by Ryan Casey
She gritted her teeth as she pushed. As she tried to separate the ties around her wrists, as she tried to break free of those around her ankles. She was pulling so hard she was sure she’d cut her wrists and her legs in the process.
But it was what she had to do.
It was all she had to try.
But when she didn’t get anywhere… she let out a gasp.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. She could hear more shuffling and mumbling around her now. What had she done to deserve this hell?
She wished she could roll back time. Not to when her mum was alive, as good as those days were. Just to earlier. To before she’d stormed from her dad. She wished she could tell herself she wasn’t strong enough on her own, and that she needed him.
But then she heard her mum’s words in her ears again.
You’re strong enough to do whatever you want, Holly.
She opened her eyes. Took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to let these ties defeat her. She wasn’t going to die in this room. No one was.
She was strong enough to get out.
She pulled her wrists and let out a cry.
And then she felt something.
The tie.
The tie around her wrists.
It was loosening.
She pulled further. Kept on going. Heart racing. Adrenaline pumping.
She was almost out. She had to believe it. And when she got out… well, she could cross the next bridge when it came to it.
It was more important that she was almost there. She’d almost made it.
She pulled some more. And then she felt the ties loosening some more, felt them coming free.
A smile. A smile under the tape over her mouth.
She could make this.
She could do this.
She went to pull the ties again when something happened.
First, a sound.
Then, light.
She went still. Squinted.
And then she saw where the light was coming from.
There was a man ahead of her, someone by his side. Another prisoner.
The man was standing in the doorway.
Holding a gun.
He had a smile on his face.
And he was looking right at her.
Chapter Forty-Three
Mike didn’t know what awaited on the road ahead. If he did, perhaps he might’ve played things differently.
There was a cool chill to the air now, as morning progressed to afternoon. They were on the road now. Mike knew people had been here. He kept seeing traces of humanity along the way: plastic wrappers from food, the occasional boot mark. Even the odd speck of blood, which sparked worry and fear inside him, naturally.
But he had to stay calm. He had to stay focused. He had to keep pressing on. After all, it was a path. A path that he could follow. A path to his daughter.
He couldn’t believe how quiet this road was. Apart from the occasional call of a bird, everything was just so silent. It was a far cry from the riots and the chaos of the cities. Of course, every now and then, Mike would see a group of people or a family in the distance, only for them to disappear into the woods before he could reach them.
It seemed like the people who had made it out of the cities were just as cautious about strangers as he was.
And rightly so.
He took a deep breath of the cool air, smelling the freshness of the pines. Reminded him of better days—days when he was younger, when he’d come up here on his mountain bike and go off trail. He used to feel so alone when he did that; so free of society, of all his responsibilities.
Right now, he felt more responsible than ever.
His daughter’s life was at stake.
He heard Kumal sighing beside him, dragging his feet to a halt. He knew what Kumal was about to say was coming. It’d been coming a while.
“I’m just not sure how much further we can go and just hope to run into Holly,” Kumal said.
Mike sighed, kept on walking, eager not to stop for anyone. “We keep moving.”
“We saw the helicopter,” Kumal said. “It—it landed west of where we are. What if we’re missing our chance? What if it’s like, deporting people out of the country? What if we end up trapped here forever?”
Mike turned around. Squared up to Kumal. Looked him right in the eye. “I told you. You had a choice. You can walk to that safe zone. You told me you were with me. I didn’t ask for that. That was your call. Right now, there’s only one thing that matters to me, and that’s finding Holly. And if you don’t like that… well, feel free to take a different route.”
Mike turned back, then. Carried on walking.
“He’s right,” Alison said.
Irritation crept in. “Not you as well.”
“I know it’s hard, Mike. I know this… this is nigh on impossible. But Kumal’s right. There’s a chance we could get somewhere safe. That’s exactly where Holly was going. But this—this mission… there’s no guarantee it’s going to end well.”
“You saw the state of that family in the woods,” Mike said. “You saw that little girl. That pregnant woman. Do you think it’s going to end well for my Holly if she’s caught up with them?”
Silence followed.
“I didn’t think so.”
He kept on walking again. Arya was by his side. The rest of the group trailed behind him. He knew they had a point. At the end of the day, they just wanted to survive.
But he wasn’t stopping them finding their own way.
“I say we go a little further,” Gina said. “I mean, we’ve made it this far. Might as well push on to the end of the road. See if there’s anything that might give us an idea where Holly’s at.”
Mike felt relieved to have someone on his side at least, as temporary a bargain as it may be. He looked at Gina, nodded. “Thanks,” he said. “It’s nice to know there’s—”
Gunfire.
Gunfire, up ahead.
Mike froze. He turned his neck, slowly.
That’s when he saw them.
At the end of the road, there was a little campsite. A few trailer caravans, things like that. A couple of motorhomes, too.
