Chapter 13
There's no trepidation in my mind as I drive the truck down the road towards the stately home that we're planning to attack. I — and the twelve people in the vehicle with me — am twenty minutes behind the two initial trucks, containing Jesse, the other Enforcers, Pete, Ryan, Carl and fifteen others. They went ahead, attempting to infiltrate the fence through the front gate as planned.
There's, of course, a tug of worry pulling on my heartstrings. I don't know what I'd do if I lost Carl. And everyone else is quickly becoming my dysfunctional, enormous family. I've made a point to get to know everyone, to understand where they've come from and what they want to achieve from being here.
Some are only with us for safety, for freedom from the tyrannical rule of the State, some want to fight, some are using us to help them find family that were spread across the North... whatever it is, I'm determined to help every single one of them.
I've been so lucky up until now, I can't afford to make a mistake.
Any losses would break me far more than anything I've already experienced. My fingers toy with the chain around my neck, gripping onto the metal tags and lifting them to my lips.
"Give me strength," I whisper against the warm metal, squeezing them tightly before letting them drop to my chest.
I neutralise my facial expression as I pull off the road and into a side field, pulling the truck to a swift stop and turning the key. Shoving the door open, I hop out, making my way to the back and gratefully taking a gun from the woman at the back. She hands me some knives, and a smaller gun before turning her attention to the others.
Stepping backwards, I stretch my arms up towards the sky and tilt my head to the side, stretching out my muscles and readying myself for battle.
Catching sight of myself in the truck window, I freeze, letting my arms drop to my sides. My blonde hair is pulled back into a braid, various weapons are strapped to my black trouser clad legs.
I could almost pass for Lara Croft. If Lara Croft had tiny boobs. And blonde hair. And a scar decorating her cheek.
I purse my lips, turning back to the group and gesturing for them to follow me towards the road.
We stick to the hedgerows, inching closer and closer to the entrance and my breath sticks in my throat as we duck under a brick bridge. There are a couple of overgrown houses that have been overrun by ivy and plants, and just in front lies an old brown road sign directing us to turn off for Calke Abbey.
This is it.
Moment of truth.
"Let's go," I utter behind me, lifting my gun out of it's holster and cocking it before following the brick wall around to the left, my heart in my mouth. We're tiptoeing to the best of our ability, but as we reach the metal gate and brick archways, there's not a single person around to tell us whether our side has won, or lost.
The gate is wide open though, which gives me hope that we at least managed to get inside.
Holding my breath, I lift my weapon and step through the gate. My eyes scan the white gatehouse beside us. No movement.
I take another step.
"You took your time."
"Jesus Christ!" My hand flies to my chest, the other dropping the gun to my side. "Are you mad? You're lucky none of us shot you," I snap at Pete.
He just shrugs, gesturing for us to climb into the truck behind the back of the gatehouse.
"It all went well then, I presume?" I ask, gesturing for everyone to clamber into the back before I squeeze into the passenger seat beside Pete. He turns the engine on, quickly hurtling onto the track and heading down it, away from the gatehouse.
"It did," he replies. "Jesse and the others convinced them that they were here to restock their ammunition supplies." He smirks. "Little did they know, we were about to shoot all of it into their skulls."
"Pete!" I grimace.
Pete shrugs, accelerating faster down the incredibly long gravel track. "When I left, we had the upper hand." He shoots a look at me. "But I think we could use extra hands. I'm not sure why it was agreed that you guys should leave your truck behind."
"In case you didn't succeed," I retort. "We didn't want to lose more trucks — or people — than necessary."
"Whatever," he mutters, turning sharply to the left. We're surrounded by green fields and I'm in absolute awe of their grandeur, my jaw nearly dropping when I notice a couple of sheep in the far corner.
All of a sudden, two large buildings appear on the horizon and I watch, wide eyed as they approach... closer and closer, until suddenly Pete swerves to the left once more, braking harshly outside an enormous red brick stable block and turning the truck off.
A brutal brawl.
They're the only words that spring to mind as I take in what's happening outside the truck. Every single person — fighting for their lives.
I spot Carl, closer to the building, an Enforcer jumping onto his back as he tries to deal with one in front of him. Jesse is suddenly there, wrenching him off of Carl's back before delivering a punch to his face.
"Go, go, go!" Pete exclaims before diving out of the vehicle and wrapping his arm around the neck of an Enforcer, quickly disarming him before slamming him against the truck door and knocking him out.
Almost bewildered by Pete's aggression, I shake my head and step out , dropping to the tarmac floor and taking in the chaos around me.
Acting without thinking, I instantly hurl my arm around an Enforcer who's attacking Pippa, attempting to tug them away. The tall, muscular woman turns to face me, baring her teeth and snarling at me. Wrong move.
