Blighted Land: Book two of the Northumbrian Western Series (Northumbrian Westerns 2) (32 page)

‘Come on,’ I said to Daniel. I led him towards the Transit.

The man was still tied up but he’d shuffled into to the bushes where he lay on his side. Daniel knelt down to him as if to undo the rope.
 

‘He’s with the other men,’ I said.

‘The bad men?’

‘That’s them.’

Daniel leapt back as if he’d had a pin stuck in him.
 

I examined the inside of the van. It had a normal fuel tank with a reserve one attached. Even though the fuel cap was locked the pipe connecting the tanks ran through the back of the vehicle. It pulled off easily enough, letting what smelled like bio-diesel leak all over the inside of the van. As it poured out I took the rocket launcher and grenades and threw them onto the ground behind me. There was a lighter underneath the coats and I flicked it into life and threw it into the pool of fuel. Yellow flames fanned out across the floor, towards the ply-boarded sides. To help it along I threw a coat on it.

I grabbed up the weapons, shoving a couple of grenades into my pockets and giving another two to Daniel. ‘Come on,’ I said to him as I walked into the woods. The man on the ground squirmed backwards away from the burning van.
 

Once we were a good few meters away I examined the launcher, reading the instructions on it. It seemed straight forward enough, even though there was only one rocket.

‘What’s that?’ said Daniel.

‘A special gun.’

The fire in the Transit crackled and sent black smoke into the woods. There was no sign anyone in the house had seen it. I set up the weapon, loading it and aiming at the doorway. It was excessive for what I needed but it was all I had.

There was a bang from the Transit as one of its window burst, orange flames curling out of it.
 

A man appeared in the hotel doorway, someone I’d not seen before, holding a rifle. Nico was at the window, talking to him, sending him out to explore. Maybe he suspected something or he was keen to stay with Becky and Casper. Either way he wasn’t coming out.
 

As the man shuffled around in the doorway I took aim with the rock launcher.
 

Fired.
 

T
HERE
WAS
A
ROAR
and the launcher moved in my hand, jerked back. With a trail of fire, the projectile exploded inside the doorway of the hotel. There was a great burst of flames and debris. The smoke settled. The doorway and much of the wall had gone and there was a hole blasted in the building. Reception was now a charred shell. There was no sign of the man.

Daniel was on the ground with his hands on his ears. The air smelled of cordite and hot metal.

I put the launcher down and raised the pistol. There was no movement from the hotel. No sign that anyone was still alive.

Daniel eased himself up and dusted twigs off his jumper with the back of his hand. He still held the grenades.

‘You all right?’ I said.

‘Yep.’

I tapped one of the grenades. ‘You know what this is?’

‘No.’

‘It’s dangerous but it’s going to help us. Help Casper and Becky.’ I talked him through how to take the pin out and throw it. We practised twice before I sent him off into the trees. I told him to count to a hundred then set them both off.

There was still no movement from the hotel.

I went round towards the back of the building, grabbing up a large branch on the way. Then I waited near the kitchen. Daniel was to set off his grenades and that would be the signal for me to go in. He was the distraction and I was the main act.

I held the gun in one hand and the branch in the other. The grenades were in my pockets. The only sound was a crackle from the van as it burned. No grenades going off.

I tried the kitchen door. It was locked and when I put pressure on the bottom of it there was no movement. Nico had probably jammed something up against it.

There was a smell of burning paint and rubber and black smoke showed over the building.
 

No sound of grenades. Could Daniel actually count to a hundred? I hadn’t thought of that. Or had he lost count? Forgotten what I’d said?

I went over to the kitchen window and had a look in. There was an unknown fella next to the cupboards, peering out into the hallway. He hadn’t seen me so I leant back against the wall.
 

Still nothing from Daniel.

I put the branch and gun down and took out one of my grenades. The metal was warm, smooth. I slid my finger through the pin. I’d have to break the glass then throw it in.
 

There was a dull thud from the front of the building. Daniel had done it. I swung the branch and smashed a pane in the window. There was another explosion at the front and I pulled my grenade’s pin and threw it in.

I ducked down and turned aside. A couple of seconds later there was a blast from the kitchen. The door creaked against its frame and glass sprayed out as windows burst.
 

For a few seconds I waited then went to the back door, kicked it. It held so I tried again. It cracked and split and with one more kick I burst in.

The room was full of smoke and debris. A man was curled up on the floor and I went over to him and swung the stick. Hit him hard on the head with a crack. He didn’t move after that. Maybe he was unconscious, or dead. There wasn’t time to worry.
 

The door to the dining room hung off its hinges and I shoved it out the way and went through. Bricks lay scattered across the carpet and the bedding where Casper and Daniel had slept. The bags were turned upside down and contents strewn across the floor.

Where there had been a door to reception there was now an open space. The front wall had gone right the way up to the first floor where exposed joists hung down. There was a great pile of rubble where the rocket had struck. A leg stuck out of it at an odd angle. The door to the lounge was shut with debris piled in front of it.
 

Two shots cracked off from the front window. Gregg and Nico were probably less than a metre away, armed and angry.

There was a shout before the shooting started again. I moved up to the door, pushed it. The bricks leant against it shifted and made a noise so I stopped. Waited for a second then eased it open a few centimetres.

Gregg knelt and fired through the bust window at the front, a semi-automatic pistol in his bruised hand. Shots sounded from the other end of the room as well. I shoved the door further open and saw Becky tied up in a sitting position against the wall with Casper stretched out on the ground before her. Nico was at the far end by the back window, firing an assault rifle into the vegetation. The back of his coat was marked with bullet holes and material showed through, presumably from a bulletproof jacket. The kind of thing he’d had lying around in Round Up central.
 

