This chapter is dedicated to @carpentera011 for her patience and encouragement. I hope the wait was worth it. Thank you.
Chapter 14
With both parties still in a state of shock, Kazeem led them up a narrow flight of stairs which was blocked on all sides by brick walls. Jules watched Hasan check the locks on the door before he followed at the rear.
As they all crowded on the steps the staircase grew darker as their bodies blocked the only access for the light to seep through until Kazeem pushed at a door at the top of the stairs.
Peering over Twitch's shoulder, Julia peered through the gap in the door and saw that the apartment was flooded with a warm orange-red colour from the curtains of the same colour that had been draped over the windows to block out the afternoon sun and wandering eyes.
When Julia reached the apartment she could see that the door led straight into a living area. It's walls could have been painted pink but the stained light coming in through the curtains made everything in the room appear orange.
A variety of Persian rugs and torn blankets had been layered on top of each other and spread out on the floor around a small lamp in the centre of the room to create soft areas to sit and sleep. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a small table which lay beside a door.
Jules walked around Marc and looked inside cautiously.
"That is my room," Hasan called to Julia, holding out a hand towards her.
Jules looked at him over her shoulder but she still stepped walked inside and looked around. Hasan turned to Kazeem but he laid a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Julia appeared a few moments later.
"All clear," She told them.
"Yes," Hasan nodded, unsettled by her apparent lack of trust or appreciation of others peoples property, "Of course, it is."
"Make yourself at home," Kazeem spoke, holding out his arms to them to indicate that they could sit.
Julia and the others began to pull the rifles off over their heads when a loud crash came from the back of the house.
They all gripped their weapons and trained them on the room at the back.
"Is someone else here?" Marc asked Kazeem as he strode past, heading for the location of the noise. Jules followed him, her eyes catching Hasan's as she did so.
"There is no need for-" Hasan called after them but they ignored him and kept going, "Please!"
Marc and Julia walked down a short, narrow corridor; the walls were lined with framed photographs that showed a large family. At the end of the hallway lay two doors exactly opposite each other.
Marc checked the right door first, "Clear."
Rifle nestled into his shoulder Marc turned to the doorway on his left and saw that there was no door only a shower of green and blue beads that dangled on individual strings from the top of the doorway.
The tip of the rifle was the first thing to cross the threshold into the kitchen. Julia stuck close behind him as she followed him in, instantly getting accosted by the scent of some spicy food.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Carlos and Twitch had secured Kazeem and Hasan, stopping them from getting in the way.
Marc saw a line of counter tops and various kitchen appliances when he stepped through the curtain of beads before he turned the corner and found a woman at the sink.
"Put your hands up!" Marc shouted instantly and saw the woman freeze, her shoulders stiffening underneath her dress.
Julia kept her rifle trained past Marc's shoulder at the lady. She was dressed in a midnight blue dress with silver stitching that shimmered under the kitchen light and a black hijab which covered her hair and draped over her shoulders but what worried Julia was that she could not see the woman's hands.
"Put your hands up slowly," Jules told her as calmly as possible, noticing the way the woman's hands twitched momentarily at the sound of another woman's voice, "and turn to face us."
The woman did not react instantly which only cause Jules more discomfort when she noticed the lady begin to raise her arms over her head and begin to turn on the spot.
"Please," Hasan shouted from out in the corridor but Jules kept her eyes on the woman. She knew that Carlos and Twitch would sort out Hasan.
As the woman turned, Julia and Marc checked her hands first and saw that they were empty though a sharp knife lay on the counter behind her beside a pile of food which she seemed to be preparing.
Julia and Marc glanced at each other, nodded, and slowly lowered their guns.
"Clear," Marc called back out to Carlos and Twitch.
As Julia held her rifle across her body, pointed to the ground, she looked back at the woman and saw that her brown eyes were watching Julia intently.
She was a beautiful woman, Jules noted, with soft caramel skin and plump lips. Her nose was small and her chin was dainty; everything about her seemed to scream nonthreatening but yet the way she looked at Jules made her weary.
Jules noticed the woman look down at the difference in their clothing and the gun in her hand when somebody shoved past her into the kitchen.
She narrowed her eyes at Hasan as he hurried across the woman, taking her hands in his, "Are you alright?"
She nodded but said nothing.
"This is Darya," Hasan looked at them in disgust, "She is my wife, not a threat to have guns pointed at her."
