The Survivors Book III: Winter (26 page)

"
I think there's a pathway through there," Tane called as soon as we were close enough, pointing into the dense bush on the side of the road.

"
I think you're right," I yelled back, shielding my eyes from the stinging rain.  "I see tyre tracks in the mud, and the branches have been cut back recently.  Come on!"

We should have dismounted and travelled on foot, but my gut told me that time was of the essence.
 There was no time for caution.  I opened the throttle all the way, and guided my bike into the gloom.  All of our bikes had headlights, but the bouncing, uneven light made me feel even more reckless.  Still, what choice did we have?  At least the boughs of the trees kept the rain more or less at bay.

The path swung around a particularly large tree, and I followed it.
 It wasn't until I was fully committed to the manoeuvre that I spotted the human figure hiding in the brush beside the path.  I slammed on the brakes so hard that my bike went into a spin, and came to rest facing back the direction we'd come.  The beam of my headlights cut through the gloom, and illuminated the crouched figure; before the others even realised what was happening, I had my shotgun out and trained on the bushes.

"
I see you!" I shouted; even under the trees, the storm was loud.  "Come out with your hands above your head."

"
Don't shoot!"  The voice that responded was male, deep and hoarse.  He stood up slowly, one hand raised and the other shielding his face from the glare of my headlights.  "I don't want any trouble.  I just want the little girl back.  She's part of my group."

I lowered my shotgun, and took a deep breath.
 "You're Jasmine's friend, then?"

"
Jasmine?"  The man sounded startled.  I squinted to try and make out the details of his face while he was speaking, but I couldn't see them.  "Yes, Jasmine is her sister.  Please, I just want Lily back.  We don't have a lot, but we'll give you anything you want."

Suddenly, it struck me that he thought we were a gang, and somehow responsible for what had happened.
 I shoved my shotgun back over my shoulder, and shook my head.

"
We have nothing to do with the guy that grabbed Lily," I explained, deliberately softening my tone.  "We were coming through town from the north-west, and caught Jasmine spying on us.  She told us what happened.  We're here to free Lily, too."

"
Free her?"  Now, he sounded bewildered.  "Why would you want to do that?"

"
Because she's a person, and every person has the right to choose her own destiny," I answered firmly and resolutely.  "I'm not going to let someone force a young girl into marriage.  Hell, I'm not going to let someone force anyone into marriage."

"
Amen to that," he agreed, slowly lowering his hands to his sides.  "I'm not armed.  I was going to negotiate to get her back.  What's your plan?"

"
First, we find her," I said.  "Then, we figure it out from there."

"
Leave those bikes here and follow me, then," the stranger said.  "It took me all day to find them, but I think this is the right place."

"
Show us," I said.  I switched off the bike, dismounted, and pocketed the keys.  Around me, the others did the same.  As soon as they were ready, the stranger beckoned for us to follow him and led the way through the damp, shadowy bush towards the east.

As we travelled, I realised that there was something familiar about him, but without seeing his face I couldn't put my finger on it.
 There was something about the set of his shoulders, his voice, or perhaps the way he walked.  He had a pronounced limp, but I couldn't recall anyone that I'd known who had the same.  Then we rounded a corner, the house came into view, and all considerations were forgotten except for Lily's welfare.

"
Stop," I whispered, my voice barely audible over the storm.  "Stay here for a minute while I scout around."

I only just saw their nods of agreement in the semi-darkness, but it was enough.
 Leaving my friends behind, I slid out of the bush and across the worn driveway towards the homestead in a military-style crouch-walk.

The house was nothing special, just another one of the basic, prefabricated boxes that had been popular in the late seventies.
 The weatherboards were faded and dirty, and the driveway pocked with potholes.  I had to step carefully to avoid breaking an ankle, but there was just enough light for me to keep myself safe.

I crept down the right side of the building, and found myself in a narrow alleyway between the house and a vegetable garden framed by old-fashioned wooden fences.
 I paused beneath a window where the curtains didn't quite meet properly, and eased myself up to take a peek inside.  What I saw made my belly curdle with rage.

A young girl lay on a filthy mattress, her hands bound cruelly behind her back.
 Although her hair covered part of her face, it only took me a second to realise that she wasn't just Jasmine's sister – she was Jasmine's twin.

A twelve-year-old-girl.
 That man planned to force a twelve-year-old-girl to marry him.  Not on my watch.

I took a deep breath to cool my surging temper, and reached up to carefully test the window.
 It was firmly latched from the inside.  Lily appeared to be either sleeping or unconscious, and didn't respond when I tapped softly on the window pane.  I would have to find another way in.

Easing myself back down into my comfortable crouch-walk, I stepped softly up to the corner of the building and peeked around it.
 A beat-up old truck sat under a carport nearby, and farther away I could see an open-faced barn.  There were no people around, as far as I could tell.  A few chickens clucked in a henhouse nearby, but nothing else stirred.

I paused to consider the evidence around me.
 It seemed unlikely that the farm could support more than one or two people at the most without extensive scavenging, and there was only a single pair of dirty gumboots by the back door.  I saw nothing that indicated anyone else lived there, which meant we most likely only had one enemy to worry about.  My hopes soared for a moment, but I fought them back down to avoid letting them colour my reasoning.

I resumed scouting, checking each window and door that I could reach.
 They were all locked from the inside, but the back door was so flimsy that I felt sure we could break the latch without any trouble.  Then, through a side window, I finally spotted the villain himself.  It wasn't much to see: just a fat old man with a balding pate, slouched in an armchair in front of a TV playing a rerun of an old sitcom off DVD.  The man had a beer in one hand and the remote in the other, but his eyes were closed and his chin was resting on his flabby chest.  As far as I could tell, he was asleep.

