Elizabeth replied, “I think so.” They watched as her toes wiggled slightly at the end.

  Samantha felt around her ankle, feeling it for lumps. “I don’t think it’s broken. Just badly twisted. We need to go Elizabeth. Tina, you hold her one end, I will hold the other.”

  They grabbed Elizabeth under her armpits to pull her up. They placed their shoulders under her arms to support her. “Can you use your left leg to walk and use your right toes to balance?”

  They watched as Elizabeth stumbled yelping in pain as she tried. She managed to be able to use her left foot fully and hobble with her right. If Samantha wasn’t so concerned about getting back, she would have thought the scene looked almost comical, particularly as Elizabeth no longer had a shoe on her other foot. Samantha looked ahead, the others were no longer in sight. Samantha said “We need to get back. Gracia, do you still have that tenner?” Gracia nodded. “Right, let's make our way to the nearest road to try and hitchhike.” They hobbled across the field avoiding various patches of deep mud and eventually made their way to a side road. Samantha looked at her watch. It was 4pm already. They had wasted half an hour just crossing a field to the middle of nowhere.

  The road was a country lane but seemed quite busy with a steady stream of cars driving far too fast around the bends. Samantha held onto Elizabeth as she stuck her thumb out, her own back feeling like it was about to give way. Samantha wondered how much time they had wasted by standing still, hoping and praying someone would help them. She doubted herself, wondering if it would have been better to keep moving.

  Eventually, Samantha watched as a black Range Rover pulled over to the side. The passenger window slowly wound down revealing their rescuer. Samantha thought that he certainly was no Prince Charming. The driver was scruffy looking, he had dark grey stubble to match his t-shirt which was covered in stains. “Do you ladies need a lift?” He spoke through the cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

  All Samantha could smell was smoke, the sweet country air vanishing in an instant. She resisted the urge to cough and instead put on her sweetest voice. “Oh thank you. Yes, please. We are going to Kings Hill School in Watford?”

  He surveyed them, Samantha noticed that he seemed to gaze at David the longest. It made Samantha very nervous as if he was assessing his chances. “I’ll get you across the M25. You can make your own way from there.”

  Samantha tried to put on her sweetest smile. “Great. Thank you so much” Samantha signalled to the group to get in the car. She noticed that Elizabeth looked particularly uneasy. Samantha subtly shrugged her shoulders as if to say ‘what else can we do?’ The rear windows were blacked out, so they could not see what they were climbing into, as if climbing into the great unknown.

  Tina, Elizabeth, Samantha and Gracia crammed into the back while David sat in the front. As they climbed into the back of the car, Samantha could see what lay in the footwells: rope, a hacksaw and a hammer all lay on the floor. Samantha hesitated, standing with her right leg in the car and her left leg still outside. The driver laughed at her mockingly. “Don’t be worried, I work outdoors so need tools. I’m not going to kill ya, even if I tried this big fella would stop me, right?”

  David nodded and climbed in the front and said confidently, “right.”

  Unfortunately, it did not fill Samantha with confidence but she felt like she had no choice. They had less than half an hour to get back. Samantha felt that she could not breathe, with being crammed into a three-seater space between the four of them and the car being filled with smoke. Samantha tried to speak in her nicest voice. “Do you mind if we wind a window down?” She looked in his rearview mirror and watched as he looked up at her, studying her.

  He muttered a “sure.” Samantha wound the window down and as the car started to move at speed relished the cold blast of air she felt as the car sped down the road. Samantha returned her gaze to the rearview mirror to try and assess their so-called saviour. Samantha instantly removed her gaze as she saw that even though he was driving, he did not seem to take his eyes off Elizabeth.

  “Why were all of you in the fields anyway?” He eyed each of them suspiciously through his mirror.

  Samantha opened her mouth to speak but Tina quickly said, “work training day. Orienteering challenge.” She looked at Samantha and slowly shook her head.

