Despite the human barrier, she tried to continue walking, all the time repeating the same stark warning. “This is the end of everything. This is the end of everything. This is the end of everything.”
Mike took hold of her face. “Beth! Beth!” He grabbed her by the upper arms and began to shake her. “Beth! Beth!”
Finally, Beth did stop walking. She stopped whispering too, but Mike and Jules would have paid anything to hear whispering again as a deafening nasal scream erupted from within her, making the air raid siren from earlier on seem positively melodic.
“Great fuckin’ job, Mike. What bit of be careful was confusing?”
“Beth! Beth!” he shouted, desperately trying to shake her awake.
Then the screaming stopped as quickly as it had started. Beth just stood there with her arms by her side, looking.
“Thank Christ,” Jules said. “Beth. Beth, darlin’, we’re going to get you back home.”
Mike whipped off his jacket and placed it around Beth’s naked shoulders before putting an arm around her and guiding her back to the car. Jules opened the back door, and Mike carefully lifted Beth in, closing the door firmly behind her.
“We need to get her to Luce. You sit in the back, I’ll drive.”
Jules climbed into the back seat, and the tyres screeched as Mike did an abrupt three-point turn. “It’s okay. We don’t need to worry anymore,” Beth said after they’d been travelling for just under a minute.
“Worry? Worry about what?” Jules asked.
“I saw my mum and dad and Peter. They told me.”
A shiver ran down Mike’s spine. “They told you what, Beth?”
“That we’ll all be together again soon.” She caught Mike’s eyes in the rearview mirror, and even in the subdued light he could see the smile on her face. “All of us.”
chapter 6
The cavalcade of vehicles headed north on the A890. It was slow going. The winter months had left the roads in a poor state of repair and with no council to fill in potholes, it was easy to break a spring or get a puncture if concentration lapsed for even a few seconds.
“You haven’t said a word since we set off,” Tabby said, looking across at Emma.
“Not really feeling chatty.”
“You never did tell me how you left it with your brother.”
“I left him a note.”
“Saying?”
“Some pretty unpleasant stuff.”
“Like what?”
Emma turned to look at Tabby in the glow of the dashboard display. “It’s complicated.”
“Okay.” Tabby looked a little hurt.
“I’m sorry. I don’t really want to talk about it. I promise I’ll tell you everything one day, but this is enough of a hurdle for me to get over without having to relive painful memories too.”
Dawn was not far away, and Emma knew that soon she would be face-to-face with Mike again and she’d have to confront those memories head-on, but just for the last little part of the journey was it too much to ask that she could get lost in her own thoughts?
✽ ✽ ✽
“I’ve given her a stronger sedative, but that’s pretty much all I can do. She’s sleeping again now,” Lucy said as she returned to the kitchen.
Barnes, Mike and Jules were all sitting around the table with mugs of tea. “Thank God you two found her. She could have stepped off a cliff, anything could have happened,” Barnes said.
“How’s Annie?” Jules asked.
“She cried herself to sleep. I can handle that. Beth, though, when we left you, she stopped crying, and she just went quiet. I thought it was the sedatives working on her, but then she started whispering… It was like fifty conversations were going on in her head at the same time. It was really freaky,” replied Barnes.
“Look, for the time being just let her rest. She needs to sleep. Her brain needs to process what’s going on. Stay with her. Keep her warm and make sure she doesn’t go walkabout again.”
“Okay. Thanks again. I’m not going to leave her side. I can’t believe I did before.”
“Hey, yesterday wasn’t easy for any of us. Don’t blame yourself,” Lucy replied.
Jules looked at her watch. “Well, I need to get back and get some shuteye before the council meeting. It’s nearly six o’clock, I might be able to get a couple of hours at least,” Jules said, standing up.
“I think we could all use some sl—” Lucy’s words were interrupted as the radio handset sitting on the kitchen counter crackled to life.
