Chapter 133

• If I run, my back is a target. I can’t get away and watch them at the same time. I will most likely get shot in the back. If I stay here, they can’t see me but I have a gun. I only hope I loaded the bloody thing right and it works. What will I do, what will I do? I look back at the house through the crack in the metal. Maybe it’s the owner of the house and he will call the police to report a robbery and they will come to the house. That’s a best case scenario—yes please, let that happen. Think Natasha, think. I look down at the gun and put my finger on the trigger. You just pull it right? Yes, you just pull it. I practise pulling the trigger and I hold it up as if I am going to shoot something out in the forest to try and get the feel for it. Oh my god, I’m so out of my depth here. Shit.
• For fifteen minutes I watch the house with my heart hammering. What in the hell is going on in there? Who is it? My eyes flick to the car in the front yard. It hasn’t moved so they are still here. My eyes widen—shit, can they see me and are sneaking around in the forest behind me to catch me unawares? My eyes dart around the dense trees behind me. I look up at the sky and realise it will be dark in an hour or so. If I’m still here I’m going to run when it gets dark but maybe I should just go inside and knock and ask for help? Shit.
• The back screen door slams and I duck away from the hole in the tin so they can’t see me as I hold my breath. The rain is so loud on the tin roof it’s deafening. Oh god, just fuck off rain. Shit, shit, shit.