Gregg was fixed on the Transit. This was my one chance to get him. I raised the pistol, aimed at his head, then lowered it. This wasn’t going to work: Nico would hear the shot. He’d swing round and spray me with bullets. There was no chance I’d take out the two of them.
 

But I still had the stick. I pocketed the pistol and took a swing at Gregg. Hit him over the head. He slumped down like a pile of laundry, face down onto the burnt carpet.

I whipped out the pistol and swung round. Aimed it at the back of Nico’s head. Pulled the trigger. There was no messing around this time: he was conscious and armed and had driven me off the road. Tried to drown me. Now it was his time.

The gun clicked. I pulled the trigger again, and once more. Nothing.
 

He turned round, waving his gun at me. ‘Trent?’ He laughed. ‘Drop it!’
 

For a second neither of us moved. Then I dropped the pistol to the ground. He’d heard me try to fire and knew it was a duff. I shouldn’t have been so keen to shoot; should have held my position, tried to get him to back off. Now he had a gun and I was unarmed.

He pointed at Gregg. ‘What did you do to him?’

‘He’s just taking a nap.’

‘Thought you were lying at the bottom of a pool.’

‘Thought you were lying on a riverbank.’

He came close and prodded me with the gun. His face was marked with small cuts, some healing over. There were rips and stains on his suit and his scalp bled where a patch of hair had been burnt off.
 

‘You’ve caused some mischief,’ he said. ‘Now it’s finale time. Good bye.’ He raised up his rifle. Put it to my face. ‘Kneel down.’

‘Shoot me here,’ I said. I was already dead. No need to play games. His gun smelled of warm gunpowder. Oil.

He laughed. ‘It’s not that easy…’ He walked around me, stepping over Gregg’s body like a piece of furniture, the muzzle of his weapon pushed into my head. ‘Not that easy at all.’ He shoved me towards Becky and Casper.
 

Casper’s eyes were closed but she stared at me, brow furrowed.

‘See, thing is,’ said Nico, ‘these two have locked up that vehicle of theirs. The tank. And I want to get into it. I’m guessing that you know the way in. Now, that means I don’t have to be so worried about accidentally killing one of them.’ He grinned, his teeth stained with something dark.

Becky shook her head, a tiny movement and Nico went over to her, grabbing her face with one hand in a tight grip, pushing in her cheeks but looking at me. ‘Gregg had plans for this one. Some fun ideas.’ He released her and took went over to Gregg, knelt town and touched his neck, feeling for a pulse. The only sound was the distance crackle and pop from the burning van. Nico never once let go of the gun. Even with one hand he could spray the room with bullets.

He stood up. ‘Lucky for you he’s alive.’

I knew what he’d do now. He’d hurt us. He could indulge his sadistic pleasures. My guess was he’d pick me or Casper to torture and make Becky watch, try to break her. He didn’t know I had no idea how to get into Eblis, so that was something. And he was on his own. He had the gun, and whatever others he had hidden, but there was only him. Until Gregg came round or the fella I’d tied up got free.

The final complication was Daniel. It was hard to say what he’d do now.

‘Right,’ Nico said. ‘Turn round, hands behind your back.’
 

‘No,’ I said.

He aimed at Casper. ‘Fucking shift around or I shoot him.’

For a moment I did nothing, then I turned round and faced the wall. My hands were gripped behind me, head twisted round to watch Nico. Casper was a pain in the arse but I didn’t want him shot on my account. Nico went over to his bag and dropped onto one knee beside it. With the gun still levelled at us he pulled out a length of cord. He’d struggle to tie me and hold the gun so that was an opportunity. But it was a risky one. He’d expect trouble and be trigger happy. He’d likely hit one of us.

‘Right, Trent. Time to be bound up.’ For some reason he found this funny and laughed as he came over. There was no sign of him putting the gun down. He wrapped the cord round both of my wrists using one hand. The gun was still in his other hand.
 

‘Let them go,’ said a voice.

I turned to see Daniel in the doorway. Over his shoulder was the rocket launcher aimed at Nico. It wasn’t loaded but it was there.
 

Nico stared at him. ‘Who the fuck are you?’ The gun was limp in his hand.

Before Nico had time to respond I elbowed him hard. While he was off balance I pulled the cord off my wrists and grabbed for the gun. Nico swung it out of my range so I hit him in the face, a punch that bust his nose and knocked him back. As he wobbled I hit again, this time in the neck to make him grab for his throat. The gun was still in his grip, ready to be raised up. Fired.
 

I jumped at him, sending us both to the floor. Nico fought back pushing up with all his weight, unbalancing me when he got a leg raised and twisted. We were both on our sides, hands on each other as blood ran from Nico’s nose, the smell of stale meat on his breath. Then he swung the gun up and caught me on the side of the head. I couldn’t see him anymore and there was some loud sound. I flung my fists out but they landed on the carpet or into free space. He flipped me over so that he was on top of me then his head sunk towards my shoulder. He dug his teeth in, biting hard into my flesh, so painful it was like being burnt. I raised my knees, pushing against him but he was too heavy. Too strong.

There was a thud and his head jerked off to the side. His teeth were wrenched away and the biting stopped. I pushed up so that he fell off to the side. He flopped over and I landed on top of him. I put my full weight on him, slipping my hands around his throat. I dug my fingers in hard, deep into the arteries, the softer tissue. He croaked and gasped but I held on tight.
 

Only when his body was limp beneath me did I let go.
 

I sat up, looking down at his bloodied and slack face.
 

Then I straightened up and rubbed the wound on my shoulder, Nico’s warm body between my knees, his hands still held in claws, the smell of sweat coming off him.