Page 4 of The Girl in the Woods

‘Needles?’ asked the lad. ‘What do I do?’

‘Do as he fucking says,’ screamed Needles. For the first time that evening, Sajid saw fear in Needles’ eyes.

All his arrogance had left him, and Sajid felt sorry for him in a strange way.

‘I am The Vigilante,’ said the masked figure. ‘Nice to meet you, you pieces of shit. Now, I think it’s time you and your mates move on, don’t you? I suggest you get off at the next stop, which is quite soon, isn’t that right, driver?’

The driver simply nodded. He pulled in at the next stop with such a jerk that all the passengers were thrown forward.

‘Just in case you think I’m a bit of a joker,’ said The Vigilante calmly, and then, before Needles could blink, The Vigilante gently slid the machete across his neck. A trickle of blood ran down Needles’ throat. The crimson liquid continued its journey down his shoulder and onto his arm. He screamed like a girl and clutched at the wound. In seconds all the lads had hurried off the coach, and the driver was bombing it down the A40 like a rocket was up his coach’s backside.

Sajid sat stiff as a poker, waiting for The Vigilante to turn on him, but instead, he asked, ‘Are you okay, mate?’

Sajid nodded dumbly, staring in fear at the machete.

The man slid it into his backpack and handed Sajid a card. Then he walked up the coach to the driver. ‘Stop here,’ he said.

As directed, the driver pulled into the layby, and the masked man handed him a card, too, before jumping off the coach.

The driver didn’t wait to see where The Vigilante went but pushed his foot hard on the accelerator.

‘Who the hell was that?’ someone asked.

‘I didn’t see him get on,’ said another.

‘Well, it sure wasn’t bloody Superman,’ said the driver.

Sajid wiped the perspiration from his forehead and thought he wasn’t far off being Superman as far as he was concerned. He looked down at the card in his hand. Big, bold letters read, ‘When the law fails to serve us, we must serve as the law’, and then handwritten were the words ‘The Vigilante’.

‘Who the fuck was that?’ said Skinner eyeing up the cut on Needles’ neck.

‘Where did he come from?’ asked Digger.

‘I don’t know,’ said Needles. ‘I’m sure as hell going to find out, and when I do, we’ll show that Paki lover who’s in charge. Is it bad?’ he asked, gently feeling his neck.

‘Nah,’ said Skinner. ‘He wasn’t aiming to cause damage.’

‘Some kind of vigilante,’ said Twitch.

Needles let out a small laugh. ‘We’ll be ready for him next time, right?’

They all nodded. They knew better than to disagree.

‘What are we going to do now?’ asked Skinner.

‘Get the next coach, you wanker. Only we don’t sit together. We don’t want them making connections, just in case that dickhead driver phoned and reported it. Viper promise, lads.’ Needle held his right hand up.

The others followed suit. ‘Stand together, fight together, die together,’ they all said solemnly.

‘The enemy will never win,’ said Needles.

‘Never,’ they chorused.

Further down the road, The Vigilante removed the khaki jacket and balaclava before shoving them into his rucksack. He covered his head with a beanie, walked to the next coach stop, boarded the second coach with several others, and sat at the front with his head deep in a book.

None of the lads was aware of him.

CHAPTER FOUR

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