Fighting Pax. Robin Jarvis

He gave one last agonised shout, then his arms dropped and he became as still as death. At the same time, his guards uttered wails of dismay and fear. Then they too crumpled, falling where they stood, either to the floor or across the bed.

      Gerald could hardly believe it. Their minds or souls, or whatever it was, had gone into the world of Dancing Jax.

      Behind the mirror, Eun-mi was urging her father to come at once. Then the line went dead. She looked into the room beyond and saw the old man approach the collapsed figures. Reaching down, he took the rifles from the unconscious guards then hastened to the door. Pausing, he said a grateful farewell to Lee.

      “Good luck. I hope you find what you’re looking for in that place. Just don’t disappoint that dazzling girl. Don’t do what Austerly Fellows wants. Be the person she fell in love with. You’re far from scum, Lee Charles. Goodbye and thank you.”

      Eun-mi watched him leave. She tried the phone again, but the earpiece was full of wails and crackles. She threw it down in anger and took her pistol from its holster.

      The secret observation area was a thin, L-shaped space that hugged two sides of the medical room. The entrance was in the prohibited area and she groped her way through the narrow darkness to find it. When she emerged, she looked for the guards, but those outside the lab were nowhere to be seen. Pistol in hand, she ran round the corner – ready to shoot at anything that moved.

      The corridor was deserted.

      She looked fleetingly into Lee’s room and regarded the unconscious men with disgust. They were weak and would be punished for allowing their rifles to be taken.

      Silently, Eun-mi proceeded, checking the dorms as she passed them. They were empty. The refugees were probably all gathered in the refectory, waiting to be fed. So much the better.

      “You must be mental!” the girl called Esther scoffed when Gerald had hastily explained his escape plan and the reason for it. “They wouldn’t operate on us and cut us up. They’re not Jaxers here, they’re normal.”

      There wasn’t time for Gerald to go into just how wrong she was.

      “I’m not going to argue with you,” he said impatiently. “If you come now, there’s a chance, but if you stay you’ll end up in more jars than a range of jams in Sainsbury’s. The rest of you will need to wear as much clothing as possible, everything you’ve got basically. It’s going to be bitter out there in the fog and we’ll be sleeping rough for a while. Also we can’t carry anything: you need both hands to climb down the mountain.”

      “Stupid old git,” Esther butted in. “You’ve got no idea where to go out there and we’ll be frozen solid by morning, if we don’t get blown up by landmines. I’m not listening to some senile geriatric who used to prance about in frocks.”

      “Oi!” Maggie shouted her down. “Shut it. No one’s listening to you. You did this last time, in the camp. Dithering until the last minute and almost getting Lee killed. Just button it or I’ll smack you one. Gerald knows what he’s talking about. You can stop here for all I care, but I’m going to risk getting away. It’s Lee I’m pig sick about, having to leave him behind.”

      There were eager noises of support from the girls who had been in Charm’s cabin back in the camp, which prompted hesitant, uncertain murmurs of agreement from the others. They were all horribly frightened, but they trusted Gerald completely. If he said there was no other choice, they believed him.

      Little Nabi was still seated at the table. She was watching the hurried discussion with wide eyes. The unexpected shock of Gerald’s announcement had made everyone forget the six-year-old was even present. She couldn’t quite understand what was happening, but she knew her English friends weren’t supposed to have weapons. Imagining her father’s fury when he found out made her anxious and afraid for them.

      “Give me one of them Kalashnikovs,” Maggie said to Gerald. “I won a cuddly rabbit at the fair once. That was a scary night. For one awful minute I thought I’d been shot in the bum, but it was only a packet of moist handy wipes that’d burst in my pocket when I bent over.”

      Gerald passed her an assault rifle. It was lighter than she expected and she struck aggressive poses as she handled it.

      “Commando girl,” she purred. “And no, that doesn’t mean I’m not wearing pants.”

      “Don’t touch that lever on the right-hand side there,” Gerald warned. “That’s the safety catch. Up is safe, down isn’t, so let’s keep them up, OK? I don’t anticipate having to use them, not in here anyway, they’re just in case. I don’t even know how much ammunition is in the magazines, so no one get any ideas. I don’t need to tell you they’re not toys or replicas. These are lethal, so treat them with respect.”

      He looked around for another he could entrust one to.

      “Nicholas, how about you? Do you think you could?”

      The boy shifted uncomfortably and looked to Esther for his answer.

      “He’s not having anything to do with it,” she stated, arms folded tightly. “You walk out of here with them guns and you’re all going to get shot – and rightly so in my opinion.”

      “I’ll have one,” the lad called Drew piped up.

      “You’re mad, the lot of you,” Esther said, cracking her knuckles nervously. “It’ll be a bloodbath.”

      “Where’s Spencer?” Gerald asked. “He’s handled a firearm before, hasn’t he? Didn’t he shoot one of those Punchinellos at the camp?”

      “He’s mopping up in the no-go area,” Maggie told him.

      “No, he’s not. The mop and bucket are there, but he isn’t.”

      “Someone go fetch him from the loo then, quick.”

      A girl called Sally jumped up to get him. Before she reached the door, it was kicked open and Eun-mi was standing there, arm outstretched, pointing the pistol, finger on the trigger.

      “Drop weapons!” she shouted. “Drop or I shoot!”

      Shocked, the refugees stared at her for several moments.

      “Told you so!” Esther said.

      Eun-mi moved her aim slowly across the astonished faces.

      “I say drop!” she repeated.

      Gerald was the first to comply and he told the others to do the same.

      “She means it,” he said. “She wouldn’t hesitate.”

      “Nabi!” the girl called to her sister in Korean. “Bring the weapons here. Be careful. Don’t let them take you and use you as a shield.”

      Little Nabi gawped at her and had to be told again, more forcefully.

      “Anyone moves, they die!” Eun-mi warned as her sister slid reluctantly from the chair and started collecting the AK-47s. “I aim for head. There will be no error.”

      “You don’t have to do this,” Gerald tried to reason with her. “You can let us go. Just give us this one chance. You know what Doctor Choe Soo-jin is planning to do. You heard her at the meeting. You can’t want that on your conscience. It’s inhuman.”

      Eun-mi tilted her head back proudly. “Doctor will be hero,” she declared. “She will find cure. She will save Democratic People’s Republic from Western sickness. Doctor Choe Soo-jin is pioneer and scientist most brilliant. Lives of European refugee little price to pay. Then Supreme Leader will save rest of world. Everyone will praise Kim Jong-un.”

      “What about the life of Du Kwan earlier?” Gerald asked. “Was that a small price to pay? He didn’t need to die and nor do we. There is no cure to be found because there is no sickness. It isn’t physical. You can’t inoculate against the Devil.”

      “Doctor Choe Soo-jin know best!” the girl shouted,