“Shaw, this is East Ridge. We’ve got multiple vehicles approaching. Over.”
Everyone around the table looked towards the handset. A fresh air of panic swept over them. There was a pause but finally the radio hissed. “This is Shaw. How many vehicles? What type of vehicles? How fast are they travelling? Over.”
“Hang on. They’ve come to a stop. It looks like two people are getting out.” There was a long pause while everyone waited with bated breath. “One of them’s holding a torch, hang on, I think they’re using Morse code. Over.”
“What are they saying? Over,” demanded Shaw.
“Oh my God, Shaw, it’s Emma.”
✽ ✽ ✽
The convoy set off again, slowly. Emma’s heart began to thump frantically as she started to recognise familiar natural landmarks. Instinctively she reached out for Tabby’s hand. This was one of those moments when she needed comfort, when she needed that other body so she didn’t feel completely alone.
“Are you okay?” Tabby asked.
“Not by a long shot.”
“Well, they’ve not opened fire. That must be a good sign, right?”
Emma laughed. “That wasn’t my number one concern.” They carried on travelling for a few more minutes and then Emma pulled her hand away. “I should probably have asked you this before, but do you have a problem with heights?”
“I can’t say I’m a fan. Why?”
“’Cause this road … climbs a little, and when I say a little, I mean a lot.”
“Oh, God. Is this that thing you were telling me about? That passage? What was it called?”
“Yeah, Deadman’s Pass. Now, you might want to stop asking questions, hold on to something tight, and close your eyes.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Tears began to run down Emma’s face as she pulled up outside the village hall and saw Sammy and Jake standing there. Of all the guilt she felt, it was leaving them that had given her the most internal conflict. They were just innocent bystanders, but she knew that if she had not walked away that night, something bad… worse would have happened, and there would have been no road back.
Now, as she applied the handbrake and the sun began to cast its first rays, she could feel the joy and excitement that her little brother and sister shared. She opened the car door and fell to her knees as both siblings ran towards her. It had been a long night, Emma had not slept one wink, but embracing Sammy and Jake for just a moment gave her more energy than ten hours’ slumber.
“We’ve missed you so much,” Sammy blurted.
“I missed you too,” she replied, kissing first one then the other over and over. When the embrace finally ended, Emma climbed to her feet. Shaw, Hughes, Jules, Ruth, Raj and Talikha were all there to greet her with warm hugs and kind words. Lucy hung back from the crowd. She was the one who had brought Sammy and Jake. Mike had chosen not to come.
Eventually, when everyone was all hugged out, Lucy stepped forward and gave Emma a tight embrace. She did not speak. Neither knew what to say, Mike’s absence spoke volumes.
“We’re absolutely delighted to see you again, Em, but what is this?” Shaw said, gesturing to the vehicles and the emerging figures.
She broke her embrace with Lucy. “I came here to warn you. We were attacked … from the sea. The last I saw of the boats, they were heading north, in your direction.”
“You’re a little late,” Shaw replied.
“What? How?”
“We got
hit last night.”
“When?”
“Just after dark.”
“That’s impossible.”
“What do you mean?”
“That was when we got hit.”
Shaw and Hughes looked at one another with raised eyebrows. “That’s … concerning,” Shaw said.
“I see you haven’t lost your ability to massively understate the severity of a situation.”
“What can I tell you? It’s a gift.”
“Look, we’re obviously going to have to talk about this, but right now my friends could do with food and somewhere to rest. They only got a couple of hours’ sleep last night before heading up here.”
“Okay. First things first,” Lucy said, taking over. “Everybody heads across to the infirmary for a physical exam before they unpack as much as a pair of socks.”
Emma nodded and turned to explain the procedure to the assembled crowd. Everyone climbed back into their vehicles and followed Hughes, who jumped into one of the Land Rovers and escorted them. Tabby lingered for a while, but Emma told her to go ahead while she and Lucy followed on foot. Sammy and Jake had given Emma another cuddle before being guided away by Ruth to start the preparations for breakfast at the village hall.
