12 Minutes (#2 in Military series)

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Jules sat perched on the edge of a large block of debris and stared at the spot where the truck full of children had disappeared into the horizon.

Her vision grew blurry as she stared at the same spot for so long but she didn't care. They had gotten away.

They had gotten away with Safia.

And they had been so close.

"Urgh," Julia groaned as she leant forward and dropped her head into her hands.

Her hair had come loose from its fixings allowing Julia to slip her fingers in a little ways allowing her to brush the small bits of stone and brick out of her hair when she brushed something tender.

Wincing, Julia drew back to find fresh blood on her fingertips.

She stared at it for a long moment, dazed, when she heard the crunch of boots approaching and she looked up, dropping her hand behind her.

It was Marc. A large gash ran from the bottom of his ear and across his neck from where he had skidded across the floor. The blood had dried on his skin, coagulating with the grains of sand which covered his skin.

"Okay?" He asked her with concern.

"I haven't forgotten the last five years if that's your worry," Julia snapped, her head throbbing from where she assumed it had hit the ground- she wasn't too sure.

Marc turned half away from her in frustration, "That isn't what I meant."

Julia looked up and saw the way his jaw was clenched.

Julia sighed, "Sorry. I'm just . . ."

"I know," Marc turned back around to reassure her, reaching out his hand to her shoulder but Julia leapt to her feet to avoid him touching her.

It felt like sympathy and she had fucked up! The children had gotten away and her eagerness had led her team straight into a trap. A death trap!

Any of them could have been killed.

"We're going to find her, Jules," Marc told her, "We're going to find all of them."

Julia wanted to believe him but as she looked back in the direction the truck had driven off she knew that they had no way to track them.

They were back to square one and they had lost the element of surprise. The terrorists-come-kidnappers knew that they were being hunted. They would escalate their terror and Julia feared what that meant, not only for Safia, but for all of them.

"Marc! Jules!" A voice boomed across the open space.

Spinning around, her fingers reached for the weapon resting from a strap across her shoulders, Jules stumbled over her own feet before she caught herself.

Looking up, Jules saw Kazeem racing across to them and it felt like a firework had been set off right in front of her.

The fireworks turned to sparks which turned to flashes of gunfire. The smell of burning made her nostrils flare and she looked around to find that a building was on fire across from her, lighting up the night sky like a bonfire on Guy Fawkes Night.

Her eyes flickered around her wildly, her breathing coming in rapid short gasps as she watched Afghani men flee towards vehicles in the far distance.

They were followed by people in tactical suits she realised when she heard someone shout her name.

"REYNOLDS! SHOOT HIM!"