They followed Bucky’s lead as he moved across and sat down. A moment of silence passed while the man looked them over.
“Where the hell did a bunch of kids get a standard issue army rifle, huh?” he asked.
“The safe zone,” Lacey replied. Her warbled voice confirmed her fear.
“You made it all the way from there?”
“Yes, sir,” Bucky replied.
“How?”
“Um, that was me. I drove here,” Johnny explained.
The man looked at him. “What? Are you shitting me?”
Johnny shook his head. “No, sir. It was an automatic. I’d driven one before. Not on the roads, at least. But with the world as it is, I thought, what the hell. Who’s going to arrest me for driving without a licence?”
The man smiled. “I like you, kid. You’re alright. Know your skills, be resourceful, I like that kind of thinking. My name is Seth, and I run this little outfit you see around you. This is my turf you’ve wandered onto and I want to know exactly what it is you are doing on my turf?”
Bucky took this as his cue. “My name is…”
“I didn’t ask you for your name, moron. I said I wanted to know what you were doing here.”
“We’re just passing through. We want to get back to the school, that’s all.”
Seth leaned on to the table with both elbows. “And how much do you know about the plague that has destroyed our country?”
Bucky shrugged. “Not much. Just that the world has gone to hell.”
Seth smiled. “Well, let me fill you in. Our great United Kingdom is now considered an abandoned cause. That means that no other country in the world believes it can be rescued. To cut it even shorter, this is how the country is going to be from now on. However, the rest of the world is continuing as normal and if you can pass the infection screening, you can travel and set up a new life somewhere else. Ireland has remained untouched by this attack, although Wales and Scotland are both as screwed as we are. To escape this wasteland, you need two things - a way out and money. Now, I’m fortunate enough to have transportation off this rock, but I want more money. I want lots and lots of money. That way I can retire somewhere sunny and not have to work for the rest of my life. And that, kids, is where you come in.”
“We don’t have any money,” Lacey stated.
Seth laughed. “I know you don’t have any money, but you can help me raise some money. Now, I’ll cut you a deal, all four of you. I’ll deliver you to your school if you agree to take part in a little game I’ve created. All I want is a yes or no. Go.” He pointed to Bucky.
“What game is it?”
Seth leaned back in his chair. “Do you have a disability or something, or are you just an ignorant prick? The reason I ask is because you really don’t listen very well, do you?” Seth grabbed a revolver from a draw, walked around the table and pressed it against Bucky’s skull. “You are really starting to piss me off, you know that?” he growled. “I’m not going to ask you again.” Seth removed the safety catch. “Yes or no.”
“Yes,” Bucky gulped. Seth grinned. “That wasn’t so hard now, was it? What about the rest of you? Are you in or are you out?”
“In.”
“In.”
“In.”
“Great. A full house.” Seth removed the gun barrel from Bucky’s head. “You all look like you could do with a rest. Adrian, set them up with somewhere to sleep, they’re going to need their energy for tonight.”
“Can you tell us what we’re doing?” Aaron asked.
“All in good time, sir. Now go, rest up. I’ll explain what you’re doing later.”
And with that, Baldy removed them from the office.
“We’ve got to play one game,” Aaron said as they wandered a corridor. “One game and we’re done.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Bucky replied. “I have a very bad feeling we won’t be playing Jenga.”
Ten
The room they had been placed in was a far cry from their bunk at the football stadium. Bucky imagined this room once saw life as a communal area, like a staff room or something. Three two-seated leather sofas lined walls with a sink, refrigerator and water urn at the far end. Opposite, the only door in or out stood locked and under armed guard. Bucky and Lacey shared one sofa with Johnny and Aaron each taking the others. Both the lads had fallen asleep, Johnny giving out a slight snore now and again. All of them were tired. Bucky sat there struggling to stay awake. He wanted to sleep but dared not rest in case something happened.
“Why don’t you sleep?” Lacey asked, as if reading his mind.
Bucky turned to her. “How’d you know I was tired?”
“The fact that your head keeps bobbing up and down kind of gives it away.”
He sighed. “I just… I don’t know what’s going to happen. These are serious assholes. Killers. They’re more organised than the clowns, that’s for sure.”
Lacey glanced over, flashing him a brief smile. “They’re gonna try to kill us, there’s no doubt.” Her eyes became glassy but no tears fell from them.
“The key word is ‘try,’” Bucky replied. He shifted on the sofa, turning his body toward her. “I don’t know what they’re planning, but they’re not going to do anything to us themselves.”
“How do you know that?”
“You heard what the guy said. We’re going to make him money, or at least that’s what he’s going to attempt to do with us. These are gangsters. I don’t know much about the criminal underworld, but what I do know is that if someone makes money for them, they don’t tend to get thrown off bridges with concrete shoes, if you know what I mean?”
“But he said we had to play a game. It makes me wonder what
