Death is a Welcome Guest: Plague Times Trilogy 2 by Louise Welsh Page B
Authors: Louise Welsh
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they behind us?’
‘No, I think we struck lucky. It looks like they weren’t interested in us. The squaddies at the gate mustn’t have radioed ahead.’
Magnus wondered if there were more bodies in the back of the van, prisoners who had never made it to their cells rolling from side to side, like slaves in the hold of a transport ship, each time he swung around a corner. That could have been his fate, locked in with men suffering from the sweats, watching them die one by one, and all the time being cooked alive inside the metal box.
‘Keep going.’ Jeb rolled his window down. Perhaps he was also wondering about the contents of the van, because he said, ‘We’ll ditch this fucking coffin asap.’
Magnus had grown used to the smell of decay inside the cab, but the fresh air blowing in through the passenger window was a relief. He opened the window on his side too and a breeze sprang in, ruffling his hair. They were alive.
Fourteen
It was only when he saw an old woman edging her way along the pavement with the aid of a Zimmer frame that Magnus realised what was wrong with the world beyond the van’s windows. The streets were too quiet for a sunny London afternoon. He said, ‘It’s too quiet.’
‘Not quiet enough.’ Jeb had been monitoring the road behind them in the wing mirror. ‘There’s a truck behind us.’
‘An army truck?’
‘No, a VW camper van full of page-three girls.’
Magnus put his foot to the accelerator. The streets were too small for the cumbersome vehicle and it was an effort to keep it on the road.
‘I thought you said you could drive.’
‘Lewis Hamilton couldn’t steer this thing any faster,’ Magnus said.
You are in a controlled zone , an amplified voice announced. Pull over and exit your vehicle.
Jeb said, ‘Keep going.’
Magnus glanced at the knife in Jeb’s hand and wondered if it would go to his own throat should he slow the prison van.
You are in contravention of martial law. The amplified voice was calm. Pull over and exit your vehicle or we will shoot.
There was a tight turn up ahead, an alleyway that they were never going to make. Magnus dropped down the gears. ‘I can stop and back up or we’ve got a choice between controlled crash and out-of-control crash.’
Jeb said, ‘Don’t fucking crash.’
‘Trust me.’
The knife hand twitched. ‘I don’t trust you.’
We are prepared to fire.
Magnus increased their speed.
This is your final warning. Preparing to fire in five . . . four . . .
He heard Jeb fastening his safety belt and wondered that he had not fastened it before.
. . . three . . . two . . .
‘Hold on!’ Magnus skewed the van across the road, hitting the mouth of the alley sideways, blocking it with the cab of the van. The windscreen cracked and stayed miraculously in place, but both side windows shattered, spraying the interior with glitters of flying glass. There was a second dunt and the inertia-reel seatbelt tightened across Magnus’s chest, as the truck pursuing them made contact with the rear of their van. The windscreen of the cab gave way and fell in on them in chunks.
Magnus opened his eyes and saw Jeb already out of his seatbelt, his face potted with stabs of blood, as if he had been attacked by sharp-beaked crows. He touched his own face and felt heat and broken glass.
‘Come on.’ Jeb was almost on top of him, reaching towards the handle of the driver’s door.
‘Lock your side,’ Magnus said. ‘It might slow them down.’
He felt as if his brain had been shaken around his skull like a dice in a cup, but managed to open his own door and jump out into the blocked side of the alley. He staggered as he hit the ground and righted himself against the side of the van. Jeb followed quickly behind him. Magnus looked for the soldiers, but the army truck was out of sight somewhere between the back of the van and the wall of the alley. He had no idea how badly it, or the men inside, were damaged.
‘If
‘No, I think we struck lucky. It looks like they weren’t interested in us. The squaddies at the gate mustn’t have radioed ahead.’
Magnus wondered if there were more bodies in the back of the van, prisoners who had never made it to their cells rolling from side to side, like slaves in the hold of a transport ship, each time he swung around a corner. That could have been his fate, locked in with men suffering from the sweats, watching them die one by one, and all the time being cooked alive inside the metal box.
‘Keep going.’ Jeb rolled his window down. Perhaps he was also wondering about the contents of the van, because he said, ‘We’ll ditch this fucking coffin asap.’
Magnus had grown used to the smell of decay inside the cab, but the fresh air blowing in through the passenger window was a relief. He opened the window on his side too and a breeze sprang in, ruffling his hair. They were alive.
Fourteen
It was only when he saw an old woman edging her way along the pavement with the aid of a Zimmer frame that Magnus realised what was wrong with the world beyond the van’s windows. The streets were too quiet for a sunny London afternoon. He said, ‘It’s too quiet.’
‘Not quiet enough.’ Jeb had been monitoring the road behind them in the wing mirror. ‘There’s a truck behind us.’
‘An army truck?’
‘No, a VW camper van full of page-three girls.’
Magnus put his foot to the accelerator. The streets were too small for the cumbersome vehicle and it was an effort to keep it on the road.
‘I thought you said you could drive.’
‘Lewis Hamilton couldn’t steer this thing any faster,’ Magnus said.
You are in a controlled zone , an amplified voice announced. Pull over and exit your vehicle.
Jeb said, ‘Keep going.’
Magnus glanced at the knife in Jeb’s hand and wondered if it would go to his own throat should he slow the prison van.
You are in contravention of martial law. The amplified voice was calm. Pull over and exit your vehicle or we will shoot.
There was a tight turn up ahead, an alleyway that they were never going to make. Magnus dropped down the gears. ‘I can stop and back up or we’ve got a choice between controlled crash and out-of-control crash.’
Jeb said, ‘Don’t fucking crash.’
‘Trust me.’
The knife hand twitched. ‘I don’t trust you.’
We are prepared to fire.
Magnus increased their speed.
This is your final warning. Preparing to fire in five . . . four . . .
He heard Jeb fastening his safety belt and wondered that he had not fastened it before.
. . . three . . . two . . .
‘Hold on!’ Magnus skewed the van across the road, hitting the mouth of the alley sideways, blocking it with the cab of the van. The windscreen cracked and stayed miraculously in place, but both side windows shattered, spraying the interior with glitters of flying glass. There was a second dunt and the inertia-reel seatbelt tightened across Magnus’s chest, as the truck pursuing them made contact with the rear of their van. The windscreen of the cab gave way and fell in on them in chunks.
Magnus opened his eyes and saw Jeb already out of his seatbelt, his face potted with stabs of blood, as if he had been attacked by sharp-beaked crows. He touched his own face and felt heat and broken glass.
‘Come on.’ Jeb was almost on top of him, reaching towards the handle of the driver’s door.
‘Lock your side,’ Magnus said. ‘It might slow them down.’
He felt as if his brain had been shaken around his skull like a dice in a cup, but managed to open his own door and jump out into the blocked side of the alley. He staggered as he hit the ground and righted himself against the side of the van. Jeb followed quickly behind him. Magnus looked for the soldiers, but the army truck was out of sight somewhere between the back of the van and the wall of the alley. He had no idea how badly it, or the men inside, were damaged.
‘If
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