Chapter 40

Chorley. The same evening.

Sophie and her closest friend, Cassie, were the bait. Her younger brother Tim, and five other young men were the trap. They were aiming to get a complete Patrol of four in one go, the method being for the girls to pretend to be drunk and let the Patrollers get close. When they dropped their weapons to start harassing the two drunken young women, as everybody knew they would, Tim and his colleagues would come out of the side passage and knock out all four. Perhaps predictably, it didn’t go as planned.

For once it was a full four-man Security Patrol, not a two and two Safety and Security Patrol. All of them armed with shot guns. Not the more common double barrelled shotguns more usually seen in Britain, but the American style pump action shotguns.

“Where the hell did they come from,” Darren, the eldest of the men there asked rhetorically.

“Oh shit,” answered Tim, standing next to him. “The girls are already out there, there’s no time,” he paused. “This is gonna get messy.”

“Oh hellfire,” muttered Sophie to Cassie as they staggered, or pretended to, along the high street. It was twenty minutes before nine in the evening, so twenty minutes before curfew started.

“What?”

“It’s a friggin’ Security patrol.”

“Shall we carry on or shall we get out of here?”

Sophie thought about it for a moment, but then it was too late.

“Oy,” came the cry from one of the Patrollers, “get home. Curfew is coming.”

Sophie just waved weakly at the patrol, the two girls had little choice but to keep going.

The Patrollers approached them, and could now easily see that the two girls appeared somewhat drunk.

“You got far to go?” the senior Patrolman asked kindly.

Sophie was surprised. This was not the reception any of them had expected. She shook her head. “Half mile,” she slurred. “Straight up there.” She pointed roughly where the patrolmen had just come from.

“Okay. Off you go. Be as quick as you can.”

The patrol carried on, ignoring the two girls. “Fuck,” breathed Cassie. “That wasn’t what was supposed to happen.”

“No. Come on.”

The two girls turned into the narrow passageway where the rest of the squad were hiding. “What do we do now?” asked Darren. He was looking at Sophie.

“Dunno. Uh. Yes I do. Come on.” She took off, running, sprinting almost, along the narrow snicket and out onto the road at the other end. They were now running parallel to the Patrollers, with just the depth of two houses between the two groups. When they got to the next junction, they all paused and one of the men got down on his hands and knees and looked carefully down the linking road towards where the Patrollers would be coming from. “Yeah, there they are,” he said softly. “They’re on the road crossing it. Looks like they’re carrying on.” He waited a few seconds longer. “Okay. Clear.”

The group sprinted across the narrow road, and carried on running to the next junction. They were now in front of the Patrollers, but all were breathing heavily from the run. They were all fit, but they’d not expected this. They paused for a moment to get their breaths back, before Sophie urged them on again. Once more they ran, but this time they were running along the linking road, towards where the Patrollers should be.

To everyone’s surprise, even as she was running, Sophie was stripping off. Soon all she was wearing was a pair of black knickers, even her shoes had been left behind. She had hung on to her tee-shirt though, and as they got to the next corner she dropped it onto the ground and stood on it to peer carefully around the corner.

“Phew, in time.” She picked up the now rather messy tee-shirt and wiped it on herself, smearing mud and dirt over her skin.

“Don’t gawp,” snapped Cassie. All the men, even Tim, Sophie’s brother, were staring at the now almost naked Sophie.

Sophie flung the tee-shirt away. “Right, quick,” she whispered. “When I go around that corner, they’ll be more than distracted. You’ll probably have no more than five or ten seconds though, so keep your wits about you. Okay?” She glared at them all. “Okay?”

“Uh. Okay,” A few of them were still startled, though they had all now worked out roughly what her plan was. It always was going to be risky, but this was even more risky.

Tim carefully edged to the corner and looked around. The patrol was only about ten yards from them, strolling slowly in their direction. They didn’t look particularly worried, but they also didn’t look like they were concentrating quite so much on what they should be doing. By the sound of it they were talking companionably, though Tim couldn’t hear much of what they were saying.

He waited a couple of seconds, then drew back. “Eight yards. If that.”

Sophie nodded. “Okay, time to go,” she breathed. To Tim’s surprise, she skinned out of her knickers, thrust them into her brother’s hand, gave him a quick, nervous, smile, and shot off around the corner as if all the devils of hell were after her, screaming and caterwauling as she went. Seconds later she was back again, the four patrol men chasing her, their eyes alight.

Sophie was an extremely attractive young woman at any time. Naked, in the dark, and running towards them, the four male Patrollers could only stare in wonder. She crashed into one of them, deliberately though of course they didn’t realise that, and then before he could grab her, spun around and sprinted back the way she had come, still screaming.

The four men, their thoughts now in the gutter, intent only in the young, naked, lone as they thought, female came hurtling around the corner to find their way blocked by seven burly young men and women. And one naked one.

The first man around the corner had no chance of stopping in time, and crashed into two of the group, all three went down.

“Stinger,” snapped Sophie at Darren, who was standing next to the three. She was now totally unarmed, still naked, and shivering now in the January cold.

Darren made to throw his stinger to her, but Sophie just pointed. “Not me,” she snapped. “Him.”

“Oh.” Darren almost visibly shook himself and quickly stunned the Patrolman who was struggling with the two young men he had crashed into.

The second Patroller managed to stop before he went down, but he was already on top of both Cassie and Tim, who already had their stingers in their hands. He went down, unconscious, even before the first man had been stung.

