by Ryan Casey
“We’re going to be okay,” she whispered. “We’re going to be—”
That’s when she heard something else.
The footsteps. They’d stopped.
And then they started heading into the woods, crunching against the fallen twigs and branches.
Holly froze. Her heart raced. Her eyes jolted open again, her mouth dry.
She looked at Becky, who stared back at her, the fear returning to her face.
Because there was no doubt about it.
The group was heading into the woods.
Coming their way.
The voices were loud. The footsteps were getting closer. It’d just be a matter of time before they reached Holly and Becky’s position.
Holly felt fear course through her veins. She remembered what Dad said about the state of the medical centre, the things these people had done in there. She didn’t want to risk the same thing happening to her, to Becky.
So she took a deep breath and did the only thing she could.
She stood up, gestured for Becky to do the same.
Then she peeked around the side of the tree.
The group was male, definitely. Dressed in black. Armed well, and three of them were walking right towards the tree Holly and Becky were hidden behind. The rest of the group didn’t seem to be looking, didn’t seem to be paying much attention.
Holly looked at Becky. Leaned towards her. “When I walk around this tree, you’re just going to hold my hand and trust me, okay?”
Becky’s eyes widened. “But I—I’m scared.”
“I know, hen. I know. But we’re going to be okay. Remember? I promised I’d keep you safe. I promised you just had to trust me. And I mean it. I mean it. Okay?”
Becky looked at her feet, uncertainty clear to see. Then she nodded. But with a defeated breath, she muttered, “I wish Mummy and Daddy were here.”
Holly held Becky’s hand. She stepped around the edge of the tree. The men were getting closer. She had to time her move perfectly. She had to wait until they were just past this tree, then she had to make a lunge for another of the trees.
One way or another, she had to get out of this hell.
The men got closer. Time was running out. Their footsteps, their voices, both of them so close.
She took a deep breath, embraced her nerves. She imagined Mum was there beside her, telling her she was strong enough, telling her she was okay.
She peeked around the tree. Looked to see the men just parallel with them now.
Then she turned ahead.
It was time to go.
She lunged towards the trees in the distance. Pictured herself already there, already having made it. Visualised what it’d feel like to be in the clear, to be safe. Because she was close. She was so close.
But then she felt something.
Becky slipped.
Her hand came loose.
She spun around. Looked at Becky as she lay there, fearful eyes staring up at Holly.
“Promise?”
But then Holly saw something else.
The men were looking at Becky.
Then looking at her.
She froze. Her body told her to run; her mind told her to get Becky.
She made a lunge towards Becky.
But then the gunshots followed.
The gunshots hit Becky.
Silenced her in one.
And then Holly screamed.
She couldn’t think. She couldn’t feel. All she could do was run.
She turned around, went to get out of this woods, to get away from all this madness.
But she hit into someone.
They grabbed her. Looked down at her. Smiled.
Then they said something to her in another language before knocking her over the head with the butt of their gun. Hard.
After that, a fuzziness. A fuzziness where Holly could see Becky’s innocent little eyes in her mind.
And after that… darkness.
Chapter Forty
When Mike heard the gunfire followed by the scream, he knew right away that it was Holly.
He ran. Ran towards the source of the gunfire. Ran towards the source of the scream. Branches stuck up in the bottom of his feet as he moved. He bumped into trees, almost lost his balance.
But he kept on going because he had to.
He’d heard his daughter scream.
He had to do something about it. He had to help her.
He had to get to her and make sure she didn’t suffer the same fate as the people dangling from the trees, no matter what.
His body ached. His head spun. He felt weak and nauseous and all the ways a person can feel bad.
But Mike kept on going because he knew what he had to do.
He needed to get to the gunshots.
He needed to make sure Holly was okay.
Even if the scream he’d heard told him that wasn’t the case.
Even if it told him he wasn’t going to like what he was going to find…
He went to run further when he felt his body giving way.
He toppled onto the ground. The branches scratched his face. His head spun and his ears rang. He felt stomach acid creeping up his oesophagus, into his mouth, then spilling out onto the ground below.
“Mike.”
When he heard Alison’s voice, Mike’s stomach sank. He knew she was going to try stopping him; he knew she was going to warn him that he had to “be cautious” and all that.
But he couldn’t give up on his little girl.
He tried to drag himself to his feet. “I need to…”
But then the dizziness surrounded him again and he fell to the ground.
This time, as much as he wanted to, Mike didn’t try to get back up. He just thought about that scream. The terror in that scream, and what it might mean.
Then he thought about how he’d feel if he found his daughter hanging from a tree like he’d found the pregnant woman and her husband.
He couldn’t deal with something like that. And right now, he couldn’t move.
He wanted to find his little girl, but he didn’t.
He wanted to find his Holly… but he didn’t.
