by Vance Huxley
Two men came up out of cover with crossbows, and then a third, all looking back at Harold. The nearest, the flank guard only forty yards away,flew backwards into the rubble when Harold shot him. Another man staggered, dropping his crossbow as Patty clipped him withthe Winchester, which gave Harold all the time in the world to nail him. The third man sprawled forwards, towards Harold, as Emmy joined the party.
Two men further away sprang from the ruins, running as fast as they could, trying to dodge about while negotiating the rubble. Another stood, hesitated and went down on his face. Patty had switched back to the sniper rifle. One of the runners staggered and went to his knees as Emmy fired again.Emmy’s victim’s knees barely landed before Patty’s bullet knocked him right down. Harold settled his sights onto the last one and waited patiently as Emmy took another shot but missed him. Sure enough, he eventually ran straight for a few steps, long enough forHarold’s bullet to throw him forward onto his face. He tried to drag himself back to his feet but flipped over and sideways as both Patty and Emmy fired.
Harold put another clip in the rifle,waiting. Both Patty and Emmy started firing steadily, presumably at the men with crossbows among the saplings. There were noises from three places around him, men in pain, but nobodyobviously moving. A man with a crossbow burst through between two half-walls, running as if the Barbieswere on his heels. Harold took a moment to make sure of the shot.
The radio burst into life. “Harold? We’re on the way.”
“I’m okay Casper. I think they’re all hit unless there’s one hiding wherever the cars are. Don’t use firearmsunless you have to because I’m in the line of fire. ShootersTwo,Three,Four and Five keep off the radio but good work. If anything moves make sure it isn’t me.” Harold grinned, he’d almost used Patty’s name. “Shooter Three, hide theevidence. Patty, report in please.”
Two almost simultaneous shots sounded beforePatty answered. “One of the wounded moved so shooters two and three made sure.” Harold could hear the laughter in her voice, but that was a pitybecausenow he’d calmed down,Harold wanted survivors.
He called Casper. “Try for a live one Casper, but take no chances.”
“On it. We’re nearly there. Stretchers going for our people.” Caspergrunted in the middle of speaking and Harold could hear the lorry engine revving. The heavy vehicle would be a rough ride over rubble.
*
Harold carefully undid his jacket, hissing with pain when the point came clear with the cloth. The protection in his jacket, a layer of bits of flat metal fastened to a padded lining, had been enough to slow the bolt.He had no idea how big a hole the head had made, but it wasn’t fatal.Harold bit off a yelp as he slida dressing inside his shirt. He smoothed the tape into place, and found he could breathe without too much pain.
Noises nearby,from where the crossbowman had spotted him, prompted Harold to head that way.When he peered over the bricks,very cautiously, he found five cars but nobody standing. The crossbowman lay spread-eagled but moving feebly.With the amount of blood pulsing from the big exit wound just above his waist,the bloke wouldn’t last much longer. Harold quickly removed the pistol, knife and machete from the man’s belt, tossing them to one side. Another sound brought him up and round, rifle pointing at one of the cars.He approached cautiously then lowered the weapon.The woman in the car, almost naked, badly bruised and firmly tied up, stared back from above her gag. “It’s all right, you’re safe.” Her eyes didn’t believe him.
He checked over the lip of the hollow, but Casper’s people were in among the bodies so there’d be no surprises. Harold put down his rifle and pulled a knife, slicing quickly through the strips of material binding her arms. “Here, cut yourself free.” He left her to it, picking up his rifle to keep an eye on the places the other attackers had fallen.
“Bastard!” Harold turned. The fallen man wasn’t quite dead yet because he thrashed weakly and tried to scream, probably because of the woman stabbing Harold’s knife repeatedly into his groin. She had both hands fisted round the hilt, lifting them above her head for each blow, so his jeans weren’t stopping the blade.The woman noticed Harold watching butdrove the knife down twice more, into his throat. Her glare at Harold had a real challenge in it.
“Patty or Emmymight not have cut his throat after.” Harold saw the shock as that hit her. “Why don’t you calm downand introduce yourself. I’m Harold,also known as Soldier Boy.” He tried to make his smile reassuring, but must have failed. She dropped the knife and stood up, apprehension on her face.
