“Yes,” he replies turning to look at her. “Do you need glasses? Can’t you see them. There’s one man, and five kids, three boys and two girls. Two are teenagers by the look of it.”
“You can see that?”
“Yes. You can’t?”
“No.”
“Guess we know which aisle to get to first once we get in then!”
“Which?
“The glasses—they’ve got them in there haven’t they—there’s one of them opticians and a pharmacy. Remember? Or have you got alzheimers too?”
“Yeah, of course I do. I mean of course not.”
“Hah! Old bird!” he responds.
“Hey!” she retorts and digs her elbow into his ribs.
“Ouch! Abuse. That’s what it is. Abuse!”
“Shh! Kyle, for crying out loud—let me see.”
“No, let me see. I’m not the one who’s blind.”
“Hah! OK,” she continues staring down at the carpark again. “I can see figures moving. Who is it?”
“How do I know? But they’re not welcome that’s for sure. Look at the back of the building—the right-hand corner. Can you see what’s there?”
“Something’s moving.”
“Yeah. And that something is Saskia.” Kyle remains silent as he watches then draws in his breath. “Those people are in trouble!”
Chapter Twelve
“No!” Cassie screams as she runs out of the supermarket’s open doors. Ahead of her, Saskia stands, legs apart, firm in her stance, crossbow raised and bolt ready to fire. She doesn’t flinch at Cassie’s scream. Instead, she stands firm and pulls the bow’s sights closer to her. Cassie lurches forward. A hand grabs the cloth of her shirt and she’s pulled back across the threshold. She watches in horror as Saskia’s arm jerks back as she releases the bolt. “No!” she screams again as Harry, Dan and the others dart among the cars. She whirls round, twisting against the hand holding her shirt and the cloth twists out of Murray’s hand. As she twirls, she raises her leg high. The thick sole of her walking boot smashes against his cheek and he falls to the floor, a flash of red streaked across his skin. He grunts as he falls and Cassie darts back over the threshold as his head smashes to the tiles, her eyes locked to Saskia’s back.
The woman reaches down to the tarmac and picks up another length of steel. Cassie clenches her jaw and pushes hard into the ground, powering forward as Saskia hooks the bolt into the crossbow’s mechanism and pulls it back to fire again at the screaming children. She wants to scream again but instead uses the rage to power her and charges towards the small, lethal blonde. Dan slams the door of the car shut and the engine growls into life. Saskia, bolt in place, raises the crossbow’s sight to her eyes for a second time. She won’t let her fire at them again. With a final push, Cassie launches herself at Saskia’s back. She pushes off from the tarmac. There’s too much distance between them! She reaches further, her fingers claws, and her muscles rip as she thrusts her arms to their full extent. Saskia raises the bow, her finger tightens on the trigger, and Cassie’s fingers plunge into the blonde’s curling hair, her acrylic talons stabbing into the woman’s scalp.
“Aagh!” Saskia screams as she’s toppled to the floor, head yanked back hard.
Cassie pulls at the hair, clenches her fist around as much as she can, and jerks her arm back into her body, pulling Saskia, hair first, to her chest. The crossbow scrapes across the tarmac, bolt firmly in place, poised and lethal. Saskia totters back on her heels, her face upturned, her mouth open, her screams of rage and pain fill the air.
“That’ll teach you to shoot at my kids, bitch!” Cassie seethes, a haze of red smeared across her eyes. She yanks again at Saskia’s golden curls, digging the sharp points of her broken acrylics deeper into her scalp. The woman screams again in anger and screws her face, her eyes slits as she looks up to Cassie behind her. Her arm lifts and she brings the crossbow to point at Cassie. In the next second a cruel smile slides onto her lips and through her pain she pulls the trigger. Cassie hears the click and frowns in confusion as the woman smiles at her. Time seems to stop as her body is propelled back and she’s forced to the tarmac. Quiet surrounds her, envelops her and then the pain overwhelms her. The steel bolt has sliced into her shoulder and sits skewed across her body. The end she can see beneath her chin, the tip disappears into her shoulder. She lies in Saskia’s shadow, unable to move. The pain is overwhelming. A black and pointed, stilettoed boot kicks into her thigh.
“Hah!” the woman spits, scowling down at Cassie, blood trickling down her forehead. “That will teach you to pull my hair!” She kicks at her again, the pointed shoes hammering into Cassie’s soft flesh. “Now to finish off the rest,” she says then turns back to the carpark.
