12 Minutes (#2 in Military series)

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

At that precise moment in the United Kingdom news of a second bomb detonating in a prominent location in London began to circulate through the various news channels, by which time Commander Strong rather thought that every television set in the country had been switched onto one of them as people at home watched the horror unfold, and those in the control room were no different, as the handful of news anchors relayed in a sombre voice all the fragmented pieces of information they had gathered they too were nothing but bystanders, glued to the screen and unable to turn away. Truro listened with growing frustration as they hadn't been able to prevent this second attack.

"Police and other emergency services are racing to aid those injured in the second blast of the evening that has rocked our capital," A well-groomed young man in a blue suit reported, clearly shaken but managing to keep his demeanour calm and controlled in front of the camera. He couldn't have imagined that this was the news he was going to be reporting when he pulled into work that afternoon, "Casualty numbers are unknown at this stage but every hospital in and around London are on standby to receive potentially hundreds as the second blast is reported to have been the bigger of the two. As the security threat level is raised to the highest it has ever been, there is sure to be questions as to how this could have happened and if it could have been prevented-"

That's it. Swiping the remote up from the countertop beside him Truro switched off the television screens pitting them all into an empty void of darkness. It wasn't enough for these vultures to plaster pictures and videos of human beings in pain and turmoil but now they had to question his department. If it could have been prevented then they wouldn't be here in the first place, Truro sighed inwardly as the reality that they had missed something huge settled onto his shoulders.
Looking back up he realised that everyone was either watching him or contemplating the laces in their shoes very deeply as the tension in the room grew thicker.
"Get back to work," Truro barked, "Find me where their next target is; find me a pattern!" Truro threw the remote down and stormed away as he felt the pressure, and body count, mounting.

* * *

Bullets demolished the back of the boulder they were hidden behind as Carlos tightened the tourniquet around Twitch's leg. Looking at his friend Carlos saw his facial muscles twitching lightly from the stress and pain. He tried to keep the worry from his face as he said, "That should hold until we get you out of here."

Twitch looked up at him with large defeated eyes as he said, "don't you mean if we get out of here." Leant up against the rock Twitch looked down at his bloodied leg before quickly looking away again as he felt his pulse throbbing painfully. Medically he knew that he needed treatment soon if he was going to stop any infection and keep his leg, but that was out of his control. Glancing over at Samantha he saw that she was safely crouched behind the rocks, the heel of her hand pressed firmly against her forehead as she clenched her eyes shut.

"No," Carlos reached out and squeezed his shoulder, forcing Twitch to look away from MacAndrew and back at him, "I mean when we get out of here. Don't give up on me just yet."

Twitch sighed, "Okay, just- Carlos your arm! You need to get a bandage on that."

"My arm is fine," Carlos told him, his tone of voice halting any further conversation about it as he rooted through Twitch's medical pack. Finding a pair of gauzes Carlos ripped his trouser leg open wider so that he could press them to both the entry and exit wounds in Twitch's leg before wrapping a bandage around them to hold them in place.