Shame Of Maastricht: The Revelation of Misery - Marie N. Hallen (top rated books of all time .txt) 📗

was conscious and her wound allowed her to move and sit in a comfortable position, although her shirt was covered with blood.

“Where is the nearest emergency department, dad?”

“Drive to Maastricht. We are on the right track. There is a railway station over there, so the hospital shouldn’t be very far.” Stijn pointed to a forest belt, beyond which the railway was visible. They were approaching Maastricht.

“I’m not calling the police, Kate,” Luuk said and cuddled Kate to bring her more comfort. “We are going to my friend in Rotterdam, we have no choice. If these criminals find us there, I will be very surprised.”

“Doesn’t matter. They are already chasing us,” Stijn said as he looked in the mirror. A blue car was driving behind them, getting closer and closer. “Don’t drive to Rotterdam, we will lose this option.”

“We will run out of fuel before we reach Eindhoven. Goddamn, this is the highest possible speed. We are entering Maastricht now.” Sterre sighed and turned right abruptly. They almost crashed into another truck which was driving towards them and almost hit a car passing by. Angry driver signaled a few times, then opened the window and showed them his middle finger swearing and shouting.

“I hope our persecutors will finally crash into someone,” Kate commented. “Don’t drive to hospital, Sterre. Don’t drive to any other city.”

“I know where I’m going,” she replied. “We are heading to the nearest department store.”

“Why?”

“It will be easier to get lost there. They are already following us. If we go to the hospital, we’ll only make it worse, they will find us. Goddamn. You guys are very lucky to find these adventures for your ass.”

“No one asked you to join us,” Stijn said, “You could just stay at home instead.”

“Hey, I saved your lives anyway. Too late to draw conclusions.”

“They are left behind. We are getting ahead,” Kate looked in the mirror. The blue car remained far away, although it wasn’t going to stop.

“They will come for us. We can’t hide the truck anyway. Don’t use your phones if they are tracking our calls. In fact, they can still track our location.”

“I don’t have a phone any more,” Kate said. “And they took Luuk’s phone as well.”

“I retrieved mine. But I’m gonna throw it away,” Sterre opened the window and wanted to defenestrate her phone, but Kate stopped her.

“Don’t. Luuk’s mother is still a target. Is she home, Stijn?”

“She is. I’m really afraid they will come for her.”

“They will. We shouldn’t disappear completely, otherwise they will come for us at night and kill us like rats in our beds. They will stalk and chase our relatives, they will track their location too. You can’t get rid of your phone or spend the rest of your life hiding in a bunker. We have to give them a fightback so that they leave us alone. Maybe it was a big mistake to come to his house last year,” Kate said.

“No time for regrets. Otherwise I wouldn’t be with you,” Luuk replied and took her by the hand. “I don’t regret anything. and these people are still crazy. I’m sure they would come for me someday if Lotte got mad at me and told them we had a fight.”

“Insane people. Just insane. Drive ahead, Sterre, if we head to Xmall, there is a warehouse behind the department store and they have a parking site for trucks. Just park there.”

“I can’t see the car! They disappeared!”

“This means we will have time to park safely. I’m sure they will come closer and notice us sooner or later.

The truck arrived at the parking lot and everyone got out.

“Although we are bleeding, let’s still come in. Doesn’t matter what people say,” Luuk suggested.

“No other option. Will be very fun if security guards decide to call the cops.”

“The cops are following us, Kate. Our idea might not be brilliant, but at least we can save some time.”

They entered the department store without attracting the glances of passers-by. People around didn’t pay attention to four people covered with blood. Everyone was absorbed with shopping, dragging their young kids by the hand and carrying large bags.

“I think we should go up. Maybe the third floor,” Luuk suggested and pointed at the elevator at the end of the hall.

“Let’s go. Is there any open space with the windows?”

“I don’t think so. There is a food court on the fourth floor, there are windows, but if you want to observe the parking lot and check if they have arrived, this is not the best place,”

“You are wrong, Luuk, there are windows that face the parking lot and you and the viewing angle is wide enough,” Stijn commented as they entered the elevator.

“There are not so many people here today, although it’s Saturday. makes me anxious.”

“It’s good. The less they pay attention, the better for us. We look like criminals if not terrorists. We may have problems.”

Sterre went down and headed to the pharmacy which was located on the first floor. She came back with the first aid kit and tissues. They sat down on the wide couch by the window pretending they were checking the menu. No one came by. Kate helped Luuk to bandage the wound and wiped off the blood with a tissue.

“Now it’s your turn to help me,” she asked Luuk and gave him the bandages.

Luuk did the same Kate had done for him a moment earlier. Once he finished, he turned around but didn’t see Sterre. She was gone.

“Sterre, are you here? Sterre? Where did you go?” he yelled. “Don’t go away, it’s dangerous here!”

Some woman with a large shopping bag heard his voice and turned around. Luuk sat down next to his father. Stijn began to fall asleep, he leaned on the sofa with his eyes closed and Luuk tried to awake him.

“Dad, have you seen Sterre? Where is she?”

