Safe Haven (Book 6): Is This The End of Everything?

by Artinian, Christopher

  They followed the first long bend around, and after another three hundred metres, when they were well and truly out of sight of the checkpoint, Talikha stopped. By the side of the road, there was a tree branch. She walked across and picked it up. It was a bit crooked at the sharp end where it had presumably been snapped by the wind. It came up to chest height and was a little thicker than a cricket bat handle.

  “What’s that for?” Jake asked.

  Talikha lied, “My legs aren’t young like yours. They are tired, it is to help me walk.”

  A smile broke on Sammy’s face, and she sought out a smaller branch. “I think I want one too,” she said, giving Talikha a knowing look.

  “You are very old for a young girl,” Talikha said under her breath.

  “That’s why I need a stick,” Sammy replied, and they both laughed. They carried on their journey and others began to collect sticks, branches, stones, rocks, anything that could be used as a makeshift weapon, just in case. When night fell, who knew what fresh hell would be lurking in its shadows?

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “Grandad!” shouted Wren as the doors swung shut behind her.

  “Wren?” George called back, half excited, half confused.

  Mike was caught off guard for a moment by Wren and Wolf’s dramatic entrance, and despite the agony he was in, Troy used the confusion, managing to unleash a powerful kick. He missed Mike’s head but made contact with his shoulder, and the younger man flew back onto the floor. Troy began to wriggle towards the gun he had dropped earlier, but Mike gathered himself and was on top of him, pinning him down in the blink of an eye.

  Troy took a swipe at Mike with his one remaining fist and made contact with the side of Mike’s ribcage. Despite having lost a lot of blood, the mercenary still had tremendous strength. Mike’s rage numbed him to the pain, and he unleashed an explosive round of punches to Troy’s face. Realising there was no way out Troy wanted to push the knife in one final time. “Your friend, he cried like a little girl when he knew he was dying, it was sickening.” Troy’s lips were bleeding, he’d bit his tongue, but he used all his energy to speak. A wicked smile started on his face, and Mike sat there on top of him for a few seconds, looking down, letting the hatred consume him.

  “You mother fucker. YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” he screamed, and Mike wasn’t a man any longer, he was a wild, wounded animal. He climbed to his feet and lifted the pummelled figure off the floor like he was some lifeless shop mannequin. Troy’s arm trailed by his side as still more blood spewed.

  “Mike! Mike!” Lucy called, seeing that look, knowing what they had been through to rehabilitate him after the incident at Loch Uig.

  Mike looked across at her then back towards the feeble, beaten figure with the sickening smile on his face. “Don’t worry, Luce, I’m not hearing voices, there’s no one whispering at my shoulder. This is all me.” He dragged the figure around one hundred and eighty degrees and then charged towards the wall, taking a tight hold of the hair at the back of Troy’s head. The plaster buckled inwards, and blood spattered against the dirty magnolia paintwork as Mike used Troy’s head like a battering ram. After the first strike the smile was gone from Troy’s face, and his eyes started to lose focus. After the second smash his nose was virtually flat, his forehead and eyebrows were bleeding, and his bottom lip swelled up like a giant blood-filled leach.

  “Please,” Troy whispered, although his face was so malformed now it came out “Pweef.”

  “Hughes—” smash “—was one of the—” thwack “—bravest men—” thud “—I ever met,” crack. Troy’s skull caved, but by nothing short of a miracle his eyes were still open. Mike pulled the broken body around to face him. “I want you to know before you die that whatever great general, great mastermind you think you are, you’re not. Your people are all going to die, just like your girlfriend over there, just like you. You’re a fucking zero, and you’ve lost. For all your planning, all your smart ideas, you’ve lost.” Troy’s body began to convulse, and Mike smelt something pungent in the air. He looked down to see a wet patch form around Troy’s groin. And a broad grin swept across Mike’s face. “Oh, and I’ll make sure your soldiers know you wet yourself before you died, you piece of shit.” Troy continued to shake as Mike pinned him against the wall.

  “It’s all over, mate,” Barnes said softly, placing a gentle hand on Mike’s shoulder.

