by Casey, Ryan
He held out a hand, helping people out of this pit with a long rope. Emma stood there in the cool wind, Jade by her side. Jade still scratched her arms. Still looked nervous and uneasy about all this.
“Hey,” Emma said.
Jade glanced around at her. “Hmm?”
“We’re okay. We can trust this guy. He’s a friend.”
But Jade still didn’t seem sure. She seemed convinced that the gunfire had to be bad news.
Emma figured if she’d been stuck down here for God knows how long, wouldn’t she be constantly scared, too?
“I hope you’re right,” Jade said.
The rope cleared. Emma looked up it, as Trent stood there, people from the pit by his side now. Some of them had made a break for it already. Others still stood by.
Hannah grabbed the rope. “Don’t need telling to climb this thing twice. See you on the other side.”
She climbed up. Emma and Jade stayed down there, staring up as Hannah clambered over the edge of the pit.
And in no time at all, the rope was free.
“Come on,” Trent shouted as gunfire continued to rattle behind. “Don’t have all the time in the world here.”
Emma looked over at Jade. They were the last two in here. She put a hand on her back. “Jade.”
Jade’s eyes widened. She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Listen to me. If we don’t get away from here right now, we might never get another chance as good as this. Ever again. So you need to trust me. You need to climb that rope. You need to join the others up there. Okay? You need to trust me.”
Jade glanced up the rope. Gunfire continued to rattle in the distance. The screams grew louder. Emma didn’t want to imagine what was happening up there. She just hoped Renae was suffering, wherever she was.
“Go on,” she said. “You’ve got this.”
Jade turned to the rope. For a second, she looked like she was going to keep on resisting, keep on holding back.
But then she took it with her shaking hands.
She held on to it. Steadied herself. Then she looked back at Emma. “You’ll be okay. Won’t you?”
Emma nodded. “I’ll be right behind you. Promise.”
She watched Jade clamber up the rope. Watched her struggle, even with two hands. And as she stood there, she started to see where she was going to encounter problems. She only had one hand. How the hell was she going to climb that rope?
She waited ’til Jade reached the top, and then Trent looked over again.
“Come on, Emma. We don’t have much time.”
Emma took a deep breath. She grabbed the rope with her hand.
Then she put her stump against the other side.
She tried to climb her way up the rope. Tried to shuffle up it.
But she fell to the ground.
She wiped her red face. Everyone stared down at her. Looked at her with pity. Looked at her like she was weaker than them.
I have to do this. It has to be me. No frigging help. It has to be me!
She went to climb the rope again when she felt something.
The rope.
It was moving upwards.
Trent pulled it. And then she saw it wasn’t just Trent. The others dragged her up, too.
And she wanted to fight back.
She wanted to resist.
She didn’t want to be helped.
But then she held on to that rope as a tear rolled down her cheek, and she found herself with no choice.
She had to accept the help of others.
Because in some ways, she was weaker.
But that didn’t mean in every way.
She reached the top of the pit. Clambered onto the side. She wrapped her arms around Trent, so relieved to see this guy she barely even knew. Because he was one of their people. Another survivor.
She looked around at the people around her. Just five of them, now. Then she looked into the distance, over the shipping yard. She saw Jack, Pete, Hazel, and Candice standing there. Smiled.
Trent patted her back. “Now come on. We’ve got to get out of here. While we still can.”
They went to walk. Emma looked around at Jade. Seeing her up here, she looked so ill. So weak.
She held out her hand to Jade. Saw her staring at it. Uncertain.
“Come on,” she said. “It’s time to leave this place. It’s time to go.”
Jade reached out her hand.
And then she stopped.
She stood right there. Horror in her widening eyes. Tears drifting down her cheeks.
And then Emma saw it.
Blood.
Blood pooling from the front of her neck.
“Jade?”
Jade fell to the ground.
And then more of the people who had escaped the pit—the ones who had stuck around—began to fall too.
But it was Jade who Emma focused on.
Arrow in the back of her neck.
And in the distance, Renae.
Holding a crossbow.
Smiling.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jack watched Jefe emerge, knife to Susan’s neck.
The late afternoon sun cast a dim glow over the shipyard. Soon, it would be pitch black. And Jack felt like he was so close to getting away from this place. So close to escaping it. He might not have all his people, but he’d seen Trent and Emma in the distance. And he was with Hazel, Candice, and Pete. Villain was safe just outside this place, apparently. Jack and his people had to make a move out of here while they still had the chance—and trust the rest of his people to work their way out of here with the help of Trent, too.
But now Jefe stood opposite.
And he had Susan.
A smile stretched across Jefe’s face. The rest of his people—around seven of them—all stood there holding knives of their own.
Jefe held his hand over Susan’s mouth. Her eyes were wide and bruised underneath. Looked like she’d taken a few punches.
Her rifle was gone.
And she was bleeding from her belly.
