A/N Getting exciting now, folks, hold on to your hats! :D xxx

Chapter 13 The Great Escape: Part one

Daisy and James took the tube to Highgate that evening, and walked along the tree lined streets leading to Duane and Sarah's mansion. They each carried a backpack, James' containing three glass bottles of the potion, which ended up dark green and, though the odour had improved significantly, could never be said to smell pleasant, and Daisy's carrying Colin. On exiting the station into the cold, blustery night, their level of anxiety was not helped by the numbers of half drunk party goers sporting various Halloween costumes who filled the streets. As they moved away from the high street, however, the revellers thinned out and they were passed by few other people.

"Tell me again why we need the dog?" James asked over the rush of the wind.

"It's not the dog we need, really. It's just having him with me makes me feel better. He went missing once and Tim found him and brought him... well it's a long story but he's a good luck charm, just trust me, ok?"

"Ok."

"Look, there it is." Daisy pointed at the iron gates set into high brick walls which signalled the entrance to the mansion on the opposite side of the road.

"How long have we got?" She asked. James checked his watch.

"Forty five minutes."

"Perfect. Ok, we need to get around to the back where the woods are. The boundary there is a high fence instead of these walls. That's where the meeting point is."

Tim stepped inside Mike's cell and held up the flaming torch to light the small room. Mike was lying on the ground. There was no bed. He was asleep, but Tim quickly realised the noises he had heard were not those of Mike snoring, but of him groaning and moaning, as if in pain. His face was all screwed up, there were tears on his face and his hands clawed at the air. He was dreaming.

"Mike. It's me. Wake up." Tim tried gently, but unsurprisingly, got no response. He laid his torch on the ground in the doorway, not wanting to get too near Mike with it, then went over and grasped one of his friend's chunky biceps.

Mike! Wake up!" he cried urgently and shook him as hard as he could. Mike jerked awake, crying out incomprehensibly, and blindly thrashed at Tim who ducked and dodged to avoid the swipes.

"It's ok, it's me! It's Tim! Mike! It's Tim!" Mike stilled and blinked his colourless eyes at him. He looked so utterly distraught Tim just wrapped his arms around him.

"It's alright." He hugged Mike tight for a few seconds, weak with relief himself to finally touch him and know he was still alive. "We have to get out of here. Come on." Tim pulled back and helped Mike to his feet. Mike was still suffering from the beatings he had received but, clinging to Tim, he could just about walk. Tim led him along the corridors, reversing the path he took to find Mike's cell, until they reached the wooden door again. Behind the door, there were two fire extinguishers and a wall mounted glass case containing a fire axe with a sign instructing: 'In the event of fire, break glass'.

"Fire, I have got." Tim muttered. He smashed open the case with the unlit end of the torch, then handed it to Mike.

"Anyone tries to hurt you, burn 'em." He ordered grimly, grabbing the axe out from amongst the broken shards of the case. Brandishing the axe in one hand and dragging Mike with the other, Tim shouldered his way through the dungeon door.

Daisy and James had made their way around the perimeter of the estate, pelted by swirling Autumn leaves, and pushed through a thick hedge to get into a field behind the rear boundary fence.

"Was it this windy when we got out of the station?" James had to almost yell to be heard.

"Don't think so!" Daisy replied, turning her head to shelter her face from the biting cold air. "I think it's something to do with the spell!" Daisy stood with her back to the hedge and the estate fence on her left. "Forget about the weather, we need to get in position!" James nodded in agreement. "We have to go two hundred metres along the fence line, where there should be a small clearing in the woods, hidden from the main house." Daisy instructed. "Let's count our strides, that should get us roughly to the right place." They set off confidently, a full moon bleaching the ground with pale light that provided enough illumination for them to make out the shapes of tree roots and small logs. They marched through the overgrown grass, counting their steps. James had significantly longer legs than Daisy, however, and over time they grew further out of sync with each other, which eventually led to a heated discussion regarding the exact location of step one hundred and twenty seven. They compromised, after a fashion, by James agreeing to alter his step count to match Daisy's. On reaching two hundred, the woods on the other side of the fence were still as thick as ever.

