’t get her out from under my feet I’m going to end up fucking murdering her in her sleep.” The Don looked across at Fry and they both laughed loudly until they began to cough. “Potts is a fucking prick, but I know Lorelei will keep him in his place and I know she would never betray my interests. As far as you’re concerned, Fry, I want you and TJ to head north of the border. There’s a town north of Perth that’s being run by one of my old subordinates. He’s got nearly eight hundred men. Word got through to him that I was still in business and he wants to join us. I’ve told him that I’d want you to take over operations up there, and he could come down to Sodburgh and live the good life. His bags are already packed.” The Don took another calming drag on his cigar.

  “But how do we get there? Edinburgh’s meant to be swarming with RAMs.”

  “You sail across from North Berwick to Anstruther. Then you drive up. They’ve got men waiting on the other side for you. This is going to be a big operation, Fry. A big operation. I want you to take another five hundred men up with you. When you’re there, I want you to build a new army. By the time we’re done, we’re going to own everything north of Yorkshire and then we’ll take the south. You and me, Fry, we’re going to get the country back on its feet, and then we’re going to fucking own it.” The Don grinned widely, holding the fat cigar between his teeth.

  *

  Emma and Raj were both breathing erratically when the transit van and Volvo XC90 finally came into sight. As promised, they were parked parallel to the road where there was a downed tree and an abandoned Nissan Micra. They opened the rear door of the Volvo and lowered Mike down. There was a carton of bottled water in the passenger side footwell. Emma broke through the thick cellophane and handed the bottles out.

  “So what now?” asked Talikha as she took a grateful drink.

  “My plan didn’t really extend beyond this point,” said Emma. “I was hoping Mike would be conscious by now.”

  “We cannot wait out in the open indefinitely. It is far too dangerous,” said Raj.

  “Thanks, Raj, I wouldn’t have been able to figure that out for myself,” replied Emma.

  “Let us see if there is any food, children,” Talikha said as she ushered Sammy and Jake into the transit van.

  “Emma, I do not wish to be insensitive, but I think we need to proceed as if Mike is not here,” advised Raj in a soft voice so that the children could not hear. “I am not a doctor, Emma. Mike is unconscious, yes, but I have no idea when he will come round or if more damage has been done. Your siblings are depending on you, Emma. I believe that given Mike’s incapacitated state you need to take command. You have to lead us to Scotland.”

  Emma leaned back on the Volvo and looked towards Jake and Sammy climbing into the transit, then into the car at her brother. She took a drink of water and climbed into the back seat with him. She poured the cold water over his face, then slapped him repeatedly, shouting “Mike, Mike, Mike, wake up, wake up.” Raj took hold of her shoulders and tried to remove her from the car, but she took tight hold of Mike’s T-shirt and shook him violently. “Mike, wake up!” she screamed again as Raj finally managed to drag her back out.

  Jake began to cry as he saw Emma becoming hysterical. “Emma, that is enough. Your sister and brother are looking to you for support. It is not appropriate to behave like a banshee.” He gripped her firmly, his eyes angry.

  “Em?” said a weak voice.

  Emma whizzed around and climbed back into the car. She gently put her hand on her brother’s cheek. “I’m here, Mike, I’m here.”

  Mike opened and closed his eyes several times. He looked confused once he realised he was lying down in the back seat of a car. “Raj, pass me some water,” said Emma. She reached for the bottle and angled Mike’s head forward for a drink. “No gulping, just small sips.”

  Mike took a drink and then began to sit up. “Take it easy, Mike, you sustained a bad knock on your head,” said Raj, leaning into the car.

  Mike looked around, saw the van in front, saw that they were parked parallel to the Nissan Micra with which he had made his escape from Skelton, saw that there was no-one else around. “Okay. Why are we here and what the hell is happening?” he demanded, taking the bottle from Emma and this time gulping its contents.

  “Okay, Mike, you need to listen carefully to me. Sammy and Jake were petrified that you weren’t going to wake up. You need to see them, reassure them that you’re okay, and then I’ll tell you everything.” Emma looked at Mike reproachfully and he nodded, reaching round to the back of his head to figure out what was hurting so much.

