Not This Way

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Photo by Thomas Marlow

My take on this prompt from the Light and Shade Challenge

Bill sat in the land-rover, the signs he'd just removed had been stacked under a tarp in the store room along with the tin of black paint. There would be plenty of time to replace them later when the 'bonding session' ended. He'd be very careful, after all, he didn't want to go back to prison again, even if this time it would be for a crime he had committed. 
Bill checked his watch, time to go to the station to collect this weeks 'victims' it wouldn't do to be late, he's been very lucky to get this job with Chiltern Corporate Training and it was all down to his little sister, she'd persuaded her husband who owned CCT to give him a chance, a job, when he was released from prison. As she'd explained, it was a white collar crime he'd committed, he'd got carried away in the testosterone fuelled atmosphere of city banking. He felt he'd had more to prove then the other guys, they'd all gone to the right schools and belonged to the right clubs. He was just a council house boy made good and the butt of many jokes because of this, well the other guys called them 'jokes', bullying would be nearer the mark, especially Piers he loved practical jokes that caused really injury etc. in Bill's case a broken ankle on one occasion, some nasty burns on another and of course, when the shit hit the fan and the huge hole in the pension fund was discovered the others all closed ranks leaving Bill, or Wills as he was known then to take the blame and carry the can. 
As Bill approached the station car park a tremor of nerves hit him, this group included his nemesis Piers along with his chosen lieutenant Jasper. Would they recognise him? Bill took a reassuring glance at himself in the mirror, he was 5 years older, he's lost weight in prison and working in his current outdoor job he'd built muscle and grown a beard. Bill was very good at his job, the premise behind the company was team building, he encouraged the participants, drew out the the best in people, he ensured any bullying was nipped in the bud speedily, his time in banking as the victim of the bullies along with his time in prison had helped him develop the skills that made him an exceptional member of the CCT team.
Bill heard Piers and Jasper before he saw them, Piers was haranguing the railway porter about getting their bags on the trolley and Jasper  was guffawing in his usual sycophantic manner in the background. 
Bill strode on to the platform 'Are you the group from Euclid Holdings he asked?
'Yes,' sneered Piers, 'and I can't seem to get this idiot to find a trolley for my bags'.
'I'll take it from here Tom' said Bill to the porter. 
'So, did you get the email about one rucksack each?' asked Bill eyeing the pile of suitcases. 
'Well it obviously didn't apply to us' said Piers, that's just for oiks who are on one of your cheap deals' 
'It applies to everyone' said Bill calmly. 'OK, everyone grab your rucksacks and climb aboard the land-rover'.
'Right, each of you can carry one of my cases' shouted Piers.
Bill stepped forward. 'No, there isn't room in the land-rover, six people,  six rucksacks, that's all' he stated firmly. He picked up a rucksack and looked at the tag, 'Johnson?' he passed it to the tall skinny blond who'd waved a hand, he passed each rucksack to it's respective owner, all the time Piers was still pushing his cases towards the others. They were looking a bit surprised but were following Bill's lead, ignoring Piers and shuffling towards the land-rover.
'What about my cases' blustered Piers, 'There is storage at the station, left luggage lockers, I suggest you use those' Piers continued to argue, but Bill climbed into the land-rover and started the engine. Tom reappeared at Bill's shout, started to move Piers suitcases, when Piers finally climbed into the land-rover the others kept quiet and refused to meet his eye. Piers grumbled all the way to CCT and upon arrival he demanded to see 'the head honcho, to sort out this stupid mistake' 'You' he said poking Bill in the chest 'will be driving back to the station to collect my bags'. To Piers chagrin, he was told that Bill was right and that his bags would be staying at the station for the duration of his visit.
 Bill soon realised that Piers was the same nasty piece of work he'd been when they had worked together, he lost no opportunity to belittle and bully the other team members, a couple of times he did stupid things that could have endangered the others. Bill was constantly on guard keeping Piers in check, Piers, in return became more and more furious about being thwarted, he complained about Bill constantly. His complaints cut no ice with the boss, he knew that Bill was consistently good at what he did and if someone was complaining it would be a problem of their own making.
By the end of the course  Piers was seething with rage, he's been constantly knocked back  during every activity and competition by Bill who stopped him cheating, stopped him bullying his other team members and stopped him blaming everyone else when he failed at the task in hand. He had lost his grip over the others, through Bill's calm treatment of Piers they had found the confidence to stand up to him, sometimes he even caught them sniggering about him when he tried to throw his weight around. And Jasper, Jasper was the worst, he's started to be seen as the team leader, the others followed him now in preference to Piers.
On the last weekend the teams all competed against each other on a treasure hunt, but without the CCT staff monitoring their every move. Bill's team chose Jasper to be their team leader, everyone was given a map and a list of challenges, they had to make use of all the skills they had learnt during the course, navigating without a compass, finding food, water and shelter etc.
The prize was a bottle of champagne, Piers could have afforded a case of the stuff but that wasn't the point, Piers by now was desperate to prove that he was better than the rest of them. The teams set off but by the end of the first day Piers had struck out on his own, he wasn't interested in completing the challenges, he just wanted to prove he was still the best, still the winner.
Later that evening all the teams were back but there was no sign of Piers, the plan was for the CCT crew to to set off at first light in search of him, after all, he's had a weeks training in bushcraft, he had some equipment with him so he should be ok, they would start by combing the woods near  the area where Piers had left his team and set off alone. 
Bill, having a damn good idea of where Piers would be, grabbed his kit and set off as soon as he realised Piers hadn't made it back with the others. He took a shortcut and within an hour had made it to the line of trees that he'd left the signs on, beyond it was the ravine. Bill shone his emergency light over the edge and shouted 'Piers, Piers, are you down there?' Silence. Bill swept the light along the ravine again, he spotted something, a figure laying very still at the bottom.
Bill got out his rope and was soon rappelling down the side of the ravine.
Piers was unconscious but still breathing, Bill radioed for assistance and before long a full rescue team had arrived, Bill and Piers were whisked to the nearest hospital, after being checked over Bill was released Piers remained until his broken ankle could be set.
When Bill returned to CCT his sister was waiting in him room for him. 'You bloody fool' she hissed 'He could have died!' 'Yeah, well that was what I planned' replied Bill, somewhat shamefaced. 'Dad died from a heart attack within hours of me being sentenced and Mum didn't want to carry on without him. I wanted to kill him!'
'Well thank god he has nothing worse than a broken ankle' she replied. 
Then she asked 'What made you go to the ravine to look for him'
'Because Piers never could follow orders, the map would take him right by the line of trees, I put signs up saying No Entry, I knew he'd go that way in the hope of getting back first and winning the prize'.