I feel guilt and relief at the same time. I just know there’s no way I could face the brashness of those men in my current emotional state. Not for the first time, I wish I was back home with my family, grieving for Skye in safety. Poor Luc has to take it all on his shoulders now, without any support from me. At least he vaguely knows these people.
I stare out of the window and see soldiers everywhere. I realise I haven’t eaten for hours, but I’m too scared to venture out to the AV on my own to get food. Then I remember that even if I did get an attack of bravery, I don’t think we’ve got any food left and I don’t have the keycard anyway. I think longingly of the proper evening meal Luc will now be eating and hope he’ll smuggle some out for me. Still, I’d rather be hungry here in this room, than socialising with a roomful of soldiers.
This was supposed to be my opportunity to do something for Skye, to find information and be brave. God, I’m a wimp. But after the events with the raiders and then Salisbury, I have lost my courage. I literally feel weak with fear at the thought of having to speak to anybody else I don’t know.
I pull the thin orange curtain closed, lie down on one of the beds, on top of the scratchy brown blanket and fall asleep.
I can’t breathe and I’m struggling to remember where I am in my semi-conscious state. I feel like I’m suffocating and now, with rising panic, I realise someone’s hand is covering my mouth. I open my eyes.
‘Mmmphf!’ I try to scream, but the huge hand is clamped too firmly. Bewildered and terrified, I stare into the dark eyes of a black, uniformed soldier. To him, I must look like a frightened pony – eyes wide in fear and hyperventilating through my nose in noisy puffs.
‘Quiet!’ he whispers loudly. ‘You’re in…’
‘Mmmmph!’ I try to yell for somebody to help me. His hand is still over my mouth and I do my best to open it so that I can bite down along the side of his forefinger. But he gets wise to this straightaway and squeezes my mouth closed with his fingers, bruising my cheeks painfully.
‘For Christ sake, just listen a minute or you’re gonna get hurt,’ he hisses with a strong country accent I can’t place. He pulls my face up close to his and I try to twist away. He looks African or Jamaican. I’ve never even seen a black man before.
Sleep still clings to me and I feel disorientated, wondering where the hell I am and why I’m being attacked. Then it all comes flooding back: I’m at Century Barracks, Luc is at dinner with the big brass and I went to bed early. Now, here I am, being jerked awake by this huge soldier who’s in my room with his hand crushing my face. I stop struggling for a moment, so I can breathe through my nose and also because I need him to relax the grip he’s got on my cheeks.
‘God, that’s better,’ he relaxes too. ‘I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t let you scream or they’ll have us both.’ He glances anxiously towards the door. ‘You’re in the crapper if you stay here. I can help you and your boyfriend get out, but we haven‘t got much time. They‘ll be here in a minute and you won‘t like what they got planned for you.’
His words start to register and a new kind of fear replaces the one I felt just a second ago.
He seems genuine. Scared and anxious, but with a kind-ish face. But, what do I know? He could just as easily be a mad man out to kill me. After the last few days, my mind is all over the place. I can’t believe I’m facing yet another bad situation.
‘Right,’ he says, ‘I’m gonna let you go and then I’ll back away from you. Please God don’t scream or we’re both finished, okay?’
I nod and show what I hope to be assent in my eyes.
‘And letting go, and backing away,’ he says slowly with a sardonic half smile.
We stare at each other warily, for about five seconds.
‘Right. Hello Riley, I’m Denzil. Here’s the short version.’ He speaks quickly and quietly. ‘As of about three months ago, Luc’s dad became Century Barracks’ number one enemy. I don’t know the details, but he must’ve done something to seriously piss of the Major because, for weeks now, they’ve been planning some kind of retaliation.
‘Your bloke obviously has no idea of this or he wouldn’t have brought you within twenty miles of this place. They can’t believe their luck up at the mess hall and they‘re humouring him till they decide what to do. They knew he was lying about meeting his dad, and now they’re dreaming up how they can use him to ruin Eddie and get some revenge.’
‘God, we‘ve got to get him out of there,’ I whisper back. ‘But do they know who I am? My father’s on really good terms with the army. He‘s one of their main suppliers.’ Even as I say the words, I know they sound pompous and pathetic.
‘Who knows you’re here?’ asks Denzil.
I don’t reply.
‘Exactly,’ he says. ‘They’ve guessed you’re AWOL. Your parents would never in a million years let you out of your Perimeter alone. Right now, you’re a fine-looking young female in a barracks full of frustrated men, whose boyfriend’s family business is seriously irritating them. I don’t fancy your chances.’
‘Okay.’ I swing my legs off the bed, so glad I’d kept my clothes on. ‘How do we get out?’ I hear the shake in my voice. ‘What’s the time? Is Luc still eating with them?’ I bend down and slip my flip flops onto my feet. ‘Why are you doing this anyway? Helping us, I mean.’
‘Selfish reasons,’ he replies. ‘I’ll explain later, when we’ve got out of here.’
‘You mean you want to come with us?’
‘You won’t escape without me.’
Chapter Thirty
Calling Abigail from my mobile, I swallowed my anger and tried to adopt a friendly, apologetic tone. I asked if she’d meet me at the recreation ground that afternoon. She agreed. I waited for her in the deserted playground and sat on a cold, wet swing. She was twenty five minutes late, but I smiled at her when she arrived, hands in her pockets, the hood from her parka covering her platinum hair. She glanced at the swing next to me, but it was covered in raindrops so she stood where she was.
‘Grotty day,’ she said.
‘Hi Abi,’ I said, trying to be breezy. I brought my swing to a stop and stood up, forcing myself to say the next few words. ‘I’m sorry I slapped you before.’ I gave her what I hoped was an apologetic smile. ‘I must have been in shock or something.’
‘Don’t worry about it. I knew you weren’t yourself.’
I tried to restrain myself from slapping her again.
‘You know,’ she continued. ‘I get you were upset about Connor. He tricked us all and you must’ve felt pretty used and stupid when you found out.’
Good God, it took all my strength not to punch the smug smile off her face. I took a deep breath and hummed a tune in my head trying to ignore the self-satisfied crap pouring from her spiteful mouth.
‘Finding out he was a terrorist must have been such a hideous shock.’
I stifled the many retorts that came to my lips and just nodded my head.
‘I feel like I haven’t seen you for ages,’ she breathed. ‘Let’s forget about boys and do something fun.’
‘Yeah, good idea. But do you know what actually happened to Connor? Is he still under arrest or have they let him go?’
‘Oh for God’s sake,’ she said. ‘Connor, Connor, Connor! You’ve only known him for a few weeks and it’s all you go on about. It’s so bo-ring.’
‘I know.’ I smiled and tried to stay upbeat and act like I didn’t care. I knew if she sensed my desperation, I wouldn’t get anything out of her. God, why had I had her as my friend for so long? I must have been blind. She was a monster. ‘I just want to know so I can put him out of my head. It’s bugging me, you know?’