CHAPTER 24 – Better Together
Once I’d made it to 100 I peered out the door. There was no sound, no movement.

We didn’t know if David had been successful or not but we had to go. We crept out of the cell and turned, looking about us, we silently began to open doors. Once we had done that Jacinta ran over to the truck and opened the back tail gate. It screeched as it swung and we froze looking around waiting for a reaction. None came. Scampering back we went first into the room of the two girls who seemed to be new here like us. They were asleep but fitful, twitching and moaning my heart went out to them. I gently shook them and they woke bleary eyed and terrified.

“Shhhh” Jacinta whispered as they looked at us through wide frightened eyes. “We’re here to get you out”

They clung to each other, assessing the situation, probably trying to clear their heads and think straight. We grabbed them and pushed them through the door, all the while I was counting in my head, one minute; two. Jacinta led them to the truck while I went into the next cell. The other girls were much harder to rouse, we had to shake them hard, put our hands over their mouths.

‘Three minutes, four minutes’

We had all but three girls crouched in the back of the truck. These last were the most difficult, almost comatose, we couldn’t wake them.

‘Five minutes, six minutes, seven minutes’

David appeared beside me carrying a set of keys. He threw them at me, then simply grabbed a girl over his shoulder and carried her to the truck throwing her roughly in the back. The two newer girls took her and sat her up against the side. He did the same for the other two, by the end he was sweating, droplets falling from his hair; his shirt soaked outlining his hard body.

In the meantime I had scrabbled and picked up the keys, hurried to the driver’s door and climbed in. David stood beside me looking through the window.

“Don’t try and start it yet wait until the doors start to move, its fuel injected so it will go straight away even when it’s cold. Do you know how to start it?”

“Just turn the key” I stated

“No it’s a diesel you have to wait a few seconds then start it” He turned the key on and a little squiggly orange light came on in the dash.

“You can start it when that light blinks off understand?”

I nodded staring at the light willing it desperately to go off. Pushing in the clutch I selected first gear on the stick shift. I’d never done this before but thanked Tim silently for teaching me how to ride his bike and prayed I wouldn’t stall it.

David ran off, he had to run the length of the doors to the button mechanism that rolled them back along the wall on rails. 20 seconds later he was ready. The little light had gone out and I turned the key. The motor wound over a couple of times and caught, billowing a cloud of black smoke as it roared into life. David hit the button and the doors moved, screeching and grumbling, ever so slowly, the gap growing wider. In the corner of my eye I saw him sprinting for us his arms and legs pumping furiously but I also saw lights go on in the living quarters at the end of the cavern, movement reflected in the windows, a door opening.

The cavern doors kept moving slowly, agonizingly finally there was enough room. I let out the clutch and pushed hard on the accelerator, the truck screeched forward, lurching, hopping then picked up speed. It didn’t stall. Jacinta was sitting next to me; she rubbed my arm encouragingly as we headed for the opening as we both breathed a sigh of relief.

The sound of the gun was monstrous in the enclosure of the cavern. The big guy Carlos was pointing his pistol toward us but he was too far away, the bullets zinged off somewhere, harmless. I kept driving, David was sprinting, oh so close, Carlos was running too, he was fast for a big guy.

I lifted my foot and the truck slowed dramatically, David was able to catch up to us and crashed against Jacinta’s door holding on, then opening it forcing his way inside, Jacinta made way for him.

“Okay, go hard kid, drive get us the fuck out of here”

I pushed hard on the accelerator, changed into second gear the transmission squealing its dismay at my rough handling. I didn’t care. It was pitch black and Jacinta flicked the headlights on for me as I concentrated on driving. I had to turn hard right in the gravel and the back slewed around before correcting itself. The girls in the back screamed. The road we were on was a spur connecting to the main gravel road with a gate at the end.

“Drive through it” David yelled as the truck continued to accelerate. I struggled hard with the steering wheel changing into third and smashed through the gate, posts and wire flying everywhere. More screams.
‘This would be fun’ I thought ‘if it wasn’t 4.30 in the morning and we weren’t being chased by a gang of psychopathic criminals.’

I sped along the gravel as fast as I dared keeping the truck in third gear revving the crap out of it. The others kept looking behind us for lights but there was nothing……yet. The truck was hard to control it felt like a wild animal intent on killing us as I fought the steering wheel, keeping it on the road almost by the force of my will. I concentrated on the pencil thin beams of light as we careered around corners. Coming to the tar sealed road I swung on to it the truck rocking dangerously as we took the corner. We all screamed as a wheel lifted from the ground then crashed back down.
David grinned over at me “Gonna have to change my undies after that one kid”

“Where should we go?” I yelled at him

“Head toward town, toward the hospital, I’ll phone ahead” he produced a cell phone from his pocket, there’ll be a shit load of cops waiting for us” I didn’t hear him say “I hope” under his breath.

“Why the hospital and not the police station?” Jacinta yelled

“We’ve got to get those girls help” he answered “plus they’re going to need to dig this bullet out of my back”

We looked over startled as the truck thundered on. I noticed the back of David’s seat was slick with blood. Jacinta held him forward ripping some material from the hem of her skirt and pushed it against the wound stemming the bleeding. There was no exit hole; the bullet must have been near the end of its trajectory and travelling slowly.

I drove as fast as I dared then I saw lights appear in the rear view mirror accelerating fast but still quite a way behind us.

“They’re behind us” I screamed “coming really fast”

We were nearly at the freeway on ramp as the pursuing car caught up. There were no other cars on the road and I was able to push the truck as hard as I could control it but the other car was newer, faster, more powerful. We didn’t have a chance of outrunning it.