  The man laughed. “Well now, that makes sense as to why some of you look more like you should be across the way in London rather than in Chorleywood.” Samantha looked at the others, at least they knew where they were. Samantha looked at the clock on the dashboard 4:10pm. They still had twenty minutes.

  They drove along the M25 and eventually turned off towards Watford. Samantha felt herself relax slightly as they were slowly approaching their destination. Her eyes fixated on the clock as if staring at it would stop the numbers changing.

  Suddenly, the car swerved to the left, pushing Samantha hard into Elizabeth’s side, and pulled over into a lay-by. They all looked at each other, Samantha looked at the clock and shook her head. She knew they wouldn’t make it. She tried to put on her sweetest voice to sound eternally grateful. “Well, thanks for getting us this far. It’s not much further if you wouldn't mind taking us?”

  The man laughed and threw back his head. “Well aren’t you the salt of the earth little missy. I can take you, but I would want something in return.”

  Samantha nodded to Gracia. Gracia put her hand down her top, revealing the top of her chest. She pulled out a £10 and offered it to the man. Samantha watched the man in front closely and noticed he was almost drooling at the sight. Samantha realised that the man was more interested in what the bra contained, rather than the money that was hidden in it. Samantha felt her heartbeat quicken as she watched him smile and shake his head. “Not that kind of favour.”

  Gracia screwed her face up in disgust. “I have a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and a degree in Digital Marketing from Oxford and you think I would even so much as touch you?” Samantha felt her skin crawl, she felt that they were in a very bad situation. They were greater in number, but they needed his car to take them back or they wouldn’t make it, so he knew he had the upper hand.

  As if reading her thoughts, the man in front frowned and turned around to face the front. “Well then, good luck getting to your school on time. Now get out of my car.”

  David tried to calm the situation. He took his seatbelt off and twisted around to face him. Samantha hoped the Welsh accent worked. “Look, we will get out and leave you be. Thanks very much for the lift we all appreciate it.” David turned and looked at them. “Come on, who cares if we don’t make it on time. It’s not the end of the world.” David grabbed the door handle and pulled, nothing seemed to happen. The rest of them tried the back doors. They were locked in.

  Samantha looked in the rearview mirror and saw him smirk. She suddenly felt very claustrophobic, like she was struggling to breathe. Before Samantha could say anything further, the man spun around quickly pointing at her. Samantha dropped her gaze and saw a small black handgun pointing at Elizabeth, who was in the unfortunate position of sitting in the middle. Samantha thought that if anyone had looked at that moment, it would look like a scene in a comic book. Samantha and Tina instinctively had raised up their hands as they had seen in films, Gracia still held out her £10 as if offering it to the man in exchange for her life and David was just staring at the whole situation wide-eyed in shock. Samantha froze, she did not know what to say or do to calm the situation.

  “Now then, you either do as I say or little missy here gets a bullet in her pretty white blouse.” They were all silent which Samantha thought clearly pleased him. “Now then, you four undress in the back, while I hold this gun to your friends head.” They all turned to each other, looking for reassurance or an answer, none was forthcoming. Slowly Tina lifted off her top and Elizabeth, Gracia and Samantha followed suit. They sat in their bras looking around nervously and uncomfortable. Samantha felt incredibly self-conscious and could see her stomach hunch into rolls. She felt humiliated and could feel the sting of tears in her eyes. Samantha tried to look anywhere else but at the scene in front of her. As she was placing her top in the footwells, she noticed the hacksaw in the footwell. She bent down and put her top on the floor, picking up the saw without the man noticing.

  Tina looked across at her and saw the hacksaw in Samantha’s right hand. She quickly tried to distract the man before he followed her gaze. She said, “Is that all?”

  The man looked at Tina and at her pink bra. “What do you think?” Tina put her hands behind her back as if to unclip her bra.

  Elizabeth shouted, “don’t do it. Don’t give him the satisfaction!” Samantha saw her opportunity while everyone was distracted by the scene playing out in front of them. Samantha then in a quick manoeuvre swung the hacksaw around the headrest on the car seat and put it against the man's neck. “If you move I’ll start hacking away at your lovely unshaven neck.”