Alison put a hand on his shoulder. By her side, Arya, then Kumal and Gina a little further back. They were all looking at him, all of them concerned.
“That gunfire,” Alison said, her voice cracking with emotion. “That scream. You don’t know it’s—”
“It was Holly,” Mike said.
Alison’s face turned. “But what I’m saying is… you don’t know for certain that it’s—”
“I know my daughter’s scream, okay?”
He pushed himself up, then. Pushed through the dizziness, pushed through the shock. And then he turned to face the woods ahead.
“You lot should stay back. I’ll deal with this.”
Alison stepped forward before he had the chance to walk on. “No chance,” she said.
He looked at her. Frowned. “That gunfire. The people who fired, they aren’t messing around.”
“And neither are we.” It was Gina who spoke this time. She stepped forward. Stood tall. Looked more confident, more assertive than Mike ever thought he’d seen her.
“We’re not standing by while you throw yourself into whatever’s ahead,” Kumal added. “We need to trust each other. And you need to trust us. ’Cause it’s only through trust that we’ll actually go anywhere in this world. Right?”
Mike heard Kumal’s words, and they resonated. He was right. He needed to trust in others. His daughter, everyone. He’d been so set on doing things himself, on cutting everybody else off, he didn’t realise what a hole he’d got himself into.
But now he saw.
Now he saw for real.
“It’s going to be dangerous,” Mike said. “Whatever’s ahead. Are you sure you want to do this?”
The three of them all nodded in sync.
“We’ve got your back,” Alison said. “No matter what.”
&nbs
p; Mike didn’t even want to contemplate what the “no matter what” meant.
But he turned around. Looked in the direction where the gunshots had come from.
And then, his people around him, he walked.
The further they got into the woods, the eerier this whole situation felt. It really did feel like there was someone in here, watching them silently from the trees. Mike thought he saw movements in the corners of his eyes, but nothing solid as of yet. Nothing concrete.
He walked further, heart racing. He swore they had to be at the source of the gunfire by now. Where were the shooters?
And more terrifying than anything… where was his girl?
He went to turn around to the others when he saw something.
At first, when he saw the little body on the ground, his first thought was: Holly.
But she was too small. It looked like she used to look when she was just a little kid, in a time that didn’t seem all that long ago at all.
But it wasn’t her.
So for a moment, he felt relief, as he walked towards the body.
For just a moment, he felt relief.
Then he saw the body.
It was just a little girl, after all. Dark hair. Pretty green eyes.
Bloodstains and bullet wounds in her back.
She’d been shot. No doubt about that. And something else. She was the girl from the photo in the woman’s locket.
Poor kid. Poor, poor family.
“Maybe it wasn’t Holly after all,” Alison said, trying not to let the emotion totally crack her voice.
Mike looked around. “No, it was Holly. I just…”
That’s when he saw it.
The ring.
The silver ring lying right at the foot of the tree.
His body tensed up. At first, he couldn’t move, but then he found himself walking towards it, crouching beside it, picking it up.
“What is that?” Gina asked.
Mike studied the silver ring in his hand.
“It’s Holly’s,” he said, voice shaking. “It—it was her mum’s. She was here. My girl was here.”
The ring was splashed with blood.
Holly was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter Forty-One
Mike stared at Holly’s silver ring and for the first time in a long time, he felt like all his hope had drifted away entirely.
The sun had disappeared behind the clouds. A cool breeze brushed through the woods. When he’d first got here, there had been silence, but now Mike heard birds and wildlife singing along, carrying on with their ordinary days.
But this wasn’t ordinary. This was far, far from ordinary.
Not just because of the little girl’s body lying right by him. That was painful enough in its own right.
But the fact that Holly had been here too, and now she was gone…
And all that she’d left behind was her ring.
The ring her mum gave her before she died.
Covered in blood.
“Mike?”
Mike looked around half-heartedly. He saw Kumal walking towards him.
He sighed. Looked away. He didn’t have time to discuss things now. He didn’t want to even think about what this might mean. He didn’t have time for Kumal’s “reasoning.”
Kumal sat beside him. He didn’t say anything. Not at first.
Then he finally broke his silence. “It doesn’t mean anything’s happened to her.”
Heat pumped through Mike’s body. He turned and looked at Kumal. “Blood on her ring? That doesn’t mean anything’s happened to her?”
“We still don’t know, for certain. The truth is… she’s not here. And that’s the main thing. She isn’t here.”
Part of Mike wanted to throw himself at Kumal. He wanted to just throw himself at the world.
But he didn’t.
He just sat there and stared at that ring.
“Holly… she’s a tough girl, you know? Been a fighter ever since we met her. If there’s even the smallest chance she has of surviving… hell, she’ll take it.”
Mike laughed a little. “I know that too well.”
