Free Arrival by Chris Morphew

Reeve. ‘Usually doesn’t give us any trouble, but if he’s luring kids out here at night –’
    â€˜I’ll be judge!’ Crazy Bill shouted at the top of his lungs. ‘I’ll be jury!’
    â€˜Those your bikes over there?’ Reeve asked, ignoring Bill and shining his torch over at the terminal.
    â€˜Huh? Oh. Yeah,’ I said, glancing back over my shoulder as we headed towards the grey building. The guards behind Crazy Bill had both drawn their weapons. Bill turned to look at one of them. He froze on the spot. But there was no fear in his eyes, just a kind of crazed determination.
    â€˜I’ll try the whole cause!’ he raved.
    â€˜That’s enough,’ said Calvin firmly, training his own weapon on Crazy Bill. ‘If you cannot control yourself, I will be forced to –’
    â€˜I’ll try the whole cause and condemn you to DEATH !’
    â€˜See?’ Reeve told us. ‘Complete head-case. But we’ll bring him back to the station and make sure he gets –’
    There was a shout behind us, followed by a loud ‘OOF!’ as someone got tackled to the ground. Looking back, I could just make out two people wrestling on the tarmac.
    â€˜Nothing to worry about,’ Reeve said anxiously, hurrying us along. ‘All under control.’
    BLAM !
    One of the other security guards had opened fire. Crazy Bill let out a growl, hurt, or maybe just angry.
    â€˜Get down!’ Reeve ordered, spinning around.
    The three of us dropped to the ground, but there was no cover anywhere. Nothing to hide behind. Just flat tarmac all the way out to the bush. All it would take was for one stray bullet to come whizzing our way and – BLAM ! BLAM !
    If you’ve never heard gunfire up close, you’ve got no idea how terrifying it is. I imagined every one of those bullets ripping a hole straight through me.
    I raised my head slightly, trying to catch sight of what was going on through the officers’ torch beams, but they were moving around so much that it was almost impossible to make anything out. I heard more shouts and the sound of footsteps on gravel, and then Crazy Bill howled like an animal.
    â€˜Chief!’ someone shouted. ‘Quick, grab his –’
    A panicked scream cut across the airstrip, and one of the torches went clattering to the ground. The screaming quickly got louder and I saw something big and solid-looking shooting through the air, headed straight for us. I dived out of the way just in time to avoid being flattened by the flying mass as it hit the ground. There was a sickening crunch and the screaming stopped.
    Jordan gasped. Peter made a gagging noise. I rolled over on the tarmac and felt a massive shudder rip through my body. A single, bulging, bloodshot eye was staring back at me, inches from my face.
    It was one of the guards. He’d hit the ground face-first and his arms were splayed out at his sides, bending at angles that arms are definitely not supposed to bend at. I fought back a scream, scrambled away from him and jumped to my feet. The eye kept staring for a few seconds, then rolled back up into its socket.
    â€˜Weary!’ Reeve shouted, shoving me aside and bending down to check the man’s pulse. ‘Are you –?’
    BLAM !
    Dropping to the ground again, I heard footsteps thundering closer. Someone running towards us. There was a thud and another crunch of gravel and the runner was knocked down onto the tarmac.
    BLAM ! BLAM ! BLAM !
    The gunshots were closer this time, more frantic.
    â€˜Put it away!’ Calvin ordered. ‘You’re only making him –’ His voice turned into a scream and I saw another dark shape go flying across the tarmac.
    I turned away, shuddering, as Calvin thudded to the ground.
    Officer Reeve stood up again, looking pale in the torchlight. He froze, probably trying to decide whether to stay with us or go back.
    There was another volley of