Julia would not apologise; the safety of herself and her friends was more important than hurting someone's feelings for having a gun trained on them for a few seconds.
"I apologise," Marc spoke up from beside her, "But we had to be sure."
Jules stared at him in confusion and mild betrayal. Marc gave her a look that she knew meant she was not to start something so she turned and left the kitchen.
She made sure to knock her shoulder against his as she did so to show her feelings on the matter.
Carlos raised an eyebrow at her as she passed but he said nothing, knowing better than to argue.
*
A half-eaten plate of food lay untouched, going cold, across the table from her as she dismantled the second AK-47 rifle and began to methodically clean every component as best she could.
She scavenged the materials she needed as best she could but she had to make do with a few pieces of clean rags which may have been curtains at one point but all the windows had now been boarded up.
Their only light now came from candles which had been placed strategically throughout the apartment. Candles which had been secured onto a plate with their own wax rested on a bookcase behind her, showering the table in an orange hue.
It allowed her to see what she was doing whilst keeping her out of the way of the others that were all sat around on the blankets in the living room, eating their food.
Julia's eyes gravitated towards Darya. She was knelt close beside Hasan, her back to Julia, but she didn't eat. She simply sat there and watched Julia's friends.
Picking the dagger up from beside her Julia worked a thick piece of grime off the barrel of the rifle as their conversation slowly ebbed across the room and reached her ears.
"So Kazeem," Twitch spoke around a mouthful of bread from where he was sat with his elbows resting against his knees, "Where's your family?"
Julia tried not to eavesdrop but it was difficult to block them out in this tiny apartment and she kind of wanted to know the same thing so she tilted her head to the side softly so that her ear was positioned closer but just enough so that she could still watch them from under her lashes.
Kazeem faltered for a moment glancing down at his empty plate before he spoke, "They are with their mother at their grandparents. They live very far south and should be fine."
"But you-" Kazeem nodded to Marc, "What of your family?"
Marc glanced over at Julia. Julia quickly looked away and started to scrub at piece of the rifle.
Kazeem mistook Marc's expression and turned to look at Julia in humour, "You have kids running around your ankles at home, yeah, I am sure."
Jules breathed through her nose as she clenched her jaw.
"No," Marc spoke in a clipped tone to Kazeem as he got to his feet.
Placing the rifle slowly back down on the table, Julia looked up to see Marc walking across the room to her.
The others watched them silently, including Darya whose gaze never seemed to stray very far from Julia at any point during their time there. Jules looked back at her until Marc took the seat opposite her and blocked her view.
Peering around his shoulder, she saw Darya turn back to face the group and her husband but Hasan did not seem to notice her. For some reason, this simple act struck a chord in Julia's thoughts.
"I think that rifle is as clean as it is ever going to be," Marc forced a chuckle out.
Julia looked at him from the corner of her eye not appreciating his attempt at humour, "I don't fancy walking into a gun fight with the Taliban and have my rifle get blocked on me."
Marc twined his fingers together atop the table as he watched Julia reassemble the rifle in front of him. Her motions were smooth and calm and yet detached at the same time.
She was in no hurry as she slid components together and slotted others into place. Her fingers caressed the metal but her head was not in it and she completed the actions from memory, as if she had done it a hundred times before.
Marc knew that she was thinking about what Kazeem had said.
"Hey," He reached across and brushed the knuckles on her hand with his fingers.
Jules jumped slightly as if she had forgotten he was there but she didn't move her hand out from underneath his so he took it as a good sign.
"What is it?" Marc leaned forward, "Is it what Kazeem said?"
"No," Jules shook her head, "Well yes, sort of- Oh I don't know," She rested her forehead against the rifle, "I just keep thinking about Sofia and what she's going through right now."
Jules looked up and caught his eyes with hers, "We need to get her back, Marc, we need to."
"We will," Marc clasped her hand in his, drawing it away from the rifle and towards the middle of the table, "I promise."
They sat there for a moment enjoying the silence and Julia simply watched the way her thumb stroked the side of his hand. She was shocked by how such a small motion sent shots of warmth up her arm and across her chest. It was comforting.
"Now," Marc released her hand and stretched out his arms to her across the table, "Give me that last rifle and you go and get some sleep."
By the way her body felt tied down Jules suddenly felt as if she had lead in her veins rather than blood.