Sophie stooped to pick up the shotgun of the man lying in front of her, but as she stood, the next Patroller, as it happened the one who had spoken to her earlier, slammed the butt of his shot gun into her shoulder. “Ahhh,” she cried, her whole arm going numb. She couldn’t hold on to the weapon she was holding, and it fell on top of the unconscious man on the floor, with her on top of it.

As the Patroller was about to club her a second time, Tim grabbed the barrel of his shot gun, and wrenched it down. The Patroller spun, lashed out with his fist, and caught Tim painfully on the side of his jaw. Tim twisted himself slightly and dropped, taking the shotgun with him. The Patroller now had a choice: either let go, or hang on and be dragged down. He didn’t let go in time, and Darren quickly jammed his stinger in the back of the stooping man’s neck.

By this time the fourth Patroller had been taken care of by Cassie and the other two members of the group firing stingers at short range.

“Get off me,” groaned Sophie. She was lying awkwardly, the shotgun digging into her hip and back as she lay on top of the first, still unconscious, Patroller. Tim was on top of her, obviously stunned by the way he was shaking his head, with the other unconscious patrolman lying partly on top of him. One of her arms was trapped, and she was unable to push the unconscious Patroller off Tim. She used her one free hand to gently slap her brother’s face.

“Tim? Tim. You need to get up. Come on kiddo, get up. Wake up. Tim.”

He just looked at her blearily. “Hey Soph.” He shook his head.

She felt the weight lessen suddenly and looked around to see two of the others shifting the man at the top of the pile. “Ah cheers Malc, can you get Cassie to get this flamin’ gun out from underneath me. It’s bloody diggin’ into me back.”

Tim suddenly seemed to rouse, as he raised his head and looked at his sister, a look of confused surprise on his face. “You okay lass?”

“Well apart from you lying on top of me. This friggin’ gun underneath me. My shoulder feels like it’s been thumped by a bull. I’ve got no clothes on, and I’m outside on a bloody freezing January night. Oh. And it’s gone curfew, and we still haven’t shifted these soon to be corpses.”

Tim looked at her for a moment, then looked down. “Oh. Shit. Sorry.” He quickly pushed himself upright, but Sophie held onto him, for a moment.

“Wait.”

She wriggled a bit, turning her head. Tim turned to see what she was looking at. Next to them Cassie was gently pulling the gun from underneath Sophie. “Ow ow ow ow,” gasped Sophie.

“Sorry Soph,” Cassie said. “I’m being as gentle as I can. I’ll go get your stuff while the boys tidy up the bodies.”

Sophie relaxed suddenly, but then gave another moan as her shoulder creaked painfully. “Bloody hell Soph,” Tim said, appalled, “I heard that. I think you might have broken your arm or sommat.”

“Oh shit. Help me up.”

Between them, Tim and Cassie helped Sophie to stand, when it became obvious her right shoulder was badly misshapen. “I’m so cold,” moaned Sophie.

Tim tried to hug her to him, to keep her warm, but that put pressure on her shoulder.

“Aaah, no, careful. Uh. Where’s my knickers?”

“Um. Dunno.”

“I gave em’ to you.”

“You did? Oh. Oh yeah.” Tim quickly checked his pocket, found them and handed them over.

“Sorry bro, you’ll have to help me, my arm’s buggered.”

Tim just stood and looked at his sister in surprise.

“Oh don’t be a fuckin’ wuss Tim, just bloody help me will you. I’m cold, and I hurt.” Sophie sounded more than a little irritated.

Tim carefully helped his sister into her underwear, but when Cassie returned a few minutes later with Sophie’s clothes it was Cassie who helped her friend to finish dress. A rather embarrassed Tim gratefully went and helped with the unconscious bodies of the four Patrollers.

It was well after nine now, and so far they’d been lucky. It was unlikely to last long. Darren pulled the radio from his pocket. “November Alpha one seven, November Alpha six eight six, over”.

The response was immediate. “November Alpha six eight six, November Alpha one seven, go ahead over.”

“Six eight six. Job did not go as planned. One serious injury, one minor, and we’re on,” he looked quickly around. “Where are we?” he asked the others.

“Progress Street, at the junction with Seymour Street,” one of the others answered. “My aunt lives just round the corner on Fieldon Street, we should be safe there.”

Darren spoke to control again and gave the location of where they would be, requesting a pickup as soon as possible. This was confirmed, and they were told to get secure as soon as possible.

The eight dragged and carried the four still unconscious Patrollers the few hundred metres to their temporary shelter.

“You sure your aunt won’t mind?” Sophie asked as they hurried. “We are really rather late, and we’ve got these scum with us.”

“I know she won’t mind. She hates these shits as much we all do. It’ll only be a problem if she has other visitors, and that’s unlikely with the new travel restrictions.”

“Uh, okay, as long as you’re sure.”

“Quite sure.”

“Wayne!” Exclaimed the elderly woman who opened the door nervously to them some ten minutes later.

“Hello Auntie Bet. Can we come in please? We’re in a bit of bother.”

“Er yes. Quick. Get in the lot of you. In there,” she began to point and then trailed off in shock as she saw the bodies of the still unconscious Patrollers. “What in God’s name... , quick. In. Now.”

A little over an hour later, Sophie was standing to attention. In front of her stood Bill, his face full of fury, and something else which Sophie only later realised was a mixture of fear and relief. Behind him Ted was sitting, watching, a look of complete relaxed calm about him.