Once she was out of sight, she signaled to the frightened pa.s.sengers to shush as she moved forwards. An elderly woman made a squeak as she held her vanity bag closer to her chest. The older man sitting next to her tried to rea.s.sure her as she broke into sobs. Ellie didn"t have time to comfort them, but she felt for them. What would it be like to have a relationship like that? Ellie ran out to the station outside. She could see the photographers change their focus so she nodded at one of the officers outside. Ellie quickly moved behind the noticeboard for the train times and hoped that she wouldn"t be swarmed as she had already been spotted. Press were unpredictable, but she hoped that across the pond they would at least be a bit more well-behaved. She was quick to make sure that both of her tasers were charged. Michael was right, these did end up coming quite in handy. If she got mobbed, she would only have a couple seconds before the crowd would swallow her up. She needed these first two bolts to be effective at creating a s.p.a.ce between her and the paparazzi. She knew that she couldn"t get any help from Henry who was hunched behind their seat, probably deep in his own trauma.She was ready. As the photographer"s moved like a hive of angry bees towards her. Ellie had a clear straight shot as the crowd moved toward her. She felt her resolve die when she was one of the photographers throw his camera aside and pull out his phone as he just turned on the light. He completely blinded Henry as he began to drag the much b.u.g.g.e.r man. Ellie wished that she had something she could shoot, as she watched in horror as Henry was literally dragged off the train.
"You really think you"re so smart." The brutish giant bellowed. "You think it"s really that impossible to track a new two bit idiot baron. You really think some American should inherit when we people here have got nothing." He could see that Henry wasn"t putting up a fight so he started to laugh and kicked Henry in the chest. "What"s wrong with him? You really think that there"s someone who"s going to save you? You"re stupider than the whole lot of poshers."
Ellie could feel red hot fire through her body as she heard Henry"s squeal. It enraged her that Henry would be taken advantage of when he was having a panic attack. Seeing how no one was going to give him his dignity, Ellie knew that she would have to act. She knew that she was up against insurmountable odds, so she turned to the approaching horde and set off electric static. The press formed a half moon circle around her and she started to run towards Henry. The photographer who was dragging him turn to see Ellie"s face inches from his as she stuck the taser in his neck.
His shouted in her face, "Who do you think you are? Someone famous?"
High on adrenaline, Ellie shocked him again. The wiry photographer who had been holding Henry"s leg stared at the schene wide eyed. He dropped the expensive camera onto the ground lens first. The lens shattered loudly as cameras flashed around them. Henry shook with the aftermath of his panic as he wrapped the scarf around his head. Seeing that there were so many witnesses to the act, the wiry man took his camera and began to run wide eyed in the opposite direction off the platform. A stream of the crowd surged forth to follow him
Although, the situation has dissipated a little bit, Ellie know they still weren"t home free. They weren"t quite safe, so Ellie recharged the voltage. The man next to her had stood very still while police officers had unfrozen enough to take action. The sheriff who had done nothing to help either of them had muttered an apology to Ellie before taking out his cuffs. The brute looked at the cold metal and shoved the sheriff in the head before reaching down to take the officer"s pistol from him. Ellie"s eyes grew wide as he reacted quickly to take the taser out of her hands before kicking it away. He put his arm around her to immobilize her before aiming the gun to her head. He put her as a shield between himself and the officers who had all taken out their weapons.
His voice shook as he raised it. "No one shoot. I"ll kill her. I"ll really do it."
Ellie could feel the arm around her restrict her breathing. She started to feel her vision swim, but she was determined not to go down without a fight. Ellie looked at Henry as he quickly stood and darted away. Was he really going to turn coward when she needed him most?
As she paused to take in all the action, her captor was starting to get fed up with her. The photographer"s pistol changed to point straight between her eyes. Ellie could see the tension on the trigger increasing. She felt her heart stop and she dove down to the ground.
As the concrete hit her head, Ellie put her arms around her as she heard a shot rip through the air. She put her hands around her ears as she closed her eyes with fear. She opened her eyes and looked down expecting to see blood somewhere. There was blood, Ellie realized, but it was dripping down from above her. She looked up and saw that there was a gaping hole in the captor"s head as his body slump backwards. He was already dead. Ellie quickly scooted back away from him as the pool of blood began to form around him. There was no camera sound as the whole of the photographers began to thin out.
Ellie had sc.r.a.ped her knees badly while she felt and could see the leaking fluid of her own injuries begin to stain her jeans. She turned her head around to see Henry kneeling in front of a sniper stand which had been set up by the staircase leading out of the train station. The sun just hit him right to see the officer next to him salute. His aim from the higher ground had saved Ellie, but Ellie could see too that his hands were trembling. The officers behind him rushed forwards as he fell back.