Things Will Never Be The Same Again

[-Annie-]

Yep great work!

So when can we expect the next update? No pressure, I was just wondering

[Babylove]

I'll be updating this weekend, but not sure exactly when. I've been so busy at the moment I just haven't had time to write.

[-Annie-]

I'll be updating this weekend, but not sure exactly when. I've been so busy at the moment I just haven't had time to write.

That's cool! I'll look forward to it! Happy writing!

[Babylove]

A/N: Well here's the next chapter finally. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter Nine

“Everybody get back,” Zoe shouted waving the gun around at the hostages.

Kim was lying on the ground holding his leg where he had been shot, while Martha was standing back near Kim, and Belle was sitting on the ground near Tasha and Robbie, fear on her face.

They had made there move, and somehow despite the three of them being involved in the struggle, Zoe had managed to hold onto the gun. When it went off and injured Kim, they all seemed to fall away from Zoe leaving her holding the gun.

“If any of you try anything like that I will start killing people,” Zoe screamed at them as she began to pace, as she always seemed to when she got agitated. “And how did you manage to find this place anyway?” She screamed at Robbie, who had regained consciousness.

“Call it a gut instinct,” Robbie replied.

“Well I think you’re going to regret that gut instinct,” Zoe told him menacingly before walking out, slamming the door shut behind her.

Zoe decided that after Robbie’s unexpected intrusion and the hostages’ latest stunt that it was time to execute her plan.

In the Hostage’s Prison

Martha went over to Kim and looked at the wound on his leg.

“It’s okay, it’s just a flesh wound,” Kim told them, trying to reassure his friends.

“It still needs to be dressed,” Martha replied in a tone that indicated that she wasn’t to be argued with on the subject.

Kim was to warn out to argue with her so he simply nodded, and Martha knelt down and began to dress the wound with part of her beloved flannel shirt, leaving her wearing just a white singlet top.

“So what are we going to do now?” Belle asked despairingly.

“We stay calm and we don’t give up,” Kim said firmly.

“But what about what just happened?” Tasha asked. “You were shot. You’re lucky you weren’t killed.”

“I know, but we can’t just stay here and leave our lives in the hands of that nut case,” Kim replied.

“So what do you suggest?” Martha asked calmly.

“I’m not sure,” Kim admitted, grudgingly.

At the Police Station

Peter was at his desk, looking over the evidence that they had, looking for some clue as to where the hostages were, when he heard some chimes ring from his computer, indicating that he had an email.

He looked at his computer and saw that there was a new message from “Tick Tock”. He knew immediately that it was Zoe.

He opened the message and read what it said and found the message:

Five little mice come out to play,

Five little mice had to go away.

Into Workman’s cage they go,

Where they are nobody knows.

They have been abandoned these mice of mine,

Can Peter find them before they run out of time?

Peter frowned at the cryptic poem that was sitting on his screen, before clicking print to print it out.

When it was done he walked to his office door and called out “Jack!”

“What is it?” Jack asked, walking over to him.

“Look at this,” Peter told him, handing him the piece of paper.

The two walked back into the office as Jack read the message. “It looks like a coded message of some sort,” Jack stated.

“I figured that much. The question is what does it mean?” Peter asked, mostly himself.

At that moment Peter’s partner, Tracey Thompson walked into the office, carrying a couple of coffees. “Hey guys, what’s going on?” Peter handed her the message and she quickly read through it. “So do we know what it means?”

Peter shook his head.

“Why don’t we go through it line by line and see if we can work out what she is trying to tell us.” Tracey suggested.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Jack said, walking over to the whiteboard and picking up a marker to make notes.

“Okay so the first two lines are ‘Five little mice go out to play, five little mice had to go away’” Peter read out.

“Five little mice had to go away,” Tracey repeated. “It has to be referring to the hostages.”

“But there are only four hostages,” Jack said, frowning.

“Four that we know of,” Tracey replied. Jack and Peter both looked at her. “Think about it. Aside from Belle, everyone who disappeared simply did that. Disappeared. If it wasn’t for people noticing that they were missing, or the notes which in Kim’s case there wasn’t one, I doubt we’d even be looking for them.”

“Okay it could be someone who’s a loner or someone so recent that it hasn’t been noticed yet,” Peter said, following Tracey’s train of thought.

Jack made notes up on the whiteboard about their conclusions of the first couple of lines.

“Okay the next line says ‘Into Workman’s cage they go,’” Jack said, as he wrote it out. “What could that mean?”

“Well look at the word Workman. It has a capital at the start of the word,” Peter pointed out. “That has got to be a clue.”

