Page 123 of Tell No One
“We out of range. We get back in range.” Delaney shrugged. “Want to split up?”
“No,” chorused Matt and Feely.
“He went this way, so we keep going,” Matt said. “Top of the next hill should give us a good view.”
Tag was tired but he couldn’t stop moving. He had no idea how long he’d been out here but he thought it was mid-afternoon. He could die without even getting shot. Slip, bang his head, break a leg, run out of water or just get lost. He was already lost. He had the phone, but maybe there’d be no signal when he felt it was safe to use it. He hid when he heard the helicopter again, then found another sheep trail and followed it down, partly because he wasn’t sure how many more hills he could climb. These hills went on forever. Except that was what he had to do. Keep going forever.
He ran up the next hill he came to, scrambling when he couldn’t run. As he reached the top, he flattened to get over the lip, then stood when he was out of sight. He took a deep breath. There was no sea in the distance now. How had he managed that? Maybe he’d somehow turned himself round. There was no sun in the sky to give him a clue. Tag saw a glint, a tiny flicker of light, thenoofedas he found himself falling. His chest felt like it had been hit with a hammer, all the air rushed out of his lungs and his vision faltered. It was a moment before he registered he’d been shot.Fuck.
Tag lay awkwardly on his back looking up into the sky. It was huge.Why was he thinking that when he was struggling to suck in air.What’s happened to my lungs?He touched his chest with shaking fingers, felt the rip in the T-shirt and when he put his finger inside and touched the body armour, there was hole there too and something felt wet and sticky.Oh God.When he touched warm metal, he realised the bullet had penetrated the vest and was sticking into his chest, he almost freaked out.You’re not dead! Stop panicking.Tag tugged at the bullet and pulled it out. He was too freaked out to take in what he was doing, but pain snapped him back to reality. He hurt and he was exhausted. They were probably running towards him but he had to just take a moment to pull himself together.
He wasn’t bleeding out. The vest had done its job.You’ve had your moment. Get up.Tag put the bullet in his pocket. Hopefully he’d live long enough to make it a souvenir. He rolled over, crawled away, then slid back over the hill he’d come up because that shot had come from the other direction. But when he tried to push himself up, he couldn’t. He felt like he’d been knocked down by a car, but he had to get up, move, get out of there or he’d die. He forced himself upright and looked round.
Walking hurt, so how could he run? His ribs were killing him. His whole body ached. He spotted an outcrop of rocks that might offer shelter, but continuing to move away as quickly as he could was probably the best protection. A moving target was harder to hit.Fuck! My ribs!
But as he reached the rocks, he tripped and went sprawling. A split second later, he heard a gunshot. Had that missed him because he’d tripped? Why wasn’t Delaney helping him? Tag curled up. Maybe now was the time to use the phone. While he was finding it, he could have one of those Mars Bars. Something sweet on his lips… Except he couldn’t move. There was no more adrenaline. He just had to lie where he was.
A flurry of shots made him flinch, but they’d either missed or had not been fired at him. Tag closed his eyes. He was beyond exhausted. He wished that voice in his head nagging at him to get up would just shut it! He didn’t even have the energy to get out the phone.For fuck’s sake!Where was Delaney? Maybe they’d realised Delaney was trying to help him and one of those shots…No!Tag opened his eyes again. That wasn’t the way to get out of this. He had to stay positive and do something.Movefor a start.
When he heard the helicopter again, his heart jumped into his throat. He pulled the emergency blanket out of the backpack and tucked himself underneath it, biting back tears at the pain. He heard the aircraft pass overhead and continue on and he heaved a painful sigh of relief.My ribs!The slightest effort hurt. When the noise from the helicopter didn’t completely fade, Tag thought it might be hovering somewhere.
He came out from under the blanket, levered himself up and climbed back to the top of the rock but kept low. In the distance he could see someone being loaded into a red stretcher. Then it was raised up into the helicopter.Is that Delaney?I’m dead if it is.A few moments later, the stretcher came down again and another person was taken up. Just one man was left standing. Tag frowned. That wasn’t the same aircraft as before. This was one bigger, but he couldn’t be sure that meant this was all over.
Tag took the phone from the backpack, but there was no signal.Shit.He watched the direction the helicopter took and decided to go that way. He couldn’t run. But he could walk. He went back to get the blanket and stuffed it into the bag.
“Tag!”
The call was faint but it stopped Tag in his tracks.Delaney?When Tag’s name was called again, he was sure it was Delaney’s voice. He climbed up onto the ridge line and saw Delaney heading towards him, carrying his rifle. Tag wanted it to be like one of those moments in a film when the romantic leads run towards one another, but even in slow motion, he couldn’t run anywhere. He half-staggered in Delaney’s direction, but had to turn to climb down a steep section of rock. He was almost at the bottom when he felt a thump high on his back.Bloody hell!Tag went down and heard what he thought had to be Delaney firing and someone firing back.
His neck felt wet and Tag shuddered. Had the bullet missed the vest and hit him? This wasn’t the ending he’d wanted.
The firing stopped and a few moments later, Delaney dropped down at his side.
“I’m hit,” Tag said. “It hurts.”
Delaney put down his rifle and checked him out. “It’s water.”
Tag sucked in a breath. “Are you sure?”
Delaney managed a smile. “It’s not red.”
“Then get the Mars Bars out of my backpack. I need one.”
Delaney bit his lip when he saw the hole in the front of Tag’s T-shirt.
“Thatisblood,” Tag said. “I put the bullet in my pocket.”
“Oh fuck. I thought… I thought he’d missed. Shit. Shit!”
“It’s okay. I’m okay.” Tag touched his hand and Delaney pulled away.
“I have to go and check the guy I shot. You okay for a minute?”
“Yes. Be careful.”
Delaney pulled out the Mars Bars, handed him the packet, then went off with his rifle. Tag ripped open a bar, took a bite of the chocolate and groaned. His mouth watered as he chewed. He was partway through the second one when Delaney came back carrying two rifles. He sat next to Tag and made a call.
“Henry,” Delaney said. “The Frenchman is hit in the shoulder. Can you send the chopper? I have Tag with me. Out.”
