12 Seconds (#1 in Military series)

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It felt like they had been walking for days, not hours.

Her feet ached from trekking in heavy duty boots, her legs had long since died and the dry air did nothing to help her deepening thirst.

At least she should be thankful that the sun had disappeared behind the horizon allowing the cool night breeze to sweep across her warm skin.

Loosening the khaki scarf around her neck, Julia turned in a small circle to check behind them, not breaking stride before turning back to face the front.

“Well,” Carlos tried to brighten the mood as he shifted the RPG into a more comfortable position on his shoulder, “This is a nice midnight stroll.”

Julia looked back at Ray who was using Twitch as his guide, his feet growing accustomed to the permanent rocky ground beneath them.

“You know what would make it perfect?” Twitch joined in, painting a picture for them all, “A glass of cold champagne on a plate of strawberries, drizzled in chocolate, overlooking the sea.”

“Your English traditions are strange,” Kazeem pointed out with a chuckle.

Julia felt her lips spread into a smile as a memory flared in her mind. Well, she thought it was a memory.

It could have been a scene from a movie for all Julia knew, but she could distinctly remember the taste of champagne on his lips when she kissed him . . .

Julia felt her cheeks grow unaccountably warm as she looked up at Marcus from under her lashes.

He had his back to her, leading them through the valley, allowing Julia to study him momentarily.

A similar scarf surrounded his neck however it had worked its way off one of his shoulders and hung lazily across his back.

Julia wanted to walk over and put it back in place but she restrained herself as she spotted his head turn ever so gently to the side, his eyes scanning the mountains that surrounded them.

He was always on alert, Julia thought, as she too gazed ahead of them.

This would be the perfect place for an ambush, plenty of coverage and egresses for the enemy to take advantage of.

“No, no, no,”

Julia suddenly heard Ray interjecting on the conversation.

“The perfect night,” Ray raised a hand theatrically into the air, keeping his other firmly grasped onto Twitch’s shoulder strap, “would be a homemade meal followed by a- whoa!” Ray exclaimed when they came to a halt, walking into the back of Twitch.

Ray shuffled back a step, “I really wish you would tell me before you do that.”

Julia stepped towards Marcus, watching their flank as she did so, “What is it?”

Marcus pointed into the distance.

“A hut,” Marcus lowered his rifle from where he had been looking through the scope, “We should camp for the night.”

Julia followed where he was pointing and spotted the small building located halfway up a small mountain.

“Is that wise?” Julia remembered the last time they were trapped on a ledge on a mountainside.

She glanced behind them towards the horizon where, inevitably, there were over eighteen men waiting to blow them to pieces.

Marc looked at her, “We’ve gained some time for now,”