Chapter 5

"Bring him in the next 5 minutes or I'll start shooting!" Henry called to the police through the tall buildings. He turned to face the large lorry parked beside him and peaked his head inside the open back doors, spying on the 5 gagged civilians sat inside. "Chat amongst yourselves." He smiled. Martha, sat near the front, wriggled and struggled, taking a desperate bid to attack the monster that stood before her. She just wanted to lunge at him, wipe that smile off his smug, hairy head. He bent down and put his face near hers. "Sorry love, are you trying to tell me something?" He smiled. Martha's face bulged with fury. She leant back and swung her feet upwards, kicking him in the shin. He groaned in pain. "You're going to regret that missy." He growled, hobbling off. Martha's eyes narrowed towards him.

"Oh come on Serge, let me go in! They're going to die if I stay here!" Jack argued. McGrath shook his head.
"No. I'd be sending you to your death." He said. "You're not going. And don't you try any funny business." He warned. Jack sighed angrily, walking off to a slice of grass. He threw himself upon it, sitting down and breathing in and out deeply, trying not to blame himself for the trouble that had arisen.
"4 minutes! I'm getting impatient!" Henry's faint voice shouted. Jack buried his head in his hands, trying to block the world out.
"Jack! Jack!" A voice screamed. Jack looked up, spotting a crying Tasha dashing in his direction. He jumped up.
"What's the matter?" Jack asked.
"It's… Martha…" Tasha said, trying to control her tears.
"What? What's wrong with Martha?" Jack asked worriedly, putting both hands on her shoulders. "Come on Tash, you're worrying me!" Jack exclaimed, watching as Tasha cried hysterically.
"She's in trouble. We were walking down an alley, around the back of the big flat block, and then this man saw her… and I think he had a gun." She said between wimpers. Jack froze.
"Did you see him!" He asked. Tasha shook her head.
"No. But he saw her. He told her to come out with her hands up." Tasha said, wiping away her tears.
"You heard him? Did he have an accent?" He asked. Tasha nodded.
"Yea.. English." She sniffed. Jack let go of her and ran his hand through his hair.
"Henry." He muttered to himself.
"3 minutes! It's alright, take your time! I've wanted to try out this gun out for a while anyway. It was a Christmas present." Henry shouted. Jack spun around to the direction of Henry's voice, his heart beating furiously with worry.
"What's going on Jack?" Tasha asked, wiping her cheeks.

"Send me in." Jack ordered, charging to McGrath and Peter. They looked at one another, then to Jack.
"No." They said in unison before returning their gaze to their map. Jack's anger blew, he leant in and swiped the map.
"This isn't going to help!" Jack yelled angrily, waving the map in their faces. "Not when there are 5 lives out there. 5 lives that could easily be saved by my appearance!" He shouted. Peter took the map back off him.
"Let us handle it. We'll sort something out that means everyone can get out safe without any stupid actions." He told him. Jack sighed angrily, putting his hands on his belt as he tried to contain his frustration.
"Martha's in there!" Jack yelled abruptly. A hushed silence came from his colleagues, all recognizing Martha's name. Peter looked back at Jack.
"What?" He asked, hoping to have misheard.
"He's taken Martha. She walked in through an alley and got caught up in it all. Tash was there." Jack said. "You have to let me in. You know that he doesn't care who he kills, he could kill Martha." He said weakly.
"Absolutely no way. Now you're involved it's a definite no-" McGrath began.
"Go and get a bullet proof vest." Peter interrupted.
"Thank you Pete." Jack shouted gratefully as he ran to the police tent. McGrath looked up in confusion and anger.
"What do you think you're playing at?" He asked angrily. Peter sighed, thrusting the map at McGrath.
"What if your wife was in there?" He asked, walking off towards the tent.

"Right, keep a clear head and don't make it obvious that you and Martha are together, okay?" Peter told Jack as he put on his gear.
"Okay. So what do you want me to do?" Jack asked, fastening the first buckle.
"Stall. We haven't got a plan yet so all we have to fight with is the firing squad, but as you know it's long range from any point and we could easily hit a hostage or yourself so they're off bounds for now. If you can get people out, do it. As many as you can." Peter instructed.
"Alright.." Jack nodded. "What's stopping him from shooting me?" He asked curiously. Peter shrugged.
"Nothing as of yet." Peter said sympathetically.
"Great…" Jack said shakily. "I'm going to die, aren't I?"
"Not if I have anything to do with it." Peter told him confidently, putting both hands on each shoulder and securing his stare. "Remember, don't let him know about you and Martha!" He said as a final reminder. Jack nodded. "Good look Holden!" Jack gave a last forced smile as he walked towards the blocked off area.