I slipped back down and continued scouting, but I saw no sign of anyone else on the property.
 Once I was satisfied I had the lay of the land, I crept back to the bushes where my friends were waiting for me.  As soon as they saw me approaching, I heard the stranger's voice.

"
Is she okay?" he asked urgently, his voice trembling.  It didn't take a psychologist to tell that he was nervous.

"
It's hard to be sure, but she seems uninjured," I answered.  "She's sleeping in a back bedroom... and she's still dressed.  That's a good sign."

"
Thank God," he whispered, his shoulders slumping.  "I'm not sure I could bear to lose another one."

Sympathy blossomed in my chest.
 I couldn't see his face, but I knew that tone.  It was the same tone that Michael used when he was talking about Sophie, the little girl he'd loved like a daughter.

"
Don't worry, mate," I said, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder.  "We'll get her back.  I have a plan."

The man nodded silently in the dark, and gestured for me to continue.
 I turned, and pointed towards the house as I outlined my plan for the others.

"
The house is just your basic prefab – rectangular, one door in the front, one door in the back.  The back door leads right into the living room.  The farmer is sleeping on the couch.  Michael, Tane, Iorangi – I want you to go in the back.  Give us sixty seconds to get in place, then storm that door.  It's old and thin, you should have no trouble busting it open.  Don't kill him, though.  Just make sure he doesn't run or grab a weapon.  While you're covering him, we'll sneak in the front door and grab Lily."

"
Geez, you should have been on the Armed Offenders Squad," Michael commented dryly from the gloom behind me.

I laughed and shook my head.
 "Get out of here, you three.  Remember, don't kill him.  That's not who we are."

He nodded and then the three of them were off, mimicking the stealth I'd used earlier to the best of their ability.
 I beckoned the stranger to follow me, and led him towards the front door instead.  A bolt of lightning lit up the sky, illuminating the world for a moment, and then the roll of thunder masked our footfalls in its wake.

I knelt at the front door and pulled out my
lockpicks.  The lock was as old as the house; it took me barely a minute to open it, even working by touch.  Just as the last tumbler was sliding into place, I heard the sound of wood shattering, followed by deep-throated male shouts.

I threw open the door and hurried inside, ducking down the corridor that I guessed had to lead to the girl's room.
 The door at the end of the hall was locked, but it was so flimsy that this time I didn't even bother to pick it.  I just threw my shoulder against it with all of my might.  A second later, I felt the stranger's mass hit it beside me.  The door buckled.  One more good, co-ordinated charge from both of us was enough to shatter the lock.  The door burst open, and we tumbled into the room.

I fell and landed on something soft: the mattress.
 I leapt up as though I'd touched a red-hot element, feeling a twisted kind of horror that I couldn't name.  Beside me, I saw the stranger roll up to his feet as well, but he obviously felt no such disgust.  His entire focus was on the girl.  He grabbed her gently and rolled her over, struggling to untie her hands.

"
Lily!" he demanded urgently.  "Lily, wake up!"

I spotted a light switch on the wall beside me and flicked it on, then immediately wished I hadn't.
 In the semi-darkness, it had looked like the dark shadows on the bed were just mud, but under proper lighting I realised that it was a mixture of dirt and blood.  The girl's cheeks were a mass of bruises, and her hair was matted.  Fresh blood shone against her porcelain-pale skin, and made her look like a broken doll.

I heard the stranger swearing at the sight, but I was too stunned and angry to say anything at all.
 A cold, dark sense of purpose twisted my gut, and drove me out of the room, following the sound of voices raised in anger.  My companions had the florid-faced farmer cornered, but even confronted by three men with guns he was still shouting.

As soon as he saw me, the farmer turned his wrath in my direction.
 "Oi!  Are you the leader of these ruffians?  Get out of my house!  How dare you come storming in here like you own the place?  I'm a taxpayer, and I—"

His words were cut off abruptly, when my fist connected with his jaw.
 The farmer stumbled backwards, knocking his television off its stand and sending both of them tumbling across the floor.  By the time he recovered enough to realise what had happened, I had my shotgun off my back and aimed right at his face.

"
Let me make one thing clear," I told him, my voice soft but cold as ice.  "The thing that makes us human is our ability to make choices, and you have made a very, very bad one.  If you ever take away someone else's right to choose again, then I will have you held accountable before a tribunal of law.  We don't have jails anymore, so you better believe that our justice will not be gentle – but it will be just.  You're lucky that we don't have time to deal with you right now, so consider this your lucky night – but if you
ever
touch anyone else without their permission again, then I will personally bring so much wrath down on your sorry head that you'll wish you'd died in the plague.  Do you understand?"

The man just stared at me, open-mouthed, blood leaking from his split lip.
 I narrowed my eyes and tightened my grip on the shotgun, but I didn't have to use it.  The gesture alone was enough for him.  He nodded frantically, shoving himself as far back away from me as he could, terror written across his face.

I nodded once and left the room without another word.
 This time, no shouting followed me.  No sounds.  Nothing but silence, and the distant sound of begging.

"
Lily?  Please, honey, come on, wake up... It's okay,
Onīsan
is here…"

I re-entered the bedroom to find our hooded stranger kneeling on the mattress, cradling Lily's battered body in his arms.
 He'd managed to free her hands and feet, but the girl was still unconscious.  It took all of my willpower to work up the courage to kneel down beside him on that awful mattress, which brought back so many painful memories.  As soon as I did, the stink of alcohol struck me.  I hadn't smelt it before, so I knew it wasn't coming from the man; it had to be coming from the girl.  Then, I spotted something even worse, lying on the mattress beside her.