| "Oh man, you need a doctor," Zac shook his head. "I can't Zac, if we get help the cops will find me in no time. I'm still wanted, remember?" he panted. "What else can I do?" Zac asked, exasperated. "You need something to strap it with," I told them. Zac looked around frantically, before remembering something. "There's towels in the car," he said, getting up. "Wait! Troy!" Taylor exclaimed. "It's ok, he's gone," I assured him, and nodded to Zac. Taylor cringed as he ran off. I noticed that the bullet must have only half passed through the very side of his laeg, just enough to cause excessive bleeding. Zac returned moments later. "Here," he once again knelt, beginning to tie the cloth tightly around the wound. Taylor flinched, but held the pain back. "How long until Brad's trial?" I asked suddenly. "I think that's the least of our worries right now," Zac said. "One hour," Taylor replied, "we have to be there, it's judgement day." Zac sighed, "I forgot." After a couple of minutes, we helped Taylor to his feet. "How are we gonna get back?" he asked. We glanced at each other in thought. We did manage to make it to the trial on time... thanks to public transport. Taylor's leg recieved a few questioning glances, but thankfully no one asked about it. Once we arrived, it was another fifteen minutes or so before we were seated in the courtroom. Cheryl was seated in front of us, Brad and his lawyer in front of her. The opposition sat to our right, with the jury in front of them. After a short introduction, the judge cleared his throat. "Has the jury reached it's verdict?' he asked. A man representing them stood. "We have, your honour," he replied. "Go ahead," the judge gestured. Everyone in the room held their breath, as the man turned to face the court. "Would the defendant please rise," an officer announced. Brad and his lawyer stood. "We find the defendant..." the juror began, "on the charge of murder in the third degree, on the first account... not guilty." Brad sighed thankfully. One down. "On the charge of murder in the third degree, on the second account... not guilty." Taylor closed his eyes for a moment. Two down. "On the charge of manslaughter on the first account, we find the defendant... guilty." There was a hush in the court as Brad closed his eyes. "On the charge of manslaughter on the second account, we find the defendant also guilty," the man finished. Brad turned to Cheryl for a moment. "Bradley Standish, I have no choice but to imprison you in a minimum security facility, until such time as your sentence is decided. Court is adjourned, you may step down," the judge ended with a tap of his wooden mallet. Everyone stood and began to leave. Taylor stopped us. "We have to talk to him," he insisted. "How?" I asked, as his lawyer began to follow him away. Taylor looked around, then began over to them. "Taylor?" Zac questioned loudly. Brad turned at the sound of his voice. Most people had already left. "Brad!" Taylor got his attention. "Taylor?" he realised, stopping. His lawyer looked back at us. "Brad, we have to talk, now," Taylor insisted. "I'm sorry, but..." his lawyer began. "About what?" Brad asked. "Troy," Taylor replied, looking him straight in the eyes. Brad hesitated. "Can I...?" he gestured to his lawyer. "We can't now," he shook his head. "Just quick, it's important," Brad managed to nudge his way through to Taylor. Zac and I joined them. "Where's Isaac and Amy?" he asked. "Troy's got them. It's started again Brad," Taylor replied. He shook his head in disbelief. "And they're coming after you this time," Zac added. "What?" Brad looked up in surprise. "Yeah man, we went up there earlier, Troy arrived while we were there. He's planning to kill you," Taylor explained. Brad sighed, "I knew this would happen." His lawyer was getting impatient. "Can you please fill us in on who this guy is, and why he's taken over?" Zac asked. Brad hesitated again. "He's Mike's brother," he replied. "I knew it," Taylor breathed. "All I can think of is that he's either just taken over from where they left off, or he wants revenge for Mike's death," Brad went on. I glanced at Zac. He gulped. "Come on Brad," his lawyer insisted. "I have to go," he said with regret, "but I'll keep in touch." Taylor quickly shook his hand. "Thanks... Brad," he said, before he was taken away. We watched him disappear, then made our way outside. We'd just got out the door, when suddenly, Zac disappeared from beside me. "What the...?" came his voice. Taylor and I turned to see him against a wall, Troy's hand around his throat, and a gun in his chest. "Woah!" Taylor exclaimed, stepping back. Zac gulped again. "Sorry I couldn't join you guys at trial," Troy began, "but I am interested in the outcome." Zac looked over at us. "Guilty to manslaughter," I replied. "On both accounts?" he questioned. I nodded. He turned back to Zac, and smiled. He let go of his throat, and began to back away. "You're next buddy," he grinned, then quickly left. We looked at each other. "Ok..." Zac began. Taylor shook himself. Finally, we left. When we finally reached the house, Zac immediately went to find a proper bandage for Taylor's leg. "Without you Zac, we're gonna be screwed," Taylor flinched as Zac put the bandage on. "Why?" he asked. "Well you're the escape artist," I pointed out. He chuckled. "Well Taylor can pull off some pretty good escapes... or he used to," he said. "Yeah, and that's probably why they had it in for me in the first place, so probably not any more," Taylor put in. "Especially since you learnt to pick locks," I grinned. He smiled. |
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| Chapter 11 - Judgement Day |
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