"Well, we'll have to start making corpses!" Henry shouted. "Phil, bring the first one through." He ordered to his big, leather dressed, biker mate, just loud enough so the police could hear. He may have looked pleased with himself on the outside, but on the inside he was distraught. He'd have thought Jack would have come running in by now trying to save the day. Jack was one of them good boys, one that liked to help out everyone – one of them guys who always came out last. That's what Henry wanted to prove, that running in and doing 'what's best for Australia' isn't always a good thing; it could kill you. Phil appeared with the first hostage from the back of the lorry, breaking Henry from his thoughts. The first hostage to be led out was a man in his 40s. He looked like a typical family man; the woolly jumper equipped with a smart shirt underneath and most probably a wallet full of photos in his pant pocket. Henry walked up towards him, ripping the tape from his mouth. The man groaned in pain.
"Hello." Henry smiled. "What's your name?"
"Mike. Please, please don't kill me." The man pleaded. "I've got a family at home. A wife, a son and two daughters. It's the youngest's birthday today." He begged. Henry tilted his head.
"Awww, what a touching, touching story." He smiled. "But I prefer action." He sighed, raising the gun.
"Long time no see!" A voice shouted from behind. Henry turned around sharply. "Missed me?" Jack asked with a smile.
"Good morning constable." He said cheerily, relieved that his plan had worked. "Glad you could make it." He welcomed. Jack steadily walked forwards, looking around the area. Just as he had suspected, Henry had about 5 men on his side along with a huge truck, stolen probably, and a smaller van. "Had a good nosey around?" Henry asked, walking up to meet him. "Against the van." He instructed, pushing him to the metal surface. "Legs apart, you know the ritual." Jack did as he was told, patiently waiting till the end of the search. Luckily for him Henry had more important things on his mind to even think to look for a wire. Jack couldn't help but smile at his stupid mistake, here was a man who'd planned everything to the last detail, and had now slipped on up an obvious police technology. "What are you smirking about?" He asked Jack, pulling him closer to the first hostage. Jack shrugged innocently.
"I guess it's just nice to be hanging out again." He answered sarcastically. Henry sighed, shaking his head with a fake laugh.
"If I were you, I'd be bricking it." He said menacingly, putting his gritting teeth closer to Jack's cheek. "This, this is for making me wait." Henry said as he aimed the gun and pulled the trigger. The first hostage fell to the floor, screaming in agony. Jack instantly felt his body jump down towards him, checking his wound. "Get up or I'll shoot you too!" Henry yelled from behind. Jack looked down at the bleeding victim, taking in the blood that covered his arm. He shook his head in disbelief, then reluctantly retreated back to Henry's side.
"You shouldn't have done that." Jack muttered angrily.
"Calm down, I missed." Henry smiled.
"No you didn't! You hit his arm!" Jack exclaimed. Henry laughed.
"Exactly, I missed." He smiled smugly. "Next hostage please!" He called. Jack looked down at the hostage below, breathing in and out deeply. That was his fault.

Jack looked up at the fighting hostage, squirming around as she fought for freedom. She obviously hadn't seen the cop in front. Henry walked up to greet her.
"Ahh, the feisty one." He smiled, tearing off her tape. "Having fun?" He sneered.
"You get away from me!" She yelled at him, her face nearing his. "I'm not scared of you! You may have the other people trembling, but not me, I doubt you can even use a gun!" She exclaimed. Henry smiled, roughly grabbing her arm and twisting her to the left. She let out a moan in pain.
"I beg to differ." He smiled, pointing at the man in pain on the floor. Martha froze, staring as the blood gently oozed out of the poor man's arm. Mike flicked his eyes up to her, full of fear, pain and warning. Martha stood staring, her eyes bubbling with tears. "Ahh, so you're scared now?" He asked smugly. Martha tore her eyes away from Mike.
"No." She snapped, her chin up high. "The cop's will… Jack?" She exclaimed, tears welling her eyes. It was like an answer to a prayer, all the duration of her time in the back of the lorry she'd been wishing for Jack, wishing for him to come and save her… and here he was. She smiled eagerly at him, covering up the fear that had built inside.

Jack looked at her, at her trembling body and fearful eyes. He couldn't weaken, no matter what he did, he couldn't give away he had any feelings for Martha. He opened his eyes wide and shook his head stiffly, trying to get the message across subtly.
"Shh" He mouthed out. But his efforts were of no use, Martha wasn't paying much attention. "Jack!" She cried, trying to move towards him. Henry lifted his head and watched her desperate bid to move towards Jack, his face full of curiosity. What was going on? His hand raised and hit her back to the ground, preventing her from escaping.