And surrounding the caravans, he saw them.
He saw their black military gear.
He saw their weapons.
And he knew there could be no mistaking the truth, now.
“Military,” he said. “A foreign army, no doubt about it.”
He shuffled over to the other side of the road, along with the rest of the group. They crouched there, stared over at this military group.
There were a few of them. Five, at least. They were laughing about something. Joking about something.
And then he saw the man.
He was stripped down. Beaten. Bruised.
And he was being humiliated in front of the soldiers.
Tension built up inside Mike. He knew what war could do to people. But this wasn’t fair. This was the systemic humiliation and degradation of innocent people.
Whoever’s troops these people were, whoever’s military assault this was… it looked like they were eager to put a stamp down on the people of Britain—and wherever else—before it could get itself up and running again.
“What’re we supposed to do now?” Alison asked.
Mike mulled over the options in his head. But one thing was still obvious: they didn’t want to rush in all guns blazing at these people… mostly because they didn’t have any bloody guns to blaze with.
They had to be careful. They had to play this right.
“We wait,” Mike said. “We watch. And…”
That’s when he saw her.
The door of the caravan opened.
One of the soldiers dragged the naked man up the steps, then threw him into the caravan.
But in the light, at the back of the caravan, Mike saw her clearly.
Her dark hair, greasy by the side of her head.
A bloodied forehead and nose.
�
�Holly,” he said.
He looked at her for a second. Looked at her and hoped, somehow, she’d look back at him.
But then the soldier closed the caravan door.
“They’ve got Holly,” he said. “They’ve got my daughter.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Mike stared at the military camp and he thought about how Holly must be feeling right now.
The afternoon was progressing fast. They hadn’t moved from this spot since they’d got here. The military didn’t seem to be on the move either, which was something. It must be some kind of base for them. Some place they were holing up for the time being.
Whatever it was, Mike had it in his sights.
He felt his stomach tingling, tasted acid in his mouth like he always did when he was stressed. He stared down the road, listened to the birdsong, to the mumbling of this military group. Part of him was on high alert for screams. Because if he heard a scream, he wasn’t sure how he was going to react.
All he knew was that Holly was in that caravan. And he wasn’t sure how to process that information.
He saw a path ahead of him. A path ahead of the whole group, rather. The first option was to go into that camp when the best chance arose. The second option… well, there wasn’t a second option for him. But for the rest of the group? He wanted them to get to safety.
He wanted them to get to that safe zone.
He didn’t want them to be caught up in this mess.
“We’re going to have to do something soon,” Alison said.
Mike looked at her. He looked at Kumal, at Gina, and at Arya. He nodded. “Yes. You’re going to head towards the safe zone.”
Alison frowned. “What? Mike, we discussed—”
“I don’t want you to be caught up in what I’m about to do.”
Alison’s eyes glazed over. Mike saw them growing watery. “Mike… it’s not safe. You’ll get yourself killed.”
He sighed and half-smiled. “If I do, so be it. I’ll die fighting for my daughter if it’s what I have to do. I haven’t… I haven’t done that nearly enough. Even when I saved her at the start of all this, I still took her for granted. I still wasn’t really a father. But now I see. Now I know what I have to do.”
Alison looked at the ground. “I’ll… We’ll miss you.”
Mike smiled. He leaned over to her, lifted her chin, looked right into her eyes.
And for a moment, there was something. There was a spark.
Then a smile stretched across her face before she turned away. “Do what you have to do.”
She stepped back. Stood with Kumal, Gina, and Arya by her side.
All of them looked at Mike. All of them nodded. Like they knew this was farewell. Like they knew it was the end.
“Save me a seat on that helicopter,” Mike said, battling the emotion in his voice.
“Stay safe,” Gina said. “Please.”
Mike nodded at her. Then at Kumal, and once more at Alison. Then he went over to Arya, ruffled her fur. She licked his face.
“We get along just fine now, hmm?” he said. “Real team, you and me, aren’t we?”
She panted some more, lifted a paw.
Mike turned around, then. He looked at the caravan site. Took a deep breath.
“I’ll see you on the other side,” he said.
When he looked over his shoulder, they were already gone.
It was time to wait.
And then it was time to save his daughter.
When it was dark, Mike knew it was time.
The military camp was barely a military camp. More a campsite that this foreign army had decided to occupy as a base for the time being. And that held with it some key advantages, for Mike anyway. Namely, if it wasn’t a real military camp, it was going to be far easier to intercept.
Not that it was going to be easy per se. Just easier.
He was under no illusions about how difficult this was really going to be.
He crept through the woods, around the side of the caravan site. He’d stayed put all day, watching the habits and the movements of this group. It seemed like they always had someone outside, on guard, sitting there with the rifle on their lap.
But one particular guard, he was privy to reading a book on his shift.
