S2, 20 In the Still of the Night (FB) (December 27, 2015)

Corresponding text underneath each picture.

**25th March 2094**

**Iapra...**

Jarred: “Come on! Again!” he shouted.

His cane whacked against my leg, but I was used to the pain by now so didn’t react.

I brought my own cane up and fiend to one side to try and get a blow in on his side, but he dodged it and brought his own in on my neck.

Jarred: “Good attempt, but sloppy. Again.”

We spent a lot of our time now sparring with each other. Other than getting me fit, something that I really hadn’t been before, it also simply gave us something to do!

I was slowly - *slowly* - getting better. Not massively so, but I was a damned site better than I had been before!

We’d recently started training with guns too. Jarred had retrieved the crate of guns that he’d knocked off the back of the truck we’d meant to be taking to Remy Ac’ross and it now sat in the corner of our cave. He’d traded a few for some general items that we had needed and he was currently looking for people to sell the rest to.

But, while we still had them, Jarred had been teaching me the basics.

Jarred: “Okay, that’s enough for now.” He declared as he easily blocked another of my cane attacks. “Let’s move onto the guns and carry on with this tomorrow.”

I nodded in agreement and tossed my cane aside. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I retrieved one of guns from inside the cave and back outside Jarred set up some empty cans and rocks for me to shoot at.

I came back out into the ever-present sun and waited for Jarred to finish.

Jarred: “From here.” He instructed, drawing a line in the sand with his foot. It was further back than when we’d last practiced with the guns, but that was okay with me. I knew I needed to improve. Although, having said that, I was actually turning out to be a lot better at using the guns than the canes!

I took aim and started firing at my static targets.
It didn’t take too long for me to knock them all down. I wasn’t very fast, but it only took a couple of bullets before I struck each one, so I didn’t miss much.

Jarred: “Why aren’t you this good with the canes?” he asked with a smirk.

Tank: “I like to be further away from my targets.” I joked back as I moved to reset the shooting range.

I placed them all back into position, but not a second after I had let go of the final can, a knife tore through it, impaling it to the cave wall behind.

I spun around and found Jarred smirking at me.
Tank: “Are you trying to kill me?” I asked, angrily.
Jarred: “If I was trying to kill you, you’d be dead.” He replied, still smiling to himself.

I was angry, but I left it at that and returned to my shooting position.

**That ‘Night’…**

That night I lay awake. I didn’t know why, I just couldn’t sleep, but as I lay there on my hard wooden bed, I heard a quiet rustling and frowned to myself. I heard Jarred get up and then roughly a minute later, I heard him open the door, which we had recently installed over the entrance in order to block out the eternal light and actually give us some darkness, and leave, closing it again behind him.

Where the heck was he going at this time of night? He had to be going to some kind of shady deal. There was no other reason for him to be sneaking off now.

I quickly got up and threw on my jacket, trousers and coat and then poked my head out of the door to see if I could see which direction he’d gone in. I spotted him a short distance away, trekking through the sand in the direction of the local town and so I slipped out and began trailing him.

I followed him all the way to the edge of town and not once did he turn around, although I suppose he didn’t have reason to. He’d no reason to suspect that anybody was following him.

When he reached the edge of town, he, unsurprisingly, turned towards the seedier area and started the steep walk down into the gorge.

I followed him down, still making sure I kept my distance, and then continued to tail him as he weaved between the buildings.

After pretty much reaching the far side of town, he stopped and knocked on the door of a larger building, a storehouse I was pretty sure. At this point, he finally looked around and checked to see if anybody was about, but I was hidden around the corner of a nearby house and quickly withdrew my head before he saw me.

I heard a door open and a few words were exchanged. I heard the door close again and when I looked back, Jarred had gone; presumably inside.

I dashed the short distance between my hiding spot and the door into which jarred had gone and then looked around to see if I could find anywhere else I could get in.

