Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
Iwatched Harrington disappear as we headed off to Ryan’s school. Thomas led us out in a black Sedan with Maia and I following and Joe bringing up the rear in a matching Sedan. The truck with the sculptures safely secured followed behind.
I wasn’t sure how much longer Alfie was going to keep me under lock and key but honestly, aside from worrying about why I was being kept here, I didn’t mind it. Harrington had been my home for the last month. Despite how huge it was, it felt cosy somehow. I didn’t want to leave.
We soon arrived at Ryan’s primary school. He would be going up to secondary this year, it was hard to believe how fast he was growing up.
The school was closed for the summer but I’d been able to get in touch with Mrs Reed who had gratefully accepted my offer and arranged for the caretaker to be there to let me in.
School would be reopening in a week or two and the children would be in for an awesome surprise when they saw these waiting in their garden.
It took over an hour but with a lot of care and a few not-so-subtle panic attacks from me, the sculptures were situated, overlooking the garden and the playground.
I took a moment to look around. There were a few weeds but otherwise I was pleased to see the work had been kept up on this place.
Memories of my time building this with Bradley came back to me.
It felt like a lifetime ago now. The cameras Alfie had donated were still there and I knew from Natalie that the children used them all the time.
“Lola?” Maia’s voice interrupted me. “I don’t want to pull you away but Thomas and Joe are getting restless. Mr Tell didn’t want you out of Harrington for longer than you had to be.”
I sighed. It all felt a little melodramatic to me but Alfie didn’t play about my safety. I couldn’t complain about that. The delivery guys had already disappeared with their truck and the caretaker hastily locked up the second I was out of the gates.
I settled into the backseat, preparing for another long weekend without Alfie. I wondered if I could ask Natalie, Riley and Ryan to come and keep me company. Ryan would love to explore Harrington, under strict supervision of course.
I closed my eyes, thinking about everything that had happened over the last month.
What Sid and I had achieved was incredible.
For the first time, I really let myself dream about what could be.
I pictured myself in front of a camera, teaching about different propagation methods, the best time to plant such and such, or the best method for garden planning.
I had so many ideas and all of them had Harrington as the backdrop.
The things I could create in those grounds and show off to the world.
I decided there and then to take Sid’s advice.
I was going to buy a camera and try. I was going to plan something short, stand in front of a camera and try it out.
If I was terrible, I could delete it and throw the whole damn camera away and no one would ever know that I’d made a fool of myself.
We drove out of the village and into the countryside. It was quiet, the usual end-of-day traffic had passed, leaving nothing but near-empty roads and the rolling fields surrounding us.
“What’s this guy doing?” Maia muttered. I looked up and found her eyeing her wing mirror. A silver Subaru Outback was coming up fast behind us. She slowed a little, Joe and Thomas did the same, obviously with the same mind to let this idiot get past us. The car overtook us and I shook my head.
My stomach grumbled, reminding me I’d missed dinner. “Hey Maia, do you want to stop and grab McDonalds? I fancy a milkshake.”
“Sure, but if you spill on the seats I’m not taking the—”
I let out a yell as she slammed on the brakes.
We came to a screeching halt that had me lurching in my seat.
The Outback had stopped, forcing Thomas to stop and us too.
We were in the middle of the junction. I looked behind to see Joe stopped too.
My heart sank when I saw a car coming up behind him.
It slammed into him and I screamed as he hit the steering wheel and the airbag went off.
“Hang on,” Maia said but it was too late for her to get us out of there.
Another car was hurtling towards us from the left, it was going to hit us head on.
I had enough time to curl myself into a ball before it hit, driving us out of the road, through the fence and into a field.
Adrenaline surged. Air rushed out of me in a whoosh. I struggled to breathe.
Water rushed in my ears. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t real. There was no water.
‘Go, baby. It’s alright…I love you. Go.’
It wasn’t real. Her voice wasn’t real. I shook my head. I couldn’t get lost in memories now.
I could hear popping sounds. Gunfire. An alien sound yet I knew immediately what it was. I reached for my door to escape.
“Don’t,” Maia shouted. “Keep that door shut.” I couldn’t see her, only hear her voice through the divide. “Can you move? Are you hurt?”
“No. I don’t think so. What’s going on?” The window burst open, glass shattering everywhere. I screamed, burying my head between my hands.
“Take off your seatbelt. Get down.”
I did as she said, my heart hammering in my chest. “They’re shooting us!”
“It’s alright, stay calm. The glass isn’t bulletproof but the rest of the car is, just stay low. It’s going to be alright.”
