by Ryan Casey
The man studied Mike closely. Narrowed eyes. It looked like he was really mulling things over. And Mike could only interpret that positively. He could only interpret it with hope.
But then people were unpredictable. Especially in this world.
You just never knew how somebody was going to react when they’d been pushed to their limits.
The man took a few steps forward then. He was close, right up in Mike’s face.
And Mike knew that if he lifted his knife quickly, he could tear this guy’s neck open. He could end him, right here.
But then the man smiled a little. “Albion, huh?”
“That’s—that’s what I heard it’s called—”
“And you’d be right to believe that,” he said.
He lowered his rifle.
Then he lifted his hand.
“My name’s Harvey. Behind you, that’s Ulrich and Callum.”
Mike looked at his hand. Frowned. “What…”
“We know you’re telling the truth about Albion. We know you’re telling the truth about the extraction point. Because that’s where we were. That’s where I was ditched by. And that’s where we’re heading right towards.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I’m sorry, Mike,” Kelsie whispered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”
“Do—”
And then she heard the blast from Aiden’s rifle.
And after that, nothing.
But there was still something.
There was an echoing in her ears. There was a ringing in her skull. And she was still breathing. She could still feel things. She could still feel that sickness in her body.
And as she sat there, eyes tight shut, she didn’t want to open them as tears rolled down her face. She didn’t want to see what was in front of her. She didn’t want to find out that she was just imagining things and that this was all a big fantasy in her head and that she was still going to be shot after all.
But in the end, she couldn’t keep her eyes closed much longer.
She gulped, and then she opened her eyes.
The first thing that hit her was just how bright everything seemed compared to before. Just how rich and luscious and green the leaves of the trees and the grass looked.
And then the other things hit her. The smell of smoke from the rifle. That ringing in her ears being cut through by the sounds of birds flapping their wings somewhere above.
And then what she could see right in front of her.
Who she could see right in front of her.
Aiden was standing there.
Rifle in hand.
But he wasn’t pointing it at her anymore.
He was pointing it at someone on the ground.
Kelsie looked where Aiden’s wide eyes were staring, and she saw Dom lying there. Bleeding from a hole in his head. His eyes still staring up like he knew exactly what had just happened, like he knew exactly who was responsible.
And Kelsie was still realising herself. She was still getting to grips with it. Still trying to understand.
But in the end, it was clear to see.
“You shot him,” she said.
Aiden turned, then. He looked right at Kelsie, then at his gun, then back at Dom as he lay there on the ground. It was as if he was just realising what had happened, too. As if he was still getting to grips with what he’d done.
And Kelsie worried. She worried that Aiden might change his mind. That he might get caught up in the moment and shoot her. Then shoot himself, or something crazy like that.
He stepped towards her. Rifle lowered. Crouched right down to where she was.
She tried to shuffle back. Tried to get back to the hole in the ground by the tree. But she was weak. She was tired. She just wanted to rest. Just wanted to sleep. Just wanted to—
“You need—you need some kind of medication,” Aiden said. “We need to get you somewhere. Somewhere we can get you well again. Somewhere we can get you hydrated and feeling a lot better.”
Kelsie shook her head. “I can’t—”
“Kelsie,” Aiden said. And Kelsie sensed it was the first time Aiden had been honest with her—and with himself in a long time. “What happened. What you saw last night. I… I can’t defend it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry you ran away. I’m sorry for what you had to see right now. But I… The place. The extraction point. It’s not all bad. It’s not all—”
“You killed a woman who came back,” Kelsie said. “Lana. Dom shot her. Just because she’d been taken away. The people there. They deserve to know the truth.”
And Aiden looked at Kelsie with a different expression, then. An expression of fear. Like the reality of this whole situation was setting in.
“I have—I have to go back there,” he said. “I have to tell them something happened. That someone—someone—”
“Don’t leave me,” Kelsie said. And she felt weak for saying it. She hadn’t been expecting to say it. She wasn’t sure where it had come from. But she felt desperate. Like she needed help.
Aiden looked at her again. Eyes darting. Face going paler by the second. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t take you back there. Not now you’ve escaped. Richard. He wouldn’t allow it. Because you saw. I told him you saw, and you’re too dangerous.”
Kelsie felt her stomach sinking, the nausea and sickness building up again. Because this was typical. All this time, all this effort, all this fight and getting so close to death, and she was going to be left for dead by this man. But she had to act tough. She couldn’t regress to a baby. Not now. “You might as well have killed me then,” she said. “Because—because I need help. I’m sick. I need help now, or I’ll die. And then you’ll have killed two people.”
