The Debt Collectors War

Chapter 75

“We’ll all fucking show you…” the man said, and looked around at his friends.

Ellie stepped forward, and hit him in the face with her hand. She hit with the full momentum of her step, as hard as she could, and hit him wearing an armoured glove.

He fell over, and sat on the ground bleeding. Then he started to get up.

“Don’t,” Ellie said, and pointed her submachine gun at him. “Stay there. Don’t move. And don’t say anything else, either. Or I’ll kill you.”

The man blinked, surprised, but stayed where he was for a moment, apparently deciding what to do.

He probably wouldn’t move, Ellie thought. This had probably just been his way of coping with feeling frustrated and threatened. Ellie almost understood how he felt, and might have been the same herself, but she’d had to knock this man over anyway. His anger was dangerous to her and Sameh. It was infectious. Other people might become angry too, and then Ellie and Sameh would be badly outnumbered. All the same, Ellie felt a little guilty for having hit the man without warning, but she knew she’d feel worse if she had to kill him. And really, hitting him didn’t seem completely unfair. He’d started making threats, and there was no reason Ellie shouldn’t take him seriously and assume he meant what he’d said. He’d made a threat, he potentially was a threat, so she’d neutralised him before he could harm her. And besides, she thought, it was useful to hurt someone, to show the others she was prepared to do so.

She waited, to see what the man did, letting him think things over, giving him a chance to quieten down before she did anything else to him. She waited, watching him, and he seemed to see something in her manner. He stayed where he was, sitting on the ground. He only moved enough to wipe the blood from his nose onto his forearm.

“Hold onto it,” Ellie said, meaning his nose. “Pinch it.”

The man just looked at her, and didn’t seem to understand. He didn’t react, but he also wasn’t moving so she decided to stop worrying about him. To the others, just to be clear, she said, “Keep quiet unless I tell you to speak. Don’t make trouble. Then you might all get through this alive.”

None of them answered, which was approximately what she hoped for.

“All right,” Ellie said. “Now. Who’s in charge?”

There was a stir among the militia. Several of them turned around. Everyone looked over at a body on the ground. A body near the bunker building, which looked as though it had been hit by one of the drone’s rockets.

“Him?” Ellie said.

A few of the militia said yes.

“Oh,” Ellie said. “Shit.”

This happened sometimes in the MidEast too. During the assault, the village headman got excited and forgot he wasn’t twenty any more.

“Okay,” Ellie said. “Well, who’s next in charge. Who’s supposed to be in charge now?”

No-one answered. No-one moved. Ellie could see why. It might not seem the best time to start volunteering for command.