12 Seconds (#1 in Military series)

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Marc’s voice called out over the splatter of bullets, “Get him in the back of the truck!”

Peering around the corner, Julia spotted Carlos and Twitch dragging Ray from his slumped position against the truck’s wheel, whilst Marc was heading for the cab of the vehicle.

Raising her weapon once more, Julia set her sights on the small group of men heading down from the mountain path and fired.

A few of her bullets hit their marks but most went wide as she simply focused on holding them back long enough for the others to get to cover.

Carlos and Twitch stepped around her, Kazeem following to help place Ray’s unconscious body into the truck.

Shouting something in his native tongue to the children, Kazeem hopped into the truck and pulled Ray up behind him.

Julia fired a few more rounds, distracted by what was happening behind her when she spotted Twitch trading places with Kazeem, and Carlos coming around to her side.

“Julia,” Carlos’s voice was stressed as he came up beside her and provided relief cover, “You and Kazeem get the last truck. I’m going to get the second. We’re driving out of here.”

Julia nodded her head, taking a few steps back behind the truck, before she turned around and stared out at the other side.

The third, and last, truck was the furthest away. The cab had been painted red years ago and there was a large dent in the side of the passenger door, and there were children in the back.

Julia peered around the edge and saw the scattered bodies of terrorists. They were going to have to run and hope for the best, they did not have the time nor the ammunition, to shoot this out.

“Hey!” Carlos shouted back at them and Julia turned to see Carlos handing Kazeem the RPG.

Julia knew what that meant to Carlos.

“I won’t get much of a chance to fire it if I’m driving,” Carlos slapped Kazeem on the shoulder, “Just make sure you get as many as you can.”

Julia and Carlos shared one last look, “Safe driving.”

Carlos let out a bark of laughter before he tipped his head forward and raced past them, towards the second truck.

Julia took a deep breath and focused on the red cab in the distance, “You ready?”

Kazeem didn’t answer, whether because he didn’t want to or simply because he couldn’t, Julia didn’t know. But she wasn’t about to press him for an answer, not now.

Gripping her gun tightly, Julia waited for a gap in the shooting and shouted, “Go!”

Hours without food or water were beginning to take their toll as Julia’s legs felt like jelly after a few seconds sprinting, her lungs were protesting at the dust she was breathing in and her mind felt fatigued and yet flooded with adrenaline at the same time.

Her heavy boots thundered against the hard ground as she and Kazeem lunged behind the truck, taking a deep breath as more sharp pops filled the air, telling her that they were being shot at whilst the terrified screams of children ran through her ears.

Swallowing to appease her parched throat, Julia turned and gazed through the flaps at the lines of children.

The lucky ones managed to squeeze themselves into a place on the two benches that ran down the length of the truck, the others were curled up on the floor but all of them had their heads in their laps and their hands pressed to their ears.