“I’m not with them.”
Harold had another go at looking and sounding friendly.”I guessed that, but you’ll be safe now. Do you know who they were? Which gang?”
“No. He was going to kill you. With the big rifle. For coupons.” She pointedin the general direction of the sniper’s position.
“He’s dead. Any idea who sent them?”
She shook her head. “It was a big payday they said. Where’s Julie? They told her if she reached the walls she’d be safe.” She sobbed and kicked the body, then hopped a bit so the kick must have hurt her bare toes. “When she’d left he told me the others would stamp on her feet first, to slow her up, then shoot her anyway if she got that far.”
“Far as I know she’s okay. If she kept her head down she’s hiding somewhere out there, safe and sound.” Harold pointed at the body. “Put his boots on if you want to kick anything. What’s your name?”
“Amelia.” She knelt and pulled at the man’s boots.
“Where from?”
“The Geeks.”
“The Geeks set this up?” In that case Harold would declare open season on Geeks, and turn Patty and Emmy loose.
“No. We were taking the rubbish outside the wire, for burning, and our two guards were killed withcrossbows. We were grabbed and had to run for ages.” She shuddered at the memory and tugged her rags around to cover up a bit more. “They kept us going with knives until they got to the cars. We had to lie in the back on the floor while they drove away. Then last night they had some fun.”
Amelia put on the boots and stood to kick the body, several times. “That’s better. The fun was to make us keen so we’d run when told to.” Faint but bitter humour showed briefly. “They weren’t any worse than the usual bloody Geek fun, if the wrong ones picked us. It’s usually only one at a time, but sometimes a bunch of the sick bastards want to play pass the p…, parcel.”
She sighed, suddenly sitting down fast enough for it to be almost a collapse. “It’s over, isn’t it? If you’re Soldier Boy that must be Orchard Close. We made it.” She burst into tears as Casper came over the lip of the hollow.
Harold looked up at Casper and shrugged. “Not guilty. I think she’s happy. Did you find any survivors?”
“No. They’d all bled out by the time we got to them. Those big bullets really tear them up. Bloody hell, Harold, when did, er, Shooter Three learn to do that?”
“A natural, then quite a lot of careful practice wheneverwecould. Secret practice that should stay a secret.” Harold tried to be serious but couldn’t help the snigger.”You’ve seen Shooter Three with a crossbow.”
A big smile spread over Casper’s face. “Oh yes.” He looked at the body and the bloody groin and throat and glanced towards Harold with a silent question.
Harold shrugged and indicated the woman. “Payback.”
“Fair enough. He’s lucky he was dead then.”
“Not quite, but that did the job. This is Amelia. I’m heading home to get patched up, and to congratulate the Coven on the protection in this jacket.Can you get the rest to strip the bodies and throw them together?Either bury them in bricks so they aren’t an eyesore, or burn them, but get pictures first. This is an attempt to get me, personally, and I’d like to return the favour.” Harold suddenly felt very tired, exhausted, as the tension bled away.
Casper nodded towards Harold’s open jacket and bloody shirt. “Can you drive? We brought the pickup as well, it won’t knock you ab
out as much as the tank.”
“I can drive, thanks. It hit me at an angle.” Harold pointed at the discarded weapons. “That crossbow doesn’t have a crank, so the plates inside my jacket were enough to slow the bolt.” He hefted the rifle. “Come on Amelia. Let’s get you somewhere you can have a shower and put on some nice new clothes. We’ll have a party to welcome you later.”
Harold wasn’t sure why, but Amelia looked shocked and apprehensive at that. She turned as Casper threw his coat. “Here.”She pulledthe big coat round herselfand eyed up the corpse,but her payback had ruined his jeans and shirt. “Don’t poke about in the pockets.I keep all sorts in there and some is sharp.” Casper’s reassuring smile worked better than Harold’s.
Amelia gave him a cautious smile in return, hesitating by the knife she’d dropped so Harold pointed. “I’ll want that one back. Take his belt and keep his knife if you want to.” She nodded enthusiastically, buckling on the belt and checking the knife while Harold repossessed his and cleaned it. When he set off she limped alongside to the pickup, and climbed in without hesitation.
