Fear of God (Trials of Strength Book 1) (11 page)

I nodded in agreement.
Paul was arrogant and head strong, with no idea how to strategise
and lead the way Chris had. Chris’s loyalty might still be up for
debate, but we’d survived this long. Jane sat not too far away from
us, and she seemed to be withholding judgement for the time being.
I squeezed Anna’s hand to comfort her, and walked over to
Jane.

‘
What do you
think?’ I asked.

‘
That someone
had better step into that and break it up,’ she answered honestly.
‘It’s not going to end well sweetie, and we can’t be divided. I
know I’m new here but that Paul, he doesn’t seem a good fit for
what they’re fighting for.’

‘
He isn’t,’ I
whispered, filling her in on Paul’s history down there.

‘
Hmmm,’ she
sighed. ‘Then you should put a stop to this.’

I gaped at her.
‘What?’

‘
These people
are full of questions and suspicion,’ she said. ‘What they need now
is to know the people they mistrust are on their side. Chris won’t
win this himself. Empathise with them, that’s what they need
sweetie. To know they aren’t the only ones who’ve lost their
families. They need someone they wholly trust to tell them to
believe in Chris again.’

‘
I don’t think
that’s me,’ I replied.

I understood what Jane
meant. Chris was a stranger to them, a stranger who had just
admitted to working for the enemy, whether he still did or not.
Their trust was gone and panic was forefront in their minds. We
were cooped up, stuck in darkness while monsters roamed the
streets, monsters who had once been our friends. They felt alone,
even surrounded by people. I didn’t know how much I would be able
to help, but, I stood, my mind raced.

‘
Lucas,’ Jane
said. ‘Be careful.’

I stepped away from Jane
and wondered what I could say, but thought better, a lot of the
group didn’t even trust me. Plus the men weren’t backing down, and
the two divided groups argued with one another. Terry was on Paul’s
side, or so it looked, but he had backed up against the wall to
watch.

I had it. The people
needed someone they could trust, someone who had lost like they
had, and someone a lot like a certain angry doctor. But how could I
get him to switch his allegiance, when he blamed Chris for him
family?

He blames you,
not Chris.

‘
Terry?’ I
said, my heart hammering against my chest. ‘Can I have a
minute?’

He looked me over coldly,
and I shivered under his gaze. The man I had met before had been
warm and caring, but now he was empty, the people closest to him
gone. I almost backed away, but I had to try.

‘
What is it,
Mr Bishop?’ Terry said. ‘Be quick, it looks like things might be
about to change down here.’

‘
That’s why I
wanted to speak to you,’ I said and swallowed. ‘If this keeps up,
this whole group will collapse, we’re tearing ourselves
apart.’

Warmth glimmered in his
eyes, and then it was gone.

‘
What does it
matter, huh?’ he whispered. ‘Chris as leader, Paul as leader, we’re
all going to die anyway.’

‘
You can’t
think like that, Terry,’ I replied, even though personally, part of
me felt the same. ‘The only way we can get through this, is
together. And Chris has kept us alive this far, if Paul takes over,
he has no idea what to do.’

‘
Chris,’ Terry
spat. ‘He lied to us. How do we know he isn’t still working for the
monsters that did this to us? Huh? My wife and daughter are dead
because of him, because of you.’

I flinched. I knew he
blamed me for freezing instead of firing, but the words out loud
almost sent me running. He was too angry to listen, too full of
hatred for everything. I had to get rid of it.

‘
No, Terry,’ I
said. ‘Chris never killed your family, you heard him. He tried to
stop this before it started. He has the same pain you do, that
we
all
do.’

‘
What do you
know about
pain
?’
he glared, tears flashed in his eyes. ‘If you had just, if you had
just…’

‘
Terry, I am
so sorry for your family. Truly,’ I choked. ‘But it’s the people
behind this to blame. My Mum and Dad are God knows where, maybe
even dead.’