  The man smiled showing all his yellowing teeth. “Well, well, well, this one's got some balls.” He turned to look at her and moved the gun so it was pointing at Samantha’s head. As he did, David grabbed the man's right arm and tilted it upwards so that a shot fired in the roof of the car. David wrestled with the man's arm trying to free the gun from his grasp. Samantha wanted to reassure the others but did not want to distract her gaze from the gun hovering dangerously in front of them. She watched as the gun moved, passing each of them in turn. Samantha held her breath, waiting for the metal to go through her. She realised that David wasn’t going to manage to get the gun on his own. Without thought, she lunged forward into the car seat in front of her, making a large incision with the hacksaw next to his shoulder. He yelled out in surprise. The gun went off.

  Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Samantha watched as the bullet sailed past her, narrowly missing her shoulder and embedding itself into the fabric behind her. She took her chance. She grabbed the gun while everyone was in shock, she was surprised how easy it came away. Almost as if he had surprised himself by firing.

  Samantha pointed the gun at the man, her hands were shaking so much that the gun bobbled about, sometimes pointing at his head, other times at the windscreen behind. Samantha tried to regain her voice, which was audibly shaken. “Now look here, we need to get to that school by 4:30pm. It is now 4:15pm. Either you can take us for 10 minutes and we all depart as friends, or we take your sad little excuse for a car and drive it their ourselves. Which is it to be?”

  Tina shouted in a high pitched scream, “have you lost your fucking mind? We can’t trust this man, did you just forget that he almost killed us?”

  The man smiled, “listen to your friend little girl, you are in over your head.”

  Samantha no longer cared, her only thought was getting back to the school by 4:30pm. She shouted and pushed the gun towards him. “Which is it to be?”

  He looked at Tina, smiled, then looked back to Samantha. He raised his hands in the air. Samantha held the trigger even tighter. She watched as he moved his left hand on his neck. Samantha could see the blood seeping through the gaps between his fingers. He took his hand away and studied the blood on his hand in mock amusement. Samantha thought his neck looked like it had been beaten as the blood was now smeared all around his neck. “Fine, I’ll take you.”

  For the rest of the journey, they all sat in silence, waiting for this moment to be over. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of cloth on skin as they put their tops back on. The clock on the dashboard read 4:27pm as they approached the gates. David said, “you can leave us here.” As he reached the door handle, his eyes still fixed on the man, he added sarcastically, “nice to meet your acquaintance.”

  They got out of the car and ran as quickly as they could, Samantha and Tina carrying Elizabeth to the entrance. They walked up the steps, panting with each step they took. Elizabeth tripped on the stairs up to the entrance but Samantha and Tina grabbed her before she fell. Samantha put all her energy into her shoulders and hoisted Elizabeth with Tina over the entrance. Samantha looked around at their mini-group as they all collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. “We made it” Samantha said. She couldn't quite believe that they had done it.

  While Samantha was lying on her back breathing heavily, she saw a Green Jacket stride over her. Samantha watched as the Green Jacket studied his watch and then a minute later, shut and locked the door. They heard banging on the door and audible shouting to be let in. The Green Jacket stood and looked at them. “You need to make your way to the main hall.”

  Samantha looked up, she could see under the green cap. The man had kind eyes and a familiar face that Samantha couldn’t quite place. She wondered if the reason they wore the cap was to cover their eyes, anonymity was more unsettling.

  Samantha turned to her teammates, “we need to get going guys.” She slowly stood up, her back throbbing from the exhaustion of carrying Elizabeth. They stumbled across into the main hall where they had begun their day. Samantha looked around the room and noticed the number of people had halved since the start of the day. They saw Ross and the others who had abandoned them not even an hour ago, sat near the front. Samantha glared at Ross and he hastily turned to face the front. Samantha found herself involuntarily looking for Mike, hoping he had made it and saw him on the front row. Samantha felt the relief fill her. She was unsure why she cared so much that he had, but there was no denying how she felt.

