Parchman, стр. 16
‘What is he doing?’ said Logan to Max.
‘I’m not sure. This is normally only a maneuverif you’re sending in theinfantry first. But surely they are the infantry?’ he replied.
From behind them they heard the whispering of the prisoners chatting as if something was going on down in the courtyard. Murmurs and discussionbetween the inmates as a noise appeared to get louder and louder. A noiselike growling and hundreds of feet stomping on the ground.
Logan looked to Professor Brittle horrified.
‘The tunnel from the Police Station.’CHAPTER EIGHT
Back at the camp Tallulah and Chuck were playing cards by the fire.Nathaniel Mathers sat down and joined them warminghis hands. ‘Youheard anything?’ he said pointing to the walkietalkie by Tallulah’s feet.
She shook her head pretending not to be disappointed and looked back atthe cards in her hands.
‘He will be ok. They all will. It’s a simple case of getting to the prison andcoming back for us. I mean how hard can that be?’ Nathaniel said tryingto put a positive spin on what was happening.
‘I wish I could be so positive, but I watched two of my friends get torn topieces by what is out there. The city will be even worse. I wish I had gonewith them,’ she said.
‘Hey, that’s no way to speak now is it?’ said Chuck upbeat. ‘What wouldwe do without you to keep us in line?’ he said trying to raise a smile.
‘I’d feel a lot easier if you just let me go over to that tree and put a bulletin hishead,’ she said looking over to the silhouette of McGregor in thedistance.
‘That’s Logan’s call,’ said Nathaniel. ‘If it was mineyou’d be fighting mefor the gun, trust me.’
‘Do you think they are at the prison already? Surely Logan would let usknow everything is ok? Maybe we should go after them just to make sure?’she said.
‘Now that’s just mad talk Tals. Logan wouldn’t want that. I’m sure he’son his way back now with the cavalry. Tomorrow or the day after he’ll beback give giving me a hard time and smooching you all over the place.Let’s try looking on the bright side that in a week or so we’ll be at theprison with everyone elsehere and working towards a new life,’ Chuckreplied.
Tallulah wasn’t so sure. Something just didn’t feel right to her. HavingMcGregorin her eyeline certainly didn’t help either.
‘Gin!’ said Chuck laying down his cards. ‘What’s that now? Six in a row?Hot damn I’m on fire,’ he laughed.
Tallulah smiled back at him. ‘Yesyou are Chuck. Take a break?’
‘I’ll take a break if you promise me you aren’t going to go over to that treeand eyeball that monster for the rest of the night’.
‘Can’t make promises I can’t keep now can I Chuck?’ she replied.
Tallulah pulled up a blanket off the floor and wrapped it over her shouldersand walked towards where McGregor sat alone.
‘That isn’t healthy,’ said Chuck looking at Nathaniel.
‘The longer he’s here and we are toothe worse it’s going to get. As soonas Logan gets back and we can leave this placehe’ll be a bad memory inthe rear mirror,’ said Nathaniel. ‘Now deal me a hand?’ he said to Chuck.‘See if I can’t break that roll you’re on,’ he said looking at Tallulah in thedistance.
Tallulah sat down behind a line she had drawn in the sand. A line thatmarked the point McGregor could reach which was limited by the chainround his leg.
‘Good evening to you young Tallulah. Have you come to talk or are youjust going to sit there looking at me as usual? I know I’m pretty and all. You know you and I have got a lot in common. Both our daddies are goneand we’re here on our own,’ said McGregor alluding to the fact Logan hadleft her to go to the prison and her father Ethan Wanikiy was dead.
She wanted to bite back and say she wasn’t alone, and that Logan would be back, but she knew that was what McGregor wanted.She also wasn’tconvinced anymore that it was true and as the days passed she worriedmore and more that Logan may not be coming back.
‘Look, I don’t want to fight with you. I never did. I was following orders.Granted they were orders from a criminal, butI didn’t know anythingabout the Commander General. I was literally sent to the reservoir to bringback Danny. I thought I was doing what was best for the community.’Tallulah bit her lip and her hand tighten around the gun by her side.
‘I didn’t know young Danny was going to go berserk and do what he wasgoing to do?’ said McGregor trying to get a reaction.
‘And what exactly was it he did?’ she said jumping to her feet and giving McGregor exactly what he wanted. Both hands were gripping the handleof the gun and legs slightly apart she was pointing the gun towards theIrishman.
He chuckled ‘I wish I could tell you sweetheart, but truth is I really don’tknow. One minute he’s watching you on the television spouting somerubbish about saving the world, then…. kaboom. I wake up and my facelooks like grilled steak. Water everywhere. Reservoir in pieces. I come back here expecting to be welcomed back a hero and next thing I knowI’m chained to a tree and starved by you lot’.
‘Is. He. Dead?’
‘Honestly love he was about as far from the explosives as you are fromme. If he survived that then I’m the Holy Mary Mother of Jesus,’ saidMcGregor.
Tallulah sat back down. ‘I get it you know. Survival. All those people outthere. Those monsters, killing to survive. They’ve gone through somethinghideous and become something that they aren’t simply because they werein the wrong place at the wrong time. They weren’t given another choice.But you. You were given this chance to be something different. You weregiven