Chapter 7
The four of them paused, looking at the building. It was dull and had an industrial feel to it, run down a little over the years. What caught their attention was the large black writing on the front: 'Nikki and Jeff come to St Ives. Safe. We will wait.' was scrawled in large, messy letters in spray paint. They considered this, each of them wondering who the people were and whether they were safe. Alexa looked at the ground and shook her head, forcing the thoughts out of her head.
"Alright, we can't really avoid being out in the open, so we run to the back of the building and find a way in quickly. Ok?" She said quietly, crouched down on the ground and leaning forward, focused.
"Wait, are there gonna be cyborg guys in there?" Josh asked, frowning.
"Cyborgs? Uh, no. ... And we just call them soldiers. 'Cyborg' is too Sci-fi." Callum replied, slowly moving closer to the edge of the tree line.
"They stay in the cities mainly, don't patrol this far out. We should be fine." Alexa clipped the straps of her rucksack together across her front, then turned to the others, "Ready? Let's go."
At once they all stood and made a run for the back of the building, staying close together with Alexa leading, while Callum followed behind, turning now and then to check the area was still clear. They slowed to a light jog once behind the tall grey building, and went through the staff entrance in the back, leading to a small locker room with a table and chairs, all a dull grey colour.
"Alright, perfect!" Callum smiled, still out of breath, moving through to the lockers, opening all ten but only finding staff uniforms.
"Ok, we should go check the shops and restaurants. Through there?" Aaron asked, panting slightly as he pointed to the red door at the far end of the room.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Alexa shrugged.
Callum walked over to the door and opened it cautiously. Through the crack the group saw the dirty linoleum floor stretching out ahead and multiple shops. Directly ahead, a small Costa, WH Smith and Tesco Metro. Upstairs was a small clothes shop and a Muffin Break. In other words, food.
"Holy shit, this is perfect." Josh said, stepping out into the large open area. "Also, real toilets." He pointed to the signs indicating restrooms.
"Alright, let's split up. There's probably some food left, but it looks like people have been through here before." Callum walked over to the Tesco Metro, opening the bag he had brought. "And yeah, we should make the most of having running water." He laughed, disappearing into the shop.
They spent the next twenty minutes spread through the service station, shoving everything useful they could find into their bags. It was clear that other people had already been through to take things, but they must have done a quick sweep, leaving at least a little behind. Callum turned from the canned food he was stashing into his bag, and faced the tiny pharmacy section of the shop. He let out a sigh. Most of the useful medicines had been taken, leaving only a few packets of pain killers and less important items, from hayfever treatments to sleeping pills. He threw the pain killers, some plasters and small bandages into his bag, then left the shop, heading upstairs.
"Ah man, that feels better." Alexa was emerging from the women's bathroom, having washed her face and hair in the sink.
Josh was inside Costa, grabbing any food that was packaged and would last. Aaron had been in the other cafe and had also gone through what was left in the Tesco, so his bag was fairly full. He walked into Costa, where Josh was ducked behind the counter, searching. Hearing his friend come in, Josh popped up suddenly, and leant nonchalantly on the counter, facing Aaron.
"Hi, welcome to Costa. What can I get you?" He grinned.
Aaron jumped at his sudden appearance, but laughed when he realised what he was doing. "Jesus! You're so ridiculous." They both smiled, and Aaron was about to say something when their attention was drawn away, to a loud sound at the front of the building.
Alexa ran out of the shop she was in, and looked out of the glass doors of the entrance. Aaron and Josh began to move to see what was going on, when they heard her curse loudly as there was a deafening bang and front doors were completely shattered, the glass flying into the building and the steel supports bending inwards. The two men looked around the corner and saw one of the all too familiar armoured trucks across the car park, and two of the soldiers standing either side, holding large guns. They were approaching the building, fast.
"Shit shit shit! Callum!" Alexa walked backwards, towards Aaron and Josh and towards the back door they had come in through. They all looked up, to see Callum was still upstairs on the walkway. The only stairs were facing the entrance, meaning he would have to go dangerously close to the soldiers to get down.
Callum could hear the other three yelling and shouting for him to get down, but his legs were frozen, his whole body shaken to the core with fear. He had no time, if he ran down the stairs he would be too close to the soldiers, who were still advancing. Gritting his teeth, he spun round and in one swift motion, threw his body over the metal barrier of the walkway, hanging on with his hands, before dropping fifteen feet to the hard ground below. His body hit the floor with huge force, and his left ankle taking the brunt of the force even though he tried to roll over to take some of the momentum. He was dazed for a second, but Aaron and Alexa were soon gripping his shoulders and heaving him up and towards the door, where Josh stood holding it open, beckoning for them to hurry. The four of them ran desperately fast into the locker room, where Aaron turned to block the door by sliding the table and chairs in front of it, before dashing out into the open.