She gratefully handed over the last rifle which had been stood up, resting against the leg of the table.
"I think I'm going to go and have a shower," Jules said a bit louder so that everybody could hear her as she pushed the chair back from the table and stood.
"Good idea, perhaps the rifle could wait until later," He laughed, pretending to put the rifle down.
Julia chuckled as she stood up and glanced at the others, "Easy or you'll scare the neighbours."
Marc looked over his shoulder and saw the way Hasan and Darya avoided their gazes but he saw the stiffness in their shoulders. Kazeem and the others only laughed.
"Later then," Marc grumbled and went back to the rifle.
"Later," Jules nodded and headed in the direction of the bathroom, readjusting the back of her shirt as she did so.
Marc felt a sense of encouragement as he watched her leave. Perhaps, after everything else, they would make it through this as well.
Turning back to the rifle with a small smile to his lips, Marc glanced across the table to where Julia had been sat and realised that there was a blank space to the side where her blade had once sat.
Looking back at Julia just before she disappeared down the hallway towards the bathroom, Marc thought he saw a small bulge at her lower back and his smile widened.
They would be alright.
*
The front door clicked shut, shocking Julia awake from her light slumber.
Her hand, which had been clasping her dagger underneath the pillow, flew up as she looked around at the room.
Everyone was asleep, their bodies sprawled out on the living room floor, Julia could see their chests were rising and falling slowly in accordance with slumber. Marc was laid on his front, snoring softly, beside her.
Julia narrowed her eyes at the front door. From this far away, in the early morning darkness, she could not tell whether it had been opened or not but she could have sworn she had heard it close shut.
Keeping her dagger close, Julia got to her feet and padded across the room in her socks. As she neared the door, Julia was halfway through convincing herself that she had been dreaming it when she saw the chain and bolts on the door had all been pulled back.
Somebody had left.
She counted everyone in the living room before she hurried to the only bedroom in the apartment. Opening the door softly, Jules saw Hasan sleeping in the bed but the spot beside him was empty.
She checked the bathroom and the kitchen on her way back but they were empty too.
Darya was gone.
Slipping her dagger into her belt, Jules grabbed a rifle, stuck her feet into her boots and followed Darya out. It would take too long to wake the others and fill them in on what was happening.
Whatever Darya was doing, she had to be stopped before it was too late.
Her hair, still damp from her bath, had been left to run freely over her shoulders and as she hit the cold air on the steps it sent a chill down her spine.
Wearing only her tank top, trousers and boots, Jules had left her jacket behind, so when she opened the outside door she shivered.
Glancing up and down the street, Julia inched herself slowly out of the door to gain a wider field of vision.
Where was Darya?
Jules scanned the pathway to her left when she looked right, glancing around the burnt out and abandoned cars, when she saw the tail end of a cloak disappearing down a side alley.
Nestling her rifle into her shoulder, Julia hurried down the road to catch up with her, the sand crunching beneath her boots.
Reaching the alley, Julia kept her back to the wall and peered down the lane. It was dark but she could make out the shape of Darya, quickly nearing the opening and turning left.
Jules followed. She knew something was wrong with Darya the moment they had met. The way her eyes watched Julia made her feel unsure about her.
Darya was not hanging about for anyone as Julia reached the end of the alleyway and found that Darya was already at the other end of the street.
With each footstep she took away from the others Julia's sense of foreboding grew. Scanning the rooftops as she followed Darya, Jules wondered again where the hell she could be going when she turned the last corner past a length of metal sheds, and found Darya stood a few hundred yards ahead of her.
Glancing past Darya to where the metal sheds on their left ended, Jules saw a small clearing filled with similar jeeps to the one they had taken from the Taliban man she had killed.
Julia pressed her back to the wall, hoping the shadows would conceal her presence, as Darya stepped forward into the clearing.
It was too late.
Julia inched forward slowly, trying to keep her breathing low and her footsteps soft.
As she neared the opening, the clearing grew bigger and Julia could now see that there were precisely three jeeps and at least half a dozen men with guns hanging from their shoulders.
Shit.
Julia looked back the way she had come; she needed to get the others.
She had taken a single step back when she heard someone shout.
"Hey! You!"
Julia looked back and saw that one of the men had spotted her. Her heart beat fast as she clocked his hands moving for his gun.
Jules did not think. Still walking back towards cover, she trained her rifle on him and began firing.