Heller's Regret by J.D. Nixon Read Free Book Online Page A

distress,” grovelled the Director. “I hope you have a pleasant
evening.”
    “Weirdest thing I ever experienced,” he
muttered to himself as he climbed back into the driver’s seat and
sped off.
    We watched our only chance of help disappear
into the darkness in a cloud of exhaust smoke.
    “You women are even stupider than I imagined
and I imagined you were pretty stupid,” said the Director, smiling
in the way a sadist does with a fresh victim. “Get in the back of
the truck.”
    “Don’t do it,” I told the women. “Run into
the bushes now.”
    We scattered into the safety of the
surrounding dense vegetation, our visibility poor, branches
scratching our skin and snaring our clothes. We crouched down,
waiting. The two boot camp staff searched fruitlessly for a while,
not willing to become entangled in the bushes, their torches not
providing enough light to penetrate far enough. They eventually
chucked it in.
    “You think you’ve won, but you haven’t,”
shouted the Director at us in frustration. “Our lawyers will soon
be visiting each and every one of you and you can guarantee that we
are going to sue your arses off.”
    None of us moved or said anything.
    “Have a pleasant long trek back to the city,
morons. And enjoy the rest of your life as lazy fat arses.” They
climbed back into their truck and once again, left us in the
dark.
    “Gee, he’s got a silver tongue on him, hasn’t
he?” I smiled, exhausted but momentarily triumphant.
    “Do you think they’ve really given up on us
this time?” asked Gloria.
    “I guess so. They think they’re going to sue
us all.”
    Jessie started crying. “My step-father’s
going to be so angry with me.”
    I put my arm around her and squeezed her
shoulders. “They’re not going to succeed. I plan on exposing them
and there’s nothing they can do about it.” Just to be on the safe
side though, I decided I’d better talk to Heller’s lawyer, Corby.
He seemed pretty sharp.
    We returned to the road to continue our
trudge, my triumph fading fast at the prospect of the feat still
ahead of us. I honestly didn’t know how any of us remained upright
and moving by that stage, but I switched my mind to automatic, and
thought of nothing while I walked, staring ahead without really
noticing anything. There was little further talking, except an
occasional weary request for water, but when that ran out, none of
us spoke at all.
    By the time we reached the outskirts of the
city, dawn was breaking, the sun peeking above the edge of the
horizon. I was so tired, I began to hallucinate, jumping out the
way in fright as I imagined terrifying creatures barrelling towards
me.
    We found a working phone in one of the most
outlying suburbs.
    “Do you want to all come back to my place and
someone can ferry you home?” I slurred with sleepiness.
    Just as drained as me, Gloria mustered up the
energy to shake her head. “I just want to go home. I’m going to
wake up my husband and demand he pick me up. It’s the least the
bastard can do for sending me to that place.”
    The others agreed with her that they only
wanted to go home. So they called a number of taxis or assorted
relatives, sitting on the curb to wait for them, their eyes
closed.
    I rang Farrell’s mobile reverse-charge. He
answered after the third ring, accepting the charge of the
call.
    “Hugh, it’s Tilly.”
    “Chalmers,” he said in surprise. “Why are you
ringing me? Where are you?”
    “I don’t know where I am.” Not meaning to, I
started crying. His warm voice was the most wonderful thing I’d
heard in ages.
    “Don’t cry. Try to describe where you
are.”
    Through snorts of tears, I gave him the best
details of my surroundings I could manage. “I’m in one of the outer
southern suburbs of the city. We just came from a road leading to
the Lake Tranquillity Boot Camp.” I told him the name of the street
I was ringing from and described a few of the more noticeable
buildings near me.
    “Let me