Chapter 16
The following day arrived quickly, too quickly for Bea’s liking and as she sat at breakfast with the rest of H1 she could literally taste the strange atmosphere that was hanging like a lead balloon in the room. The ladies that morning were unusually quiet as most sensed something was going on. Everyone had heard what had happened to Tina Mercado and most knew it was something to do with Bea and Kaz, although no one dared say anything. On top of that they all knew that Kaz and Bea were acting oddly. They were snappier than usual and unwilling to get drawn in to conversations with people; they had been shutting themselves away for days now.
Bea pushed her uneaten cereal away from her and laid her hands flat on the table, trying to stop them from shaking. She wasn’t so much nervous about what they were about to do, more the fact that she was going to be face to face with the Freak in a couple of hours and the last time that had happened, she had nearly died. Allie could see the fear radiating from Bea and she knew what it was about. Hell she wasn’t scared about taking revenge; after all she had killed Jacs and Brayden single handed. This was all to do with the Freak. Allie laid her own hands on top of Beas, they were cold and clammy. Allie applied more pressure to stop them shaking.
“It’s okay,” Allie whispered her words only loud enough for Bea to hear, “I won’t let her hurt you again, I promise.”
“It’s you I’m more worried about,” Bea whispered back.
Allie removed one of her hands and gently stroked Bea’s cheek with it,
“Then I promise you that I won’t let her hurt me either.”
Bea kissed Allies hand gently before giving her a small smile.
“Everything okay Bea?” Liz enquired, aware of the odd atmosphere and hushed words between her friends.
“Sure it is Liz, Allies just trying to sign me up for some classes, she wants to keep me busy.”
“I’m sure Allie could keep you busy in other ways eh Allie?” Boomer sniggered, adding a third sugar to her cup of tea.
“Boomer do you want to drink that tea or wear it?” Bea enquired, raising her eyebrows.
“Ah, erm drink it Bea, sorry… Guess you’ll have to sign up for some classes then eh.”
Allie laughed and squeezed Bea’s hands.
“Leave her alone, you bully, she does have a point.”
Bea smirked and was about to reply to Allie when she saw Kaz staring in her direction. She moved her gaze to Kaz and Kaz gave a small nod of her head. An indication that she was ready. Bea stood up gently pulling Allie with her.
“We’re just going for a walk guys,” Bea told the rest of the girls around the table as she and Allie gathered up their cups and dishes not once letting go of each others hands. As they headed past Kaz’s table, she too stood up and followed them out.
“Make your way towards isolation,” She hissed to them, “Stewart is waiting for us, he’s going to let us in and give us what we need to finish the job.”
Bea and Allie both nodded their heads in confirmation that they had heard Kaz. Kaz placed a hand on each of the women’s upper arms.
“Don’t look so worried, this will all be over soon.”
Again Bea and Allie didn’t speak, just squeezed their hands tighter together as they made their way down the corridor behind Kaz.
Jake Stewart stood nervously at the entrance gate to isolation. He had managed to persuade the governor to put him in charge down there that day. He was already having a stressful day. Having to smuggle in what Kaz had requested had required strong nerves and these had been tested again when Ferguson kept shouting out to talk to him. He just wanted Kaz to hurry up and for it all to be over. He wiped his forehead furiously, beads of sweat breaking out on it as he checked his watch for the hundredth time. As he looked back up he saw them on the other side of the gate coming towards him. Glancing around he checked the cameras were all still positioned facing the wall before he swiped his card and let the women enter.
“Do you have what I asked for?” Kaz enquired as she passed through the door.
Jake closed it behind her, turning to face the 3 women, before placing his hands inside his trousers and pulling out an object wrapped in an old sheet. He passed it to Kaz who held it gently, unwrapping it as though it was a precious gem. Allie let out a gasp as the first glimpse of the object came in to view. A gun.
“Don’t look so shocked buba,” Kaz said, looking at Allie, “How else did you think we were going to finish this once and for all. Bea knows how to use one of these anyway, don’t you Bea?”
She finished talking and looked at Bea. The former top dog looked anything but a confident gun user and killer as she stood under the bright lights of the isolation corridor. Her hair once vibrant red had completely faded to her original brown colour and her pale face was adorned with the large cut to her head caused by Tina Mercado. She stood with her shoulders slightly slumped, a stance that she had adopted since the injury to her stomach, one which was necessary to alleviate the pain she felt across her midriff whenever she was stood upright or walking. Her once muscular build had been replaced by a more lean, some would call scrawny figure. Weeks in a hospital bed, followed by weeks of having no appetite and not exercising had caused even Bea to look at her own body in shock. Even during her bad times with Harry she had never been this slender and weak. It was something she was determined to rectify, but it would all take time. She knew she needed to get her confidence back as well. The old Bea would have relished this challenge; instead she looked nervously to the gun in Kaz’s arms. She swallowed the bile that had made its way up to her throat. Allie squeezed her hand and bought her back to reality, reminding herself why she needed to kill Ferguson. Not for her own safety, but for Allies. She could deal with any injury or pain to herself, but anyone causing any harm to Allie could not get away with it. She drew her eyes up level with Kaz’s and began to speak in a voice that sounded more confident and cocky than she felt.
“Sure I do. I appreciate you getting this for me Kaz; I can sort it from here. I’m already a lifer, give it me and I’ll get it over with.”
Kaz passed the gun to Bea, holding on to it as she placed it in to Bea’s hands.
“Sounds like the best plan to me; we’ll be right behind you though Bea. We are in this together.” She took her hands off the gun and turned to Jake.
“Right then Stewart, let’s go see the Freak.”