Once I’d said those words
I didn’t know how to go on, the realization was like a knife in the
gut, and I tried to push the thought out. Terry clenched and
unclenched his hands. He looked enraged and sympathetic, his new
attitude in battle with his old nature. I had to finish.

‘
We’re all in
the same boat, all in this together,’ I said. ‘We have to stay that
way if we want to survive, all of us, and Chris has done that to
some extent. I want to survive, Terry. I don’t want to die. Amelia
and Hannah wouldn’t want you to die either.’

Tears were in my own eyes
and Terry’s fist flew for my face. It hit and sent me sprawled onto
the floor. Anna rocketed over from where she sat, followed closely
by Jane. Chris and Paul had stopped to look at the commotion, and
everyone turned to watch.

‘
I’m sorry,’
was all I could whisper.

Terry looked at everyone
in surprise, his eyes wide as he stared at his hands. He fled from
the room and vanished round a corner. I turned to Chris and nodded.
He seemed to understand, and headed after him, followed closely by
Paul. Anna bent down, and Jane pulled a pack of tissues from her
pocket.

‘
What the fuck
did he hit you for?’ Anna hissed as she wiped the blood that
stemmed from my nose.

I stayed
silent.

‘
I’m sorry,
Lucas,’ Jane said. ‘If I knew he would attack you I wouldn’t have
said anything.’

Anna looked at Jane
confused then back at me.

‘
I had a word
with him, tried to convince him to put a stop to this,’ I
said.

‘
How?’ she
asked.

‘
By hopefully
burning out his anger,’ I replied. ‘He blames me for not saving his
family. After what Jane said I realised he was the only one who
could stop us breaking. People trust him, value his opinion. The
only thing holding him back was me.’

Anna looked doubtful, but
an hour passed and Chris walked in flanked by Paul and Terry. The
latter avoided my eyes, but the weight behind his had lessened.
Paul’s arms were folded and his nostrils flared. The group looked
expectantly at Terry, as I hoped they would.

‘
We’ve made it
this far with Chris’s help,’ he said. ‘I know we’re all scared. I
feel the same as you do. But Anna was right, it took a lot to tell
us what Chris did, and he’s more than made up for it. We are proof
of that. He didn’t need to help us, but he did and I’m going to
give him the benefit of the doubt, as should you.’

‘
Fuck this,’
Paul snorted and moved away from the group.

The rest just looked at
each other and broke into whispers.

‘
Crisis
averted?’ Jane asked.

‘
For now
maybe,’ Anna answered.

When Anna’s watch struck
midnight people moved to the places they had grown used to and
settled down. Most were still afraid to sleep, but the room hushed,
and Terry appeared beside me. I was afraid he was going to start
lashing out again, but he didn’t look angry; his face almost
sagged, full of sorrow and resignation.

‘
I’m sorry,
Lucas,’ he whispered. ‘I shouldn’t have hit you. You’re right. I
took a vow to help people, but after, after…’

He couldn’t go
on.

‘
I know,’ I
said. ‘I know.’

He nodded and clamped a
hand on my shoulder. He looked ready to say more, but he swallowed
it, and walked away. I lay back down, going through the hell we’d
been through. There was someone down there, someone who couldn’t be
trusted. Chris hadn’t told them that part, and only he, Anna, and I
knew. We were being watched, and there were no shortage of
suspects.

That wasn’t the only
thing haunting me. Beside the fates of my family, there was
something else that sent ice through my stomach. When I’d been
attacked at home, I’d passed off the people who’d done it as common
criminals, obviously not burglars, but coincidental to everything
else. But if Terry was right, and I had a sinking feeling he was,
that sniper made sure I wasn’t killed. Sure, I could have died from
blood loss, but luck would just have it there was a doctor down in
the tunnels with us. I didn’t believe in that luck. We were all
there for a reason.

I drifted off into a
light sleep, the revelations bouncing in my mind.

*

‘
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!’ a gut-wrenching shriek filled the
air.

