The Numbered

Chapter Seventeen

As Hannah cried out, overwhelmed by the intense pain threatening to shatter her into a million tiny pieces, she was drowned out by the arrival of a helicopter, flying low above the woods. Utterly broken she went to run towards Shane, leaving the shelter of the car she was hiding behind, desperate to get to him, to be with him. But the sound of the guard's boots thumping down the road stopped her. Fighting against every instinct to run to him, she ducked down and put a hand over her mouth to silence her sobbing.

"You check the body. You two search the area over there," he said pointing to the clearing by the woods. "If there's one, there could be more. I'll radio above and see if they can see anything," the man closest to Hannah's position shouted.

A 4x4 armour plated vehicle roared up the road and screeched to a halt. The guard who had given the orders walked over to it and took out a radio.

Hannah's body was uncontrollably shaking and praying that she was wrong and that he might still be alive. Desperate feelings of hope trying to drown out what she already knew to be true. Please, please let him be ok, she prayed as she saw the two guards approach Shane. Still he did not move.

"Damn," shouted the soldier at the 4x4. "The heli can't see anything as their infrared is down. Thompson, what's the status over there?"

The guard lent over Shane and Hannah could see him checking for a pulse as the helicopter flew off back across the woods, trees bending beneath its downdraft. The guard turned to his superior and slowly shook his head from side to side. Hannah inwardly screamed and fell against the car, her legs incapable of holding her up. No, no, no. Slowly she rocked back and forth. Just then she heard the guard shout.

"Sir, you need to come over here and look at this."

Hannah didn't want to move and although she felt incapable of doing anything else, something inside took over. Something she had no control over. It sharpened her senses and it screamed at her to get up and run. Hannah's internal battle was not fight or flight. It was fall or flight. She wanted to die herself, she wanted it to be her body lying there, growing colder by the second. She was the reason, Shane was now dead. He wouldn't have been here if it hadn't been for her. The guilt exploded in her that very second but her body, her nervous system would not let it take over. On autopilot, Hannah raised herself up into a crouched position and watched the senior guard walk over to Shane's body.

"What is it?" he barked.

"It's him sir; it's the boyfriend of the Green girl."

Hannah stopped breathing. How did he know who Shane was? How did he know about her?

"What on earth is he doing here? His house should be under twenty-four-hour surveillance," the guard said, clearly furious. "I'll radio in for instructions. This is one shit-storm I could do without tonight! Check the area more thoroughly; maybe she was with him?"

The guards separated and started expanding their search, fortunately for Hannah they were still on the opposite side of the road, for the moment.

"Yes, sir, I understand that this is highly inconvenient. No, sir, we haven't found her yet and there doesn't appear signs of anybody else here either. Yes sir, I will send a car round to her house immediately to check. Yes, sir, I do understand how important she is."

The senior guard put the handset down and walked away from the 4x4 back to Shane. On his way he scanned the area and his eyes fell on the car that Hannah was hiding behind. He stopped. Hannah froze again.

"Briggs, Jones move your search over to this side and check out that car."

Oh god they're coming, Hannah thought and she silently crept further around the car.

"Sir," shouted one of the guards, "it's her she's there behind the car" and they started to run towards her, withdrawing their weapons are they came closer.

Hannah took one last look at Shane and ran in the opposite direction.

"Stop, Miss Green or we will shoot."

Hannah didn't care and at that moment she would have welcomed a hot steel bullet piercing its way into her body sending her into a dark oblivion.

"Last warning. I said stop!"

Hannah sped up. Her toned athletic form relished the release of the adrenaline now coursing through her body. She put her head down and drove her legs hard, but just then she heard four odd, identical sounds. Put, put, put, put. The sounds were soft and muffled. Silenced bullets she realised. She waited for her body to feel the force of impact, to feel the sharp pain of pierced skin and fractured bone but she felt nothing.

"Hannah. Stop!" said a familiar voice behind her.

His voice forced her body to come to an abrupt halt, wild eyed and panting. She turned around slowly and saw Zeke, the man from the lift holding a long, shiny handgun. Lying to the side of him were the two guards that had been chasing her. Behind them, lay the other two guards, prostrate.

Five lives snuffed out in less than five minutes.

"I need to get you out of here right now. I need to get you home, honey."

The kind tone to his voice and his use of the word honey was Hannah's undoing.

"He's dead Zeke, they killed him. I have to go to him," she cried and ran back across the road.

Zeke ran after her and grabbed her arms, pulling her to him.

"He's gone Hannah and there's nothing you can do now!"

"Don't you think I know that," she shouted. "Where were you, why didn't you help him," she cried and thumped at his chest.

Zeke pulled her to tighter.

"I'm so sorry. We didn't know you had gone. We intercepted a message sent to the helicopter and I got here as soon as I could."

"I need him Zeke; I can't go on without him. Why didn't you just let them kill me too?"

"Honey, you need to listen to me. I know how badly you are hurting, but right now we need to get you home. If they think for one minute you were here, both you and your parent's lives are over. I know you've just lost Shane, but do you want to lose your folks to?"

Hannah shuddered, her body coming down off its adrenaline high. "No, not them, I couldn't bear to lose them too. But what am I supposed to do now? Go home, go back to bed and wake up tomorrow pretending nothing happened. I'm not an actor Zeke!" she shouted at him

"Yes, that is exactly what you are going to do. You are going to go home, hide your broken heart and hope that they don't find out about this."

Hannah looked at Shane one last time. She longed to look into his beautiful eyes, to gently stroke his face, to hear him laugh, to feel the pressure of his lips on hers.

"I am so sorry," she whispered and with that she turned back to Zeke. "Take me home please".