  There was still recognition and understanding on Troy’s face, and Mike could see the fear in his eyes. “Oh yeah, it’s all over now,” but he wasn’t talking to Barnes. “It’s all over now. Everything’s starting to go dark. Scary, isn’t it? What’s facing you after this? Where do murdering cowards who piss themselves when they realise their time is up go when they die? My guess is nowhere good.” Mike released his grip and Troy slid down the wall, his body still convulsing violently. A few more seconds passed, and eventually the shaking stopped. Mike stood there a moment longer, hatred still engrained on his face. He felt another gentle hand on his shoulder and turned expecting to see Barnes again, but it was Lucy, his Lucy.

  “It’s okay, sweetie. He’s gone.” She flung her arms around him, and he reciprocated. He breathed her in, making sure she was real and this wasn’t some wonderful madness his mind had concocted.

  “Err… I genuinely couldn’t be happier to see you, Mike, and watching you and Lucy cuddle is making me go all gooey inside, but I really, really, really need a piss. Could someone please fuckin’ untie me?” Jules said.

  Mike turned towards where the rest of the council were sitting and smiled. Wren, Barnes and Lucy went to work clipping the cable ties while Mike climbed onto the stage to free his sister.

  Upon being freed Emma hugged him tight. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

  “Ditto,” he replied.

  “Sammy, Jake, Tabby?”

  “All safe. Heading out with Talikha and the rest of them.”

  “Actually, I know this should be a really sweet, tender moment between us, but I really need to pee too,” Emma said, jumping down off the stage and running into the back.

  “And me,” George added, breaking his hug with Wren. Gradually the rest of the detainees all drifted into the back realising they needed to use the facilities.

  Mike remained on the stage a moment longer then spotted something on the trestle table. He went across and grabbed it, holding it up to the lantern light before placing it quickly in his rucksack and jumping down off the stage to join the others.

  “Okay, so what’s next?” Barnes asked as he Wren, Wolf and Mike stood there waiting for all the others to return.

  “Well … err … what was your plan?” Mike asked.

  “You don’t want my plan. My plan was a one-way mission.”

  “Well, our plan was a variant of what we did in Candleton but on a smaller scale. We’ve got like ten crossbow bolts. We thought—”

  “Wait a minute. In Candleton we put Beth’s infected mum in a fucking blender. What the hell were you planning on using?” Barnes asked, glaring at Mike.

  Oh shit! “We—”

  “We found one,” Wren interrupted.

  “What do you mean you found one?”

  “Must have been from when the first attack took place. It was caught up in barbed wire on Isabel Sinclair’s croft, really wrapped up good and proper.”

  The suspicious look left Barnes’s face, Wren wasn’t a person to lie. “That was lucky.”

  “Tell me about it,” Mike replied.

  “I don’t think ten bolts are going to cut it. I think we need something on a bigger scale,” Barnes said.

  The others began to filter back through. Shaw was first. “So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

  “You’re the tactician. You tell me,” Mike said.

  The radio crackled. “Troy, come in, this is Blaze. Over.”

  “Shit!” Emma said. “That’s the guy from the checkpoint. Whatever plan you’re going to come up with, you’d better think fast.”

  �
��Mike, the stuff, where is it?” Barnes asked.

  “Stuff? What stuff?” Shaw replied.

  Mike unhitched the rucksack, pulled out the pickle jar full of zombie smoothie, and placed it on one of the tables. He turned to Lucy, handing the Glock to her, and placed down the other two weapons and spare magazines he had lifted from the lovers in the woods. Emma picked up one, Jules picked up the other. Shaw walked over to the far side of the stage and grabbed his and Hughes’s sidearm. He looked at the remaining unarmed people, George, Jenny, Ruth, Raj. It wasn’t a hard choice. He handed it to the Hindu veterinarian. “Remember how to use one of these?”

  “Alas, I do.” He took the weapon, shoulder holster and all, and strapped it on.

  “Troy! Come in, this is Blaze. Over.”

  “I’m guessing most of these people are going to be in the campground?” Barnes said.

