Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

Black cat crossed our path.

A sudden sense of dread made her shiver. But then Dom, talking quietly into her mobile phone (‘Loading the vehicles now. All parties accounted for’), grabbed her elbow, and steered her towards the third vehicle.

Her nerves alight with apprehension, Allie went where she was told, but she kept her eyes on the cat.

Suddenly, it crouched and hissed, as if startled. As she watched, it scuttled out of the road, leaping over a low wall with impossible grace, and disappearing in the darkness.

With Dom still propelling her along briskly and Carter a half-step ahead, Allie turned back to see what had frightened it.

Her breath caught in her throat.

They came from everywhere. Black-clad bodies emerged from cars, from dark alleyways, from stairwells. There were everywhere and they were heading right for her.

Words from the book Zelazny had given her appeared in her mind with cold clarity. ‘Attack him where he is unprepared. Appear where you are not expected.’

‘Carter …’ she breathed. And her voice must have scared him because he spun towards her just as Nathaniel’s guards attacked.

The night exploded into sound and fury.

‘Go!’ Dom shouted, shoving Allie and Carter hard towards the Land Rover. Whirling, she called to the others, her voice straining: ‘Positions. Now.’ She turned back, shoving the phone into her pocket and raising her fists.

Then the silence was split with cries of pain and grunts of exertion. And the raw meat sound of fist against skin and bone.

Carter grabbed Allie’s hand, pulling her close, shielding her with his body as they struggled to push their way to the car through flying fists and spinning kicks.

Fighting her way to the open door, Allie reached for the handle to pull herself up. She had one foot in when someone grabbed her by the hair and shoulder, tearing at her skin with their hands, yanking her back into the street.

She screamed and struggled to extricate herself from the unseen grip, and Carter leapt into action, kicking high and sure. His foot connected perfectly with the man’s jaw and he went down, nearly pulling Allie to the ground with him.

Pain burned like fire as he chunks of hair ripped from her scalp.

More hands were reaching for her now but, spinning back towards her, Carter grabbed her by the waist and threw her roughly into the vehicle. She landed in an ungainly heap on the floor.

Nathaniel’s guards were swarming them now. Too many for Allie to count. One of them reached for the door, another grabbed at Carter’s shirt, yanking him hard away from the car.

‘Carter!’ Allie screamed, reaching out to try and pull him in after her.

But he didn’t follow her. Instead he kicked the guard’s hands away from the door and slammed it shut.

‘Go!’ he shouted to the driver, slapping his hand hard against the metal of the door. ‘Get her out of here.’

His jaw was set and determined. He didn’t look at Allie. It took her a second to realise what he was doing. When she did, all the breath seemed to go out of her.

She stared at him through the window, aghast. Her heart hammered against her ribs so hard she thought it might explode.

‘No-no-no …’ Her voice sounded odd. Terrified. ‘Carter, no! Don’t do this.’

She scrabbled for the door handle, nails scratching against the plastic on the door. Before she could get it open, though, she heard a thunk, as the doors locked through the central system.

The Land Rover shot forward with such suddenness Allie lost her grip on the door and was thrown hard into the footwell.

Dazed, she thought she heard herself groan. Every part of her body hurt. Blood trickled down her face and she didn’t know where it was coming from.

Gritting her teeth, she pulled herself back up. ‘Stop the car!’ she said, with as much force as she could muster. ‘You have to go back and get him.’ But the car didn’t stop. It went faster.

Sobbing now, she grabbed the door handle, tearing at it with all her strength, but the locks were solid.

She was trapped.

‘We have to go back.’ She appealed to guards in the front seats hoarsely, striking the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. ‘We can’t just leave him there. They’ll kill him.’

In the rear-view mirror, the driver’s eyes flickered to hers. ‘My orders are to get you back to the school.’

Only then did she realise they really meant to abandon Carter. They weren’t going somewhere to get it together so they could return and rescue him. They were leaving him.

‘No!’ She lunged for the driver, but the guard in the passenger seat was ready for her. Spinning around he caught her wrists, holding them in an iron grip.

She struggled in his grasp but he was unbelievably strong.

‘Miss,’ he said evenly, ‘I understand how you feel, but we have no choice. Our orders are to get you back by any means necessary. Please sit back in your seat and let us do our jobs.’