She saw the change in Aiden’s face, then. Saw the way he looked at her, shook his head. “Kelsie, I’m sorry. I couldn’t kill you. I couldn’t let Dom kill you.”
“Then help me,” Kelsie said.
Aiden looked at Dom’s body. Then at the rifle in his hands. And then at Kelsie again. And Kelsie wondered if this was it. She wondered if he’d changed his mind. If it would be simpler for him to just put her out of her misery after all. Simpler for everyone.
But then he lowered his rifle.
He lifted her up.
And she felt herself going still. She felt her muscles tightening all over. She wanted to fight. She wanted to resist.
But Aiden was holding her.
He hadn’t shot her.
He was holding her.
“There’s only one thing we can do,” he said.
Kelsie waited as she grew sicker, as she grew shakier and weaker.
Aiden looked into the distance, back where they’d come from.
“We go back to the extraction point,” he said. “I hide you. I get you the meds and the supplies you’ll need. And then… and then we get you away from that place. Once and for all.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Gina felt Richard’s hand against her back and immediately felt uncomfortable about all of this.
The clouds had covered up the sun, bringing a shadow over this perfect idyll. As Gina walked through the streets, she could see people looking at her, whispering. Some of them glaring at her. Like she didn’t deserve this. Like Alison didn’t deserve this.
Because she couldn’t stop thinking about what Richard had said to her.
The apology.
The apology for what had happened to Kelsie.
Jumping to the front of the queue to be extracted to Albion.
She felt caught in two minds as she walked along the street, towards the helicopter, which was up and running, ready to go. On the one hand… she knew after hearing about what’d happened to Kelsie that getting into that helicopter and starting again would be a good idea. A fresh start. A chance to begin again.
But on the other hand… something still didn’t feel right.
It just felt too neat.
It just felt too convenient.
/> Especially because Arya wasn’t by her side.
But she walked. And Alison walked alongside her. She glanced at Alison a few times, saw the concern on her face rather than happiness, rather than excitement. And she knew that Alison would feel the same way as she did. She knew she would feel that same cynicism and scepticism for all of this as she did.
But what would they do?
They were being ushered out of this place, after all.
And it didn’t look like they were really being given a choice about their fate.
“I just want to reiterate how sorry I am,” Richard said, as he walked behind them. “You’ve only been with us a matter of days, and you’d had an absolute nightmare. Nobody deserves to have gone through what you’ve gone through. Nobody deserves to have lost like you have lost.”
She looked back at him. She thought she heard sincerity in his voice. Honesty to his words.
And she wanted to believe him.
She so wanted to believe him.
But…
“Why can’t we see Kelsie’s body?” Gina asked.
The words came out of nowhere. They made Alison stop. Turn around.
And then before she knew it, Gina had stopped too.
Everyone had stopped.
The pair of them looked at Richard. And Gina waited for an answer. She looked into his eyes, and she waited for the answer she deserved. That they both deserved.
Because it was a legitimate question.
It was a question they deserved an answer to.
Richard looked at the ground. “I… I’m sorry,” he said. “That’s not going to be possible.”
He started to walk again. People looking on. Wide-eyed. Confused.
But Gina wasn’t for moving.
She stood her ground. Even though Richard bumped into her, she stood her ground.
Looked into his eyes.
Right into his eyes.
“I want to see her body,” she said. “If I don’t see her body… I’m not getting onto this helicopter.”
Richard’s eyelids twitched. A subtle movement, but enough that Gina noticed.
He was silent. Opening his mouth, then closing it again.
And as he did this, Gina grew in confidence. She grew in fear for the worst.
Because it was obvious by now that Richard was hiding something.
“Gina,” he said, looking at her, then at Alison. He was smiling now. Like he was trying his best to keep order here. “Both of you. You don’t want to see the body of someone so dear to you, do you?”
“I do,” Alison said. “And Gina does, too. We deserve to see her. We deserve… we deserve closure. Are you going to deny us that?”
Gina realised something then, as Richard stood there, wide-eyed. People had gathered around. They weren’t just watching anymore. They were listening. Curious. Curious about what was being said. Curious about the position Gina and Alison had put Richard in.
Waiting for an answer from the man they respected most.
Richard looked over Gina’s shoulder. Right at one of the guards leading them along.
Then he sighed. Opened his mouth again. “I’m trying to protect you here.”
“We don’t want your protection,” Gina said. “We want to see Kelsie. We want to know she’s okay. And if we don’t… we are not getting on that helicopter.”
Richard’s face flushed a little. People were shouting things. “Just show them the body!” Stuff like that. And all of it was clearly getting to Richard. All of it was getting him riled up.
He had to act.
He had to be decisive.