“Murray!” she screeches as she walks back towards the pile of bolts. “Murray! Finish that one off.”
Cassie watches as Saskia bends down and picks up another bolt. An engine revs loud in the distance. She rolls, winces as the point of the bolt scrapes across the tarmac, then turns to the other side and pushes herself to her knees. Ignoring the pain, she staggers towards Saskia just as Murray steps out in front of her. She staggers back as his hands grab at her, bracing herself for the pinch of his steel grip. She raises her arm to block his grasping hand as a figure moves behind the snarling man.
“Rick!” she rasps as Murray lunges forward. He frowns at her words and follows her gaze. “Rick,” she whispers as the soldier swings a heavy branch through the air and swipes it across Saskia’s head. The crossbow, ready and poised to make its lethal journey, clatters to the floor, skating across the tarmac as she is knocked sideways. Her arms outstretched, she falls, her side hitting the tarmac, her body bounces with the impact. Cassie catches her breath as Murray’s grip tightens on her arm then loosens as he releases her and runs to Saskia.
“Rick,” she whispers again as her legs tremble and she sinks to her knees and slides into blackness.
Chapter Thirteen
Did you see that bolt slice into that car?” Kyle whispers with admiration.
“Yeah, she’s a queen bitch!” Finn replies.
“I’ve got to get me one of them.”
“Hah! Think you can take her on?”
“Sure. But seriously, Finn. We need to get some of our own weapons. Murray and his crew are turning real nasty.”
“Lethal,” Finn agrees as she watches the petite woman push up from the tarmac and wobble to her heels, dishevelled blonde hair bobbing against her shoulders. She teeters then runs across the carpark and through the open glass doors of the foyer. Without lights on in the supermarket, it’s difficult to see inside, but there’s enough light left to see her walk past the tills until she stops to talk to a man much taller than herself. Finn frowns. Sergei! She hadn’t noticed his return.
“She’s tiny!” Finn exclaims as she watches the woman gesticulate at the man. He nods then disappears deeper into the shop.
“But powerful!” Kyle retorts. “Did you see the way she just walked towards those people and fired. She was fearless and then when she shot that bolt through the other woman’s shoulder …”
“Hah! Easy to be fearless when you’ve got the weapon. Those people were harmless, or at least not armed—just a man with some kids—that’s not being fearless. She got what she deserved though—just wished she hadn’t got back up. I thought that other woman would scalp her the way she was pulling at her hair.”
“True,” Kyle agrees, “but she is feisty. She is definitely feisty.”
“Ugh! They’re both feisty, Kyle.”
“Do you think that other one will die—that bolt is stuck straight through her shoulder.”
“I dunno. Perhaps we should go down to help?”
“Didn’t you see? Sergei’s back.”
“Oh!”
“Exactly!
“But I thought we were going in?”
“You still want to after what we’ve just seen?”
“Yep. You?”
&nbs
p; “Yep. Even more now.”
“Hah! I think you’re feistier,” he smiles down at her.
Crack!
Kyle’s eyes widen and their eyes lock in recognition and both fall silent.
“Did you hear that?”
“Yes. Listen.”
Finn peers back into the woods that surround them, searching out the source of the noise.
Crack!
“It came from over there,” she says pointing to the thicker part of the woodlands. “Could just be a deer,” Kyle suggests. “Or a dog?”
Finn’s belly clenches. The dogs! She hasn’t thought about the dogs for a while. She steps closer to the tree. She’s not afraid of them, or she wasn’t, but she’s seen the packs that have started to form at the other end of town. Pulling her jacket closer around, she takes a step closer to Kyle, appreciating his strength, even if it is in the form of an overgrown nearly-man.
Crack!
A flicker in the trees catches her eye.
“Over there! Kyle, there’s something in the trees over there,” she repeats, pointing to the empty space between the trees.
He grabs her arm, pulls her closer to him and they step back behind the tree, peering into the forest from the safety of a thick trunk. A figure, camouflaged in dark trousers and jacket steps out from behind a cluster of shrubs further in the forest.
“It’s a girl!” Kyle exclaims. The figure stops and looks about, startled. She must have heard him.