  Samantha was distracted by a sight behind her. She noticed that Scott was approaching the lectern. Samantha noticed that it still had the same effect on everyone as it had at the start, as silence descended for the final time that day. Samantha could see that behind Scott was Andrea, who had dismissed the two chatty girls earlier on, and the man they described as Tim Sykes. Samantha eagerly looked around for the man she knew as Brady but could not see him. Samantha felt unsettled, wondering why he wasn’t there.

  “Congratulations on making it back. That is the end of the day today. We will let you know in a week who has been successful in reaching the next stage. Please leave in an orderly manner towards the main entrance. At the desk, you will be able to gather your phone and wallet by handing in your key. Thank you for taking part and we hope you all enjoyed it.” Samantha watched as Scott turned sharply and left the room, with Andrea and Tim Sykes just behind him.

  Samantha looked around the room. They had been given instructions on what to do next and yet, everyone looked around in confusion, expecting it to be a trick. As if they no longer trusted their own judgement. Samantha looked to the end of her row, where Tina was sat. Their eyes met and Samantha nodded to Tina to get up. She did so and Samantha filtered out with her row. They walked towards the main entrance in silence. The quiet gave Samantha the opportunity to reflect on the day's events; wondering what she had become. In that short space of time, she had her nose almost broken and been held at gunpoint. She had also committed GBH on a man she had never met before today. Samantha never thought she had it in her to react at a critical moment, it just takes one flick of a switch of desperation to make us the animals we all are deep inside.

  Samantha slowly walked down the corridor, helping Elizabeth stumble her way to the main entrance like a lame horse. She felt a push in her back and almost fell over with Elizabeth. She shouted, “watch it!”

  Samantha turned around and saw Ross and Bethany fighting their way through the crowds. Samantha wasn’t sure if it was the emotion of what they had just experienced that made her say what she said. She had always trudged through life, looking for the easy options, the ones with least confrontation. “What the hell do you think you were playing at?”

  Ross showed no sign of remorse, glaring at Samantha as if it was her fault. “I didn’t think you would make it with her. Look I’m sorry we left but I need this. I couldn’t afford to lose the opportunity on sentiment.”

  “Sentiment!” Samantha shouted. “You abandoned a person who needed our help, needed you, needed us to work as a team. That’s the whole point of these tasks. If you could get that into your tiny selfish brain you would see that. You don’t know the hell we had to go through to get here.”

  Elizabeth looked up at Samantha and slowly shook her head, “leave it, Samantha. He’s not worth it.” Samantha glared at Ross and Bethany and turned to walk away.

  “Well you got here, didn’t you. It all worked out in the end.” Samantha froze, the red mist descended. She felt her fists clench, her nails digging into the palm of her hand. She spun around and raised her right fist as if to punch the person directly behind her. As her fist was just about to release, like a pinball in a machine, she felt a soft hand cup her closed fist. She turned to her left and saw David. He slowly shook his head, the red mist started to clear.

  “It’s not worth it. People like him don’t see the bigger picture. They just see their own inner circle. It will be his downfall one day.”

  Samantha shrugged David’s hand off and didn’t say anything. She turned around and carried on supporting Elizabeth’s weight so she could walk and waited in the queue to regain her possessions. Samantha no longer felt herself, the shy Samantha who felt sorry for herself was disappearing. She didn’t recognise the person who was leaving this school today. Samantha had never felt more relieved about the thought of going back home.

  19.

  Samantha had gathered her phone and purse back from the main reception desk and started to make her way out of the school towards the main road. She walked out with David, Elizabeth and Tina.

  David turned to walk towards the car park. “Where are you going to Samantha?”

  Samantha replied, “back to the station to get my train home.”

  “Let me give you a lift.”

  Samantha smiled at him and felt relieved that she might not have to deal with other people for a bit longer. “Thank you David, that would be…”

  Samantha heard a familiar voice behind her. “Ditching me already I see?”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25