“So, Mike didn’t want to see me?”
“Can you blame him?”
“No. Not really… And you?”
“I understand why you went, Emma. I don’t like the way you did it. Mike’s been carrying a lot of guilt around for a long time. He was already fragile, but when you disappeared … when you left him that letter, he was beyond devastated.”
They walked for a little while before Emma responded. “If I had it to do again, I’d do it differently.”
“Look, I’m happy you’re back. I’m really happy. You’re like a sister to me. I love you, and I’ve been worried about you all this time, but I don’t know how to fix you and Mike, and he’s my priority.”
“I understand.”
“I don’t think you do. He virtually shut down. He’d only just started to come around, and then all this happened,” she said, waving her arms around. “We lost John last night.”
A stark look swept over Emma’s face. “What?”
“We lost John. He turned. Jake was with him.”
Emma immediately looked back in the direction Sammy and Jake had disappeared. “But he’s okay?”
“Mike found him halfway up a cliff face, he’d seen everything. Sammy and Wren were attacked by those things, but they managed to escape too. Mike and Jules found Beth wandering naked down the road in the middle of the night talking to herself, and now you show up.”
“Thanks.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. All I mean is that he was just getting his head together and then everything turns upside down again. You might need to cut him some slack.”
“I didn’t come back to reopen old wounds, I just came back because I needed to warn you.”
Lucy regarded Emma for several seconds. “Where do we go from here?”
“I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought past that.”
“Well, let’s get you checked over and then we can take it from there.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Jenny sat down beside Mike at the bar. “I suppose it’s too early for a drink,” she said, smiling.
“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.” Shaw had been across to give the two of them a quick brief before disappearing once again to make preparations for the council meeting.
“You do realise that you’re going to have to go see her at some point.”
“I know. I’m just psyching myself up.”
Jenny reached across and placed her hand over Mike’s. “Look, love, I don’t pretend to know all the details or all the ins and outs of what went on between you two, but she was hurting. She was hurting, and she lashed out at the person closest to her then disappeared. When you lose someone you love, I mean really love, it can easily send you over the edge. I’ve seen it a thousand times before. Lucy told me what was in the letter.”
Mike looked up at her sharply; then his look warmed. Jenny was family, she was like the aunt he could always confide in and who would always help, no wonder Lucy shared with her. “And?”
“And it was a crappy thing for you to have to deal with, but she wrote it because she was angry and she had to blame someone. When you see her, don’t look for the girl who left that night, look for the girl who’s here now.”
Mike felt a weight on his thigh and looked down to see Meg, Jenny’s dog, looking up at him with her calming, warm eyes. He could not help but smile and gently stroke her head. “I’m guessing that’s her way of saying, ‘Listen to Mum, she knows what she’s talking about.’”
Jenny smiled. “She’s got a wise head on her shoulders has my Meg.”
“Thanks, Jen. It always helps talking to you.”
“That’s what I’m here for. We help each other.”
The pair hugged tightly. “Well, I’d better go make an appearance.”
“Just remember what I said.”
Mike left the pub by the back door and walked through the wooded area to the campsite where the infirmary was situated. If he found Lucy, he would find Emma. One of the nurses was crossing from Ward Two to Ward Four.
“Lisa!” Mike called.
She was carrying a heavy box and Mike ran across to take it from her. She carried on walking and he walked alongside her. “Thanks, I can’t remember the last time we had so many people to check.”
“Have you seen Lucy?”
“I think I heard one of the girls say she was in Ward One.”
The two of them walked up the steps to the entrance of Ward Four, and Lisa turned around. “I’ll take the box now.”
“No, it’s fine, I’ll take it in for you,” he said, opening the outer door and pushing the inner one.