  “From what we could see when we were in the cemetery, most new arrivals were heading towards the pub,” Mike said and immediately got a glare from Wren.

  “What were you doing in the cemetery?” Barnes asked.

  We were digging up the dead body of your girlfriend’s brother so we could weaponise his zombified corpse. What do you think we were doing? “Err … we…”

  “We figured it was the best vantage point while maintaining some cover at least,” Wren said.

  “That was pretty quick thinking with everything that was going on,” Shaw said.

  “You have no idea,” Wren replied and gave Mike another irritated look.

  Barnes walked to the table and opened Mike’s rucksack, withdrawing the pump-action shotgun. “I know that look, Barney,” Shaw said. “You’ve had an idea.”

  Barnes turned to look at Mike. “You were a fast bowler, right? Where did you field?”

  “Err … Deep Cover, Deep Mid-Wicket, Third Man, wherever I was needed.”

  “No offence, Barney, but what the fuck does cricket have to do with the situation we’re in?” Jules asked.

  Barnes ignored the interruption and continued. “So, you’ve got a strong throwing arm?”

  “It’s not bad. Why?”

  Barnes handed Mike the jar. “Not exactly a match grade corky ball, but do you think you could give it some height?”

  Mike measured the weight of the jar in his hand as the globby liquid sloshed around inside. “I reckon I could get it up there,” he said with a smile, only now understanding what Barnes had in mind. Barnes returned the grin. It was the first time anyone had seen him smile since the death of his beloved Beth.

  “I don’t know if this is some male bonding thing or some kind of in-joke, but would one of you please tell me what the fuck you’re talking about?” Jules snapped.

  “This is Blaze, I need a radio check. Over.”

  They all turned towards the handset. Even Angel had gone silent for the time being as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

  The radio hissed. “Blaze, this is Mercer, reading you loud and clear. Over.”

  “Mercer, do you have a visual on Troy? Over.”

  “Negative. Over.”

  “I can’t reach him. He might be having radio problems. Do me a solid. Head on over there and put him on, will you? Over.”

  “Jesus Christ, Blaze. I am knee-deep in all kinds of shit here. I don’t have time to start running errands. Over and out.”

  “Jesus H. Is anyone one else picking up out there? Over.”

  “I’ve got you, Blaze. This is Jacobs. Give me five and I’ll head across. Over.”

  “You’re stand-up, Jacobs. Appreciate it. Over and out.”

  “Hey, Blaze, you still there? Over.”

  “I’m still here. Go ahead, Jacobs. Over.”

  “Did Balotelli show up with you? He was meant to be taking a spare radio to the other checkpoint, but I’ve not been able to raise him. Wondered if you’ve seen anything of him. Over.”

  Mike and Wren looked towards one another, both knowing immediately who Balotelli was and where he was.

  “Na, I’ve not seen him over here. You ask me, these radios have seen better days. That should be one of the first things we put on our shopping lists when we get straight. Over.”

  “Yeah. Guess you’re right. Thanks anyway. Over and out.”

  “Okay. We don’t have much time,” said Shaw. “Whatever we’re going to do has to happen in the next five minutes or we’re all screwed.”

  chapter 25

  Richard wanted to jump more than anything, but there was a part of him – the part that Mike had found and nurtured – that wanted revenge for what had happened to his friends. A gentle breeze picked up, and for the first time he raised his eyes. Despite the sun having set, he could still make out the diminishing shapes and figures below, slowly being washed away by the wake. But now his attention was caught by something else. The coast road swerved and weaved along the cliff face. There were sections no more than a hundred metres away that were invisible from where Richard was standing. Conversely, there were other stretches miles further down that he could see—in daylight or when a vehicle was travelling with its headlights on, like now. He picked up his discarded jacket and wrung it in his hands as though it was a stress toy. What should he do?

  There was no intellectual basis for revenge. When it came to studying it as a concept, Richard and David had the perfect lab rat in Mike, the single most vengeful and, quite frankly, terrifying person they had ever met. Now though, Richard got it, he understood. It was nothing to do with intellect; it went much deeper than that. It was to do with love, the deep feelings of brotherly friendship that he possessed for David.

