He'll Come Through - Chapter 7 - End in sight?

7 - End in Sight?

As promised from the top of the mountain a town was visible across a large expanse of dusty, sandy terrain. A road bisected it, but other than that the eerie almost darkness was undisturbed by any sign of life. Lilah followed Quinn’s route over the rocks almost exactly to the foothold, and other than the odd slip, she descended unscathed. On the flat she felt much happier, but the water earlier had finally filled her bladder.

                “I need the toilet,” she finally confessed when Quinn looked at her questioningly, wondering why she wasn’t marching off at his pace.

                “Actually so could I. Head back up into the rocks, I’ll go left, you go right.  The darkness will give you some privacy, but I’m only a few steps away. Ok?”

She nodded and moved in the direction he’d suggested. Desperation overtook any desire to remain dignified, and in a secluded area behind some rocks, she emptied a much stressed bladder. As she stood afterwards and redressed her clothing, she heard a noise to her right. Ducking down she saw a light emerge from the ground further along the cliff...a torch? Who had a torch? Suddenly amidst racing heart and air deprived lungs, the realisation came, that it was possibly her captors. Had they lain in wait all day anticipating a move from them once the sun set?

 Knowing that noise would be her downfall, she backed up to the rock behind her, stepping slowly towards the path her and Quinn had just taken down the incline. Steadily she retraced her steps, all the time her eyes on the torch, the distance between them and any movement she could make out in this poor light.

It was then she heard the sound of scuffling, thuds, groans. All coming from where she’d left Quinn. Was he hurt? If he was then she needed to get away. She owed it to Quinn to get out of there, he’d want her to escape, even if it was without him.

Almost stumbling she recognised a jagged rock that she’d fallen against earlier and started to move back up the mountain towards it. Everything was difficult when you could only see a few feet around you.  She’d taken five steps when she heard a sound to her right, flicking eyes around, she was about to turn, run, when a hand covered her mouth, an arm secured her back into a body, a strange body. Lilah started to lash out, kick, scratch, peel the fingers from her mouth; turn to glance at the man who she believed was going to kill her. She thought in this situation she’d be petrified, but she wasn’t she was strong, angry....

                “Sshh Blondie!” The familiar voice whispered into her ear, “It’s me! They’ve been waiting, for us. We need to change our plans. Are you ok?”  When she nodded against his restraining hand, he released her mouth.

                “I heard fighting...” she gasped trying to regain her compsure.

He nodded, “I’m afraid I’ve immobilised one of them....we’ll have to be gone before light, they’l find him then and know we’ve been here. As it is we’ve got a little time.” He sighed, turning her to face him. “If we head back up a few feet we can watch where they move, maybe come down a bit further along. My only worry is if they bring dogs, they’ll smell us easily, but this is an Islamic area, and they generally don’t keep dogs as pets, so we might be ok.”

The small security at the person grabbing her was Quinn had now disappeared at the thought of being chased, possibly with dogs.

               

                “Won’t they chase us into the town?”

He murmured agreement, “I was hoping for some chance to hide out there, but I think we’ll have to steal a car, it’s the only way. Get as far away as we can before they find their compadre. If I can call one of my contacts, he can chase my GPS, but I need a phone for that.... we’ll also need a map. If we’re fifty miles from the nearest town we need a car with a full tank of fuel.”

She slumped onto the floor, an hour earlier she’d been optimistic, this was all they needed, to make it to a town, that there’d be some miracle and they’d be safe. But now...the thought of more chasing, stealing cars, breaking into buildings?  Who knew what Quinn had planned. She was a normal slightly eccentric girl from Cornwall. She loved Jason Bourne, the books and the films, but she was female equivalent, no Nikita, she couldn’t manage to be invisible, outwit an enemy. She knew nothing about fighting....with a sigh she looked up at Quinn, she was likely to get him into more trouble, he’d be better off leaving her here, she was who they were after.

                “Leave me here Quinn, go and get help, you’ll get further without me, I’m not made for this. They want me anyway, and you’ll know where to bring help!”

He spun to stare down at her, and even in the darkness she could make out the wide eyes, the open mouth before he could formulate words.

There was anger in his voice as he hissed at her, “What does that mean? Either you’re being a ridiculous martyr or you are chicken Blondie. And neither is an option at the moment. Now get off your arse and follow me, or I will throw you over my shoulder like a caveman, your choice.”

She gawped at Quinn, not sure how to take this sudden burst of authority, but she hesitated a second too long, grabbing her around the waist, he stood and tossed her over his shoulder as thought she weighed nothing and started to pick his way over the uneven, rocky ground.

Lilah knew she couldn’t complain, not at this moment, there were enemies within a few hundred yards, she had to be quiet, had to accept this barbarian treatment.  As he made his way as sure footed as a mountain goat, she realised this was her fault, the reason that she was face to face with the centre of his spine. He’d warned her, told her he’d do this and he’d clearly reacted quicker than she had. The blood was rushing to her head, and she had this constant vision of her backside being inches from his left eye, not the most flattering view.

                “Ok Quinn,” she eventually breathed, “It was just a weak moment, I promise.”

His laugh rumbled through his body to hers, it was another ten minutes before he slowed and lifted her over his shoulder down to the floor.

               

                “Don’t give me that bullshit again Blondie, ok? We’re in this together and I’m not abandoning you, nor are you giving up. You hear?”

Lilah nodded, swaying slightly as the blood that had pooled in her head pulsed back into general circulation, “I hear. I just don’t want to get you killed.”

He grinned, “Neither of us is going to die, ok? We’re going to get to that village, then back out, I promise. Now you ok?” When she nodded, he took her hand and led her more slowly back towards the flat plain that led to the village. Once they hit the solid ground he dropped her hand and gestured to their right, “I think they were over there, if we’re silent and stay to this side when we approach the town, I think we’ll get there. Once we’re in we can easily hide, there are so many walls, buildings...it’s the open land like this that really leaves us exposed.”

Nodding, she followed his lead over the rocks onto the softer, drier sandy ground. The sparse lights of the small town were like a beacon or a lighthouse guiding her and Quinn in a way nothing had until now, and fortunately the time passed fairly uneventfully. The only pause to their route had been a flash of light to their left, but Quinn soon ruled it out as a car driving to the town, it didn’t sweep the area looking for them, so they continued along. The only downfall was that up close the town was getting smaller and smaller.

When they were within half a mile of the buildings at the nearest edge of the town, he pulled her down to a squat and mouthed some instructions at her, “I want to find a vehicle. If there’s an empty house then we’ll try and get in, find a phone...if I can get my contact following us via GPS then they can find us...if not at least we can find out where we are. If we go in anywhere, I’ll break in, you stay out, somewhere safe, observing. If I don’t come out you’ll have to call my contact.”

Suddenly Lilah was worried all over again, “what do you mean?”

He grinned his dazzling, confident grin in a way only he could, “I ain’t going anywhere Blondie! I promise!”

With that they started to tiptoe into the town.