Joe retrieved his axe from his backpack and hit the chain and the padlock from the gate. The chain broke and came apart instantly. I pulled the chain away and pushed the gate open.
All four of us, started to make our way through some grass that had grown considerably high. We lashed our way through it until we came to another entrance.
The entrance was an arch. We walked through it. Inside, I could see a square. Gardens surrounded us in the shadows. We walked further on until we reached a steel door. It was closed, so we had no way of getting inside until Joe touched my arm and pointed to a wooden door over to our right.
From the wooden door, it was easy to get inside, because Joe just axed a hole through it, then we climbed our way inside.
Once we were in, we could see a small area of light ahead of us.
"Let's go over there. See the light... we should head that way, but we must be quiet." I told the others.
"Tim, do you hear that?" Joe asked and we all stopped for a moment.
I listened carefully. I could hear voices whispering in the distance. I silently, gave a sign by touching my finger to my lips to tell everyone to be quiet. There were other people here or it was the noise of the infected eating their prey.
I didn't like the idea of what we were doing now, and I suddenly, wished we hadn't pursued our path to this castle. After, the trouble we had recently, I was weary of meeting anyone else.
"Hey." I whispered to everyone. "I think we should get out of here. Someone has beat us to it or it could be something worse."
They all stared at me.
"Tim... I still think we should see what it is, because it could be someone decent. They might be okay." Joe whispered.
"No, Joe, it's a bad idea. There could be lots of them. There are only four of us. We wouldn't even stand a chance." I told him.
Suddenly, Aiden ran nearer to the glow of light ahead of us. I stamped my foot down, feeling angry with him. What an idiot I thought. He's going to get us all killed. Why do people have to be so brave? The question made me panic and I thought of the others waiting back at the caravan.
"Hey... come back." I whispered, but Aiden slowly moved around the corner and disappeared.
Damn. What was he playing at I thought. Why was he trying to be a hero?
"Listen Tim..." Nick whispered. "I'll go and drag him back and then we should get out of here."
I shook my head and made an angry face at him to say no to him, but then I gave in and let Nick go. He walked off trying to be brave. I didn't want to do it, because I was being selfish. All I wanted to do was take a swig of my drink that I had hidden in my backpack.
I rummaged through the bag and pulled out a bottle of red wine. Joe gave me a disappointing look of outrage. I knew he was furious, but I needed the drink to keep me calm, so I could cope.
I put the bottle back in my bag and we both stood their waiting for Nick and Aiden to appear. I thought it was taking too long. We waited for a long time. It was getting serious now, because it seemed that they had both silently vanished.
"Joe... I think they've vanished. Whoever is back there has got them. We have to leave. We can't get caught too. We have to come back when it's daylight." I said, determined that I was right.
"Ellie and Janice will go nuts if we do that... we have to see what's going on... don't we?" Joe argued.
"I'm not sure... it might be dangerous for us. What if the biters have got them? They could be dead for all we know." I whispered back at Joe.
"Please Tim... we have to see if they are okay." Joe pleaded.
I was scared myself. It had been at least thirty minutes since they had disappeared. I knew we had to do something.
"Okay Joe... let's walk quietly and slowly." I said.
We went towards the shadow of light. I went in front of Joe and I stood against the wall before peering around the corner. I had my torch, but I had to turn it off, just in case someone would see it.
I was right. Nick and Aiden had been captured. There was a glow of light circling them. I could see them. They were being held against their will. They were sitting on chairs and it looked like they were tied up. I could only see one person standing with their back to us, so I quickly moved back around.
I pushed Joe back away from the wall.
"Go... go now..." I said urgently as I kept tapping his arm, warning him to move quickly.
"Why? What's wrong?" Joe asked.
"They’ve been captured." I whispered angrily.
"I want to see, Tim." Joe said as I watched him peer around the corner for himself.
His head came back around. I could see the fear on his face as he closed his eyes for a second, and breathed in. I knew that look. I remembered how he would do it when he was nervous about something.
We got out of there safely, but I knew we had a terrible time ahead of us now.
12. Lydia Brown - Guns to the Rescue
I was shocked to see that Nick and Aiden had been left out there all alone. They were not with Tim and Joe, as they entered the caravan. What was going on? I felt sick at the thought that something might have
