Head rush—
Mercy took a deep breath and waited for the light-headedness to pass. A young girl, her feet in leg irons, appeared out of the smoke and bent down to help the old lady at Mercy’s feet. Mercy stood up and walked across to meet Dimitri in front of the open gateway. Dimitri stared into Mercy’s eyes, a blank look on his face. He tried to speak.
Mercy gripped his arm, “Barnes? Barnes? He’s OK is he? He’s not hit?”
Dimitri slumped to the ground and put his head in his hands.
“Dmitri—?” Mercy shook his shoulder.
Barnes—?
Mercy turned to face the walkway. Relief flooded through her as she saw Barnes climbing down the ladder. He reached the bottom and staggered over to join her. Mercy hugged him. Barnes’s legs buckled and he sank to the ground. Mercy sat down beside him, her breathing shallow.
Well I guess that’s our sixty percent all used up. Nothing left in the chamber. I’ve literally got nothing left—
“Will they be here soon?” Dimitri said out of the blue, “The cavalry?” He stared down at the pistol in his hand, a puzzled look on his face. He threw it on the ground, his lip curled in disgust.
Mercy stared at his gun, then reached back for her own pistol.
It’s gone, it must’ve come loose when I jumped into that pile of tyres—
“I got one of them, at least I think I did,” Dimitri said, “Barnes got all the others.” Dimitri stopped then whispered, “He butchered them.”
Smoke wafted from behind, covering them in a swirling cloud.
Mercy leant forwards and picked up Dimitri’s pistol with her good hand. “You did great Dimitri, you did just great. We’re all here, we made it didn’t we?”
Dimitri was silent.
Mercy closed her eyes, “Yes Dimitri, the cavalry will be here soon.”
Movement. The scuff of a boot.
Mercy opened her eyes. The smoke cleared for a moment. The militia leader was standing in the gateway, clutching his midriff. Blood was seeping through his fingers. His eyes met Mercy’s.
“Die bitch,” he growled, aiming his rifle one-handed at Mercy.
Not today—
Mercy pointed Dimitri’s Ruger American 9mm pistol at the man and squeezed the trigger. Her round took him in the throat. His head snapped back and he dropped to the ground, unmoving.
“Nice shot,” Barnes grunted.
Dimitri rolled over and retched onto the ground.
“Left handed… my first lucky shot of the night,” Mercy said, her voice flat.
I guess somebody up there is looking out for me but why… is totally beyond me—
“Now that’s a beautiful sight,” Barnes croaked.
“What—?” Mercy said, peering through the swirling smoke.
Ten horsemen rode up to the Jersey barriers and began to dismount. Mercy gaped at the new arrivals.
Familiar faces, thank the gods—
“We got here as quick as we could,” Brody said, vaulting over one of the barriers. His eyes ran over the three dishevelled people in front of him. “Christ, you’re all… alive. I almost didn’t recognise you.” He looked at the devastation inside the compound. “You sure worked this place over.” He frowned, “You all need some attention, one of my guys here is a medic.” Brody turned around, “York, over here, bring the medical kit. The rest of you men secure this place and check on the prisoners—”
Brody knelt down and helped Mercy to stand, “You need patching up, some rest and food. We’ll loot what’s left of this place, see what we can find. We’ll leave in the morning. We’re a ways from Charlottesville but the militia have other slave farms out here and some other strongholds in Charlottesville. Sooner or later they’ll send some of their people here.”
They entered the compound. Brody took in the scene and headed towards the caravan. Half an hour later Mercy’s wound was cleaned and dressed. Barnes and Dimitri were checked over and their wounds cleaned and stitched up. They were given food and water. The medic gave Mercy a shot of morphine for her rib and shoulder pain. Mercy lay back in the caravan bed and closed her eyes.
Yes, but have we done enough? Have I done enough?
Her consciousness succumbed to the morphine.
Chapter 38
Beginnings
Mercy woke screaming. She was drenched in a cold sweat. She reached out, searching for a weapon, any weapon. Her eyes latched onto a candle burning in the corner of the room.
“Where am I? Where the hell am I?” she screamed.
“Hey, hey, hey, slow down baby. You’re OK, you’re safe. We’re all safe—”
A familiar voice.
Flynn—
Mercy’s eyes locked onto Flynn’s face.
“It’s OK Mercy, I promise. This has been happening for the last week. You wake up like this, distressed, disorientated. It’s all OK, we’re back in the mountains, at Brody’s hideout. We came here after you got back from the island in the lake… remember? You were shot, you lost some blood but you’re making a good recovery. Physically you’re healing up real well—” Flynn’s voice faltered. He leaned in and kissed Mercy on the lips.
“Yes, but did we do enough? Did I do enough—?” Mercy whispered, tears streaming down her face. “All those others who died… ever since we left New York, I can’t remember their names Flynn. I can’t remember their names.”
But I see their faces—
“Slow down baby,” Flynn buried his face in Mercy’s hair and held her tight. “We’ll get through this… it’ll just take time, and that’s something we’ve got plenty of.”
“Yes, Flynn but what’ll we do?” Mercy asked, sounding lost.
“Do?” Flynn repeated. “We’ll be together, here in the mountains. Brody has said we can stay… all of us; Rose, Tawny, me, you and Barnes. We can winter here and… just live. Live and recover—”
Live and recover? But it’s not over, it’ll never… be over—
Mercy pulled a face, “We need to run and hide Flynn. Those that stay put die… they always die… you know that. We need to run and hide—” Mercy said, looking around for the door.
Flynn kissed her again. “Baby, it’s all right, we’re safe, I promise you. I’m here, we’re all here, the campground is secure. The militia… what’s left
