School's Out Forever by Scott K. Andrews

Author:Scott K. Andrews
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Abaddon

CHAPTER TWELVE

I KICKED AND struggled, but the man holding me was too strong. I’d have bitten his fingers off if he hadn’t been wearing heavy leather gloves.

I was pulled off the path and into the bushes, where I was pushed down on to my knees and held firm.

“If you do exactly as I say, you won’t be harmed,” said a soft voice in my ear. The accent was unmistakeably American, an exotic twang after two years of Kentish brogue. I felt cold metal at my throat.

“If you cry out, I’ll slit your throat, Limey bitch. Understand?”

Limey? Who the hell called Brits ‘Limeys’ anymore?

I nodded gently. He removed his hand from my mouth.

I’ve been in worse spots before, but I was completely unprepared for this. I was in the safest place in Britain, in my bloody party dress! So unfair. Anyway, I was more scared than I’d been in a long time and I momentarily lost my cool. My terror, I’m embarrassed to admit, made me compliant. I didn’t make a sound.

“Good girl,” said my captor. “Now, which way to the main gate?”

“I only got here today, I’m not sure. I can’t direct you. I could probably walk you there, though.”

He tightened his grip. “Not good enough.”

He fell silent, thinking it over. As he did so the bushes rustled and another man, the parachutist, joined us. He was dressed entirely in black, almost invisible. It was only when I saw his thick leather gloves that I realised that both men had fallen out of the sky. My captors shared a brief, whispered conference.

“All right,” said the new guy, also a Yank. “Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re gonna walk us to the gate. We’ll stay in the shadows, but we’ll be watching you. If you try to shout out or run, you’re dead.”

To illustrate the point he pulled out a handgun and slowly screwed a silencer into the barrel.

“Joe’s a really good shot,” added the man holding the knife to my throat, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “You should remember that. Now go.”

He withdrew the knife and released me. I knelt there for a moment, composing myself, then I got up and walked back to the path, brushing the dirt from my knees. So much for karaoke, I thought, as I stood in a pool of orange light, rearranging my dress and getting my bearings. I didn’t doubt the ruthlessness or ability of the men who were threatening me. Plus, they’d bloody parachuted here. I’d not seen a contrail in two years, so that implied all sorts of things. I decided to play along until something clever occurred to me or an opportunity presented itself. Which it did almost immediately.

“There you are,” boomed a voice to my left. I turned to see Sanders striding towards me wearing shirt and jeans, a bottle of lager in his hand. “I wondered what was keeping you. Lost?”

I nodded. Shit, would they just kill him? Sanders walked up to me and held out his arm.

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