Scott Andrews - Children's Crusade

"Well I do," he replied, still focused on the stairs ahead. "And you're the designated adult."

Caroline smiled as she swung the gun back up to her hip.

"This plane is huge," she said as they reached the foot of the stairs. The last few kids were disappearing into the belly of the plane above them.

"A380," said Tariq. "Biggest airliner ever made. Lap of luxury."

A huge explosion blew out the rear doors and a man dressed entirely in black and with an Uzi in his hand, tumbled backwards out of the resulting gap in the fuselage, arms flailing. He fell onto the concrete head first, his brains and lungs suddenly finding themselves colocated.

"They do know we want some of them alive, don't they?" asked Caroline as she dragged herself up the stairs.

A man appeared in the hole above them, firing back down the body of the plane. Caroline hardly blinked as she squeezed the trigger and cut him down where he stood.

"I don't know, Caroline. Do they?" asked Tariq as she stepped into the plane.

She glanced down at the dead snatcher then looked up at Tariq and made a sad face. "Sorry," she said.

Tariq tutted as he stepped across the jagged metal edge. "Just don't let it happen again."

They turned and walked into the passenger section, guns raised, and all their wisecracks died unspoken as they beheld the carnage before them.

The two aisles were littered with corpses of children and snatchers alike. The air was thick with cordite and the walls and ceilings were sprayed with blood.

Caroline couldn't have told you whether it was her post-explosion balance problem or the sight of that charnel house which caused it, but she turned, bent over and was violently sick.

"Fifteen of our children dead," said Tariq as he sat down next to her in the business class compartment an hour later. "Seven of yours, eight of ours. Plus the thirty-two kidnapped kids they blew up in their attempts to escape."

Caroline shook her head in disbelief. "And?"

"Two of the Rangers are down."

"Wilkes?"

"No, he's fine."

"What about captives?"

"Two. Wilkes is just getting started on them. Thought you might want to come along."

Caroline thought about this for a moment and decided that no, she really just wanted to sit here drinking this nice wine she'd found in the galley.

"Drinking before noon?" asked Tariq.

"Unless you have any other painkillers to hand, I'll stick with tried and tested if that's okay with you."

The Iraqi reached out and took the bottle from her. She glared at him, eyes narrowed.

"No, it's not okay," he said sternly. "The only thing worse than a sixteen year-old girl with a gun and an itchy trigger finger is a drunk sixteen year-old girl with a gun and an itchy trigger finger."

"Jesus," said Caroline as she stood. "Listen to Jeremy fucking Kyle. Fine, I'll lend a hand."

She limped past him and climbed the staircase to the luxury cabins that sat on the floor above.

She pushed open the cabin door and found Wilkes and Green standing over two men sat on the double bed, hands tied behind their backs.

"Have they agreed to help yet?" she asked.

Wilkes shook his head. "Not yet, but they…"

Caroline pulled a kitchen knife from her belt and before the Ranger could stop her, she leaned forward and thrust it deep into the heart of the captive nearest to her. His mouth formed an O of surprise and he let out a strangled gasp, then his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped against the wall, stone dead.

Caroline pulled out the knife, wiped it on the sleeve of her coat and turned to the other man on the bed.

"We can do this without you, you know," she said calmly. "Your only chance to live another minute is to agree to help us. Otherwise we'll go to plan B. What do you say?"

He nodded in mute horror. Caroline patted his cheek chummily.

"Good man."

As she withdrew her hand she noticed that she'd smeared his face with blood. She pointed to her cheek. "You've got a little spot there," she said, helpfully. Then she walked out, passing Tariq who stood in the doorway, slack jawed.

"Fucking hell. That girl scares me," said Green once he'd got his breath back.

"Oh, I dunno," said Tariq. "I kind of like her."

Caroline limped down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she heard heavy footsteps following behind her.

Wilkes emerged and grabbed her arm, pulling her through business class and into the cockpit. He slammed the door and stood before it, arms folded, face red with fury.

Caroline remained composed.

"The last time an adult locked himself in a room with me, I cut out his heart with this knife," she said. "So be aware, if your hand goes anywhere near your zip, you'll lose it. And I don't mean your hand."

Having dragged her in here to give her a piece of his mind, Wilkes found himself momentarily speechless. But he found his tongue eventually.

"Did you see the body count out there?" he asked.

Caroline nodded.

"Those were children," said the Ranger. "Children! They should never have been put in that position. A battlefield is no place for a child. We can't go forward with this plan, not after this. I'm calling it off. I'm only sorry I didn't do this sooner, then maybe some of those kids would still be alive. But this ends. Now."

"Oh really," replied Caroline, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well that's good to know. Pass that message on to the snatchers, would you? Give them a good talking to about it. I'm sure they'll stop the kidnapping then."

"Fighting them is a job for men," said Wilkes.

"No, you sanctimonious fucker, it's a job for boys and girls," yelled Caroline. "It's not grown ups they're kidnapping. It's kids. This is our fight, their fight. Not yours. You're the outsider here." She stabbed him the chest with her index finger, jutting her chin out and shouting in his face. "Since The Cull I've met one — ONE! — adult who hasn't tried to fuck me over. Every other predatory bastard out there thinks I'm either cattle to be bartered for food or a warm body to use and toss away. So don't you fucking dare, Mr high and mighty grown up man, tell me that children have no place in the front line. Because it's you lot who've bloody put us there. And believe me: every adult we meet is going to regret standing by and letting that happen. What does the bible say — The children shall inherit? Well that starts right now and you're either with me or against me. So shut up and help or fuck off out of my way. Because I promise you, if you try and stop me I will kill you dead."

She was breathing hard and furious when she finished her tirade, staring into Wilkes' eyes, all challenge and fire.

He stepped to one side and let her pass without saying a word, knowing that there was nothing he could possibly say.

They got all the children off the plane and gathered them together on the hanger floor. Green had done a head count and taken note of all their ages, so again they divided them by age. There were 132 kids under 13 amongst the 298 surviving captives. Green wanted to give one of his rousing speeches, but Tariq shook his head.

"Just let them choose," he said.

So the 166 remaining kids were given a choice to join the fight or leave with the youngsters. 45 of them chose to leave, too traumatised by the massacre they'd just witnessed. They joined the younger kids in two lorries and were sent back to St Mark's, driven to safety by the two surviving Rangers.

A third lorry, driven by one of the older kids, carried the corpses back for burial.

That left 121 new recruits who were again divided by age. 52 of them were over 16, and they were each given a firearm and an hour's group training in the hanger. The rest were set loose in the airport on a mad scavenger hunt for weapons; they returned with an impressive array of metal bars, chains and knives.