"This doesn't make sense!" Daisy howled. "There should be a clearing here! What are we going to do!"

"Let's just keep going and see if it's up ahead." James yelled back, suspecting Daisy's short legs were to blame for undershooting the distance, but being far too diplomatic to say so. He was also too gentlemanly to remind her of his counting adjustment when they came across the clearing approximately fifteen metres further on.

"Brilliant! I knew it would be here!" Daisy shouted triumphantly. James just smiled and nodded. The roar of the wind was now almost deafening, tree branches were beating each other up, the losers crashing to the ground. Daisy took off her back pack and set it on the ground. Colin was hunkered down inside it, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"It's alright, Colin. We're going to get Daddy back." Daisy blushed as she realised what she had said, then covered it up by yelling to James. "There's only ten minutes to go, they should be here soon. Let's get everything ready."

Tim shoved open the dungeon door to reveal two guards leaning against the opposite wall, smoking cigarettes. Taken by surprise, they were slow to react, and Tim let go of Mike to swing the axe, double handed, and with impressive precision, into the first guard's chest. He collapsed, spluttering blood as a trembling Mike feebly thrust the flaming torch at the advancing second guard. The prospect of being set on fire was enough to make him hesitate and Tim swiftly buried the axe into the back of his head. Mike recoiled in horror as the man crumpled to the ground, his head split open, and Tim yanked the bloodied axe upwards to free it.

"It's alright, Mike, they were baddies. Come on." Tim reached for Mike's hand again as he stepped over the corpses of their victims. He dragged him through the ground floor of the mansion into the grand dining room and over to a set of huge sliding glass doors leading to the garden. He took the torch from Mike and tossed it under the curtains framing the doors.

"That should keep them busy." He said as flames started to lick their way up the dusty curtains and wallpaper towards the high ceiling. Tim turned and swung his axe high to break the glass doors but stopped himself as he saw Mike was simply sliding them open.

"Ok. Good. That'll work too."

The wind howled in as they stepped outside. It was so strong, Mike could hardly stay upright on his battered legs and reached out for Tim. Tim wrapped an arm around him, still clutching his axe in his free hand, and leaned into the wind in order to make progress across the patio. They staggered onto the beautifully manicured lawn, the open expanse of which needed to be crossed before reaching the mercifully dark woodland into which it eventually blended. Tim trampled over the sign telling them to keep off the grass as he half carried, half towed Mike along as fast as he could towards the safety of the tree line. It was a long way, and though he did not look back, he could hear shouts coming from behind as the fire was discovered.

Henry, being good with his hands, had been put to work carving ornate patterns into the great stone blocks that would form the walls of the pyramid complex. In order to do this intricate job, he had been left unchained since he arrived, his hands free to chisel and chip away at the blocks, creating beautiful carvings. He was working as usual in the stone mason's shed when several of Duane's men burst in to collect the guard watching him and his fellow workers.

"Fire at the great house!"

"Come on!"

"Everyone's needed to fight it!" They were all yelling simultaneously. The stone masons' guard leapt out of his chair and ran after them, locking the zombie workers in the shed behind him. Henry knew instantly this must be a distraction orchestrated by Tim and looked around for a way out. The other zombies just carried on working, too afraid and indoctrinated to stop. The chisel in his hand was the only thing even vaguely resembling a weapon, so Henry dashed over to the door and started smashing at the lock with the pointed end. He had no hope of unlocking the door but if the wood around the lock was not too thick, he just might be able to smash through it. Bleary eyed zombies slowly looked up at what he was doing as he hurled his chisel into the splintering wood with all his strength. A couple of them started snarling at him as his tool started to break through the door with each blow. One or two of the boldest zombies lurched out of their seats and stumbled towards him as he levered desperately at the lock fixings. He finally severed the lock from the door and ripped it open. His shoulder was grabbed from behind by a clawing zombie hand, pulling him backwards. Henry twisted and squirmed, arms flailing desperately until his chisel made contact and sunk into soft, yielding flesh. As the zombie clumsily tried to remove the chisel embedded in its eye socket, Henry freed himself from its grasp and hurtled out into the stormy night.