I woke first; thankfully to silence, apart from the soft sleepy breaths coming from beside me. I opened my eyes to find Keri had slid towards me in her sleep, her head now resting on my arm. She looked so peaceful, so calm, that it struck me hard how the weight of the past 6 years bore down on her when awake. Her face looked softer without the stress lining it.
I edged out from underneath her, lowering her gently to the sofa cushion, and stood up. A small strand of her hair fell loose across her face and I gently pushed it back behind her ear, but she didn't stir.
My mind was feeling a little clearer after a good sleep, and I busied myself checking the street above us through the small window while I considered our options.
If Ben had known Keri would see Andrew, and try to find him, yet still let her leave, then it was almost certain he wasn't being transported across the European wastes. However we certainly couldn't be sure that Ben did in fact plan all this, although I had to admit, from the description Keri gave of him, it wouldn't surprise me. Either way, we needed to be certain.
I needed to talk to Jacques.
It would be a little awkward, taking Keri there. They knew each other briefly from when we all started in Easterly, but Jac held little affection for her. If not close, we had certainly become friends in the years following; he had seen first hand the mess I'd been, and for how shamefully long. Still, if there was news to be heard about a transport of slaves, he would either know or know where to find out.
Well, we had to get there first.
I had moved on to sorting through our supplies and setting out some water and food for us as I heard Keri waking behind me.
"Morning" I was facing away but twisted my body towards her and waved a bottle of water and snickers in her direction. "Breakfast?" I frowned, "or maybe dinner. I'm not sure anymore."
Her answering smile was warm. "Morning. And yes, please." I watched her sit up and brush her fingers through her hair, trying somewhat in vain to calm the craziness. I handed her a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar, then rummaged for an orange and passed that over with the water.
"Thanks…" she cracked open the water and took a long mouthful. "How late is it? Oh an orange!" She started peeling enthusiastically. "We didn't get much fresh fruit up north."
I started on my clementine peel. "Just going dark. We should get moving again soon, but -" I popped a segment into my mouth. "- we have time to eat."
It was almost impossible to spend every moment in a state of abject terror and for the first time since we had started this journey we fell into easy conversation, mildly mocking the scrawled handwriting on storage boxes of Christmas decorations and school trophies. We moved around each other in old familiar patterns, easily packing up our meagre possessions and readying ourselves for the long walk ahead.
Finally, just as the last of the daylight faded behind the houses, we emerged from the basement window into the deserted street above.
We kept to the edge of the town but saw nothing as we advanced once again onto overgrown country roads cutting through vast fields filled with wildflowers. The sky was clear and we walked side by side in a comfortable silence, torches off, the moon and stars illuminating our way.
The miles fell away as we travelled up into the peak district, avoiding signs of old civilisation where we could. In the distance we could hear the howls of a pack of dogs, turned feral in recent years. It was a reminder that there were plenty of things out here that could cause us harm besides Ben and Jonathan.
It was the early hours of the morning when we passed a small village called Edale. We would have to move off the roads now, so we could keep travelling through the day. It seemed like a good time to stop for some food. We made our way onto a small dirt path leading up into the peaks and settled down with our backs against a stone wall.
'Hey Ali?,' Keri turned to look at me, her head resting back.
'Hmmm?' I had a mouth full of granola bar.
'Why was that kid at the guild falling over himself to meet you?'
I washed it down with a swig of water. 'Which one?'
Keri let out a peel of laughter 'Which one? Happens often does it?'
My cheeks burned. 'I didn't mean it like that. I guess I have a bit of a reputation… I've been there a long time you know. Lots of stories. Most of them are greatly exaggerated.'
She laughed again. 'You'll have to tell me some of them.'
So as we set off through the rolling hills of the peak district, each with a blanket wrapped around our shoulders to fight off the creeping chill, I began to tell her stories from my time in the guild.