He was on guard now.
Mike had planned it that way.
He crept closer to the camp. Walked past a box of explosives that it looked like this group had brought along with them. When he got right up close to it, he heard the voices inside the caravans. Heard the laughter. It made his skin crawl. The fact that people could be enjoying this world while so many other people were suffering such misery… it was impossible to even comprehend.
But then he supposed he’d witnessed war zones himself. He knew just how easy it was for people to slip into a new reality.
Which was why he’d brought his Becker BK-2 knife along with him.
He saw the man sitting by the front of the caravan Holly was inside, guarding it, acting as watchman.
And as he looked at him, glowing in the moonlight, Mike wondered whether there was a stealthier way of doing this. A better way of going about this. A way without killing.
But then he remembered what these people were like. What they’d done.
They were capturing people.
They’d killed a pregnant woman. Killed a little girl.
And they had his little girl in captivity.
He couldn’t afford any sympathy.
He stepped out and approached the man, swiftly and stealthily.
The man had his head buried in his book. Mike needed him to keep it that way.
But something happened.
He looked up. Looked right at Mike.
His eyes widened.
He opened his mouth. Lifted his rifle.
But Mike was on him before he could fire.
He covered his mouth. The man kicked out, struggled, whined.
And as Mike looked down into his fearful eyes, he lifted the knife and pierced it through his neck.
The man kicked around even more violently, blood pooling out. Fear expanded in his eyes.
But Mike kept on pushing, blood gushing over his hand from the man’s mouth. He kept on pressing.
The man kicked some more. Struggled some more.
And then he went still.
Mike moved his hand away, pulled out the knife. He took the rifle, then stood up and headed towards the caravan his daughter was inside.
Over by the other caravan, he heard footsteps.
A door opening.
Someone stepping out into the night, walking down the steps.
He froze. Went completely still. Held the rifle close, just in case.
But then the man took a left, headed around the back of the caravan, presumably for some beers.
Mike stepped up towards the caravan, then. He opened the door. He was doing this. He was getting Holly and everyone else out of here.
When he opened the door, the first thing that hit him was the smell.
Shit. Urine. Sweat. And the unmistakable smell of fear.
All these eyes staring back at him. All these bodies, some of them naked and stripped, looking at him, praying for mercy.
He looked around the group, and his eyes settled on one person in particular.
“Holly,” he whispered.
He ran over to her. Yanked her free of the ties around her wrists, which it looked like she’d already loosened a fair bit. Her wrists were bleeding. Her ankles were bleeding.
“You’re going to be okay,” Mike said. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I let you go. But I’m here now. I’m here.”
He pulled the tape off her mouth, and when she was free, she fell into Mike’s arms.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“No, I’m sorry. I should’ve been a better dad.”
“And I should’ve been a better daughter.”
“Well, hey. At least we can both be better now, right?”
H
e pulled back. Looked her in the eyes. Smiled at her, as she attempted a smile back at him.
“All these other people,” Holly said. “We—we can’t just leave them here.”
Mike looked around. He knew Holly was right, as much as he wanted to get out of here. He remembered something Alison had said about trusting others, because ultimately, it was going to be trust that united humanity in the end.
“Then let’s get to work on getting them out of here.”
They walked around the room. Cut them free, one by one. They thanked Mike. They thanked Holly. And when they were all free, they all stood in the caravan, looking at one another.
“The next step isn’t going to be easy,” Mike said. “There’s a chance what we’re looking for, where we’re going… there’s a chance we aren’t going to find what we want to find. But we have to stick together. We have to believe. If we do that, no matter where we go, we have a chance.”
Everyone in the room nodded. Thanked him some more.
He looked at Holly and smiled.
Then he walked over to the door, opened it.
The military were standing outside, staring at him.
One of them men tilted his head. “Going somewhere?” he said, in a thick accent.
Mike lifted his gun. Went to pull the trigger.
But then he felt something.
First, he heard the gunfire.
Then, he felt it.
The thump.
The thump, straight in his upper chest.
He fell back. Landed on the caravan floor. Pain splitting through his body. The taste of blood in his mouth.
He looked up at his daughter, who looked down at him, fear in her eyes.
He was shot.
And the caravan was surrounded.
Chapter Forty-Five
Alison looked at the road ahead and she couldn’t help feeling like she’d made the wrong decision.
It was dark, and they’d been walking for miles without stopping. They’d come across a few people on the way, asked them about this supposed safe zone, but nobody was having any of it. Nobody around here had even seen the helicopter go over. Which made Alison wonder…
She kept on going, guided by the light from the moon. But as she walked, her feet blistering, her stomach growling with hunger, Alison couldn’t help thinking about Mike. The mission he’d gone on. The journey he’d chosen for himself. The journey to get to Holly, to rescue her.