Pippa uses my distraction to launch herself onto the enemy's back, kicking her legs out from under her and sending her catapulting towards the ground in front of me. Reaching for the gun in my holster, I lift it in front the Enforcer, swiftly ramming it into the back of her head before she has time to recover.
She plummets towards the ground, knocked out.
"Pippa, Sophie, James, Lizzie!" I call out to the closest people. "Ed! Disarm everyone who's knocked out."
They quickly nod, Pippa diving for the woman in front of me while the others scatter around the yard.
I spin on my heel, just in time to see Pete on his knees in front of the truck, an Enforcer sneering down at him as he wrenches his arm backwards. Pete lets out a scream of agony.
And then I'm sprinting towards them, knocking the Enforcer away from him. All of us tumble to the ground and I roll onto my side, my skin grazing the ground as I come to a stop. The breath has been knocked out of me, but I have more important things to worry about.
I roll over to look behind me. The Enforcer is only a few feet away, crawling with speed towards a gun that lies in the middle of the two of us.
My eyes widen and I spring into action, hands clawing at the rough ground as I move as fast as I can, needing to get there before him. We both reach the weapon at the same time, our fingers curling around it together, both tugging, neither of us winning.
I let out a yell of frustration and push forwards instead. He falls backwards and I land on top of him, the gun sandwiched between us.
I have the upper hand. I inch my legs upwards, attempting to sit up and wrench the gun from his grip, but he's too strong, quickly flipping us over so that I'm on the bottom. My head smacks into the ground but I keep my grip on the weapon, attempting to tug it higher, up towards our faces so that I can free it.
He pushes downwards, trying the opposite. And somehow, the grip that my fingers have slips away and I lose the weapon.
The cold metal barrel presses into my forehead faster than I realise and the Enforcer smirks down at me, successful in our fight.
A gunshot suddenly rings out and I gasp before he falls on top of me, the gun clattering to the ground beside my head.
He's pushed off of me within a single second, a worried looking Jesse appearing over the top, gun still in hand.
"Are you okay?" he asks me. Nodding my head, I take the hand he's offering out. He pulls me back onto my feet, as I see Carl do the same for Pete, only a couple of feet away. A shiver leaves my body as I look down at the body of the now dead Enforcer. That could have been me.
If Jesse had been even two seconds later... that could have been me.
I might throw up.
Jesse seems to sense my mood, his arm looping over my shoulders and pulling me into his body before I can collapse.
"I think we've got them all," Carl practically growls, his eyes settling on me, tucked under Jesse's arm. "You okay?"
I nod mutely in response.
"We should head down to the main house," Jesse mutters. "We need to make sure the estate is secure."
Carl nods, making a move to turn away before I pipe up, "Wait! We need to close the gates at the entrance first. Get seven people up there with weapons. Guarding it."
Carl nods once more, turning to the first seven people he sees and giving them the order. They jump into the truck that we travelled down the driveway in, quickly disappearing back up the track.
"Anything else?" he asks softly, stepping closer towards me. Both Jesse and him are looking at me like I'm about to break. I straighten my spine, stepping away from Jesse's arm and cross my arms across my chest.
"The minute we know the house is safe, we send five people back to the farm to get the remaining people," I order. Jesse smiles at my attitude while Carl purses his lips, clearly uncertain over whether I'm okay. He must sense that I'm not about to crack in front of him because he drops his gaze, stepping away and gesturing for half the group to follow him down to the other building.
*~*~*
"So, tell me," I murmur to the two tall, slightly sweaty, but accomplished men in front of me. I jump backwards and sit on the edge of the long mahogany dining table.
Carl nods, crossing his arms over his chest and explaining, "Every single worker is on our side."
"Numbers?"
"Nineteen women, thirty four men," Carl reports. "Plus, three children."
I nod, furrowing my brow. "And where are they?"
"We've guided them to the stables for the night. There should be enough space for them to all stay there or in various other buildings on the estate for the time being."
I nod. "And the Enforcers?"
Jesse steps forward. "Sixteen were killed fighting us. Eight surrendered instantly, saying they never wanted to fight us. Two said they were on our side after we disarmed them. Five remain the enemy."
I nod, leaning back on the table. "Keep the eight in slightly better living quarters than the others, but submit them all to the same questioning that we gave you."
"Of course." Jesse smiles at me before ducking out of the room.
I exhale, shaking my hair behind my shoulders and closing my eyes. "We did it," I breathe out. "We actually fucking did it."
"I've never doubted you," Carl's voice is soft.
My eyes snap open and I smile at him. "Stop it. We wouldn't be here without every single one of us."
