Jan scratched his beard. “I have an idea.”
Nick sighed. “What?”
Jan looked upwards at the building’s roof. “It’s a single story. With a boost I should be able to get up there; create a distraction for you.”
“But, then, how do you get down again without them getting you?”
He shrugged. “One thing at a time, brother. You in?”
Nick thought about it and then nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.” He threaded his fingers together and made a platform for Jan to step on, before hoisting the large man upwards. “Jesus Christ, you weigh the same as an elephant.”
Jan dangled for a second and then heaved himself up in a finely executed pull-up. At the top, he straightened up and brushed the dust from his knees. “Only two things to do in prison,” he said, looking down at Nick from the roof. “Educate one’s mind and exercise one’s body. You ready? I’ll try and get them to follow me around to the other end of the building so that you can get the old dear free and clear.”
Nick nodded, but kept a serious look on his face. “You know we’re still going to have that conversation about what happened to Cassie?”
“Looking forward it,” said Jan as he raced off to the opposite side of the roof.
Nick waited and listened for the distraction.
“COME ON, YOU STINKING ARSEHOLES. COME GET IT!”
Nick decided that was his cue. He peeked back around the corner to see that the infected gathered there had turned around and were now racing to the other side of the building. The coast was clear.
He hurried around the next wall, peering inside each window as he passed. After looking into the kitchen, and then into the manager’s office, he found the window that led to the staffroom.
There was no sign of Margaret.
Damn it.
He tapped on the glass lightly. “Margaret! Margaret, are you in there?”
She appeared from her hiding place behind the room’s sofa and Nick sighed relief. She trotted up to the window and seemed glad to see him.
“They’re inside,” she said to him through the glass. “I can hear them.”
“I know. Just open the window and I’ll get you out of here.”
The old lady was white as a sheet, but she did as she was told. She fiddled with the window latch and managed to get her gnarled fingertips beneath the window frame. She slid it upwards.
Nick put his arms out to her. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
It was clearly a struggle for Margaret to get herself up and over the window ledge but, given the gravity of the situation, she managed to bundle herself over into his waiting arms. He set her down on the ground and examined her. She seemed okay.
Jan continued to heckle the infected from the rooftop. The coast was still clear.
Nick grabbed Margaret’s arm and hurried her around to the back of the building. It was still clear of infected, although he could hear them banging on the fire escape from inside the kitchen. Not wanting to stick around, he headed for the woods at the base of the hill and slid between the trees.
When they were sufficiently away from the café and the car park, Nick brought them both to a stop to catch their breath.
Jan was still shouting and cajoling from the rooftops and keeping the danger contained to the front of the restaurant. Nick wasn’t sure he would’ve gotten Margaret out without the prisoner’s help, but after what Jan may have done to Cassie last night, he still considered just leaving him there to meet his fate. It would have been wrong, though. Jan had helped rescue Margaret. They owed him now.
He placed a hand on Margaret’s shoulder. “I need to find a way to get Jan off the roof in one piece. Can you wait here?”
“Of course, just make sure you come back in one piece.”