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SATURDAY

37

&039;Get out!&039; a terrified voice screaet out of here!&039;

I sit up quickly My body aches fro on the bare floorboards The half-built house is filled with a deafening thuainst the grey rille, desperate to see outside There&039;s a helicopter hovering nearby It&039;s not directly over the building site but it&039;s close enough and I know that it&039;s people like us they&039;re looking for I look around and see that I&039;one but his stuff is still here

Shit There&039;s a truck at the end of the gravel track and soldiers are already piling out of the back of it and running towards these houses I have toand head for the door I can hear a loudhailer outside, so and gun fire I run back to theand look down again and now I can see Craig face down in a puddle ofover his fallen bulk with his still sun aimed at the back of his head I can see Patrick and Nancy too, both trying to get away More troops swar off their escape route as another truck arrives

I have to get away froet up into the loft space and hide or should I just try and h to jump down froet caught I have to get out of here and get Ellis Now I can hear footsteps downstairs Loud, heavy, clunking footsteps Christ, they probably already know I&039;m up here I run towards one of the s the other way I try to push past him but the fucker punches me in the face and before I can react I&039; I try to stand up but rough hands grab ed downstairs There&039;s no point fighting I think as I try not to panic My only option now is to wait until I&039;m outside and then try to run But then I think of that poor bastard Craig, face down, riddled with bullets Co-operate with thele nerve, sinew and fibre of ht these anih the hallway and kitchen and then out of the building They shoveI trip and fall to my knees in the mud close to Patrick&039;s feet

&039;Get up!&039; one of the soldiers screarabs me by the scruff of my neck and pulls me up Patrick looks at htened eyes

What now, I think toto kill uns pointed at us, but surely they&039;d have shot us by now if they were going to? I look up at the nearest soldier A dark visor obscures his eyes but I can sense the hate coures ee from the front of the first truck and walk towards us One of the one of the flat co before The other has a smaller electronic device held in one hand I can&039;t see what it is They ainst the side of the truck while the other holds the small device up to my throat There&039;s a split-second hiss of air then I feel a sudden, stinging pain in the side of o and turn their attention to Patrick then Nancy, doing exactly the same to both of the&039;s dead body

We stand in a line at the side of the truck, silent and not daring to move The soldiers connect the handheld device to their computer and study the screen

&039;Well?&039; asks one of the other troops from a short distance away

&039;All of them,&039; the computer operator replies

&039;Any IDs?&039;

&039;Just one, Patrick Crilley,&039; he says, pointing at him Patrick looks anxiously from side to side &039;Can&039;t match the others&039;

The first soldier turns away and nal to the other troops who still surround us with their guns raised I bite rabs my shoulder and pushes me towards the back of the truck

&039;In,&039; he grunts I stand round and stare into his visor Twoeach, they lift rubby tarpaulin cover and into the truck I land flat on my face in the darkness and, before I can move, Patrick and Nancy land heavily on top of ainst the dirty floor and I&039;le themselves froht,&039; a voice that I don&039;t recognise whispers from close to where I&039;ve fallen &039;You&039;re with friends here&039;

Whoever&039;s on top oftheet up ine of the truck is started and the sudden lurching ain Someone helps me up and, for the first time, I&039;m able to look around I count the dark shapes of seventeen other people in here including Patrick and Nancy The light is poor but I know immediately that they&039;re all like me Seventeen men, women and children just like me