“A name of something,” Jack said. “So is it a place, or a person?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t recall ever hearing it before at least not around here,” Peter said frowning, mentally going through all his knowledge of the area. He came up with a blank, which was absolutely frustrating as he was sure that was the breakthrough clue they had been waiting for.

“Let’s come back to it, it might come to us later,” Tracey suggested. “The next line I think simply refers back to people being missing.”

“I agree, so let’s move on to the fifth line,” Peter said. “‘They have been abandoned these mice of mine.’ This is the line that I can’t figure out.”

“It has to be the word abandoned, that’s the key word,” Tracey replied. “It’s the only word that seems to be significant.”

“So does it mean that Zoe’s abandoned them and left them to die?” Jack asked, the fear that he had been keeping at bay, threatening to break through.

“Don’t start to panic, Jack. It could also mean that the place she has taken them is abandoned. That is Zoe’s M.O. after all,” Peter said in an effort to keep the young constable calm.

“The last line I think obviously means that she is about to execute whatever she’s got planned,” Tracey said. “That’s why she sent this in the first place.”

“Okay, well let’s go back to that third line. It has to be the key to working it out,” Peter said. “Do you know what ‘Workman’ might be referring too?” he asked Jack.

Jack shook his head. “No I don’t. But I think I know who might.”

At Noah’s Bar

Jack, Peter and Tracey walked up to the bar where Alf was. Alf looked up as they approached the bar and said: “Hi guys.”

“Hi Alf,” Peter replied.

“Any news?” Alf asked, clearly referring to his missing grand daughter.

“Not yet,” Jack replied. “Actually that’s why we’re here. We have a question for you, to do with the town’s history.”

“Okay, fire away,” Alf replied, happy to help find Martha in any way.

“Do you know of anything or anybody around here that goes by the name Workman?” Peter asked.

Alf frowned as thought about the name. “Workman, workman,” he said to himself. “Oh yeah, I remember a fella called Workman.”

“Well who is it,” Peter asked, his hopes rising.

“He was an eccentric man who lived in the area about thirty years ago. He was somewhat of a hermit who lived out in the bush. Only really came into town when he needed to stock up on supplies. He had a cabin on the edge of town,” Alf told him.

“Is that all?” Tracey asked.

“Well the strangest thing he ever did was build his warehouse,” Alf said.

“What was strange about it?” Jack asked.

“Well it was deep in the bush. He bought a small bit of land near his cabin, hidden in the bush. You wouldn’t know about it unless it was there. He cleared just enough of it to build a small warehouse. Rumour was it was so he could store more supplies so he wouldn’t have to come into town as often, but seeing as how he kept to himself no one was ever able to prove it,” Alf explained.

Alarm bells went off in Peter’s head. “Is this warehouse still there?”

“I would assume so. When he died, I think the land he owned defaulted back to crown land, but nothing was ever done to it,” Alf replied.

Jack pulled out a map of the area. “Can you show us where this land is?”

“Sure,” Alf responded as they all looked at the map and Alf showed them were it was.

At Workman’s Warehouse.

About fifteen minutes later, the police had found Workman’s cabin, with several police cars arriving on the scene. A couple of paramedics were there as well in case any of the hostages needed medical attention. Upon seeing the area they realized the only way they were going to reach the warehouse was by foot as there was no road leading where Alf had pointed them.

So they all jumped out of the cars and raced through the bush in the direction the warehouse was supposed to be, with guns at the ready.

After a few minutes they came into a tiny clearing with a small, old warehouse almost carved into it.

“This has to be it,” Jack called out.

“Okay everybody be very careful. Zoe could be anywhere and she’s nothing if not unpredictable,” Peter warned.

Jack, after listening to Peter’s warning, started for the warehouse ahead of the others just as the warehouse exploded.

[Martha_Jack]

oh no are they alright update soon

[Jamey-Maria]

Brilliant writing, this fic is so good. I'm hoping that they wen't all in there when it exploded but it doesn't look good Thanks for updating, it was a great chapter, looking forward to the next. The riddle was very clever aswell.

began to dress the wound with part of her beloved flannel shirt

This was funny to me for some reason. I assume you're talking about the redish checkered one.

[Nicom]

Loved the riddle poem-y thingy!!

You leave it there??? Tsk.

Lol

Great!! Superb!! I actually had to stop reading it momentarily, and tell jacknmarthaluver on msn how great I thought it was. lol. So thanks for writing such a great fic!!

More soon please!

[-michelle-]

Please update soon

[-Emily-]

Brilliant! More soon please.

[-Annie-]

Ohmygosh, please don't let anyone die! Well, except maybe Belle....

Brilliant chapter! Can't wait till the next update!