“What? She brought the first-aid kit, didn’t she?”

“Yes but she is gone. Are you really that tired? Don’t fall asleep, dad, otherwise we will miss something very important.”

“I don’t see the purpose of sitting here. There are not so many people around. And even if Dijsktra show up, what can we do?”

“We are safe among people. Dijkstra won’t dare to hurt any of us if we are in a public place.”

“How long do you want to stay here?”

“Until it gets dark. Then we will start moving towards Rotterdam. We need to find a gas station.”

“There is one across the street, no need to drive that far.”

They moved to another place without a window and ordered dinner for three. Sterre didn’t show up and they couldn’t call her. It started getting dark and Stijn suggested that they leave the department store in an hour. As darkness fell, more people appeared in the mall.

“I’m starting to feel safer and safer here. Never liked crowded places, but today things are completely different.”

“It’s time to go, Luuk. Just check the window, I'm worried.

“Don’t be.”

Luuk came closer to the panoramic window and looked away. It was dark, but the parking lot was well-illuminated. The truck wasn’t there any more.

“Guys, it looks like the truck is gone. I can’t see it any more,” he said.

“Oh no!” Kate and Stijn rushed to the window and peered into the darkness. The place, where the truck was parked before, was now occupied by two cars.”

“Awesome. We’re not going anywhere.”

“Maybe Sterre took the truck. This girl is full of tricks and the better I get to know her, the more afraid I am. She has mental issues or something. Absolutely wild,” Luuk tried to avoid Kate’s glance.

“She is a bit desperate. But it was her who helped us get out of that awful place,” Kate started protecting Sterre, although understanding why Luuk was so worried. “She might not like you but this is because she’s into women and she thinks you are a competitor or…”

“Or you both are lesbian,” Luuk finished and everybody started laughing. A few visitors of the cafe looked at them but they immediately switched to a quiet mode.

“Sterre is not here. We have no phones. Where are we going? How can we make it to Rotterdam” Stijn wondered and looked out the window again. More cars appeared and the truck still wasn’t there.

“Rottendamn. We can’t even call a taxi to give us a lift to the train station. I would start celebrating our getaway from these monsters Dijkstra, but this paranoid feeling we will always be followed doesn’t let me go.”

“We are being followed, Luuk,” Stijn answered in a low voice and pointed at the entrance. Several men were standing there including Maarten Dijkstra. They weren’t wearing masks any more, but their faces were unfamiliar neither to Kate and Luuk, nor to Stijn. And still everybody knew it was Bram, Ruben and Martijn led by Maarten and Nienke who came up a moment later.

“It’s better than languishing in anticipation of an attack. Why didn’t Sterre kill them right away…”

Before the perpetrators noticed a group of three sitting on the couch by the window, Stijn leaned to Luuk and Kate and whispered:

“We have two options. Either run away or stay here and fight back. But fighting back won’t be efficient without weapons which we don’t have and they do. So let’s opt for a fast escape. We will run away, but we will scatter in different directions so that it’s harder to focus and kill us. Try to reach the exit and run, run run, run.”

“Follow Sterre’s example, grab chairs. Use them as a shield.” Luuk added. At this point they rushed towards different exits, grabbing chairs on their way.

Maarten and three cops took out guns and opened fire. Panic arose, the visitors around rushed towards the exit too, some of them tried to hide under the tables, behind the curtains or other furniture at the food court.

“The elevator is blocked! The elevator is blocked!” Someone shouted in panic.

People ran down the escalator, pushing each other, trying to get ahead of each other and causing a scuffle. Kate didn’t see how many of them got injured by the perpetrator's bullets. She ran upstairs to the top floor where a bowling club and children’s playroom were located. Luuk headed to the opposite side of the food court, swinging a chair in order to protect himself from the shooters. Several bullets bounced off, one of them got stuck in the wooden plank and he didn’t get hurt. Kate saw Stijn run upstairs as Bram started chasing him. Stijn picked up a massive wooden chair and threw it at Bram, blocking his way. As Bram left behind, Stijn saw Kate and ran up to her.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she whispered as they hid behind a reception desk. “These assholes are coming. We have to make them defocus and save time.”

“I know but there is massive panic, just listen to that noise. Looks like someone will be trampled to death in this rush.”

“I wonder if they have already called the police. And where are the security guards?”

“I’m praying that those security guards don’t reveal to be their partners,” Kate whispered. They were sitting behind the reception desk and looking outside. Bram and his partners kept shooting, but they didn’t notice Kate and Stijn.

“We need to find Luuk. If he gets caught, everything we have done will be in vain,” Stijn said and crawled to the corner.

“He remained at the food court, what a moron…”

At this moment a few security guards approached Bram, Martijn and Ruben and tried to overpower them but the three, assisted by Maarten, shot everyone and threw them off the third floor. Kate could hear the sound of broken glass and furniture, hundreds of deafening screams of visitors who failed to leave the building and crowded in the hall on the ground floor at the exit which was apparently blocked. A table flew by, thrown off the third floor and landed onto the fountain in the middle of the hall on the ground floor, crashing it and splashing