unfortunate ➸ primeval

Chapter 17

Luckily, Clara managed to sneak out of the house before Michael woke up the next morning, and she left him a note saying she'd gone to work and that she'd call him later. When, in reality, she had driven to the canal and was walking towards the boats with Stephen and Nick.

"Look, there's something about this that doesn't add up," Nick said to Stephen as they reached the boats. Stephen gave him a look that clearly said not to start an argument. "I think we should widen the search to the canal's side."

"This is another one of your hunches, isn't it?" Stephen doubted. "We can't just drop everything. You know, there's a plan in place. A good plan."

"Well, where have I ever been wrong?" Nick raised an eyebrow. "Except about women, generally."

Stephen half-smiled. "Look at the odds. It's got to be in the canal," he stated simply.

"Look, just give me a few minutes," he pleaded. "I just want to look over there."

"What am I going to tell Lester?" Stephen asked.

"Cover for me," Nick shrugged.

"No," Stephen deadpanned. "Because you're wasting time."

"Ten minutes," said Nick, before turning around and walking in the opposite direction to where his colleague wanted to go.

Clara started after him, but Stephen grabbed her arm and spun her back around. "Whoa, where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, with Nick?" She said obviously.

"What, do you think he's right?" His brows furrowed.

"Am I not allowed to think he's right?" Clara challenged. "Just because you two are having a petty fight doesn't make you the boss of me. Nor does it make him the boss of me, either," she added before he could argue.

"Fine, go with him," Stephen huffed, throwing her arm out of his grip. "But don't expect me to cover for you, either." Clara shrugged, sprinting in the direction that Nick had gone.

She was furious with Stephen - how dare he try and control her like that! She was an adult, she could make her own decisions; she thought Nick was right. Stephen just needed to grow up and accept that.

Clara walked past a large, unused building that she supposed used to store boats, and rounded a corner. She came to a small marina, stepping across the floating path so she could reach the boats. She wasn't sure why Cutter had gone this way, but there was only one sure way to find out.

She eventually came to the last boat at the marina, but Nick was nowhere in sight. There was one of Lester's soldiers not far away, talking into a radio. "Hey!" Clara shouted at him. He turned, spotted her face, spun back around and legged it.

Sighing, Clara heard a small groan from inside the boat. Eyes widening, she clambered down inside the boat to find Nick only half-conscious on the floor. "Oh, my God, Nick!" She rushed to his side, helping him up off the floor.

"Clara," he whispered hoarsely.

"What happened?" She asked worriedly as he sat up. He leaned against the side of the boat, breathing heavily. Clara crouched in front of him, carefully placing her hands either side of his face and checking him over for injuries.

"A soldier," he frowned as he remembered. "I'd seen him before. He knocked me out."

"Wait, the one that was up there?" Clara pointed upwards, meaning outside the boat.

"Did you see his face?" Nick asked eagerly, suddenly a lot more alert. "Did you recognise him?"

Clara wracked her brains, visualising the soldier's face in her mind. Her jaw dropped. "No," she breathed. "That's impossible. Abby and Connor said he was injured!"