Hearts' Desires (28 page)

             
He turned to look at Alison. She knelt near them, her head bowed, her tangled hair covering her face like a messy curtain. She made no attempt to push it back. It seemed as if all the fight had gone out of her. All her carefully erected d
e
fenses had been ripped from her and she looked vulnerable and defeated.  Vance felt the lump in his stomach grow, and hunger was not the only cause. He hated feeling helpless, condemned to watching people he cared for suffer!

             
“
When we filmed the second part of
“
Desert Heat
”
last year, I never thought I
’
d end up in a hostage situation for real.
”

             
He leaned back against the remains of the wooden door frame and stared up into the sky. Some birds flew above them, unimpressed by the human business. It looked as peaceful as it could be. No sign of activity from the police.

It was afternoon again, when Max leaned down to Vance and whi
s
pered:

             
“We have to do something! Nora and her child are going to die if she doesn‘t get to a hospital soon!”

             
“What are we supposed to do?!?”
Vance’s voice sounded raspy from thirst and the ever present dust and he had to suppress a cough. “We are surrounded by a bunch of desp
e
rate men with way too many loaded guns!”

             
“We can take the ones closest to us, and then the police can take care of the rest.”

             
“You practically did the same thing in ‘Desert Heat’, r
e
member?” Jake joined Max.

             
“You can‘t be serious!”

             
From the outside, the police’s speaker squeaked again, trying to initiate negotiations. One of the rebels answered with a bli
nd shot. Others yelled curses. They got more nervous with every pas
s
ing hour – of course.

             
Vance raked his fingers through his short cropped hair. The thought of a cold shower flashed through his head. A cold shower, a cigarette, a cold beer, something decent to eat… Good Lord, a cigarette! That wasn’t too much to ask, was it?!

             
“We can do it, Vance! I remember every detail! We did 20 takes of that scene! It will be in my head until I die!” continued Jake.

             
“You’re both nuts! That was a crappy B-movie! And the only reason the plan worked was because they wanted their bad guys to survive for a potential sequel!”

             
“Quiet!” The guard barked. For a moment, the barrel of
his gun moved back and forth between the three hostages as if he was trying to decide who to make an example of and shoot. Slowly, the men got up and went back to the others.

             
Lauren lay curled up on the floor. Thabo was crouching next to her like a watchdog. When he felt unobserved, he reached over and lightly stroked her hair.

             
“We’ll have the element of surprise in our favor! Think about it, Vance!” Max wasn’t ready to give up.

             
Vance glanced over the silhouettes of their keepers. They moved like black shadows, framed by the branches and leaves of the trees.
An almost surreal scene with a sinister beauty.
Like a Film Noir, he thought and wondered if these thoughts were brought on by hunger, his craving for cigarettes or the omnipr
e
sent fatigue.

             
Crap,
he thought once again.  His eyes were drawn to Alison. Was she crying? He wanted to take her in his arms, tell her ever
y
thing would be ok, to make her feel safe! She looked up and their eyes met. Not everything had been blown away, Vance realized at that moment.
Only the superfluous.
He loved Alison. And he wanted to see her happy. He wanted her out of this! He did not want to see her pride, strength and beauty any further diminished by these rebels!

             
He steadied himself and looked at Max and Jake. “Tell me your plan!”

             
“So you’re on my side in this?”

             
“I’m on the side of coming out alive.”

             
“Jake will provide the diversion. He told me about the scene in ‘Desert Heat’. It can be done, if we’re fast. You, me and Thabo -”

             
“Leave the kid out of this!” Vance hissed. “Is that clear? – Now, go on!”

             
“We’ll take position at strategic points, here and over there, in proximity to their truck. You’ll have to attack the one
in front of the house, get his weapon. Then we’ll provide cover for the others, and hopefully the police will seize their chance and break through from the other side.”

             
“This is never going to work
!
”

             
“Do you have a better idea?”

             
“Max? What are you talking about?” Alison had
gotten to her feet and stepped closer, searching the eyes of her old co
l
league, then Vance
’s. Vance sighed and shook his head, hearing Max tel
l
ing a blatant lie. It did not feel right leaving her out - on the other hand, how could they tell her? He did not want her to be more stressed than she already was. What a mess!

             
Why the hell
aren’t
the police doing anything? Don’t they have any snipers? What are they waiting for? Does someone have to die
…

             
Vance looked across the clearing and back to the guard, who was talking to one of the other rebels. A nasty headache ha
m
mered behind his forehead. The rebel watching over them on this side was rather young. The ragged uniform was far too big for him.