“You know, I had a sister, once upon a time.”
Mike rolled his eyes. Here we go.
“She was my rock. She gave me confidence. Gave me strength. She gave me everything. But then she died. Suddenly, just playing with her friends one day. And after that point… well, things changed, you know?”
Mike nodded. He knew what it was like to lose someone who felt like his rock.
“But one thing I remember is making a promise to myself. Never give up. Even though my sister was gone, I was gonna do whatever I could to keep her memory alive. I was going to fight to be a better person. A better guy. And you know what? I think I did it. It wasn’t easy, but I really think I did it.”
He was silent then. Mike mulled over his words. “So what are you saying?”
Kumal cleared his throat. “I’m saying we have a choice. We give up now, right at the first hurdle. Or we keep on moving. We keep on pushing on. Because like I say. If there’s even the smallest chance Holly’s still alive… wouldn’t she want you to fight for her?”
Mike saw it, then. He saw the truth opening up ahead of him. He saw the only option right before him. And he knew what he had to do.
“We have to keep going,” Mike said.
Kumal nodded. “The safe zone. It’s where Holly would—”
“You can go to the safe zone. But I’m going somewhere else.”
He stood up. Took a deep breath.
Kumal frowned. “Mike?”
Mike stared at the woods ahead. “I’m going to find the bastards who killed that family. I’m going to find the fuckers who murdered that girl. I’m going to find the people who took my daughter. And I’m going to make them pay.”
He tightened his grip around Holly’s ring.
It was time for revenge.
Chapter Forty-Two
When Holly opened her eyes, she thought for a moment that everything that’d happened to her was a dream.
It was dark. Pitch black, like her bedroom was when she woke up in the middle of the night. She felt cold. Really cold. And she realised it was because she wasn’t in her dressing gown, which she usually wore to bed no matter what time of year it was, no matter how warm it was outside. Dad always laughed at her for it; told her she was soft. But it was a comfort thing more than anything. It made her feel secure.
She didn’t feel secure right now.
She looked around. She couldn’t see anything. Come to think of it, she couldn’t hear anything either. Just a ringing in her ears. Her head hurt, and she could taste the metallic tang of blood on her tongue. She didn’t know why that was. She didn’t know what had happened for that to be the case.
Just that something had happened. Something bad. Something she didn’t totally understand.
She tried to get up out of bed, but then she realised she wasn’t lying down at all. She was propped up with her back to a cold wall. She frowned, tried to move again, but to no avail. She was trapped.
Her heart began to race. She went to open her mouth because this felt like some kind of nightmare. She wanted to call out to Mum or Dad and ask them where they were.
When she tried to move her lips, she realised they were stuck.
There was something covering her mouth.
Fear propelled through her. She shook, tried to move some more.
But then it dawned on her.
Then it hit her with a sudden kick.
The EMP.
The power going out.
The journey they’d been on.
Becky.
Then the gun whacking against her head…
The second the memory hit her, she slumped back against the wall. She could still feel Becky’s hand holding hers. The way those military types had shot her dead… that was unforgivable.
But worse than that, it made her lose hope.
Because what hope was there
in a world where people shot little girls like that?
She was so good. She was so innocent.
And now she was gone.
She lay back against the wall, trapped in this room, wherever it was. A cabin? Some sort of caravan? She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that a part of her wanted to give up. After all, what hope did she have against those military men? They’d captured her; that’s what this was. Now they were holding her captive.
But then… if she gave up, what hope was there, too?
She swallowed a lump in her dry, bloodied throat.
She couldn’t give up.
She had to try something.
One way or another, she had to try and get out of this place.
She pulled against the ties on her wrists.
They were too tight.
She tried to pull her ankles apart, to snap herself out of this situation.
But again, they were just too tight.
She leaned back. She wanted to cry. More than anything, she wanted Dad. She was so sorry for what she’d done. She’d been so close to getting to the safe zone… then that happened in the woods.
She wanted to go out there. Warn him. Make sure he was okay.
She was about to give up again when she heard something beside her.
Movement.
She spun around. Started to breathe heavily through her bloodied nose.
Then she heard something to her right, too.
More movement.
More shuffling.
Then she realised she could smell something.
Sweat.
At first, it didn’t dawn on her. It didn’t truly click.
But then it hit her.
It hit her in a bold way.
She wasn’t the only prisoner in this room.
She leaned back. There were others. Others like her. The military group, whoever they were—all she knew was that they spoke another language—they were rounding people up. Killing some of them, sure. But rounding others up, like her.
What kind of future did they have planned for her and the people like her?
What kind of future did she have to face?
She pushed forward again. Because deep down, she knew she couldn’t give up. Even if she tried and didn’t get anywhere at all, it was better than just admitting defeat, just backing down and accepting her days were numbered.