'...So we had this package of eggs, wrapped up in bubble wrap and blankets and we had to get it to Belgium. You could barely get a person there in one piece, let alone 6 bloody chicken eggs, crossing the channel was almost a death wish. Loads of blokes got it in their heads that they'd make mighty fine pirates. Half of them had never actually been in a boat, but some managed to build crews and take over ferries and cruise ships and luxury yachts… full grown men in fancy dress going by the name 'bluebeard' -' I shook my head, laughing. 'It was hilarious, but dangerous still.'
Keri laughed too. 'I can't believe there were pirates!'
I looked at her and smiled 'Oh there still are, I know a few.' We were meandering down a small animal trail, cutting through two particularly large hills. 'They're far less embarrassing now though. No fake eye patches or trying to steal parrots from zoo's.'
The sun had risen and now started it's descent, I judged it around 3pm. We were finally heading towards Hadfield, where I had left my trusty CBR, having skirted quite far east to avoid any civilisation.
Keri sighed, her laugh finally trailing off. 'God sometimes I wish…' her voice faltered and blood started to rush to her cheeks.
'You wish what?'
She shot me an apologetic look. 'That I'd gone with you. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it out loud. But it sounds so exciting and…' She paused for a second, considering. 'And I missed you.'
My chest tightened.
'Oh.' It's not what I'd intended to say, but it seemed the only noise I was able to push out.
Her blush deepened and she pressed ahead of me, so I couldn't see her face. I heard her mumble something that sounded like, I still do.
I thought I was going to hyperventilate. I'd spent far too many hours daydreaming about Keri coming back to me, telling me she still loved me. I'd never really even made an attempt to get over her, except that 6 months before I joined the guild, and that was just a reaction. She hadn't exactly said she thought she'd make a mistake but. She missed me.
I should go after her, say something clever. If only I could think of anything. I thought back over the things she'd told me about Ben. There was far more there that had gone unsaid, I could tell that. She was clearly in a bad way, mentally, even if she was doing a remarkable job of compartmentalising it.
If we did possibly have some slight, remote chance of being something again, it couldn't begin while she was swimming in grief and sorting through whatever trauma she had suffered. She needed time to heal. I considered my own tongue-tied, brain dead self. Perhaps I still needed some time to heal too.
Okay, so keep it simple. I jogged after her, slowing by her side. She glanced over at me but didn't slow down. I shoved her gently with my shoulder and shot her the biggest grin I could muster. 'I missed you too.' She eyed me for a second, then shot me a grin back, the tension visibly lifting a little from her face.
She shoved me back and we fell back into an easy conversation about pirates on yachts as we walked the final few miles into Hadfield.
Luck was on our side once more and the journey to the garage where I'd left my ride was uneventful. Besides my bike however, I hadn't left any supplies, so we took only a short break and sat on piles of rags and blankets, each eating a tin of fruit salad. The bike started easily, and I was grateful I'd taken good care of it. I felt bad for abandoning her, and I told her as much, kneeling to give her a quick polish with the cleanest scrap of material I could find.
I could feel Keri's amused eyes on me as I worked and whispered. It wasn't really a new scene to her, I'd always been a bit precious with my bike.
'So what's the plan? Are we assuming Benjen was feeding me false info?'
I paused and met her eye over the seat of my bike.
'It stands to reason. Unless he is double bluffing. Either way we need more info, so I think our first stop should be Jacques. Not much happens without him hearing about it.'
I saw Keri raise her eyebrows.
'He runs a dingy speakeasy in Coventry. You'll love it. I have more supplies there too, so two birds and all. Soon as it's properly dark we can leave, it's only a few hours away.'
She shrugged. 'As good a plan as any. You and Jacques are friends then?' She let out a short laugh. 'I don't suppose he is my biggest fan.'
I smirked at her, one brow rising. 'We're as close to friends as it's possible to be with Jac. And he told me to go easy on you, so you never know.'
At that moment a roar cut through the quiet of the garage. I saw surprise quickly followed by panic cross Keri's face, and knew my own mirrored it. Another rumble, followed by another. Definitely motorbikes, definitely more than one.
'Shit, they know we're here.' I swung into action, my quick movement seeming to break Keri from her trance. We both started throwing items into our bags haphazardly. I launched my bag onto my back and grabbed the one in Keri's hand, securing it to the bike. Once I had finished I ran my hand down the underside of the tank, and unzipped a holster, removing a small shotgun and a box of shells. I loaded it quickly and filled the pockets of my jacket with as much ammo as I could.
