Man Hunt

Chapter Thirty One - Sweet Civilisation

‘’Hello Alice,’’ she beams with a crooked and evil smile, ‘’hello Aaron...thought you’d both seen the last of me, eh?’’

I stare at her fearfully. She has a gun in her hands. She has the power to end this. She has the power to take away our precious freedom despite how close it is.

I should have killed her when I had the chance. I should not have been merciful. I have damned us both.

‘’Niamh, calm down...’’ begins Aaron in a cool and composed voice.

‘’You’re awfully domineering considering I have a gun aimed at your face,’’ she replies angrily, from knowing her as long as I have, I know she does not like being told what to do.

‘’You should have killed me Alice, because now I’m going to have to kill you,’’ she grins, the gun in her hands aimed directly at my head.

She won’t do it. Surely...

‘’Or maybe I’ll start with your boyfriend,’’ she adds with a cruel smirk.

‘’Niamh please,’’ I beg, however she ignores me.

‘’I’m torn between shooting you in the head which would be a quick and painless death...or shooting you in the crotch and watching you writhe in pain until you bleed out,’’ she says, then laughs maniacally, ‘’who am I kidding, we all know what I am going to choose!’’

‘’Niamh-‘’ I begin once more, but she interrupts me.

‘’Shut your fucking mouth Alice before I shove this gun into it and pull the trigger!’’ she roars in fury.

I am shocked with her response. I stare at her in fear. She is clearly unstable. She’s going to kill us.

Oh God. She’s actually going to kill us...

Aaron extends his arm out to meet mine and we lock our fingers together. I feel tears pricking at my eyes – begging to pour out – but I hold myself together. Niamh will not reduce me to tears. She will not see me cry.

‘’You both make me sick,’’ she spits in disgust, ‘’you don’t know how happy it will make me to personally ends your lives.’’

‘’You are sick,’’ replies Aaron, ‘’you’re a miserable bitch that nobody has ever liked so you’re going to take it out on us.’’

Her face contorts into a horrified expression.

‘’I’m going to enjoy this,’’ she says with a laugh, aiming the gun at what’s between his legs.

As her finger closes around the trigger, there is a loud gunfire and I scream – diving in front of Aaron in the hopes of taking the bullet. Niamh drops the gun from her hand; she still has a smirk painted across her face. However in the centre of her forehead is a small red circle.

‘’I’m alive,’’ mutters Aaron in shock.

The red circle imprinted on Niamh’s forehead begins to pour a small stream of blood. The pupils of her bloodshot eyes contract and her mouth open slightly. She takes one last look at us and then collapses – face first – onto the sand.

‘’You’re alive,’’ I repeat, a smile spreading across my face.

I turn and glance back towards the building to where the shot was fired from. I search for our saviour and spot Martin, standing with a gun in his hand just outside the exit of the building.

He made it out alive.

Just as this thought crosses my mind, a group of men exit the doorway and burst out onto the beach. Like Martin and Niamh, they hold real guns in their hands – not tazers.