*
Amelia went into the girl club for a shower,new clothing and a gentle interrogation by the women. Within ten minutes Liz came to find Harold, waiting to have his wound looked at. “The only new clothes she’s seen for twoyears are the knitted jumpers. Those thin ones.” Harold frowned,he’d have expected the Geeks to make them wear something sexier. “The Geeks like their women wearing a thin stretchy jumper and nothing else. Those longer ones make a tight mini-dress when one of the captive women is washed down for some special fun,for a Geeky sex party.”
“Okay,enough. I get the picture and I actually offered her all those, without the Geeky parts. Please explain that a shower, new clothes and a party don’t mean the same here. The knitting machine is broken as far as the Geeks are concerned. Oh shit.” Harold looked for something to punch.
“What?”
Harold glared at Liz. “Under the treaty, I’m supposed to send them back to the Geeks.”
“No.” Liz crossed her arms with a truly stubborn look.”There’ll be a rebellion. The Demons would rather go and kill the Geeks,all of them.”
Harold turned as Tessa, Sharyn and Emmy arrived to check on the wounded. “So would I,but that breaks two other treaties so how do we make two women disappear? The bodies are a big hint about what happened, and our visitors will know.” He glanced down the street.”Are the visitors still safely locked up?”
“Yes, they never saw a thing. By now they’re probably having an orgy.” Emmy’s smile disappeared as she remembered the other spectators. “What about Caddi’s watchers?”
Liz produced a huge grin. “Doll went to have a word. Something about big mouths and deep graves.” She shrugged when Harold stared at her. “She meant offering them a deep grave as an option, not handing them a shovel. I think?”
Emmy ignored her, thinking hard. “That means nobody saw the lasses properly. We’ll need two refugees who aren’t those two.”
“What?” Harold looked around, baffled again.
“Two of those running from the Murphies will do. They were captured on the way here and used by the sniper to tempt us out so they could shoot at you.” Emmy smiled happily, but Harold couldn’t see why.
“But why would new refugees agree to say that? And keep it a secret?”
“Because they are either running from, or have been, in the same situation? Don’t worry Harold, we’ll find the right ones to supply names and a street they came from, a Murphy street. You won’t recognise Amelia or Julie again, unless they introduce themselves.” Emmy seemed confident so Harold let it go.
Patricia, the nurse, looked up from her current patient. “Unless you see Julie before Lenny gets the crossbow bolt out of her ass. She reckons it’s lucky the bolt hit a bit with some meat on. The medication she’s just had might be helping her mood.”
Emmy patted Harold on the back. “Get your sympathy bandage, then go and do Soldier things. We’ve got it covered. Just remember, you rescued two ex-Murphy girls.”
“Okay. Murphy girls. Go and do Soldier things.” Harold turned to Patricia to find out who else had been hurt. The answer killed any humour becausefour of the gardeners out in the fields had been hit by crossbow bolts. Worse, the sniper had shot another two gardeners, no doubt trying to force Patty into a mistake.He’d gone for making them scream rather than kills, but one at least would never walk properly again.Two crossbow victims would never heal, because they’d bled out before Lenny the medic got to them.
*
A quick inspection showed that Harold wouldn’t be one of the urgent cases, becausethe steel plates had slowed and deflected the bolt just enough.It had hit a rib, not hard enough to break through, but solidly enough to stop it glancing off and reaching his lung. Patriciabound the dressing properly and told him to come back later. Harold found Patty waiting outside the hospital, literally twitching with excitement. He pointed towards the gate. “Come on, let’s see what Doll has done to Caddi’s sentries. That way you can tell me about it on the way.”
Sure enough, as soon as they were clear of the gate Patty started.”That bloke shot right through my firing slit twice, and was too close most times!” She looked a bit wide-eyed. “Sorry it took four shots. The first bloke who stood up. I had to shoot quickly.”
“Good.I got too eager and made a mistake. If you’d waited he’d have taken time to aim properly,but you distracted him so the bolt hit meoff-centre. How did you know?” Because Patty hadn’t waited very long. Luckily.
