He ran back to where Megan’s lifeless body lay and looked down at her in despair. The shotgun fell from his hand and clattered on the ground. The left side of her body, from the neck downwards, was covered in blood. He sank to the ground, lifted her frail, still body and cradled her to his chest, howling and sobbing for this beautiful young girl who had come into their lives and given them such joy.
Twenty-five
He sat there on the ground clutching Megan to his chest for several minutes, rocking her body with tears streaming down his face and oblivious to everything. He was barely aware of Bill’s van screeching to a stop nearby, or of him jumping out, swearing and cursing as he ran over to him. He knelt down next to him, his face full of grief. Jamie was covered in Megan’s blood and Bill thought it was his.
‘Oh, fucking hell! Jamie, are you okay? Are you injured?’
Jamie didn’t respond but just sat there in a daze, sobbing. Bill shook his shoulder and then lifted his face so it was level with his own.
‘Jamie!’ he said loudly. ‘Come on, snap out of it! Are you hurt?’ Jamie’s eyes slowly came into focus and he stared at him.
‘The fuckers killed her, Bill,’ he sobbed. ‘It was meant for me and she saved my life.’
‘Are you hurt, too, Jamie?’ he asked again and Jamie shook his head.
Bill looked down at Megan’s body with tears in his eyes as Jamie held her and he noticed a small movement in her chest. He reached his hand across and felt at Megan’s neck for several seconds.
‘Jamie, she’s not dead! She’s got a pulse! I can feel it. It’s a bit slow and erratic, but she’s alive!’
Jamie shook his head to clear it and felt for himself. Bill hadn’t been mistaken; he could feel a pulse and Megan was alive.
‘Jesus, Jesus! Oh, thank God!’
‘Jamie, where’s your car? You’ve got to take her to the army camp at Tunbridge Wells right now. They’ve got doctors and medics there. They’re the only ones who can help her now.’
Jamie shook his head again, trying to remember. ‘It’s round by Halfords.’ He fumbled in his pocket and gave Bill the keys to the BMW and he ran off, returning a minute later with the car. They lifted Megan carefully between them and placed her on the back seats, then covered her with Max’s blanket from the boot. Jamie had recovered from his initial shock and grief and was now thinking more clearly again. He got into the driver’s seat.
‘Jamie, whatever you do, don’t go mad! Take it steady – you don’t want to come off the road and kill both of you! And keep talking to her and reassuring her.’
Jamie nodded. ‘Bill, can you go to the bungalow and tell Jane?’
‘Course I will, mate. You take it easy; drive carefully and I’ll see you soon. Best of luck, mate.’
Jamie thanked him and then drove out of the retail park, his mind racing as he thought of the best way to go. The quickest way was the new road to the top of Hastings to pick up the A21, so he headed up Wrestwood Road to join the Combe Valley Way from the new roundabout near Sidley.
That journey was probably the best piece of driving he’d ever done in his life. He drove as fast as was practicable, slowing carefully for the bends and speeding up on the straights. Never before had he been so focussed or concentrated so hard; all his thoughts bent on Megan’s survival. He spoke to her constantly, reassuring her that she would be okay. He didn’t know if she could hear him, but he kept it up nonetheless.
It was just over thirty miles to the army camp and it went by in a blur. On some of the straight stretches he was doing well over a hundred miles-per-hour. He got there in just over forty minutes. Signs had been placed at intervals along the road, announcing the camp’s presence, and he found it easily. He pulled off the road into a gated entrance to a large field, full of huge tents and many army vehicles. A soldier stood guard at the gate, his rifle at the ready, as Jamie jumped from the car and approached him. The soldier looked at him warily; Jamie’s face, hands and clothes were covered in Megan’s blood, which he had forgotten about, and the soldier held his rifle on him.
‘Please, you’ve got to help me. I’ve got a wounded girl in the car – she’s been shot and needs help immediately.’
‘Sir, please stand to one side,’ the soldier said, his rifle still covering Jamie as he went to look in the car.
‘Is Major Miller or Major Cunningham here?’ Jamie asked urgently. ‘I met them in Bexhill a week ago. They know me and the girl – her name’s Megan and I’m Jamie Parker. Major Cunningham examined her at our house.’
‘Major Miller is out today, but Major Cunningham is here. Please wait here, sir, while I try to contact him.’ He walked off a few yards and spoke into his radio.
Jamie opened the rear door, knelt down and stroked Megan’s hair, kissing her forehead and telling her that everything was going to be okay. The soldier came back after a minute, telling him that Major Cunningham had been informed and asking for him to wait, and Jamie thanked him. After several tense minutes Cunningham came running up with two orderlies carrying a stretcher.
The soldier opened the gate for them and they approached the car. Cunningham was a professional and he didn’t waste time with greetings. He merely nodded to Jamie and bent down to look at Megan for a short while. He nodded to the orderlies and they lifted Megan carefully from the car and onto the stretcher. Cunningham instructed them to take Megan to the medical tent immediately and they set off across the field.
‘Private Baker; direct Mr. Parker to the vehicle parking area and have him wait there. I’ll come when we have news.’ Baker saluted and Cunningham nodded to Jamie again and ran off after the stretcher.
‘Thank you, Major…’ Jamie called after him and Cunningham raised his hand in response.
The soldier gave Jamie directions and he thanked him, got back in the car and drove across the field to where he’d been instructed to park. He passed many tents and army trucks, one of which looked like a command vehicle with lots of antennas on the roof. He parked the car and turned the engine off, then sat there for a few minutes as his heart rate came back to normal. He picked up his rucksack from the footwell, rummaged inside and pulled out his hip flask. He took a couple of mouthfuls of whisky, put it back in his pack and then sat back in the seat. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and he felt like he was sinking.
He opened the door for some fresh air and got out. He looked around him at the camp and further down the field he could see other civilians; probably other survivors who had either made their way there or been brought there by the army. The first half of the camp was all army and medical operations and quarters. He took the blanket from the back seat and put it on the grass to sit on, but saw the bloodstains on it and tears came into his eyes again as he wondered how she was. He picked the blanket back up and threw it angrily into the back of the car, then sat back down in the passenger seat, where there was more legroom.
He’d been there nearly half an hour when Jane pulled up next to him in his Seat. He got out of the car and she looked in horror at Megan’s blood on his clothes and face, then burst into tears and threw her arms around him. She looked up at him desperately.
‘How is she?’
‘I don’t know, my love. Major Cunningham took her away to a medical tent half an hour ago. All I know is that she was breathing, but unconscious. All we can do is wait.
Jane… Megan saved my life: I’d be dead now if it wasn’t for her. She threw herself into me and pushed me out of the way and took most of the shotgun blast…’ He started crying again and Jane hugged him.