“Hey!” Finn calls. The girl follows the sound of her voice and stares in her direction. Finn steps out from the cover of the trunk and stands still not wanting to scare the girl. She looks frightened. “Hi,” she continues as the girl takes a step back. “It’s ok. I don’t want to hurt you,” she offers, her arms held out, palms flat. The girl seems to relax a little. “I’m Finn and this is Kyle,” she says gesturing to the boy next to her. “What’s your name?”
“Lina,” she returns hesitant.
“Are you from the town?”
“No, we just got here. I’m from Brantlingham, near Delby.”
“That’s further south, isn’t it? Did you come with the couple with all those kids?”
“She’s the girl—the one who went off into the woods on her own,” Kyle explains.
A scream cuts through the air and Finn turns back to the scene in the car park. Her eyes dart from the young boy standing at the top of the carpark waving his arms and shouting, to the huge figure of Sergei as he stands at the threshold of the supermarket. The petite frame of Saskia stands behind him, leaning against Murray. In his hands, he holds the crossbow and he’s aiming it at the soldier as he carries the woman with the bolt through her shoulder.
“He’s going to shoot them!” Finn exclaims.
The boy screams again. She can’t make out the words.
“What!” Lina shouts as she pushes next to Finn.
The soldier twists his head back to look towards the supermarket just as Sergei lifts the crossbow.
“Rick!” Lina screams.
“Shh! He’ll see us,” Finn reprimands, holding her arm against the girl as she pushes forward.
Sergei turns to stare into the trees, seems to stare straight at them.
“Rick!” Lina screams again forcing past Finn’s arm and stepping out onto the sloping grass.
“Get back!” Finn shouts as Sergei raises his bow again. This time it’s trained straight at Lina.
“Lina!” Kyle shouts as he too pushes past Finn. “Get back! He’s going to shoot you!” he warns, reaching out for the girl. Finn watches in horror as Sergei takes aim and Kyle steps closer to Lina, his hand stretched out to the girl, fingers grasping. Sergei’s shoulder jerks. Kyle grabs the back of the girl’s jacket. She stumbles backwards, arms flailing as Kyle pulls her sideways and down to the dirt of the forest floor. The bolt slams into the tree next to Finn’s head. She gasps then falls to the floor, grabbing at the cloth of Kyle’s jeans and tugs hard before crawling back further into the forest.
“This way!” she calls. “Get deeper to the woods—behind a tree.”
“What about Rick and Cassie?” Lina asks as she runs, crouched, to join Finn.
“They’ll have to take care of themselves,” Finn replies. “We haven’t got a chance against Sergei with that crossbow.”
“Neither have they!” Lina sobs.
Chapter Fourteen
Rick squats low behind the car, leaning against the blue metal of its doors. He looks down to Cassie’s pale face, the blood spreading across her shirt, the bolt secure through her shoulder. At least it’s not too long. Catching his breath, he looks up to the trees and frowns. Lina has disappeared and so has the other kid. He couldn’t be sure but the boy, if it was a boy, didn’t look like Zak. He takes a deep breath and sits quiet, listening. A car’s engine thrums in the distance. That must be Dan. If he has the car ready and waiting they’ve got a chance of getting away from these animals, but first he’s got to get across the car park.
A shrill voice sounds out seeming to fill the air.
“They’re behind the car, Sergei.”
The small, vicious blonde. She’s relentless, he’ll give her that.
“Kill them!”
And lethal! He knows she won’t stop until they’re dead. He pushes up enough to see through the windows of the car, glad that the body in the driver’s seat doesn’t obscure his view. The huge blonde man stands about five car lengths away, looking out over the car to the woods where Lina had stood shouting. He turns his gaze to the driver’s seat. The body is slumped forward, its greening, rigid fingers locked around the steering wheel, the keys in place. He checks the lip of the car door—unlocked. Satisfaction waves over him as a plan begins to form. He looks again at Sergei. The man’s attention remains directed towards the trees, but this time he’s looking out towards Dan and the kids. He frowns. The children! Where are they? He can hear the engine running, see Dan behind the wheel, but the car is empty otherwise.
The man’s voice breaks into his consciousness and his gaze flits back to the broad-shouldered man, crossbow held firm in his hands.
Cassie murmurs. Looking down, he sees her eyes flicker.
“Cassie,” he whispers. She murmurs again and her eyelids part then close. “Cassie! Wake up.” If he can only get her conscious enough to move they’ve got a chance.
“Behind the car, Sergei!” the woman’s shrill voice sounds again.