'Do you remember how to ride?'
Keri's eyes went wide. 'What?'
We'd toured around Scotland on this very bike through the summer before the end of the world and I'd taught her to ride, but that was 8 years ago, and I could see the apprehension on her face. I crossed the space between us in three long strides, coming to a stop just inches in front of her.
'Listen, one of us needs to shoot moving targets from the back of a moving bike, and I'm assuming here, but it should probably be me. I know you can do this Keri.' She avoided my gaze and I could hear her breath coming in panicked rasps. I put the shotgun down and grabbed the top of her arms. Finally, she looked up at me. I kept my voice steady.
'You've got this Keri. I trust you.'
She didn't look that convinced, but I saw her try to shake off her fear.
'Okay, let's do this.'
I gave her my keys as she started towards the bike, pulling her helmet over head decisively. Despite her fears, she looked every part a natural as she flipped up the kickstand and threw her left leg over the bike. She put the key in the ignition but left the engine still, resting the weight on her right leg. I had made my way to the garage door, putting on my helmet and prepared to open up our sanctuary to the outside world. I nodded to her. She nodded once in return.
The engine ripped to life as I threw open the door, letting the last rays of the day's sunlight in. Keri pulled forward a little as I raced around to leap on behind her. I felt her wobble a little, then recatch her balance as she wound the throttle and released the clutch. We leapt forward, wobbled once more, then Keri's feet were up and we were swinging left over the lawn and onto the road ahead.
We hadn't made it to the end of the street before the sounds of our pursuers could be heard wheeling around to follow the snarl of our engine. I grasped the seat tightly between my knees, and threw all of my faith into Keri to keep the bike as steady as possible. I was going to need both my hands.
We took another left and then a hard right, and I could tell Keri was aiming to zig zag through as many residential streets as possible to keep us from being pinpointed, but the engine noise bounced around the empty roads and we hadn't made it a mile before we saw savages rounding a corner and heading directly for us.
We flew past an alley on the right in time to see a black motorbike with a black-clad rider come skidding out just behind us. I swivelled in my seat, and took aim, hoping to incapacitate the rider and make an easier target for the feral monsters in front of us. I shot at the front tyre.
I missed.
I cocked the shotgun with a muttered curse at the same time I heard Keri's incomprehensible shout. With barely a moment to spare I managed to throw an arm around her waist, my other hand clutching too tightly to the gun as the bike pitched right. I thought for a second we'd lost control but my shin scraped the ground for a brief moment and then we were upright again, picking up speed down an empty side road.
Impressed, I turned in my seat again in time to see our pursuers round the same corner, but not alone. I took aim and fired again, this time hitting his handlebars straight on and sending him spinning it of control. The last thing I saw as we burst out of the town and onto a dark country road was the horde of savages descending on his helpless form. I shuddered. He was probably one of the guild, and there was a good chance I knew him. Or her.
I didn't have time to dwell, because another bike shot past the wreckage, hot on our trail. I leant low over Keri's back as she pushed our speed higher, trying to load more ammo into the gun. It was a far slower process than I would have liked, and I dropped two shells in the process. Contrary to my feigned confidence in the garage, I hadn't ever actually been in a position to shoot at moving targets from the back of a motorbike before, and it was somehow even harder than it sounded.
In the time it took me to reload our second stalker had gained considerable ground, my two decade old CBR not able to outrun the newer, faster bikes the guild favoured. I took aim on one of my colleagues for the third time. All I needed was one shot for this one, the front tyre of the bike exploded and the bike and driver went careening into the overgrowth at the side of the road. There was no sign of anyone else, but there was still the distant hum of an engine coming from the darkness behind us. Although not close enough to be an imminent threat, we were certainly not out of the woods.
I realised I had been holding my breath and let out a huge, relieved sigh. Resting the gun across my lap, I slipped both arms around Keri's waist and tried to steady my nerves as we put distance between ourselves and the town of Hadfield.