Chương 77: HOSTAGE SITUATION [2]
'All clear,' Xian Mei called a few seconds later.
'Good,' said Purna. 'In that case, gentlemen, I think we'll have you out here. Why not make yourselves comfortable at one of these tables so we can chat?'
The men resentfully shuffled out from behind the counter and sat at the table she had indicated. When they were all seated, the skinny guy nodded at the knife-man and said, 'You asked my friend his name earlier.'
Purna nodded. 'He was reluctant to give it.'
'He's cripplingly shy,' said the skinny guy, 'whereas I am not. My name's Kevin. I won't embarrass either of us by offering you my hand. So what's your name?' He gave Purna a piercing look.
'Purna,' she told him.
'Purna.' He rolled the word around in his mouth as though tasting it. 'That's a new one on me.'
'It's Australian,' she said. 'I'm half Aborigine.'
'How exotic,' said Kevin. 'So tell me, Purna, why are you and your friends here?'
Purna looked at him for a long moment, as though deciding what – if anything – she should tell him. Then she said, 'We were contacted by a man called Ryder White. He told us that if we could make our way to this island, he could get access to a helicopter and get us all out of here.'
Kevin regarded her shrewdly. 'Why should White help you?'
'His wife's sick,' replied Sam. 'We got something for him.'
'Oh? And what's that?'
'A vaccine. We hope,' said Purna.
'You hope?'
'It hasn't been properly tested,' she admitted.
'We had a whole bunch of stuff going on at the time,' added Logan. 'We just never got round to it.'
Kevin glanced at the other prisoners, who were sitting stoically, allowing him to do the talking. 'Maybe we can help each other,' he said.
'No offence, but how can you help us?' said Sam.
'I'm pretty sure Ryder White will be holed up in Sector Seven,' Kevin said.
Xian Mei nodded. 'Sector Seven, yes. That's where he said we had to make for.'
'In that case, I can show you the way there,' said Kevin, 'though in return I'd need a guarantee from you that as part of the deal for the vaccine, you get White to agree to safe passage for myself and my friends off the island. As things stand, we're trapped in here and rapidly running out of food and water, and no one seems to know or care. From the little I've been able to glean, I gather the situation on Banoi isn't much better – in which case, I doubt we'll be high on anyone's list of priorities.'
'We don't need you to show us the way,' said Sam. 'We got Ryder White to do that.'
Kevin sighed. 'In that case, let me put it another way. If you don't help us, I'll order Rafa there to cut your friend's throat.'
'He does that, we'll shoot the lot of you,' retorted Logan.
Kevin raised his eyebrows. 'Will you really? You'd be prepared to gun down nine men in cold blood? If so, then frankly, you'd be doing us a favour. Better to die quickly in a hail of bullets than slowly from starvation.'
Purna sighed. 'No one needs to die. You described me as ruthless earlier, but I wouldn't leave you to starve to death. You have my word on that.'
'Your word,' said Kevin. 'Well, that's wonderful. I'm sure that has set all our minds at rest.' A couple of the prisoners sniggered.
'Why not ring White now?' Xian Mei suggested.
'Yeah, do the deal so everyone can hear,' added Logan.
Purna shrugged, took out her phone, and punched in White's number. All that came through, however, was static. She tried again with the same result.
'Shit, I can't get through,' she said.
'How convenient,' mocked Kevin.
'So how's he gonna help you get through to Sector Seven now?' one of the other prisoners said snidely.
Purna glanced at him. 'He's monitoring our progress on CCTV, unlocking doors for us as we reach them.'
Kevin looked thoughtful. Finally he said, 'All righty, here's what's going to happen. We'll keep your friend there as insurance just in case you decide to run out on us. Don't worry, she won't come to any harm. You have my personal guarantee on that.'
Hearing his words, Jin whimpered. Sam said, 'No way. She's coming with us.'
Kevin raised his hands and said mildly, 'Now come on, be reasonable. Do you honestly think—'
'Fuck reasonable!' barked Sam.
Raising a hand to take the heat out of the exchange, Purna explained, 'We tried that once before. It didn't work out for any of the parties concerned.'
Kevin sighed. 'If this particular girl is the issue, then we'll happily take that one.' He nodded at Yerema.
'No way.' Sam shook his head. 'We all stay together. No one gets left behind.'
Kevin pursed his lips, his brow furrowing slightly as if he were puzzling out a tricky conundrum. 'In that case, that leaves only one alternative.'
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