“Yes, Saskia. I know!” is the man’s irritated response. “I’m dealing with it,” he shouts back to her.
“Cassie! Wake up,” he tries again, and again she murmurs. He’s going to have to take action. “Sorry,” he says gently then slaps her hard across the cheek. Her eyes flash open and stare up into his face. “Cassie. I’m sorry, but you’ve got to stay awake. He’ll kill us both if you don’t”
She groans and forces her eyes wider.
“Rick. The pain … I can’t move.”
“You can! You have to,” he says in earnest as he stares down into her face. Looking up, Sergei is staring back at the car. “Listen! He’s coming and he won’t give up until we’re dead. I’m going to open the back door. You’ve got to help me get you in,” he says and looks down at her again. Her eyes are flickering once more, the lids shutting down. He slaps her hard, the sound ricocheting against the metal of the car’s door. “Wake up!” he repeats, a hard edge creeping into his voice as he reaches for the door’s handle. He grasps the warm metal and pulls. It gives, and the door opens an inch. Laying Cassie on the floor, he pulls it wide. A dull bang sounds in the distance and the car revs its engine. What the hell is Dan doing? He should just leave—take the kids and get out of here. The dull bang sounds again as he pulls the door further open and Sergei’s blonde head disappears above his line of sight as he draws closer to the car.
A dull thwack sounds again and a voice shouts from the trees.
“I’m here! I’m here! Come get me!”
Lina! He twists his head to look. At the
tree-line Lina stands, a long, thick branch held between her hands. She pulls her arms back.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Beating the tree, she screams again at Saskia. “Come get me you bitch! Get me or I’ll come take all your food. You hear? I want all your food!”
“Sergei! Get her,” Saskia screeches from behind him, suddenly animated by Lina’s shouts of defiance.
Sergei looks from Rick to the trees then to the supermarket’s exit as a car begins to move.
Thank you, Lina! Thank you!
Rick opens the car door as wide as he can and pulls at Cassie’s prone body. “Wake up Cassie,” he says roughly. “You’ve got to help me!” She groans again and her eyes flicker open and with her good arm she shuffles her body up and towards the lip of the car’s open doorway. Squatting in front of her, careful not to press near her injured shoulder, Rick pushes.
“Aagh!” she screams as Lina shouts again from the tree line and whacks at the trunks with tremendous force.
Dan’s engine revs again.
As Cassie pulls herself across the car’s back seat, Rick closes the door and stands, and stares straight into Sergei’s eyes as he walks steadily towards them, Lina’s distractions no longer of interest. His face is grim, set solid with an angry scowl creasing his brows, his pale skin flushed with anger. The car picks up speed. Dan!
As Sergei’s unremitting advance, Rick pulls open the driver’s door. The weeks-old body sits rigid, hugging the wheel. He yanks at its sleeve. The body falls against him and a fetid stench fills his nostrils. He gags then pulls again. It falls, frozen in a sitting position, and hangs out of the car, its frigid, plague-blackened fingers clamped to the wheel. Sergei reaches the car as Rick yanks again at the body’s hands.
“Sergei!” Saskia screams as the wheels of Dan’s car screech across the carpark.
The man’s hands loosen and the body falls out of the door as Dan screeches past. Sergei jumps, powering himself onto the roof as Rick pulls the body clear and dives into its place. As Sergei rolls over the roof, Rick slams the door shut. From the corner of his eye Rick sees Dan’s car swing round and head straight for Saskia. To his right, Sergei stands massive and reaches for the car door. Please, please start! Rick turns the key. The engine revs into life. Sergei yanks the door open as Rick slams the car into first gear. A huge hand wraps itself around Rick’s bicep. Pressing his foot hard onto the accelerator, the car lurches forward and he’s almost pulled out of the car as Sergei keeps a tight hold of Rick’s arm. Gripping the steering wheel with all his strength, Sergei’s steel fingers dig into his flesh. Rick slams the car straight into second and it powers forward again. Sergei loses his balance with his hand still clamped on Rick’s arm, pulling him beyond the car’s doorway. Gritting his teeth, Rick leans hard into the car. His stomach muscles knot and every muscle of his body aches with the strain as the car picks up speed. Ahead a thick, steel street light looms. He swerves. Cassie groans.
The Savage Road: A post-apocalyptic survival series (A World Torn Down Book 2) Page 6