Gina just wasn’t sure he was capable of it.
She wasn’t sure he had it in him.
And then he took a deep breath and smiled. “Sure,” he said. “We can show you her body. But… but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He turned around, then. Started walking back. Over to the right of the extraction point. Over towards an area that Gina wasn’t familiar with.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, then. Looked back, saw it was one of the guards.
“Go on,” he said. “Lead the way.”
Gina took a deep breath, and she walked. She walked back through the crowds. She walked through the people. She saw the two kids who Kelsie had played with. The kids looked sad. They hadn’t known her long, but Gina knew just how strong those childhood bonds could be, even when they were in their infancy.
She followed Richard over towards a secluded cabin right at the far right of the entrance to the extraction point. Alison was by her side.
“We did the right thing,” Alison said. “You did the right thing. We deserve answers. We deserve… closure.”
Gina nodded. But as she got closer towards that cabin, she realised something. The crowd. The crowd in the street. They weren’t following anymore.
They were being stopped.
Stopped by the armed guards.
She saw Richard open the door to that cabin. Saw him holding it, hand out. And as she looked into his eyes, she remembered something. Those words. Those words he’d said.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
She got closer to that cabin. And something hit her. The helicopter. The guards. Trying to get them out of the frame right away.
It wasn’t right.
None of this was right.
She walked a few steps closer to the cabin.
Then she took Alison’s hand.
“Alison,” she said.
Alison looked at her. “What?”
“We’re going to run.”
“What?”
“You heard me. We’re going to make a break for the exit. We’re going to get out of here, while we still can.”
Alison opened her mouth. Looked like she was going to argue something.
Then she just nodded.
Gina took a few more steps closer. The guards close behind. Rifles in their hands.
And then Richard standing right there, hand pointing into the cabin door.
Half-smile on his face.
“Are you ready?” Gina asked.
Alison nodded. “I’m—”
“Now,” Richard said.
Gina went to turn.
But then she heard the men behind her shuffle.
She went to spin around.
But it was too late.
They smacked Alison over the head with a rifle.
And Gina went to shout out. She went to get the attention of somebody—of anybody.
She went to make a break for it.
But the guard swung his rifle down across the top of her head.
First, a sharp, agonising pain.
Then, everything went fuzzy.
And then she fell to the ground, and everything went black.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Mike looked at Harvey’s outstretched hand, and he tried to wrap his head around what he was hearing.
The afternoon was stretching on. They’d have to get a move on because night was fast approaching. And there was something about the night that unsettled Mike. Something about it that added to the sense of uncertainty; the sense of unknown.
But in a sense, it felt like this whole journey was getting a lot more focused.
Like things were falling right in place for him.
Harvey took his hand away and shook his head. “Trust issues. I get it. But you’ve got to hear me out when I say I’ve no problem with you.”
“No problem?” Nina said. “Sure. I mean you pulled us up in the middle of the street. Pointed rifles in our faces. Told your friends back here to kill us because we weren’t complying. But sure. You’ve no problem with us.”
“Hey,” Harvey said, opening his arms. “You’ve no idea the kind of people we’ve run into out here. The kind of people we’ve been dealing with for the last few weeks. But then… then again, I’d guess you probably know exactly the kind of people I’m talking about. It pays to be on guard all the time. It’s what’s got us this fa
r. Right?”
Mike wasn’t sure about any of this. But he wanted to hear more from this guy, from his people. He wanted to know what he knew about the extraction point. About Albion.
“You say you were dumped by this place. I was under the impression it was women and children who got extracted.”
“Well, mostly, yeah,” Harvey said. “But it’d look a bit suspicious if it were all women and children, right? But anyway. It was just me. My two friends here, I met them along the road. Told them about this place. Told them about what they did to me. What they were doing to so many others. And in a way, I kind of wanted to believe it wasn’t true. I wanted to believe that it was just my group. That we were the exception in some way. But now I meet you and… well. Now I know what I feared is true, for real.”
Mike looked at Nina. She wasn’t standing up anymore. Like she was realising this guy was telling the truth. Realising he was being honest.
“So what’re you doing out here?” Mike said.
Harvey shrugged. A smile came to his face. “Same reason you’re out here, headed this way.”
“You’re going back there?”
“The suicide mission itself.”
“Why?”
Harvey looked off into the distance. “You know… the same reason we all go back. Unfinished business. I could walk away from that place. I could’ve found my own direction and started my life over again. But that’s not what I want. Not while there’s people there. Innocent people. Not while there’s a chance that people can suffer the kind of heartache that so many others before them have felt. Because it’s not on. It’s just not right.”
“So what’ve you got planned?” Mike asked.