  He would not waste his life by flinging himself off the cliff. He would try to give it at least some meaning, and if in that act he died, then so be it, but he would not just give up.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “We can’t leave her here like this, we need to tie her up,” Wren said, pointing towards the battered Angel.

  Mike looked at Lucy. “She’s one of the ringleaders of this?”

  “She’s sly, a manipulator, never gets her hands dirty, but yeah, she’s in this up to her neck.”

  Mike looked down at Angel. Her eyes were narrow slits as bruising made the skin puff all around them. “She was here when they killed Bruiser?”

  “She didn’t push the plunger, but yeah.”

  Mike grabbed Angel’s hair and lifted her off the ground from her slouched position against the wall. “Nooo! Nooo!” she screamed, weakly trying to bat his hands, terrified of what punishment would come next.

  Mike withdrew the hunting knife from his belt and sliced her throat deep, immediately unclenching his fingers and letting her drop once more.

  “No!” Wren screamed and buried her head into George’s chest.

  Angel’s eyes opened wide, not believing what was happening. She slumped back against the wall, clasping her slit throat in a panicked attempt to stop the bleeding. She tried to speak, she tried to cry for help, but rasping gurgles were all that came out.

  Ruth looked away, almost as horrified as Wren, but the rest felt no pity. For what these people had done, they deserved everything they had coming to them, and that would amount to a lot before this day was over.

  Mike and Lucy stood there a few seconds longer until Angel stopped struggling. “I suppose my Hippocratic Oath’s all shot to hell now. I could lose my licence for this one.”

  “Tell me it wasn’t worth it.”

  “I can’t.”

  Mike took hold of Lucy’s hand and squeezed it. “We need to go.”

  “Yep,” she said sadly, knowing only too well what was facing them outside.

  “Okay. Everybody knows what they’re doing. If the alarm’s raised before we finish this, we’re all dead. Good luck everyone,” Shaw said before leading them through the doors and out into the evening.

  The sun had gone down, but there was enough light for them to see what they were doing. They knew this village intimately, and the darkness would be their ally … for a whi
le anyway.

  They stopped again on the steps to the village hall and Shaw turned to Mike, then Barnes and finally Wren. “I didn’t thank you.”

  “I tell you what, get us out of here and that will be thanks enough,” Mike replied.

  Shaw put out his hand, and Mike took it, pulling his friend close and giving him a hug. “Good luck, mate.”

  “Good luck, Mike.”

  “Fuck me! Do you two want a moment alone?” Jules asked.

  Mike pulled back to see Shaw smiling as widely as he was.

  “I’m begging you, please take her with you,” Shaw said.

  “Screw that. You’re my friend, but there are limits,” Mike replied.

  “Aren’t you two a pair o’ fuckin’ comedians now?”

  “Who’s joking?” Shaw asked.

  “Come on,” Barnes said. “We need to go.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The road was eerily quiet as the displaced citizens of Safe Haven continued their march to Torridon. The shadowy woodland looked more ominous than ever as the sun set behind them.

  “When was the last time your people came here?” April asked.

  “I think a few weeks back. Why?” Talikha replied.

  “A lot can happen in a few weeks.”

  “Hell! A lot can happen in a few hours these days,” Kyle added.

  “How much farther to go?” April asked.

  “Still a few miles. There is a big hotel there. That would be a good place for us to base ourselves, although I think we may already have stripped it of anything useful,” Talikha said.

  They carried on walking in silence. The night was shaping up to be little better than the day. Yes, they were out of enemy territory, but with no food, no water and still several miles to travel, their prospects were bleak at best.

  Suddenly, Humphrey and Meg stopped. As they looked straight ahead, a low growl started in their throats.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  It had been a long day for Shep. After being cooped up on a cruise ship for what seemed like an eternity, it felt great to get behind the wheel of a vehicle again, but she would be glad when she could climb into her newly designated mobile home and crash. This was her last trip up the coast, the final changing of the guard at the north checkpoint until morning.