Genre Scribes #47 — Title

Amy couldn’t decide if she should be impressed or worried. Harvey hadn’t even blinked as he’d lied to the other man on the phone. Not that it mattered right now. The only thing that did was that the medivac was cancelled.

“Grab anything we can use to cushion the truck bed,” Emma said as she came rushing back into the cabin.

For such a brusque man, Harvey’s cabin had a lot of soft furnishings. They stripped the other sofa of its cushions, the armchairs, too, and ferried them to Emma’s pick-up that was backed up to the door.

With the soft furnishings lining the hard, unforgiving base, it actually looked inviting, which was a good thing considering that was where she and Kelvin would be hiding as they all headed down into town.

Amy pulled the backpack on, there was no way she was going to let the bag containing the box out of her sight, not after all they’d gone through to get it here.

She bent down and touched Kelvin’s cheek, he was growing colder. “Hang in there,” she whispered.

Harvey gripped her shoulder. “You ready?”

Amy nodded, but she wasn’t ready. Icy fear coiled deep in her belly. What if we’re already too late?

“I’ve got a room set up, but we need to move now before the shift change,” Emma said from the doorway.

Harvey looped his arms under Kelvin’s. “Take a leg each, and be ready, he’s going to be a dead weight.”

Amy shot him a look. “He’s still breathing.”

“Not if you don’t hurry up,” Harvey muttered.

Emma and Amy took their positions at Kelvin’s legs, and on Harvey’s count of three lifted Kelvin. Amy grunted with the sheer effort of manoeuvring him. It was like someone had turned gravity up.

The three of them moved as one—one very rickety human wheelbarrow—toward the truck. Harvey eased Kelvin onto the soft layering before hopping up and hauling him the rest of the way. Once Harvey was down, Emma climbed up, making sure Kelvin was comfortable and secure for their short journey.

Tension that had taken up residence in Amy’s shoulders ebbed enough that she could roll her neck without it being stiff. Now that help was here, she could stop worrying and allow herself to relax for a moment.

Metal hitting off metal sounded behind her. Tightness reemerged in Amy’s shoulders as she turned to see what the hell Harvey was doing. Wishing she hadn’t.

Harvey moved with brisk efficiency, stuffing a holdall with rifles, shotguns, handguns, and an assortment of smaller objects she couldn’t even begin to guess to their use.

“Is all that really necessary?” She knew it was a stupid question the moment she asked it.

“You tell me.” Harvey tossed some cameras and other gadgets, and a worrying amount of ammunition into the bag before zipping it. He heaved the bag onto his shoulder. “You need to give me the box.”

Amy backed away, clutching the shoulder straps, suddenly wary.

Harvey huffed. “You can’t take it with us. We’re going to be sitting ducks, and I can’t keep all of us safe and worry about the box, too.”
He was right, there were only the three of them. Doubt and indecision tore at her.

“No one knows about this place, that’s why I arranged to meet Kelvin here. The title is in my daughter’s name, a name that isn’t connected to me in any way,” his lips thinned, and his eyes softened a fraction, “her mother left it to her.”

It all sounded believable, but she’d already seen how good a liar he was. Though, she didn’t think he was lying about his daughter.

“You’ve got to trust someone.”

To Amy’s shock, she realised that she did, she trusted Kelvin. And, if Kelvin trusted Harvey, she would too. “Okay.” She handed him the bag and watched as he put it in a hidden floor safe.

“Let’s go,” Harvey said.

Amy crawled into the back of the truck between Kelvin and the bag of weapons. She found his cold hand and clutched it as the tonneau cover shut them into darkness.