“Seriously?” I reply. “In what possible way was that your plan?”
“They think we’re dead, don’t they?” he replies, forcing a faint smile even though his eyes are filled with fear. “Right about now, Ben and Leanne will be getting back to Steadfall and telling Harold that they saw us die. More importantly, that they saw you die. He’ll be bolder now that he thinks you’re gone, he’ll start taking risks, and that’s when he’ll start to become vulnerable. We only get one chance to take him down, but that’s one more chance than we had earlier.”
“You’re bleeding,” I tell him, reaching out to touch the wound on his chest before thinking better of it. I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to dealing with an injury on this scale.
“They have guns and grenades,” he replies, sounding a little weaker than before, “and probably more besides. I’m pretty sure they had some kind of night-vision back there, otherwise they never would’ve been so accurate with their weapons. One thing we can count on, Asher, is that they’re definitely not following the rules of the island. They were sent here to do a job, and they’ll go to any lengths to get it finished. We’re just lucky Harold’s a psychopath, or the whole town would be dead by now.”
“How do we fight back?” I ask. “We only have knives and rocks. It’s like a pair of prehistoric cavemen going up against modern soldiers.”
“Speak for yourself,” he replies, starting to laugh before the pain kicks in again. He winces and tries to sit up, but after a moment he has to settle back down. “I’m not going to be very mobile right now,” he continues, “but that doesn’t mean I’m useless. Help me up.”
I shake my head. “You need to rest and—”
“Fine!” he hisses, pushing me away. “I’ll help myself up!”
He lets out a grunt as he tries to get to his feet, and finally I put an arm around him, figuring that I have no option but to help. As he leans against the rock-face, however, I suddenly feel a little dizzy.
“Asher,” a voice whispers, “don’t leave me.”
I freeze, instantly recognizing that voice.
“Mads?” I whisper, turning and looking across the moonlit patch of grass. There’s no sign of her, of course, but at the same time I feel as if a long-forgotten memory is somehow leeching back into my mind. I was with Mads when she died. I’d forgotten until now, but she was hurt, she was really hurt, and there was blood all over—
“Asher?” Deckard says suddenly.
Turning to him, I feel a shiver pass through my chest.
“Are you okay there?” he asks. “Looked like you were zoning out for a moment.”
“I’m fine,” I reply, not wanting to admit that I lost my focus. There’ll be time for memories later. “We don’t have long, though.” I glance around one more time, but there’s definitely no sign of Mads. For some reason that I still don’t quite understand, my memory seems to have been triggered by something, and now thoughts of the war are slipping back to me piece by piece. “Carly said ten people were sick now,” I continue, turning back to Deckard as I once again tell myself to focus on what’s happening right now. For a moment, however, I can’t help thinking about Carly’s death. “They’re cowards,” I mutter, feeling a flash of anger. “They shot her in the back.”
“Don’t let anger rule you,” Deckard replies. “We’ll deal with Ben and Leanne when the time comes, but Harold’s the one who’s in charge. If we can bring him down, the other two should be relatively easy.”
“We can’t just go charging in,” I point out. “Even if he lets his guard down a little, Harold isn’t going to make any huge mistakes. He’s too smart.”
“That’s why we have to plan carefully,” Deckard tells me. “They have proper weapons, which means our only advantage is the fact that they think we’re dead. As soon as we blow that advantage, we’re back where we started.”
I open my mouth to reply, but for a moment I feel as if Mads is close. Turning, I look across the darkness and spot a figure on the ground, writhing in agony. I want to go to her, to help her somehow, but I blink a couple of times and she quickly disappears.
“Asher!” Deckard says firmly. “Stay with me!”
“I am!” I stammer, turning to him.
“You’re not,” he continues. “You’re losing it, I can tell. Whatever’s going on in that head of yours, you need to stay focused on the situation we’re dealing with. There’ll be time to daydream later!”
I glance at the spot where I thought I saw Mads, but of course there’s no sign of her now.
“Sure,” I mutter, turning back to Deckard. “I’m fine.”
“Flashbacks?”
I shake my head, but I can tell from the look in his eyes that he’s not convinced.
“We need to scout the place out,” he continues, limping forward through the darkness. He’s clearly in agony, and when I try to support him, I find that he accepts my help. For the first time ever.
“And then what?” I ask.
“And then we come up with an amazingly brilliant plan,” he replies, “that wipes that son of a bitch off the island for good.” He glances at me. “I get it, Asher. Sometimes I used to have trouble focusing. I used to let my mind wander and I’d end up staring into space while I was thinking about my wife, about what might have happened to her after she reached the island. Sometimes the past is just too tempting.”
“Your wife might still be alive,” I point out, as we make our way across the sloping rocky ground.
“You don’t believe that and neither do I,” he replies, “but after all of this is over, I have to go and find out for sure.” We walk on for a moment, and I can tell from his pained gasps that he’s in agony. “She used to have this little tattoo,” he continues with a faint smile, “on her left shoulder. It was a picture of a boat that we saw once when we were on vacation. We promised ourselves that one day we’d buy a boat just like that and sail around the world. I couldn’t believe it when she got that tattoo, but she said it was to remind us of our dreams. We had no chance of ever being able to afford something like that, of course, but the hope kept us going through the darkest days. Until she finally snapped, anyway.”
“I’m sure there’s a chance you’ll find her,” I tell him.
“That’s exactly the point,” he replies, wincing a little. “There’s a chance, and however small—”
Suddenly a scream rings out in the distance, followed a split second later by another and then another.
“Steadfall!” I shout, filled with a sense of horror as the screams get louder. Without waiting for Deckard to reply, I start running through the forest, desperate to get back.
Chapter Forty-two
“Round them up!” a voice shouts in the darkness, as screams continue to ring out. “Don’t let any of them get away!”
Sitting up in the dark little hut, I see that fires are burning outside, lighting up the clearing. The screams started suddenly just a couple of seconds ago, while I was sitting here in the darkness and trying to work out how to locate Asher. Stumbling to my feet, I limp to the doorway and look out, just in time to see the silhouettes of terrified figures being dragged across the ground.
A moment later I see a woman running toward the fence. Just as it seems she might be about to get away, an energy blast flashes across the darkness, hitting her in the back and sending her slumping to the ground.
Pulling back, I realize that Harold and his friends have started to make their move. More energy bursts flash against the night sky, and it’s clear that weapons from outside the island are being used. Trying not to panic, I reach down to my belt, only to find that I no longer have my knife.