"GO!" Aaron yelled.
They sprinted back the way they came, across the open area, towards the forest. One of the soldiers was blasting its way through the hastily blocked door, but the other one had backtracked and come around to the side, and despite being far away, had an open shot at the four people running to the trees. It raised its gun, and fired three shots at Callum, who was a little slower than the others, only able to sprint thanks to the adrenaline blocking out the pain in his ankle. He was limping and clutching his right arm. Only metres from the woods, Callum stumbled for a moment, causing the first shot to go behind him, but the second two whizzing in front of his face. Alexa grabbed his wrist, pulling him to go faster. The group reached the cover of the trees at immense speed, gasping for air but willing themselves to continue. They kept running for a while, but soon Callum began to feel a searing pain in his left ankle, and he slowed down, holding a hand up to get the others' attention.
"Guys- guys, please... one minute..." He breathed heavily, putting his bag on the ground and slumping down to rest. Aaron, Josh and Alexa stopped, but kept looking around, the threat of the soldiers still very real in their minds.
"Do you think we're ok to stop for a bit?" Josh asked, getting his breath back.
"Shit..." Alexa was kneeling at Callum's feet, examining his ankle. "He's hurt. I don't know if it's broken or what, but it's not good."
"I'll be ok. I just can't run..." Callum was staring at his own ankle, which was bent to an unnatural angle. He felt bruises coming up on his back and arms from his earlier fall, and his right arm was limp. "Bag. I have bandages. And my shoulder, I think it's popped out..." He reached his hand out toward his bag, which Aaron opened.
"Ok, we need to fix him up before we can keep going. Either of you two know have first aid experience?" Alexa asked, looking with sympathy at Callum.
The two young men shook their heads. After a short discussion, they decided to deal with the shoulder first. Josh gave Callum a piece of rolled fabric to bite on, and Alexa and Aaron held his arm out straight.
"Ok, ready?" Aaron looked at Alexa, who nodded. With significant force, they pushed the arm upwards, forcing it back into the socket. They could feel the bones grinding against each other horribly, and Callum, his eyes tightly shut, let out a loud groan through the fabric in his mouth, which he was biting down on, hard. They pushed harder until the shoulder finally popped back into place. Callum relaxed his body and panted. They managed to bandage up his ankle very tightly to try and keep it straight.
"Thanks, guys. It should be ok for now." Callum said, already trying to stand up again.
"Woah, woah. Are you ok to walk?" Aaron frowned, still concerned.
"Yeah. Honestly. We just need to get back to camp, then I can rest." Possibly embarrassed to seem so helpless as the oldest out of the four, Callum stood up and dusted himself off, determined to get back.
The three younger members of the group shrugged, and got ready to start walking back. Aaron was bending down to pick up Callum's bag, but Alexa took it before he could.
"I don't mind carrying-" He began.
"It's not too heavy, I'm fine. Besides, he needs someone close to his height to support him." Alexa gestured to Callum.
Josh agreed to carry Aaron's bag so he could help Callum across the uneven terrain. Reluctantly, Callum let the young man take some of his weight, and they began making their way shakily up and down the slopes of the forest. The four of them walked mostly in silence for a long time, keeping an eye out for any signs of the soldiers. It looked clear, since they hadn't gone too near the road, and the soldiers seemed to move around in groups in the trucks most of the time. When they got back to camp it was past midday, and they had worked up an appetite.
As they emerged from the woods, slightly more dishevelled they had been, Laura was waiting for them. Her smile and wave soon dropped when she saw the state of her brother, and she ran over, almost tearing up. Though the other three tried to reassure her, she shrugged them off aggressively and took Callum to their tent to let him rest, clearly worried. Chris emerged from the caravan, where he had been entertaining Christina with a card game.
"I'll talk to Chris. Can you start going through the supplies?" Alexa said, handing over the two heavy bags she was holding. She went over to Chris to explain what had happened.
Aaron and Josh felt the exhaustion of the day weighing down on them, and sat by the fire, organising the supplies they had brought back from the service station. As he picked up the second bag, Aaron saw that a bullet had torn through the side of it, puncturing a hole in some of the cans inside.
"How are we even alive?" He wondered out loud.
"I dunno. But it's like what Sandra said, the soldiers don't just kill people, they capture them. Maybe that's why?" Josh responded.
Looking up, Aaron saw that Alexa was still talking to Chris. She looked angry, and hit the caravan with her fist out of frustration. On an impulse, Chris suddenly drew her into a tight, somewhat awkward, embrace.
Aaron gave a slight smile, then turned his attention back to the food. "Well, at least we can take it easy for the rest of the day."