I bolted up and
staggered, Anna next to me bleary-eyed and half-asleep. Chris
charged out of the room and down the tunnels. We followed, Anna
still with her gun, and Paul, his son and a few followers behind
us. We sprinted around corners and into a room like ours only
smaller. I scanned the space, and my eyes found Jane. Her mouth was
still open, silently screaming, and her hands clutched at her
chest.

‘
I knew that
woman was hellspawn!’ Grace screamed from behind.

In front of Jane was
Terry. He dangled a few feet in the air, a rope tight around his
neck. It wrapped around a pipe that jutted out from the wall and
travelled through the ceiling. His eyes stared blankly at the room,
and pinned to his chest was a photograph. I couldn’t see it so I
moved closer and wished I hadn’t. Chris, Paul, and Anna looked
confused, and I saw Chris shrug. They didn’t know who it
was.

I did.

In the picture, tied to
what looked like a hospital bed, was my father.

The
Hospital

I couldn’t process it
right away. I felt sick and faint and I swayed on my feet. Terry
was dead, and my father looked close to it. The picture had writing
on it in what looked like a black marker.

The
Hospital.

It had been half an hour,
Chris and Paul had taken down the body and moved it further away
from the group. Word spread fast though, and it hit them hard.
People screamed and shouted, they cried and some were just silent.
There was an evil glint in Paul’s eye, and I realised, with Terry
dead, he could start up his little campaign again. That was all we
needed. However my priorities had shifted, if there was any chance
my Dad was alive, any, then I would do whatever I had to do to get
him back.

Once the body was gone, I
told them all who the picture was. I spoke in a rush, explained his
condition and what I intended to do. No one looked happy. My spirit
deflated with their silence, part of me had expected they would
have been as happy as I was.

‘
It’s a trap,’
Anna said eventually. ‘Whoever did this wants us there, or more
specifically you, and I doubt it’s for the best. Your Dad might not
even be there.’

Chris, Anna, Jane and I
had broken off from the main group.

‘
I don’t care
what it is,’ I said. ‘My Dad might be there, and if there’s any
chance he’s still alive, then I’m going.’

‘
Lucas, it’s
obvious,’ Chris said gently. ‘Someone wants you there, and a dead
body with your father’s picture isn’t a great message.’

I couldn’t believe what I
was hearing.

‘
Sorry to cut
in,’ Jane grimaced. ‘How do you know the good doctor didn’t just do
that himself?’

I looked at Chris and his
face sank. The bags under his eyes had their own bags, and the
weight of leadership was beginning to stretch him thin.

‘
If the
picture of Lucas’s father isn’t a bad enough omen, when Paul and I
got the body down I noticed something,’ he whispered. ‘Terry’s arm
was broken, and his back was bruised. From the looks of it someone
must have snuck up behind him and surprised him. They twisted his
arm around his back and pinned both it and him down from behind to
strangle him.’

Anna gasped and I winced,
the colour had gone from Jane’s face and she swallowed any further
questions. My mind whirled. Someone down there with us was working
against us, first, by shutting the opening to the tunnels on us and
probably starting the car alarm in the first place, and then? They
had killed a good man to send a message, a message that
inexplicably, was for me. What the hell did they want from
me?

‘
Paul never
noticed, I took the picture down and told him it was Terry’s wife
and child,’ Chris whispered. ‘So for now, everyone believes he took
his own life, we can’t have another meltdown. But someone is here
with us, and I don’t mean just in the tunnels, they’re here, in
this group.’

‘
It doesn’t
matter,’ I cut in. ‘I’m going to the hospital and I’m going to find
my Dad. You said it yourself, Chris. That sniper could have killed
me, but he didn’t, which means they want something, or at the very
least nothing will happen to me there.’

‘
And you’re
willing to test this?’ he growled. ‘What if you’re wrong, what if
they’re just playing with all of us, and they’re baiting us out to
kill us, one by one. Using what we want the most.’