Jack could see Henry's hand rising out of the corner of his eye, and it fell down in slow motion. He could see the unsuspecting target hobbling towards him, in perfect line. Jack's heart skipped a beat.
"Marth-!" He shouted, lunging forward before realising his mistake. He stopped dead on the spot, watching as Martha fell to the ground and hitting her head with a bang. He winced as she groaned in pain, crying out in a simple yelp as the hard concrete floor impacted against her skull. Jack took his hands back to his side, keeping them stiff to avoid a loving leap to her on the floor. He looked up at Henry, hoping that he hadn't worked anything out. Unfortunately, the huge grin on Henry's face gave away that he had a pretty good understanding.
"So, you and Holden know each other then?" Henry smiled, crouching down to Martha.
"Yea. He's my boyfriend." She snapped. Jack felt his whole body fail, unable to believe the crushing mistake that had just been made. He had no idea what was going to happen now; Henry had complete control of Jack.
"Is that so." He said, smiling towards Jack. "Well, I best treat you with a bit more respect. Here, let me help you up." He said, using her shoulders to bring her back on her feet. Martha looked at him suspiciously, watching as he ordered Phil to untie her legs. "So, I expect you know all about me." He grinned, walking behind Jack and putting his arm around his shoulder.
"Should I?" She rolled her eyes.
"You mean, you haven't told her about us?" He gasped to Jack. "Me and Jack go back a couple of months, when he heartlessly shot my brother dead." Henry told her. Martha shrugged.
"Oh well, no loss. I bet your brother was just as idiotic as you are." She said. Henry's temper burst. He grabbed her by the neck, moving the gun towards her temple.
"You'll wish you didn't say that." He growled in her ear. Jack watched as Martha frantically spun her eyes around, fearing of what was going to come next. His eyes fixated on the gun, following its aim to Martha's head. Then his eyes made to the trigger, the trigger that could go any instant, automatically killing Martha. His breath was taken away from him, leaving him feeling pale and weak. If he moved or tried to do something, Martha would get shot. Jack swallowed hard, trying to keep a cool and calm head.

For 15 minutes Martha hadn't spoken once. She'd stood motionless just staring into space as Jack had stalled with Henry. She could hear them faintly, but it felt worlds away. Her head was banging with pain. She didn't know what was going to happen, the gun at the side of her head was already giving a negative effect on her, but the head throbbing just made things worse. She was petrified of what was going to happen; but she was also fed up and tired. Her weak legs were threatening to give way and her eyelids were trying to pull down; she just wanted to go home.

Martha looked beside her at the man in pain, his groans had become weak and he was now comfortably lying still, muttering prayers under his breath. He glanced up at Martha, sharing an empathetic look, and then faded back down to the ground, staring at his own blood covered sleeve. This couldn't be happening. Jack was in danger, she was in danger and so was this man. She wasn't going to stand back and watch everything being taken away; she was going to do something.

"So, what do you actually want?" Martha slurred. Henry, Jack and Phil were all amazed at her sudden reappearance in conversation, and her slur.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked concerned, forgetting the present moment they were in. Jack hadn't heard her talk for the whole 15 minutes, so he hadn't realised just how badly she was suffering from the fall. Martha nodded, faking a smile.
"Fine and dandy." She said sarcastically. "I love being held up with two freaks holding me hostage." She groaned.
"Freaks? Don't forget Martha, freaks with guns." He laughed.
"Gun. Not plural. There's only one." She said smartly. Henry's smile was wiped from his face.
"Martha, just shut up now." Jack said quietly. Martha looked at him.
"Why should I? Jack, I might get shot soon, I'd like to have the honour of annoying my murderer a bit." She snapped. Jack sighed.
"You're not going to die." He assured her quietly. Henry cleared his throat.
"Sorry lovers but I just thought I'd interrupt you. Yes, she is going to die." He smiled. Jack looked at him, shocked.
"What? Why? You want me, not her." Jack argued. Henry chuckled.
"Well I'm not going to get you with all these police around, am I?" He gestured to the firing squad around the rooftops. "Unless you order them to back off." He said in a low tone.
"No Jack. He's blagging it. He won't shoot Martha because he'll have nothing over you then." Peter said through the earpiece. Jack thought for a moment, using his cop skills and experience. A smart smile came with his conclusion.
"No Henry, the police aren't moving. If you're that bothered give yourself up. Drop your weapons. The sentence will be much lighter and you won't die." Jack reasoned. Martha looked towards Jack.
"What are you doing?" She mouthed. Henry laughed, shaking his head.
"No, I do the deals Jack." He said, pushing the tired, dizzy Martha away from his body and holding the gun up towards her. "What will it be? Tell them to drop their weapons, or your pretty little girlfriend gets a gun implant." He said. Jack looked at Martha, then back at Henry.
"Do it." He said. Martha stood, shocked.
"Jack!" She cried. "What are you doing?" Tears choked her throat. Jack smiled to himself, knowing he was in control. He turned back to Henry.
"Go on, do it. Shoot her." He instructed again. Henry laughed.
"Okay." He smiled brightly, pulling the trigger. Jack's hurt sunk, watching as she screamed and fell to the floor.