Carl nods. "True. But your planning made it happen."
I smile at his words, gazing around at the tapestries and paintings that decorate the walls. The enormous, wooden windows that sit at the end of the room. The golden statue in the corner. Unbelievable.
"Did you ever doubt me... you know, before?" I ask softly. Carl blinks at my question. I smile at him. "When Riley first mentioned my name to you, when he told you that this random, young girl was going to be left in charge. Over the likes of you?"
Carl visibly swallows before he steps closer, turning around and resting on the table beside me. "It was a surprise."
"You thought I wasn't a good choice?"
"I thought he was thinking with his dick," Carl counters with a smirk. "God... he was always going on about you. When he first told me it would be you, I thought he was joking. Just another way for him to bring up Kayla in conversation, I thought. There was no way he was being serious," he pauses. "It was always, 'Kayla annoys the shit out of me.' 'Kayla is fucking everything up.' 'Kayla looks pretty damn fucking good in that top, doesn't she?' 'Do you think Kayla likes me?' 'I don't think Kayla wants me around her.' 'Fuck what Kayla wants. She annoys me.'"
It's like a warm hug is wrapping itself around my heart as I listen to his words.
"'Do you think Kayla and I make a good fit?' 'I can't wait until I make her scream.' 'She's not going to know what's hit her when I get her in bed.'"
The warm hug surges south.
I blink at Carl and he grimaces, shaking his head.
"So, yeah. When Riley first told me that was the plan... I doubted it. I didn't understand anything about you. Apart from your apparent 'banging' body." Carl uses his hands to make quotation marks at the words.
I swallow, wrapping my arms around myself as his words sink in. Riley really did like me more than he let on. Maybe just as much as I liked him... A flutter of nervous excitement tickles my stomach.
"But from that very first night when you drove the truck to the abandoned hospital, set it on fire, led us away and tried to insist on taking lookout that night. Then also got up after a couple of hours sleep to make a plan for the future... I knew it was the right choice," Carl tells me.
I turn my head to look up at him through my eyelashes.
Carl smiles at his lap. "None of us knew you, because Riley kept you all to himself."
"He didn't—"
"Alright, I know it wasn't necessarily obvious to everyone. Or you." Carl's eyes meet mine. "But he wanted to train you. He wanted to work with you. Be on guard with you. Teach you how to drive," he pauses, looking back at the wall across the room. "I think he probably wanted you to go South with them too. So that he could keep you close. Know that you're safe."
My eyes start to well, ever so slightly.
"I had to promise him that I'd look out for you. It was the only way he'd go," he says softly.
I swallow the lump in my throat and nod. "I'm safe here," I manage to utter. "With you."
Carl smiles, reaching over and grabbing my hand with his. "And I'll always keep you safe, Kayla. As long as Riley's away, you have my word that I'll stick to your side like glue."
My head falls to the left, straight onto his shoulder as a few tears escape, trailing down my cheeks.
*~*~*
Three hours, and a whole load of moving shit around later, I place my left hand on the bannister of the stairs and slowly begin to ascend the wooden planks that are covered by patterned carpet. My fingers trail over the dust that's obviously never been cleaned. It's clear that the Enforcers never appreciated this place.
We'll do the opposite.
I left Carl and Jesse playing a game of cards in one of the reception rooms, wishing numerous other people a good night before walking away on my own.
At the very top of the stairs, I wander down the lefthand corridor. It stretches far and I marvel at the numerous rooms that I pass, my eyes peeking inside every single doorway. They range from tiny to enormous, and I keep going, all the way to the end.
Running out of hallway to explore, I reach out and curl my hand around the door handle on the final room. With a small push, it falls open and I step inside.
It's a large room. Three floor length windows span the opposite wall, giving breathtaking views over the surrounding, green landscape. There's a huge, four poster bed beside me, a large blue couch and matching armchairs to my left. A bookcase fills the entire wall behind the chairs, whereas the other side of the bed is filled with an entire row of wardrobes. The walls that are bare of furniture are a sky blue, gilded white panelling creating rectangular patterns every few inches. It's a flurry of whites and blues, reminding me of a sunny sky and leaving a smile on my face.
Stepping around the bed, I peer inside the tiny door that sits beside the wardrobe and find a green painted en-suite. I'm in awe. This is insane.
Absolutely, freaking insane.
Am I dreaming? I must be.
There's no way that I'm here right now... in a damn mansion. With almost everyone I care about. I can't wait until they return from the South and I get to show them — him — this.
A slow, triumphant smile spreads over my lips and I fall back onto the bed. A satisfied chuckle leaves my lips as I sink into the gorgeous mattress before I close my eyes, giving into exhaustion.
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