On this side of the building there was only the door, but when I went to the corner and looked down the side, I found a whole row of windows. Although several of them were open, they were up high, so from the ground I couldn’t see a thing and there was no chance of me climbing through.

I looked around to see if I could find anything to stand on but then spotted an external flight of stairs carved into the side of one of the houses. I jogged over and made my way up onto the roof. From here I had a perfect view through the windows and into the warehouse.

However, I almost wished I hadn’t.

Inside was just one huge room. The majority of it was empty but there were a few stacks and piles of storage containers here and there, mostly against the walls. But in the middle of the room stood a group of men. They were gathered around something I couldn’t see, however, as Jarred approached them, they shifted slightly and to my horror, I saw that they were gathered around a man who was tied to a chair. He was looking rather dishevelled and had clearly been beaten up.

As I watched I realised that when the gentle breeze that was currently in the air blew in my direction, it carried their voices out through the open windows to me and I could hear what they were saying.

I watched as Jarred reached the group and seemed to ask some questions. Another man appeared to bring him up to speed, but at this point I couldn’t hear what was being said.

Jarred nodded in response and somebody handed him a crowbar. The wind shifted.

Jarred: “Me?”

Thug #1: “Why not? Show us your worth. Prove your commitment to this.”

Jarred looked worried and clearly didn’t want to harm the prisoner.

Jarred: “Okay, tell us what you know.” He demanded, pointing the end of the crowbar at the terrified man.

Prisoner: “Please! Please don’t hurt me any more!”

Jarred: “Then tell us what we want to know! Everything! Everything about the mining operation where you work!”

Prisoner: “I… I can’t! Please!”

Jarred hesitated but then landed a blow into the prisoner’s stomach. The wind had shifted again, but even so I heard the man’s scream and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I watched as Jarred struck the man again with the crowbar and I felt physically sick. I knew Jarred wasn’t exactly perfect. He had been in prison after all when we’d met and escaped together. So he’d obviously done something bad to get in there; what, I didn’t know. We’d never actually spoken about it. But I hadn’t realised that he could be this cruel.

The wind changed again and once more I could hear.

Thug #2: “Tell us about the guard pattern!”

Prisoner: “Please…” he whimpered. “They’ll fire me.”

Thug #1: “I’d be more worried about what we’ll do to you if you don’t talk, than being fired!”

Prisoner: “Please…”

Thug #1: “Hit him. Hard!” he commanded, but I could see Jarred’s reluctance.

Thug #1: “DO IT!” he bellowed and with a roar of anger, Jarred swung his crowbar and in that single swipe broke both the poor man’s legs and shattered the front chair legs, sending him crashing to the ground shrieking in agony.

Prisoner: “Okay, okay! Please! I give up!” he sobbed. “I’ll tell you everything!”

I shook my head sadly as I watched the man begin to divulge all of the information that the thugs wanted to know, and then decided that I could watch no more. I didn’t want to watch Jarred beat him any more. I feared for the prisoner’s life, but there was nothing I could do. There were no authorities around here. I had no idea what mining operation they’d been talking about and I certainly wasn’t going to burst in there on my own and demand that they stop torturing him.

So with a heavy heart, I turned and made my way back down the stairs and started the walk back through the sand to our cave.

The cave I was sharing with a man who was clearly going from bad to worse. Jarred was my friend. My best and, well, only friend. And it truly broke my heart to see him performing in such a way. I feared not just for my life, but for his. Could he turn his back on these people and not take part in whatever it was they were planning? Or was he in too deep?

As I walked, all these thoughts flooded through my mind and I debated with myself whether or not I should speak to him about it.

It took me most of the journey home, but by the time I had reached our cave door, I had decided that I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him about it. To admit I’d followed him and that I knew what he was up to. That I’d spied on him and that I feared for both our safeties. I just couldn’t.

I couldn’t.

**BONUS PICTURES**

The set for the warehouse.

As my series is going to be jumping around though time, I will include a date on each episode and add it to the timeline at the end of each episode so that you can follow it.

TIMELINE