A Peculiar Time in 1944 - A Millard Fanfic (Miss Peregrine's Home) #wattys2020

Chapter 59

"Lying bitch!" he shouted and used the handle of his gun to hit her across the face and she fell to the ground. Millard had to restrain himself from rushing to help her knowing the wights had their fingers on the trigger and were waiting for one of them to pull a stunt like that. Aurora pushed herself up onto her knees and Millard noticed she was clutching her cheek. The gun had cut open a thin gash about an inch wide across her cheekbone and a small amount of blood was beginning to drip from the cut, falling down her ivory skin like a bright red teardrop.

"On your feet!" the first wight ordered and they obeyed. Jacob, who was closest to Aurora helped her up and she wobbled a bit still reeling from the hit before she balanced herself and walked along with the rest of them.

"Where are we going?" Olive asked timidly.

"For a walk. A nice orderly walk." The first wight replied as the second took up the rear, his gun to Jake's back.

"You will not fall out of line. You will not run, between the two of us we have twenty rounds – plenty to put two holes in each of you. And don't think I don't see your jacket invisible boy. Make me chase you and I'll slice off your invisible thumbs for souvenirs."

"Yes sir." he replied.

"No talking! Now march!"

oOo oOo oOo

The citizens of Coal hadn't looked their way before but now they stared openly at the children as they passed at gunpoint, the wights barking orders whenever someone strayed to far. They were leading them out of town and just as they reached the gate a jeep pulled up to them with two more soldiers inside. They both wore sunglasses that shielded their eyes but Millard already knew they must be wights. The jeep slowed and the driver smiled and nodded at the wights who'd caught them as if saying 'Nice job!' Then the driver made sure to match their pace as they walked out of town. They walked through the gate, over the fields and into farm land, Millard was in the front of the line, Bronwyn and Horace the only ones before him. He couldn't see the others, couldn't read their expressions to see if anyone had a plan, he couldn't see Aurora – which he hated most. His mind was spinning in so many circles that his ears began ringing. Then he almost paused, if it hadn't been for the person behind him – Enoch possibly – nudging him to keep moving. That ringing wasn't his ears, it was a bee that kept circling his head, then moving on to circle Horace's and so on. What was Hugh trying to – wait! He thought back to when they were on their knees at the platform, he'd been so focused on Aurora that he hadn't noticed - Hugh hadn't been there!

Somehow he'd been able to slip away, he was still free! Had he gotten on the train or was he following them? Millard wasn't sure which one he hoped for more; if Hugh was following them then they had a chance, but if Hugh had gotten on the train, if he was with Miss Peregrine then she had a chance. Could Millard die happily knowing his beloved ymbryne had better odds of surviving? Digging deep down he knew he couldn't, not if it meant Aurora died with him. He wished he could at the very least be walking with her now, holding her hand and pretending they really were only taking a stroll, gripping her fingers tight when the end did come.

The more they walked the more the tension grew, he could see it in how Horace tapped his fingers against his leg, could feel it like an electric current tingling in his bones. Then he heard Bronwyn gasp and looked up, before them were three horses lying dead in the dirt road. Millard immediately recognized them as the gypsy's horses they'd ridden earlier that day.

Radi he thought. Had he gotten away? Or had the wights seen his peculiarity and shot him in a ditch too? His mind didn't worry too much, they would soon be next, he thought, unless Hugh came up with a way to free them though he was vastly outnumbered. The wights pushed them along leading them off the main road and down a narrow farm lane. Essentially, it was a footpath, only a few feet wide so the wights alongside them had to abandon their jeep, now they had two in front and two behind their line. They walked through the fields where flowering weeds grew wild all around them.

The path led to a small shack, the paint was chipping and the roof was missing some shingles, the door was missing a hinge so it sat crooked in the frame. Then it opened and another wight stepped out. He was dressed differently then the others, like an officer –he was the one in charge. He smiled as he saw them approach, his hands on his waist, one sitting on his revolver. He wore sunglasses like the others but his hair was as white as Barron's had been, only his was slicked back like the soldier he was pretending to be.

"We meet at last! You've given us quite the go-round, but I knew we'd catch you in the end. Only a matter of time! Come in, come in, friends of yours are waiting inside."

The four wights that had led then all this way shoved them into the shack where they were again pushed onto their knees in a line. The shack had no furniture and only one window, in the dim light Millard saw figures against the opposite wall, among them he recognized Bekhir and realized the others must be his men. He still saw no sign of Radi and wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse. There was a soldier guarding the gypsies which made a total of six wights in the room, including the leader. The tag on his shirt read WHITE, which Millard thought was a ridiculous name given the man's hair color.

He looked down the line and saw that to his left was Olive, then Enoch, Aurora then Emma and Jacob. Aurora's cheeks were glistening with tears and her eyes were red from crying, she wasn't making a sound but Millard saw more tears leak from the corners of her eyes and fall down her chin. He'd always hated seeing her cry and when he couldn't take it anymore he looked across the room again to Bekhir, he saw the sadness on his face as the man mouthed, I'm sorry.