Vance compared the layout here to the set of the sequence in Desert Heat.

             
This is just crazy! I’m an actor, not an action hero,
he thought.
I have never shot at anyone. I don’t want to kill an
y
one!

             
“Vance, are you with us or not?” Max’ low voice intruded his ponderings.

             
He took a deep breath, what ended up in a cough. “When I say my line from ‘Desert Heat’”, Vance whispered without looking to his colleague, “
…
we start. Let's talk the sequence through again…”

The three conspirators were waiting. One of their guards had
just walked away. More rebels were milling around next to the cars, using them as cover in case the police decided to attack. That left the youngster with his machine gun in front of the house as most urgent problem. He looked tired, too, and su
p
pressed a yawn. Where was the Commander? One minute ago, Vance had still spo
t
ted his red scarf between the trees. There were harsh voices from the other side of the clearing, but he couldn’t see anything.
New negotiations?
Dissent b
e
tween the kidnappers? Whatever was going on outside, they couldn’t wait any longer.

             
Vance’s view crossed Max’. Then he nodded and the production coordinator inclined his head in response. Jake was alert as well. Vance felt as if anyone looking at them with a sharp eye would notice their nervous tension right away, but the young guard just stood there, unaware.

             
Now or never!

             
Vance shut his eyes and tried to imagine that all this was not
h
ing but a set and stuntmen and fake ammo. Then he said aloud:
“Rob, I know when a glass is empty!”

             
“So we smash it!” Jake gave the correct answer
.

             
With a grin that seemed somewhat weak, he left the house and was out of sight a moment later. The others could hear him starting his little performance.

             
“Hey, you!
Yes! I want to talk to someone in charge! I’ve had enough!”

             
His old friend wasn’t doing
bad
, Vance thought, conside
r
ing that Jake usually went through great lengths to avoid trouble – except trouble with women. A moment later, the guard shouted back, Jake barked some profanity and acted like a guy who had been pushed too far. Two other rebels moved in the direction of the commotion, ready to deal with the troublemaker.

             
A last glance and a small nod to Max, then Vance walked
out, as if he was trying to see what the racket was about. There were about four meters between him and the young, tired guard. Three…

             
Behind him, Max approached his own target.

             
Vance lunged forward, throwing the unsuspecting guard to the ground. But the surprise lasted only for a second. B
e
hind him, moans, angry shouts and far too many shots merged into a sound track of doom. Vance was still on the ground, wrestling with the young rebel, when a series of shots splashed up the sand and dirt. He knew without a doubt their plan had gone wrong. Another rebel ran up and viciously kicked him, knocking him away from his opponent. Vance heard Alison cry out. He blinked against the dust, and saw into the barrel of the rebel’s gun, pointing down at him.

             
Vance reacted on pure instinct, driven by the strongest force – self preservation. His right hand clasped the metal of the other man’s weapon; he gave it a hard shove, jumping to his feet at the same time.

             
While the rebel tried to regain his footing, Vance lunged for cover. The next thing he knew, he felt as if a sledge ha
m
mer had been slammed against his shoulder. He had been hit. The pain was worse than anything he had ever experienced. He fell backwards. There was a strange roaring in his ears, accompanied by ove
r
whelming nausea.

             
Shit… Worst performance ever, old man…

             
He tried to lift his head and look for the others. He had only one thought –
Where was Alison.

             
He wanted to shout out to her over the roaring in his head, but suddenly, everything went dark.

Alison saw Vance fall, saw the blood pooling under his body, and realized at that moment, the worst moment of her life, that all the things she had been so concerned about – her career,
her control, appearances, fear and distrust – didn’t matter. Vance was the only thing that mattered to her, and now it looked like she was losing him, he was bleeding to death in front of her eyes and she would never have the chance to tell him how she felt
!

             
Without thinking about any danger to herself she ran
t
o
wards him
. One of the rebels stopped her with a harsh blow from the butt of his gun. She landed on her knees and elbows and a gun was pressed against her back. Her body hurt all over, but she barely noticed it!  Vance needed her! She looked around frantically for the others. The r
ebel commander had hold of Jake;
one of the soldiers had a gun trained on Thabo. Nora was still in the house, for sure terrified by gun fire and shouts, and not knowing what had become of her friends; Lauren crouched in the entrance, pale and shocked. A few yards away from her, Max was sprawled in the dirt, face down. Alison had no doubt that he was dead. But Vance was alive, he had to be. Hadn’t he just moved? She couldn’t be sure – he was
laying
awfully still now.