a little fresh. Come on, why don’t you sit over here next—’
‘Come on,’ said Paul, getting up off the log. ‘I can see this place is giving you the heebie-jeebies. Let’s press on and hit the road whilst we’ve still light to see.’
She smiled gratefully. ‘Yeah, good idea.’
They managed to beat a path through undergrowth that seemed intent on preventing them getting any closer to the motorway. As the sun began to merge with the horizon, dipping behind a row of distant wind-turbines on the brow of a hill, they emerged from the wood and descended down a steep grass bank on to the motorway.
They both surveyed the six empty lanes, stretching as far as the eye could see in both directions, without a single vehicle to be seen.
‘That’s just such a weird sight,’ said Paul.
They turned right, heading southbound, enjoying the firm flat surface beneath their feet.
‘I’m really thirsty,’ said Jenny.
‘Yeah, me too. I bet we’ll find somewhere along here soon. This part of the M6 is loaded with service stations and stopovers. ’
‘You sure? I don’t fancy walking all through the night without something to drink.’
‘Christ, I’ve driven this section enough times to know. Got to admit though, I don’t believe I’ve ever walked it.’
She smiled.
‘If we get really desperate I might even consider going into a Little Chef.’
She managed a small laugh.
It felt good to do that. It wasn’t exactly a funny joke, wasn’t exactly a joke, but it was good to hear a little levity, especially after everything she’d seen and heard today.
‘We’d have to be really desperate though,’ she quipped. ‘I mean, really desperate, and I’m still some way from that yet.’
Paul chuckled and nodded.
CHAPTER 35
10.24 p.m. local time Al-Bayji, Iraq
‘Shit, they’re heading our way,’ hissed Carter.
Andy looked up and down the narrow street. There was nowhere for them to hide, it was no more than four or five feet wide, and cluttered with a few small boxes and bins; nothing large enough to hide behind. Any second now the large group of militia the lieutenant had just spotted would be turning into it, and their flashlights would pick them out in a heartbeat.
Andy spotted a small side-door recessed in the flaking plaster of the wall to their left. ‘Try the door,’ he muttered to Derry, the young soldier next to him.
Lieutenant Carter nodded. ‘Go on.’
The soldier tried the handle of the door and twisted it. It was locked, or stuck. It rattled as he pulled and pushed desperately on it.
‘For fuck’s sake Derry, you girl’s blouse, kick it in!’ growled Sergeant Bolton, leaning waxen-faced against the wall beside it.
Private Derry, took a step back, raised a booted foot, and kicked hard at the rusting metal door. A shower of rusty flakes fell to the ground and it clanged and rattled noisily in its frame, but the lock held. Behind them, out on the main thoroughfare they heard raised voices, and several beams of torchlight fell on the mouth of their side-street, dancing and bobbing as they began to run towards it. They’d heard the noise and were coming to investigate.
Private Derry swung his foot at the door right next to the lock the second time, and on impact, it swung in, with a clattering sound of a lock shattering inside.
‘In, in, in!’ shouted Carter desperately. Derry led the way and Andy followed in his wake. One of the other two privates and Carter hauled Sergeant Bolton up on to his feet and carried him through, whilst the last man fired off a dozen shots of covering fire, then dived in after them.
Inside, the darkness was complete, and once more Andy found himself having to fumble his way whilst the others picked out at least some detail through their weapon scopes. There were concrete stairs leading upwards, and walls that felt like rough breeze-blocks, scraping the skin from his fingertips as he held his hand out for guidance.
They had turned a corner, for a second flight of concrete steps, when it sounded like someone had taken a jackhammer to the rusty metal door. The dark stairwell below, suddenly strobed with sparks as a dozen or so rounds punched jagged holes through the door.
‘Fuck, move it!’ Andy heard one of the squaddies shout behind him.
They sprinted up the second flight of stairs in darkness, and then a door opened up ahead. Andy could see the glow of moonlight through the opening.
Down below, the metal door was kicked open again. He could hear footsteps and see the