I could hear the car that hit us reversing and then it hit us again. Maia moved to the left side of the car as the right side got crushed. I heard her cry out as she moved. “Maia?”
“Stay down.”
I huddled on the floor, staying as hidden as possible. I spotted my phone. “The police, Maia. Should I call them?”
“An alert has already been sent to Elliot. The cars all have GPS trackers. He’ll have a unit on the way already.” More gunfire, I couldn’t tell how much of it was aimed at us or in the distance. “Thomas and Joe are engaging the shooters. They can handle it, Lo. Don’t worry, okay?”
My phone rang before I could answer her. I began to cry when I saw Alfie’s name on the screen. I answered it, staying low.
“Alfie…”
“Lola, the police are on their way.”
His voice slid over me like sunlight, soothing me. “I know. I love you. I’m sorry I asked to leave Harrington.”
“It’s alright. Just stay alive. Just stay safe—”
I screamed as the car rammed us again. My phone fell out of my hand and we began to slide down the embankment. We rolled and rolled again, flying around the car with no seatbelt to secure me. My head slammed against an unshattered window as we came to a stop.
I couldn’t breathe. Everything hurt. The car was on its side. I managed to shuffle into a sitting position. Blood trickled down my neck but I couldn’t think about that now. My phone. My Alfie. Maia.
Everything was spinning but I could make out voices.
Male voices. Relief hit me. Thomas and Joe.
But my mind started to clear and I realised it couldn’t be them.
Thomas and Joe weren’t Irish. Rough hands reached through the window and grabbed my hair.
I screamed as I was pulled out of the flipped car.
I could only struggle for a moment before a blow to my stomach knocked the wind out of me.
I fell to the ground, gasping for air. Panic ripped through me as a bag was thrown over my head.
I was kicked over onto my front and my arms wrenched behind me.
It was quick, methodical. I pulled in a breath to scream but only a strangled cry came out.
Shots were still firing on the road but down here it was quiet now.
Too quiet.
Where was Maia?
I kicked, connected with something soft and I heard a groan. If that was the only point I scored it was better than nothing. They began to drag me, I fought as hard as I could. Never in my life had I felt so small. So helpless.
I heard a strange pop, then a weight landed on me, crushing me.
More pops, lasting only seconds but it felt like a lifetime.
The weight was suddenly pulled off of me and I gasped for air as the bag was removed.
I blinked, trying to take in my surroundings.
Our car was trashed. There was a dead man on either side of me.
Above me was Maia. She pulled a knife out of nowhere and cut the zip tie binding my hands.
Glass had shredded her face, blood smeared her white shirt, but she looked incredible.
“Police will be here in minutes. We just need to wait,” she said as tucked her knife away and picked up her gun.
“I feel cold.”
“You’re in shock. Deep breaths.” She pulled me up. You weren’t supposed to move after a car accident.
“You have a gun.” I’d never seen Maia with a gun before.
“Deep breaths, Lo.”
There was blood on both of us. So much blood.
Phone. I needed a phone.
Where were we? Address? What fucking road was this? I’d lived in this town my whole life, why didn’t I know the name of the fucking road?
I could hear sirens in the distance.
“Lola, I need you to move. There are a lot of them, we need to hide behind the car until help arrives.”
A lot of them. Thomas and Joe…
“My dad…” This was him. His fault.
“We need to—”
More pops came from behind and she lunged in front of me, gun raised. The shooter went down and we were moving again.
“Let’s go.” Maia pulled me towards the car but it seemed so far away. She staggered and through my blurred vision I was able to see blood, more blood than I’d ever seen pouring out of her abdomen.
“Walk, Lola. Walk…” She fell down, hitting the grass with a crunch. Spurned on by adrenaline, I grabbed her. I hooked my arms under her armpits and pulled with everything I had.
“Push with your feet!” I begged as I desperately tried to get to the car. It was the only cover I could reach. Once behind, I let her rest. Those sirens were taking too fucking long to get here. I ripped off my cardigan and folded it, pressing it against her wound.
“Maia, look at me! Stay awake, okay?”
“I’m cold.”
“It’s just shock, remember? We were going to get a milkshake.” I began to laugh. She’d been joking about the car getting damaged. The crushed car now stuck on its side next to us.
The colour was draining from her face.
I heard the screech of tires as a car drove away.
Was it over? Were they gone?
Her eyes were closing and I felt a scream rip out of my throat.
“Don’t! Don’t! Maia!”
I heard a footstep behind me and I turned, expecting help but instead, seeing a masked man peering at me with a pair of eyes I didn’t recognise. He lifted his leg and his foot connecting my head was the last thing I remembered before darkness took me.