Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
‘Is he dead? I can’t look,’ Scarlett whispered, and Janey, who was nearest to him, shook her head.
‘He’s still breathing, but he’s losing blood and unconscious.’
‘Are you sure about that, because in every movie they play dead then grab your ankle and finish you off.’
Janey reached out one foot and kicked out at the guy’s leg. His leg bent at such an awkward angle she let out a high-pitched screech. ‘Oh my God, I broke his leg.’ She looked closer and gasped. ‘No, it’s a false leg.’ She kicked it away so he couldn’t reach it.
‘Good, he can’t follow us then, can he? Grab his torch.’
Scarlett was leaning against the side of the cell.
Janey picked the guy’s torch up and shone it around.
They were in some kind of cellar and the two wooden boxes they’d been kept in were quite clearly cages in the light.
They looked like animal cages, and she realised that’s exactly all they were to the guy who was probably slowly bleeding to death on the floor.
‘We need to get out of here.’
A loud bark from the tunnel the guy had come down filled the air, and Janey turned around. The beam of light picked out another, identical, tunnel. She pointed towards it. ‘That way, he has a guard dog. It might be vicious.’
She led the way. Scarlett was struggling to walk, each step made the air inside of her lungs burn as the cold air seemed to be sucked in through the burning hole in her side.
‘Wait, I need something to wrap my side up with. It hurts too much when I walk.’
Janey turned to look at her, and for a moment Scarlett thought that she was going to leave her behind, her eyes were so hard and focused. Then she pulled the sweater she was wearing off and tied it around Scarlett’s waist, so tight Scarlett felt the room begin to swim.
‘Hey, stay focused. I need you to stay with me, Scarlett.’ She gently slapped her cheek, and Scarlett glared at her but realised that she no longer felt faint.
‘I’m okay, thanks.’
‘Follow me, I need you to stay close. We’re getting out of here.’
Scarlett clutched the back of the thin T-shirt that Janey was wearing and shuffled along behind her. The tunnel was going downhill, which was something because if it had been going upwards, she didn’t think she’d make it.
At least they’d managed to incapacitate their kidnapper. They were safe now as long as they could get out of this place.