“I didn’t but he stood up, shouting and pointing. I took a shot but too fast andI missed. I ducked, but the sniper didn’t reply soI used the Winchester to shoot as fast as possible. Then I heard that cannonof yours and figured you’d nailed the sniper, so I shot at the next one to stand up.” Patty shook her head. “It wasn’t real, not like a proper fight with machetes. More like targets that fell down.”
“Thank you for making them fall down. I’d give you full credit but I reckon you work better as a secret, Shooter Three. Nobody will think Shooter Three is the Demon, because she’s only little and knits. Even if she uses a big needle in her crossbow, she can’t possible handle a big butch rifle.” They both had a snigger about that.
Patty’s voice sobered. “Will Alfie be upset about you calling me Shooter Three?”
“No, because Alfie already knows three hundred yards is about his limit, which is why he doesn’t have one of the better rifles.” Harold would talk to Alfie, just to be sure it hadn’t ruffled any feathers.
Doll met Harold outside one of the damaged houses up by the traffic island, looking apprehensive. “You didn’t want radio messages.”
“Do I need a shovel or just new undies for them?”
Doll sighed in relief at Harold’s humour, then smiled. “Possibly underwear. Five of my squad are guarding their radios and explaining alternatives. Those do include deep graves and also accidental house collapses, or possibly tripping and skewering themselves on a variety of sharp stuff.”
The two Hot Rods looked relieved to see Harold. One started to look indignant, probably going to complain, but Patty caught his eye and tapped her crossbow. Harold nodded towards her. “The options are still open if you act up. We didn’t need you telling the world what we were doing, not until we’d sorted the problem.”
“Caddi will say this is the neutral road.” The man flinched from the look on Doll’s face, so she hadn’t been as diplomatic as Harold usually was. “Just sayin’, right?”
Harold smiled before answering, and knew how nasty it looked. He explained that radio messages weren’t neutral. Doll butted in to point out she could have shot them or buried the pair in a lonely grave, and blamed the attackers. Both of them became much more amenable, asking for details just so they didn’t get shit from Caddi, and seemed grateful when Patty inspected their weapons but gave them back. On the way back down the road, Patty and Doll reckoned the pair would tell Caddi about the
rifle, but not mention they’d been captured.
When the group reachedthe gates, still teasing Doll about her methods of getting boyfriends, the visitors were waiting with questions. One of the Barbies waved her radio so they’d been listening. “Shooter Four? Five?”
“Shooter Six maybe, now we’ve got another rifle? One free beer as compensation for missing the fun?” Harold waved a hand in the right direction. “We’re a bit busy clearing up right now, but you’ll get the gory details from someone later.”The visitors headed for canteen, happy with the freebie, while Harold went to check on the wounded again.
He met a surprisingly cheerful Julie, laid on her front until her crossbow bolt could be removed. She had her ankles on a pillow to take any pressure off her badly bruised feet and two broken toes.Two of the other wounded weren’t conscious.After one look at Lenny’s worried face, Harold left his own wound for later. A glimpse of Gayle the dentist in a medical mask meant someone needed serious anaesthetics. The conscious ones seemed cheerful if pale, so they’d probably had the same medication as Julie.
When Harold returned an hour later, Patricia cleaned his wound properly for Lenny to have a quick look. Patricia had learned a lot about battle injuries, but still preferred an expert opinion. According to the paramedic, Harold had ended up sliced rather than skewered. The gash would be sore, as would the bruised or cracked rib, but Harold would take that over a punctured lung any day. According to the medic, everyone still alive should make it. Patricia put on a fresh dressingand supplied details. In addition to the four gardeners and Julie,Amelia would be spending some time in the hospital. The nurse wanted to make sure the rough treatment hadn’t left any lasting damage.Going by the way she’d dealt with the wounded kidnapper, Harold thought Amelia would be fine.
*
The Hot Rod spies must have confessed, or Caddi had wondered why they’d not transmitted the action live. Either way the Hot Rod boss knew because just before dusk, Casper called Harold down to the gate to meet Charger. The Hot Rodseemedapprehensive, but came inside without asking for a hostage exchange or bringing in a bodyguard. Harold wondered if Caddi had sent Charger because he tended to get on better with the residents. The slightly older Hot Rods’ mechanic didn’t seem as violent as the rest, and had always treated women with more respect.
