LIFERS Chapter Forty Four

After Gregg and Nick had organised the equipment required for the second of the bombs, they entered the shaft and made their way to the schoolhouse tunnel to rig it up. The dust and debris from the first blast had settled quicker than anticipated due to the tunnel’s sodden condition, but smoke and the smell of gunpowder still lingered like a stubborn morning mist.

‘Well,’ Nick said, standing at a wall of earth created by the first bomb. ‘This looks better than I expected.’

Gregg nodded. ‘It’s agreat job, Nick, but just how many of these roundshells did you bring with you?’

‘Ten thirty-five pounders and half a dozen fifteens, why?’

‘We need to set up one more bomb in the tunnel leading to the cinema, because when that truck crashes through the entrance they’ll head straight back to where they came from. Will we still have enough explosive power left to bring down the cinema if we do?’

‘If we set two more here and two in the cinema tunnel it’ll leave us with four thirty-fives which we can fasten to the oil truck’s fuel tanks. After that, we strap all the fifteens and the pressurised air cylinders to the paraffin oil tank which should rupture it and altogether make for one helluva loud bang.’

‘That’s all I needed to hear.’
..

Before Jill started to look for a container she took another peek at Alicia curled up on the back seat of the 4x4, she touched the back of her fingers to her forearm to find she felt cold and covered her with a green and red chequered travel blanket.

She tried to imagine what kind of hell Alicia had been through in the past week, what atrocities she may have witnessed or even had forced upon her. She didn’t appear to be bruised or physically mistreated in any way, other than looking rake-thin, but the mental scars of her ordeal could be with her for the rest of her life.

She closed the car door and moved to the centre of the garage, where, during this quiet moment, she thought about Vicky lying in the cell across the road under her own chequered blanket, and what might have happened had the escape attempt been successful. Would they both be stood in this tin shack trying to figure things out? Would they both be worrying about the young girls up at the town hall? And would they both be disagreeing on which one of them should go for dinner first with Gregg when all this was over? She decided yes, they probably would be.

She turned to the task of finding a suitable container for the oil and looked on all the steel shelving, but they only produced more old tires and rusted engine parts.

‘Come on, Vicky, if there’s any chance that you’re watching over me, now would be a good time for a clue.’

She heard the grate of a dry metal hinge and turned to see one of the rear doors of the wheel-less minibus had opened two inches, a two inch gap that she felt sure wasn’t there when she last walked past it. She also felt a warm gust of air brush over on her face, almost like the touch of a soft hand, even though everywhere but the hatch was shut tight, so there was nowhere the gust could have come from, except…

‘Is that you, Vicks?’

The only reply she got was an eerie, buckled creak from the flimbsy tin walls, which sent a shiver down the length of her spine. She shook off the ghostly sensations then moved over to the mini-bus and reached out to push the door closed again, only to have it bounce back with that same haunted creak. She smiled when she realised just how silly she was. Of course there were no such things as ghosts, or psychics, or even vampires for that matter … were there?

She pulled the door fully open to hear its rusted hinges grate with an ear-piercing “Yeeeaarrr” and couldn’t believe what lay before her. Even the mini-bus had been filled with old tyres. It had to be some kind of weird rubber fetish they suffered from, as well as all that rain-watching crap they got a kick out of.

She started to empty the mini-bus of its clutter and after ten minutes of building a small mountain of tyres and a massive sweat, the vehicle was void of rubber and Jill stood with a green army-issue metal fuel container in her hands, about the size of the average suitcase.
‘Thanks, Vicks,’ she said.
..

Gregg and Nick climbed from the shaft to see Jill trying to marry the five inch diameter hole of the truck’s rubber extraction tube to the three inch hole of a container she’d found. Nick went about the business of wiring up his gadget and Gregg went over to help her.

‘How’s this supposed to work?’ she said.

‘Leave that, Jill, we need to use it to fill the oil truck’s fuel tanks before we put paraffin oil in there, and besides,’ he said, pointing to a small outlet tap at the back of the truck. ‘That’s what you’d use to fill the container with.’

‘Damn, I didn’t notice that,’ she said. ‘Do you want me to fill the tanks, then?’

‘Yeah, I’ll give Nick a hand.’

A few seconds after Jill opened and ducked under the shutter, there was a rather quiet “Fire-in-the-hole” from Nick, followed by another explosion, this one just as loud as the first.
‘Woo-hoo,’ he shouted, and the hatch bounce shut once more. ‘That’s two down, one to go.’

Gregg went over. ‘When we’ve placed the final bomb in the cinema tunnel, Jill will have to go up to the town hall and set those fires, timing will then become our prime concern. Once the fires are lit and Jill gets back, I’m going to drive the 4x4 up there. You’ll need to have your van facing north, and when that lot are in the cinema and you’ve detonated the final bomb, flash your lights. That will be my signal to get in there and get the girls out. After you’ve given that signal, I want you to make sure Jill takes your van and gets Alicia and herself away from here. And don’t bother to wait for me to get back, we’ll only get one opportunity of ending this, so once you’ve got them trapped in the cinema, push the oil truck through the doors and no matter what else you do, don’t hesitate to press that button.’

‘Count on it,’ Nick said.

‘When I get back with Jenny Walsh and the other girl, you take them and the 4x4 and go meet Jill. Then all of you get the hell away from this place, okay?’

‘So you’re still not coming with us?’

Gregg drew his gun. ‘No, Nick; still got one left’

‘Well that’s one shit decision you’ve had to make, Gregg’

‘I know, but it’s my decision.’

‘Hey, any of you guys care to help a lady?’

Jill was struggling to drag the full container of fuel back into the garage so Gregg took it from her and managed lift it to pour its contents into the first of the truck’s fuel tanks.

‘There’s no chance of me lifting this on my own if it’s full, Gregg.’

‘You reckon you could manage half its weight?’

JIll took hold of the container when it was approximately half full and managed to lift and carry it alone to the truck’s second tank.

‘Guess that answers my question then.’