Free First Response by Stephen Leather Page A

talk.’
    ‘I’ve nothing to say to you!’ shouted Malik. He took a hesitant step towards the entrance.
    ‘It’s just a conversation,’ said the man. ‘That’s all I’m here to do, establish contact so that you have someone to talk to.’
    ‘I don’t need to talk to anybody,’ said Malik. ‘All you have to do is release the prisoners. There is nothing to talk about.’ He took another step to the entrance, keeping the trigger held high above his head. He pulled Zoe after him.
    The man was about twenty feet away from the entrance. He was wearing a black flak jacket with POLICE in white letters across the front and was holding his hands above his head, fingers splayed. He stopped when he saw Malik, and smiled. ‘Mohammed, good to see you,’ he said. He was in his thirties with hair that looked as if it hadn’t been combed in days and a close-cut beard.
    ‘You need to get the hell away from here, now,’ said Malik.
    ‘I just want a quick chat,’ said the man, slowly lowering his hands. ‘Your name’s Mohammed, right?’
    ‘No one calls me that.’
    ‘Mo, then? Is that what they call you, Mo?’
    ‘My name’s Sami.’
    ‘Sami Malik? I thought it was Mohammed.’
    ‘Sami’s my middle name. That’s what everyone calls me.’
    ‘Yeah? Well, I’m Jamie. Jamie Clarke. Is everyone all right in there, Sami?’
    ‘Of course they’re not all right. They’re all scared shitless. Now you need to get the fuck away from here before we all die.’
    ‘I just want to talk to you, Sami. That’s all.’
    ‘There’s nothing to talk about,’ said Malik. ‘You need to get the ISIS Six released and then everyone can go home.’
    ‘How are you for food? Water? I suppose everyone in there is thirsty.’
    ‘We’re fine.’
    ‘I’m thirsty,’ said Zoe. ‘They can give us water, can’t they?’
    ‘See? The lady wants a drink. Why don’t I send you in some water, Sami? Maybe some soft drinks. If you wanted pizza we could get you some.’
    ‘I don’t want anything!’ Malik shouted.
    Clarke held up his hands. ‘Okay, okay. I just wanted to make sure everyone was comfortable, that’s all.’
    ‘I need to go to the toilet!’ shouted Zoe.
    ‘I can get a portable loo sent in,’ said Clarke.
    ‘You need to get the hell away from here,’ said Malik. ‘I’m not to talk to anybody.’
    ‘Why not? You need to talk to us, Sami, so that we can understand what it is you want.’
    ‘You know what they want. They want the six ISIS prisoners released. Do that and we can all go home.’
    ‘Who’s “they”, Sami? Who do you mean?’
    ‘Stop using my name!’ shouted Malik. ‘You don’t know me. You’re doing it to show that you’re my friend but you’re not my friend. Same with the beard. They sent you because you’ve got a beard, right? Same as me. So I’ll empathise.’
    ‘I’ve had this beard for years, Sami. I had bad acne when I was a kid, and it helps hide the scars.’
    Malik saw movement behind the policeman and he stepped to the side. On the far side of the mall, two armed police were crouched by a bench, pointing their guns at him. ‘You need to get them away from here!’ shouted Malik.
    ‘They’re just here to make sure that no one gets hurt,’ said Clarke.
    ‘They’re pointing their fucking guns at me!’ yelled Malik. ‘Get them away from here. Everybody needs to stay the hell away!’
    ‘Sami, keep calm. No one’s going to hurt you.’
    ‘Yes, they are! If you don’t do exactly what they want, we’re all going to die! Now get those prisoners released! Just do it!’
    Clarke started to back away, his hands still up. ‘I’m going to be along the way a bit, Sami. If you want to talk, just call out and I’ll come back.’
    ‘I don’t want to fucking talk to you or anybody!’ shouted Malik. ‘Keep your distance or everybody dies.’
    Clarke turned and walked away and Malik pulled Zoe back into the shop. ‘That bloody idiot is going to get us all killed!’ he