Jack lifted the pistol he’d snatched from Pete. “We’re armed. We could gun you down at the click of a finger. Let her go right this second.”
But Jefe didn’t budge. He just kept his knife to Susan’s throat. Held his ground. Smiled. “I know you wouldn’t risk anything. Not while I’m holding on to one of your precious friends.”
Jack steadied his grip on the pistol, which he knew damn well was out of ammo. “Don’t try me. Seriously.”
He saw something then. Jefe’s smile faltered, just a little. There was a look in his eyes as he glanced around at the bodies on the ground. The bodies of his people. A look of sadness.
And when he looked back up at Jack, Jack thought he recognised that expression in his eyes. The look on his face.
That sense of loss.
He might be a lunatic. He might be a psycho.
But he was still human, just like Jack.
So Jack did something, then.
Something he didn’t even think he was capable of doing.
He lowered his pistol.
Jefe’s eyes narrowed. The people beside him all stood there, looking just as surprised.
“Hand her over, Jefe,” Jack said. “You’ve caused enough death here. There doesn’t need to be any more.”
Jefe’s jaw twitched. His eyes glistened with tears. It’s like he was coming to terms with the fact his world had already crumbled around him. And the only scrap of power he had left was the power to lash out. The power to hurt Jack and his people.
But he couldn’t lose anyone else.
“I think I’ll be the judge of whether there’s been enough death here or not,” Jefe said, his voice shaking. “She… she slaughtered my people.”
“Just like you’d have slaughtered our people,” Jack shouted.
Jefe shook his head. “You don’t have any idea what we had planned. There may have been sacrifices, sure. But the ultimate goal of this place was to
ensure humanity’s survival for years to come—”
“I don’t give a shit what your hopes or your agenda were. I don’t care how noble your motives might’ve been for this place. You captured people against their will. You killed God knows how many. It’s over, Jefe. It’s over. So hand Susan over and let us leave. Maybe… maybe you won’t even have to die.”
Jefe smirked. “So that’s what it’s come to, is it? A choice between life and death? I’m already dead, Jack. You’ve already taken everything from me.”
Susan struggled around in front of Jefe. And it left Jack with no choice. No choice but to lift his pistol again. No choice but to point it at Jefe, and hope he caved.
“Don’t do this.”
Jefe’s smile dropped. A total look of seriousness on his face now. Sincerity from him like Jack had never seen before. “You might have a gun. And who knows, you might actually hit me. But I’m going to give you something else, now. A chance to prove just how much of a leader you are. I’m going to give you a choice.”
Jack’s stomach sank. He’d been met with choices before. And they never ended well. “Don’t screw around. I’m giving you ten seconds to let her go, or it’s—”
“Join me,” Jefe said. “Sacrifice yourself, and I let her go. Or sacrifice one of your people. A trade. A clean swap. What’s it going to be?”
Jack’s eyes widened. He shook his head. Looked at Hazel, at Pete. Then back at Jefe. “That’s not how it works.”
Jefe suddenly pulled the knife closer to Susan’s throat. “Then she dies.”
“No,” Jack said, lifting the pistol. “Wait. Just… just wait.”
He stood there, hands sweating. Looked into Hazel’s eyes. Saw the way she looked back at him, shaking her head. And really, it felt like this was the climax everything had been building towards. It felt like the inevitable ending. The natural conclusion.
He went to take a deep breath, lower his rifle, turn around to Jefe, when he heard something.
“It should be me.”
He didn’t know who that voice came from. Not at first.
Not until he turned around and saw Pete step forward.
Hazel spun around. Fear filled her eyes. “Pete?”
Pete looked at Hazel with a smile on his face. With tears in his eyes. “I was the one who let you down. I was the one who betrayed you. All of you. Really, saving you all is the least I could do.”
Hazel threw herself as Pete. Wrapped her arms around him. “You’re not going. Pete, please. Don’t do this. Don’t do this.”
But Jack could see it, as he stood there, Pete staring at him.
His old best friend staring at him.
His decision was already made.
And there was no stopping him.
Jack tasted vomit as he eased Hazel away. He held her as she cried in his arms, as yet another person prepared to step out of her life, another loss for both of them, in one way or another.
And then Pete looked at Jack again, and he smiled.
“You’ll always be my best mate. No matter what happened.”
And before Jack could say a word, Pete turned around and walked over towards Jefe.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Pete walked over towards Jefe and wondered whether he was doing the right thing.
It was getting dark. The shipyard was so quiet now. The screams had died down. The gunfire had stopped.
The only sounds were his footsteps as he waded towards Jefe and Susan.
And Hazel, crying behind him.
He swallowed a lump in his throat. With every step he took, he wanted to turn around. To go back. To tell Jack he couldn’t do this. Because Susan was one of Jack’s people. Hazel was still his wife. They could still have a future together. They could still salvage something from the ashes.
But the more he walked, the more he realised that wasn’t true.
There was no reversing what had happened between him and Hazel. There was no changing how much they’d drifted. How much their directions had changed in this new world.