We ran down onto the Freeway the motor of the truck grumbling and clattering as I put my foot flat to the floor. The whole truck shook like a giant hand had grabbed it but it still wasn’t enough.

I noticed lights in the distance coming toward us, some cars but they were on the other side of the road. As we drew nearer I noticed it was more than one car, in fact quite a few, a little blue Toyota in front, a couple of trail bikes and an orange Kombi van a few other cars behind those, some new, others with surfboards on the roof. I opened my driver’s side window, flashed my lights and tooted the horn. I waved as hard as I could; a head on one of the motorbikes turned, looked then kept on riding.

They didn’t see me!

“We need to get David to a hospital Jade he’s not well” said Jacinta he’s losing a lot of blood.

“Keep pressure on the wound” I yelled over the engine, I was channelling my Mom the nurse.

We raced on for another couple of minutes the black car now only seconds away right behind us trying to pass, I wouldn’t let them, weaving over the road my eyes fixed on the rear vision mirrors.

All of a sudden as if by magic, two motorcycles appeared one on each side of us. One came right up beside my window, a head encased in a helmet looked at me, his eyes were like flint.

He screamed something at me but I couldn’t hear him.

“What?” I mouthed

“Slam on your brakes and hold on” Tim shouted again

I nodded at him and screamed as loud as I could into the back

“HOLD ON”

I grabbed the steering wheel and mashed my feet down as hard as I could pushing in both the brake and the clutch pedals. Smoke streamed from the tyres as the nose of the truck dipped precipitously.

The black car with four bodies in it couldn’t stop in time, smashing directly into the back of the truck. Its hood crumpled up and white air bags went off encasing the occupants. The two bikes came to a skidding stop and my brothers hit the engine kill switches and jumped off just letting the bikes fall to the ground.

Tim took a baseball bat from the side of his bike held there with a bit of rope, Jeff swung a metal bar. They walked quickly past us toward the car. I jumped out ready to follow.

Tim’s voice was quiet, commanding; deadly serious.

“Stay there”

He approached the driver’s door as it swung open Carlos lurching out he looked huge but he was also dazed from the collision while smoke and steam billowed from the bonnet of his car. He held his gun but he wasn’t as fast as my brother. Tim swung the bat connecting with the big man’s wrist. Melville was right the sound of bone snapping was hideous, I jumped. Carlos screamed his voice high like a woman’s. Tim swung again with all his strength fury in his face as the bat connected with the side of Carlos’ head. He dropped like a stone.

Cars, all these cars suddenly appeared people tumbling from them running, stumbling.

Melville charged from his car his gun up, he pointed it at…….me, aiming, squeezing the trigger; I felt like a rabbit caught in headlights, blinking, time slowing down.

But he was no match for Jeff. This time the metal bar connected with an elbow and the gun sailed from his hand clattering onto the concrete. Melville slumped to the ground in agony clutching his arm I could see the white of the bone poking through his sleeve and I felt like vomiting. Jeff stood over him, his chest heaving as he raised the bar again this time aiming for his head. The muscles in his arms stood out like ropes.

A slim figure rushed toward him jumping at him clinging to him her arms locked around his neck tears streaming down her face.

“Don’t do it please don’t do it” she begged “I need you”

It felt like forever as Jeff stood there the bar raised then it was as if all the emotion, the rage just seeped out of him and he sagged, dropped the bar put his arms around Jacinta and just held her. I’d never seen him cry before but at that moment he buried his face into her shoulder and sobbed.

The other two thugs were dragged from their vehicle and easily disarmed; the fight had gone out of them when they saw their boss lying on the road. They sat against the car their hands on their heads.

Tim stood there then turned to face me. He pulled his helmet off and his head was swathed in bandages. He looked like a mummy. His face fell and the baseball bat slipped from his fingers when he saw me. I must have been a sight, my face pale I was splattered with Agent Manuals’ blood. I shook violently as the effects of the adrenalin worked their way through my body. He started to run but he was overtaken by a figure sprinting toward me. She swept me up into her arms and held me so tight I couldn’t breathe. Tim was a second behind her and I felt his strong arms encircle us both holding us up.

‘Group hug’ I thought ‘awesome’

Other figures came running too, Dave was there grinning with a tooth missing but miraculously his hands were okay. I found out later Melville had lied to us; he’d never broken his fingers. Just the threats to my Mom were enough. She had been visiting Dave at the time the gangsters had turned up, seems it had been a little embarrassing; they had to get dressed rather quickly. Carlos had smacked Dave around afterwards just for the sake of it. I didn’t feel sorry for that thug in the slightest.

Dave was concerned “Did those fuckers hurt you?”

“No” I replied

Mom told him off “Dave no swearing around my daughter”

I giggled hugging her even harder. He looked sheepish so I hugged him too.

Jasmine was there with her dad, how she persuaded him to get involved was beyond me but she sidled up to us and put her arm around Tim’s waist. He looked at her and smiled shyly.

Finally a lone figure stood a little apart watching us a smile on his face. I reached up and felt the cool jade stone around my neck. It was still there.

“Mom there’s a DEA agent in the truck, he’s been shot and needs help; his name is David” I said remembering

She disentangled herself from me and shot around to help him. That was my Mom she’d stop a thousand cars to help a little old lady across the street.

I stood alone then; looking pretty pathetic I guess but glad to be alive. We walked together and he wrapped me into his arms. This time the kiss was real, passionate I melted into him, felt his lips; the salt of our tears mingling.

“You know next time we go surfing together I get to choose where we go”

I leaned my head against his chest and chuckled

“Deal”

Jeff walked toward us

“Looks like you’ve got yourself a date for that dance Jay”

I looked up into Nick’s eyes as they reflected the red and blue lights of some approaching police cars.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world” he said