“Mike—”
There was a short, sharp scream, and Mike wasn’t sure if it came from him or the naked woman he was now looking at, but he immediately turned around and handed the box to Lisa. “Sorry!”
“I tried to tell you. This is where we’re doing the female exams.”
“Yeah, I kind of figured that one out. Ward One, you say?” He barged out of the door, grateful to feel the fresh air against his red cheeks. This time, after climbing up the steps and heading through the outer entrance, he tapped lightly on the inner door and waited until it was answered.
Talikha opened it and smiled her usual polite smile. “Hello, Mike.”
“Hi, Talikha. Where’s my sister?”
“She and Lucy are in the examination room.”
“Thanks,” Mike said, walking through what used to be a mobile home’s living room but was now a hospital ward, albeit with just the one occupant in for the time being. He nodded politely at the single patient and continued through to the short corridor leading to the private rooms. He knocked.
“Just a minute,” called Lucy before opening the door. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Mike said before looking beyond her to Emma, who was buttoning up her jeans.
Lucy beckoned Mike through. “I’ll leave you two alone,” she said, brushing past him and closing the door behind her.
Emma fastened her top button then just stood looking at Mike, who stood looking back at her.
“Hi, Mike.”
“Hi, Em.” That was the exchange for a whole minute while they continued to stand there, taking each other in. “Weather’s been nice lately,” he said with a smirk.
A smile broke onto Emma’s face. “Yeah. Great for the garden.”
“Any holidays planned?”
“Was thinking about going to Crete if I could get a reasonable flight.” They both shared a snigger before their faces turned more serious. “I thought about coming back a thousand times.”
“What stopped you?”
Emma sighed. “You.” There was no humour in her voice or on her face.
“Oh. Right. Well, as long as we’
ve sorted that out then.”
“Look, this is hard. That night, when I left … it was the right thing and the wrong thing. I needed to escape.”
“From me?”
“Yes. From you. From this place. From myself. I just needed to get out of here. Sarah wasn’t just my partner, Mike, she was my future. I didn’t see a way forward without her. I couldn’t see a way forward here. A big part of me blamed you, but I soon realised that if anyone was to blame, it was me, and then later I stopped blaming myself too. It was the right thing to do to go to Loch Uig, and even if I’d been here, I couldn’t have stopped what happened. It was a shitty series of events, but ultimately the only one to blame was the bastard who pulled the trigger.”
“So … where does this leave us?”
“Us?”
“You and me. I mean are you coming back?”
Emma brushed her hands over her face. “God, Mike, I mean you heard what happened?”
“Yeah.”
“And this is what you’re worried about?”
“Look, Em, I haven’t been … right since you left. I’ve not been able to focus on anything. You’re the person I’ve always been closest to and to wake up and just not have you there anymore, to wake up and read that letter it sent me into a bit of a spiral.”
“I did say I’d always love you.”
“Yeah, but you also said you didn’t want to be around me, I made you feel guilty, while ever you were around me you’d never find peace, and that if I came looking for you, you’d probably shoot me.”
“Jesus! What did you do, memorise the bloody thing?”
“Some things are harder to forget than others.”
“Look, I know better than to make decisions in the heat of the moment now. Let’s just take this a day at a time. Fair enough?”
Mike stared at his sister. “Fair enough.”
Emma stood up. “So … you going to give me a hug or what?”
Mike walked across and wrapped his arms around her. The pair clutched each other tight, and after a while, Emma tried to pull back, but Mike still held on. She suddenly felt a tear from his cheek against her temple. “I was so scared I’d never see you again,” he said in a broken voice.
Forgetting her thoughts of breaking their hug, she held him even tighter and placed her left hand on the back of his head, occasionally stroking his hair like a mother trying to comfort a child. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I did.” She couldn’t help it. She was so sure she would remain strong but Emma burst into tears too. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Her words turned into rasps as the weight of the last few months came crashing down on her.
Safe Haven (Book 6): Is This The End of Everything? Page 6