And there was no reverting what he’d done, either. The lie about being from the safe zone. A lie to prove his worth. A lie to maintain his own value in this world.
But a lie that had exposed the problems between them now, once and for all.
And as he got closer to Jefe and Susan, one thing stood above everything else.
This was the right thing to do.
There was only one person who could make this sacrifice—who was the right person to make this sacrifice—and that was him.
He reached Jefe, and he stopped.
Jefe stood there. Susan in his arms. Knife to her neck.
Smile on his face.
The seven other surviving people stood around him. All holding knives of their own. But all looking confused. Like they weren’t sure themselves what was going to happen next, or how things were going to progress from here.
“Well,” Jefe said, his smile widening. “Aren’t you a brave soul? Make a mockery of your self-appointed leader, that’s for sure.”
Pete kept his focus on Jefe as he stood there. His knife still hadn’t budged from Susan’s neck. “Just let her go. Let her go and honour your promise. Please.”
Jefe looked at Susan and sighed. “It’s good that you trust that I’m a man of my word. Word can be dangerous. It always has been dangerous. But these are days of honesty. I fully intend to honour my promise.”
He pushed Susan to the ground.
She fell, hands first. Blood trickled out of her belly, through her bandages. She was pale and clearly sick. Wasn’t well at all.
“Go,” Jefe said. “Go join your people. You are no use to us. Not now we have a volunteer. Not while you have someone to suffer for your sins.”
Pete watched Susan struggle to her feet. He saw her shake her head. “You shouldn’t have—”
“Thank you,” Pete said.
Susan frowned. “What for?”
Pete took a deep breath. Smiled. “For giving me a chance to prove myself. To all of you.”
She shook her head again. Looked for a minute like she was going to say something else.
But she just put a weak, shaky hand on his shoulder. Tightened it.
“You’re a good man, Pete. I’m sorry for this. I’m sorry for everything.”
Pete held his smile. “Don’t be sorry. Just go back to your people. Get yourself stitched up. And get yourself away from this hell and to that safe zone. That’s what matters now.”
Susan tightened her grip on his shoulder again. Then she let go. Walked past him.
She didn’t say another word.
And suddenly it was just Jefe and Pete, now.
Pete stood there. Heart racing. He stared Jefe in the eye.
Jefe looked back at him. Knife in hand. Smile on his face. His fallen people surrounding them both.
“Well,” Jefe said. “I’m a man of my word. Why don’t you get on your knees and prove you’re a man of yours?”
Pete looked around. He saw Susan by Jack’s side. He saw Hazel in Jack’s arms, crying. Reaching out a hand to Pete. Trying to get to him. He saw Candice, Wayne’s girlfriend, staring towards him like she was in a daze.
And as he stood there, tears rolling down his face, he felt a lump in his throat. Because he regretted the circumstances in which he’d got with Hazel. He hated that he’d fallen in love with the same person as his best friend. If he could go back in time, there was so much he would change.
But he never regretted the years he’d spent with her.
He never regretted a moment they’d lived together. Or been on holiday together. Or woken up on Christmas morning and opened presents together.
And he didn’t regret how close he’d got to Wayne, either.
He didn’t regret the times they went on the football.
He didn’t regret the trip to the Lakes they’d taken and gone kayaking across Windermere.
He didn’t regret standing by his side and teaching h
im how to have his first shave.
Or advising him on how to ask his first girlfriend out.
He regretted so much in life.
But Hazel and Wayne were not two of those regrets.
He cleared his throat. Tears blurred his vision.
And then he looked back, right into Hazel’s eyes.
“I love you,” he said. “Now go live your life.”
He turned away from her.
Faced up to Jefe.
Walked towards him and got on his knees.
“Do whatever you have to do. I hope it helps you sleep at night.”
Jefe tilted his head.
He looked at his knife.
Then he pulled it back and rammed it into Pete’s neck.
Pete felt the piercing pain split through his throat.
He felt the blood clogging up his mouth, blocking his breathing right away.
He looked up. Saw colours filling his eyes. He could hear things—crying, shouting. But none of that felt like it mattered.
All that mattered was that he was doing what he had to do.
He was making the sacrifice he needed to make.
For the people he loved.
And that included Jack.
He fell to the ground. Looked back at Hazel. Looked back at Jack.
He saw them standing there.
He saw them staring at him.
Together.
And all he could do was feel some happiness.
Because they’d found each other again.
All of them had found each other.
All of them could move forward now.
His vision blurred.
His body screamed out for oxygen.
The taste of metal filled his throat.
He coughed up his blood, and he let a smile cross his face.
“I love you,” he mumbled, with the last of the strength he had. “I love...”
His words drifted away.
His vision blurred.
Everything went black.
And all he felt was pride.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jade fell to the ground.
Emma lost sense of what time of day it was. She lost sense of everything—the people around her, the need to escape this place.
All that mattered was Jade.
