“What was that all about?” I directed the question at them both, but the man stepped protectively in front of woman and child, although what he thought he could do with a hammer against a shotgun I couldn’t begin to guess.
“They wanted food, and when we told them we didn’t have any they tried to search our bags. Then one of them made a grab for Sam and Jenny hit her. I managed to get the hammer out and keep them off but I reckon it would have turned really nasty if you hadn’t turned up, so thank you.”
He kept his eyes on the shotgun as he spoke, still unsure whether we were saviours or yet more thieves.
“We’ve got room in the car for the three of you,” I said, voice as calm as I could make it with adrenaline still running through my system like wildfire, “at least let us get you away from here or they’ll just attack you again when we’re out of sight.”
“Really, you’d do that?” He looked at his wife and she shrugged and nodded.
“This is Jenny and our little boy Sam, I’m Tom,” he said, picking up their bags and carrying them to the car, Jenny following in his shadow while I backed away from where the group stood watching at a safe distance.
“I’m Malc and this is Emily. We can talk later, for now let’s get out of here.”
They squeezed into the back seat bags and all, and in a few moments we were off again, the car groaning under the extra weight.
“So,” I said to the couple as we rounded and bend and lost the group from sight, “why were you out here in the middle of nowhere?”
Tom leaned forward to speak to me over the noise of the engine.
“Well,” he said, breathing as if he’d just run a race, “me and my friends needed a car, and this seemed the best way. I’m really sorry and all that, but I think you probably ought to stop before things get messy.”
I felt a sharp prick in my kidney and looked down to see the tip of a kitchen knife held there by the man we’d just rescued. Jenny, if that was indeed her name, was holding a second knife to Emily’s stomach, one arm still clutching the baby while the other snaked between the chairs to keep the blade against my friend.
The shotgun was useless in such close quarters, the barrels now broken and pointing into the footwell in any case, and I ground my teeth together as I realised how well we’d been played.
Emily slowed the car to a stop and turned the engine off, resting her hands on the wheel.
“What now?” She asked through gritted teeth.
“Now,” Tom said as he used his spare hand to pull the shotgun away from me, “we wait for our friends to catch up, and then we’ll see.”
Chapter 24
“Don’t seem right to kill them,” Jenny said to the rest of the group while Tom stood watch over us with the shotgun. We were sat on the verge while they went through our car, pulling everything out and spreading it on the grass nearby before splitting it between themselves.
I’d been watching in miserable silence as our food, water and medical supplies disappeared into bags and pockets, too afraid of the shotgun to try and argue with them, but now they were talking about our fate I began to listen carefully.
“You want to leave witnesses?” One of the men asked, his white shirt grubby and sweat stained. “What if they can identify us?”
Tom looked over at them. “Identify us to who? It’s not like there are any police about. I’m with Jenny, I reckon we let them walk.”
He turned back just as I was thinking about making a foolhardy grab for the shotgun. My legs had begun to tense but I settled back and pretended I was trying to find a more comfortable position. As far as I knew, Emily still had the pistol tucked in her waistband, but I had no idea why she hadn’t pulled it yet and I couldn’t exactly ask with Tom standing so close.
The woman with the makeup laughed nastily. “Yeah, but you’re always with Jenny. Under the thumb. What if they’ve got friends nearby, eh? What then? We’re clever, we’ll bury them in a ditch.”
Hearing them discuss our deaths so casually made me feel sick to my stomach. I looked over at Emily, hoping for some indication that she was about to leap into action while they were still focused on our gear, but she ignored me, watching the group carefully, eyes flicking from one face to another.
She’d barely said a word to me since we’d been stopped, instead concentrating all her attention on our captors, watching their every move.
As the group continued to argue, Tom stepped a few feet closer to them, the better to both listen and get his point across. They seemed split pretty much down the middle, the woman with the makeup leading the half that wanted us dead and buried, Tom and Jenny the half that wanted to let us go.
As soon as I judged Tom far enough away, I turned to Emily as casually as I could.
“What are we going to do?” I whispered hoarsely.
“I don’t know yet.” She spoke quietly but calmly, no fear in her voice whatsoever. I wished I felt even a fraction as relaxed as she sounded. “I think we’re best off seeing how this plays out. If they let us go, at least we’re alive even if they have got all our stuff. If they decide to kill us then they’re not leaving me a lot of choice.”
“Can’t you shoot him?” I said quietly, nodding my head towards Tom.
She shook her head. “This isn’t a film. I have to reach behind myself, pull the pistol out, take the safety off and aim at someone who has a shotgun pointed at us. How do you think that’s going to turn out? No, we need to wait until we’re standing at the very least, and if it does go bad I’ll need you to distract them.”
“Distract them how?”
“You’re a resourceful chap, I’m sure you’ll think of something. Now if you don’t mind, I want to hear what they’re saying.”
I switched my attention back to the group as the argument between Jenny and the other woman grew more heated.
“We can’t just go killing everyone we come across,” Jenny snapped, “we’re not murderers.”
“But stealing’s ok, if it suits you?”
“Well, yeah, it is. But stealing is only stuff. Murder is taking someone’s life. You can’t take that back once you’ve done it.”
“Well I say we shoot them and have done.”
“And I say I didn’t vote for you to be in charge, Sandra, and my bloke has got the shotgun.”
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Sandra pushed up close to Jenny, their eyes mere inches apart. The baby began to grizzle as he sensed the tension, and immediately Jenny turned away, soothing him with a dummy and soft cooing sounds.
“Fucking pussies, the lot o’ya. Don’t know why I bothered helping you in the first place.”
“Because it’s hard to rob people on your own?” Tom suggested, getting a dark look in return.
I cleared my throat. “There is another option,” I said, wilting slightly as everyone turned to look at me.
“Go on,” Tom said, gesturing with the shotgun for me to continue.
“You could let us join you.”
Sandra shook her head. “No, we’ve got too many people already. I say we kill them and be done with it.”
Tom half turned to look at her and I felt Emily tense next to me, one hand slowly moving towards her waistband.
“You want them killed,” he said, “you do it yourself.”
Sandra stormed up to him and grabbed the shotgun, pulling it from his unresisting grip. Hefting the unfamiliar weapon, she raised it to her shoulder but Emily was already moving, pulling out the pistol and aiming it in one smooth motion that spoke of years of practice.
Time slowed, every movement taking an age as I threw myself to one side, still watching as Emily’s finger tightened on the trigger, flame exploding from the muzzle as the roar washed over me, louder than I would have believed possible.