First Activation

“What if the fat fucker told them about him? What if they are now coming for us?”

“He knows where we are staying,” I said.

“Let’s go, now.”

“Wait two seconds.”

I pointed the flare gun into the sky towards our house and fired. The red projectile arced through the air and I hoped that Bernie and Lea would understand the warning.

We ran as fast as our legs could carry us along the road until we saw the Range Rover. It was parked thirty yards in front of our house and seemed empty. Using the cover of the trees around the driveway, we snuck up behind it. Through the glass, we could see some figures standing roughly in front of the house. Bernie was kneeling on the edge of the lawn; the overweight man in black was pointing his revolver at the back of his head. The bearded man was pointing his rifle towards the house, and Jerry was standing next to him.

We ducked back behind the Range Rover.

“Christ, what the fuck do we do now?” Jack said.

“I’m not sure. But whatever we decide, we need to do it quickly.”

Jack nodded.

We were both squatting and breathing heavily.

“You aim for the man with the rifle,” I said hurriedly. “He’s probably the most dangerous. Can you hit him from here? At this range I could easily hit Bernie.”

“Yes. Then what?”

“Then take out the one with the revolver trained on Bernie. Hopefully, they’ll freeze.”

“Right, let’s do it now.”

We didn’t have time for any intricate planning. The situation could have escalated at any second and we had to intervene.

Jack lay down by the side of the Range Rover to make himself a smaller target for any return fire. He looked up at me.

“Ready?”

I nodded, Jack took aim and fired.

The bearded man staggered back clear of Bernie, he dropped to his knees and clutched his chest. I fired three more shots in his direction. One of them hit him in the neck, and he dropped to the ground with a gurgled scream.

Jerry and the other man spun to face us as we trained our weapons on them. Bernie tried to get up, but Jerry put his arm on Bernie’s shoulder and forced him back down saying, “Back on your fucking knees.”

The other man mouthed obscenities at us, but kept his pistol aimed at Bernie’s head.

“You said there were only two of you?” Jerry shouted.

“I lied. Just like you did, you snake,” I yelled back.

“You two were the gullible ones who fell for my story. Hit on the head and waking up next to a corpse? You pair of stupid fucks,” he laughed. “We just want to talk.”

“Yeah, it looks like it,” Jack called back. “We saw what happened to Greg in Maybrook as well. I take it you gave away his location?”

Jerry’s face turned into a foul expression.

“If you fire one more shot, your friend gets it in the back of the head.”

“You’ve one revolver, and we’re both aiming straight at you. You are in no position to negotiate,” I shouted.

Bernie stared at us with frightened expression.

“Guys, I’m sorry. He came to the house and shouted, ‘It’s Jerry, come out.’ I came to the door and then saw the flare. As I was looking up, they smashed me in the face and dragged me out.”

Jerry glared at us.

“There are more people coming this way. If you don’t drop your weapons and give yourselves up now, you’re dead. We just want the bitch in the house.”

“Do you think you can hit the other man in black?” I whispered to Jack.

If we could get rid of him, he wouldn’t have a chance to exact revenge for his fallen partner. Then we’d only be left with Jerry.

Jack nodded and quietly reloaded his bolt-action rifle.

“This is your last chance to let him go, Jerry. You seem to be in charge, so we’re going to shoot you next,” I shouted.

“You haven’t the guts. You’re too worried about your friend,” Jerry laughed.

“And you’d have killed him already if you thought you could,” I replied. “He’s your last bargaining chip. Use it wisely.”

“We can just wait here until the others arrive. They’re heavily armed and already know this location. You, however, might not like that option.”

“What do you want out of this? Let Bernie go and you can both walk away,” I said.

“No, this prick is our insurance. We’ll let him go if you give us the bitch whose at the first floor window. Then we will take her in the Range Rover and leave you two alone.”

They must have seen Lea through a window. There was no way any man would give up a woman to a person as disgusting as Jerry. I guessed his intentions for Lea would be far from honourable.

“Not a chance,” I replied. “Let Bernie go now, or we’ll shoot.”

Jerry said something quietly to the man who nodded with a smile.

“No!” Bernie shouted.

The overweight man aiming at the back of Bernie’s head pulled the trigger and a puff of red mist appeared in front of Bernie’s face, before he quickly sank to the ground. I stood in shock as Jerry and the assassin used our hesitation to run towards the fields.