  Emma beckoned Sammy and Jake and spoke quietly to them before allowing them to see Mike. Sammy kissed Mike and hugged him tightly. Jake did the same and then Talikha guided them back to the transit van to look for lunch.

  “Now, will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” Mike asked in a low but commanding voice.

  “The soldiers have taken Lucy,” blurted Emma.

  Mike squeezed his eyes together and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had once been knocked unconscious on the rugby field and he remembered a similar dislocation from the conversations that had gone on around him then. He pressed his fingers tightly against the side of his head then opened his eyes as if waking from a deep sleep. “What do you mean, the soldiers have taken Lucy?”

  “They’ve taken her, Mike. They said a doctor was too valuable for them to lose. They knocked you unconscious, marched us at gunpoint into a small storeroom then locked us in. When they were just about to go out of range with the radios, they contacted us, told us where the key was, told us where the vehicles were, told us not to worry about Lucy, she would be looked after, and wished us luck. They’re gone Mike, Lucy’s gone.”

  Mike sat for a moment in disbelief. He took a few more drinks from the bottle but said nothing. Eventually he looked towards Raj. “Have we got any painkillers?” he asked quietly. Raj looked at Mike, then at Emma, and finally went to join his wife and the children in the back of the van to search for some. Mike didn’t say another word, just sat quietly sipping the water. When Raj returned with some ibuprofen and paracetamol, he took two of each, finished off the bottle of water and stepped out of the car.

  “We need to head to Skelton,” said Mike calmly.

  “Why, what’s in Skelton?” demanded Emma.

  Mike touched the side of his head. “Em, don’t ask me questions right now, just do as I say. Drive us to Skelton.”

  If Mike had blown up, booted the car, shouted orders and swore revenge, she would have been content, but this calm assertiveness was terrifying. This wasn’t Mike, this was far more disturbing. Maybe it was the bang on his head, maybe the outburst would come later, but it didn’t make sense. A betrayal of this scale should have made Mike explode.

  “Where’s my rucksack?” he asked quietly.

  “I think I saw it in the back of the van,” replied Raj.

  “Would you mind getting it for me?”

  “No. No, not at all.” Raj gave Emma another concerned glance as he went back to the van.

&nb
sp; Raj returned with the rucksack and Mike slung it over his shoulder. “Thanks, Raj. Listen, second thoughts, you know this area. Do you mind if I ride with you in the transit and Emma follows us with Talikha and my brother and sister?” Raj looked a little bewildered, but saw no reason why not.

  After a brief makeshift lunch, the two vehicles stuttered away, the transit’s back wheels spinning momentarily in the mud. Raj drove along the now familiar farmer’s track, casting the occasional glance towards his passenger. Mike checked the contents of his rucksack. Everything seemed to be in order. There was even an extra box of shells for his pump-action shotgun. Mike’s silence unnerved Raj. He hadn’t known his companion long, but he felt like he had a complete stranger sitting in his passenger seat.

  Talikha checked on the children in the back seat. They were preoccupied by their journey. “So Mike did not explode like you thought he would. This is a good thing, yes?”

  “No, Talikha, this is a very, very bad thing. I can handle Mike’s temper, but I can’t handle his silence. When he’s silent he goes to a dark, dark place, and right now, we’re all following him.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The convoy had run into no resistance on its trek north-west. There had been no large forces to intercept it, and any smaller ones would have run to the hills when they saw the armoured cars. Other than mowing down the odd group of RAMs as they sped through small villages, the journey had been uneventful. Now the vehicles had left the road and taken to the long dirt track leading to the site. The convoy had to slow down occasionally to drive through a flooded dip, but it was not long before the first Jackal had pulled up outside a high double gate. Signs were littered all over the gate and the surrounding fence.

  THIS SITE IS OWNED BY THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE.

  TRESPASSERS WILL BE ARRESTED.

  MINISTRY OF DEFENCE ARTILLERY TESTING RANGE.