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,”
Julia nodded.
“Everyone’s tired and hungry. We rest for the night and resume in the morning,” Marc informed them, a wave of relief filling them all.
Julia couldn’t deny that she wasn’t hungry, her stomach felt like it was already digesting itself for food, but she still felt ill at ease.
“Who knows,” Carlos started to jog towards the hut, his vigour renewed “there may be some equipment inside to call for help.”
Julia arched an eyebrow as she watched their rear, “I just hope it’s empty. I think a gunfight might draw a few people’s attention.”
“It’s alright,” Carlos chuckled, “If anyone comes a’knocking, I’ve got the perfect thing for it.” He indicated to the RPG in his arms.
Neither Julia nor Marcus could not laugh at that but as they approached the hut they became professional once again.
Steve ‘Twitch’ remained behind with Ray, as she, Kazeem, Carlos and Marcus approached with care.
The hut, Julia could see, was more of a bunker with solid brick walls and tin roof.
Julia had not expected such a building to be here, it only raised her suspicion further that it was occupied.
But as they peered in through, what would have been the windows if glass had been placed in them, they saw that it was empty.
The floor was bare of everything except sand.
It appeared as if no one had occupied it since it had been built.
“Alright, let’s get inside.” Marcus waved to Twitch.
Julia followed Kazeem through the door on the left and placed herself in the corner, letting out a small sigh of relief as she took the weight off her feet.
Resting her head back, Julia felt her eyes begin to close on their own vocation. It did not matter that she was sat awkwardly, leaning against a harsh brick wall, compared to everything it felt like she was lying on a bed at the Ritz.
When she opened her eyes again it was because someone was brandishing food beneath her nose.
Julia narrowed her eyes at Twitch as he waved the sachet out of her grip in humour because she had fallen asleep.
Wrenching the silver packet from his grasp, Julia gave his hand a firm squeeze before she released him and inspected her supper.
Her nose crinkled at the papier-mâché food placed before her. She did not think she would ever get used to how it tasted like cardboard in her mouth.
Squeezing some of the paste in between her lips, Julia begrudgingly chewed as she looked around her.
Everyone was sat down, eating in silence but as she looked to her left she saw that Marcus was sat beside her.
Julia swallowed, “How long was I asleep?”
“About an hour,” Marcus shrugged, “Kazeem kept watch.”
Julia looked across at the Afghan. He gave her a small wave which Julia eagerly returned in gratitude before he turned back to his own food.
She looked back at Marcus where he was lapping up his food with eagerness, twisting the bottom of the packet to get every scrap of food inside.
Julia stared at her packet with disgust. How did he do it?
“Just imagine it tastes like your favourite meal,” Marcus shrugged, not looking at her.
She bit her lower lip, “What does your taste like?”
Marcus grew still, chewing through what was left before swallowing and turning to look at her. His eyes were sad when he told her, “Fish and chips.”
Julia nodded, feeling bad that she had upset him with yet another reminder that she no longer remembered everything, “I don’t know what mine should taste like. I can’t-”
“-Yorkshire pudding.” Marcus suddenly said, his eyes burning fiercely.
Julia just looked at him.
“Yorkshire pudding,” Marcus said again, softly this time, “With gravy. It was your favourite.”
Julia licked her lips as she raised the sachet back to her lips and closed her eyes, trying to convince her mind that she wasn’t eating gruel but rather a crispy Yorkshire pudding smothered in chicken gravy-
“-Chicken!” Julia gasped in shock as her mouth suddenly watered, tricking her mind.
Marcus gave her a warm smile, “You remember?”
Julia swallowed nervously, “I remember . . .”
Images flashed through her mind of the canteen at Camp Bastian on Christmas Day. Marcus walking across to her with his tray, filled with the conventional roast dinner.
“I remember you giving me your Yorkshire pudding on Christmas Day,” Julia felt her eyebrows draw together as she tried to remember more, eagerly hoping to hold onto the scene that now played over in her mind.
“I remember . . . I remember the alcohol that someone had sneaked in-”
“-That was me!” Carlos interjected from across the hut, shrugging when Marcus sent him a glare for eavesdropping, “It was whiskey.” He explained to Julia.
Julia smiled, grateful for the information when she shut her eyes as a new image suddenly blinded her.
It felt like she was watching a movie as she watched her and Marcus running through the camp, their hands touching each other as if there would be no tomorrow . . .
Julia felt her cheeks blush as she watched them head around to one of the empty tents and-
Suddenly a chorus of laughter went up around them and Julia opened her eyes to see that everyone was watching her.
“What?” Julia frowned, unsure of why they were all laughing at her.
“We know that look,” Twitch wagged a finger in her direction.
“Don’t forget that we were all there on Christmas Day,” Carlos cheered, “We know what happened after.”
Was she that transparent?
Julia looked at Marcus and found that he too had a smile spread across his lips.
She reached out and punched him on the shoulder.
The moment she did, Marcus lifted his head and looked straight into her eyes. Julia’s mouth went dry when she saw the way he looked at her.
It made her shuffle nervously on the spot, her heart racing inside of her chest.
“Finish eating,” Marcus bumped her shoulder with his playfully, “And then get some rest. I’ll do the first watch.”
Julia dutifully ate her supper.
* * *
That night her dreams were filled with Marcus, holding his hand as they ran through the maze of tents.
His fingers grazing across her soft abdomen, his lips blazing a trail over her chest, his warm breath on her neck-
“-Hmm,” Julia squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to return to her dream, her mind becoming aware of her limbs as they yearned to be stretched.
But as she began to shift, hoping to fall back into the wonderful world of slumber, Julia heard screaming.
Opening her eyes slowly, Julia looked around and saw chaos.
Ray was pressed against the wall, Kazeem was crouched by the door with his weapon raised, shooting, but it was Twitch she focused on the most.
Her eyes settled on his freckled nose before watching his lips form her name but she could barely hear him over the ringing in her ears.
“-JULIA!” Twitch grasped her by the shoulders, jerking her fully awake.
“-Wh-What?” Julia scrambled to life, her limbs going into overdrive as she pulled her weapon into her chest, comforting herself that it was there.
“-We’re under attack,” Twitch shouted as he woke her.
Julia looked around her, “Where’s Marc?”
“He’s outside!” Twitch scrambled to the other side, aiming his rifle through one of the two windows.
Julia hurried to the other window, taking a few seconds to get her bearings.
How the hell had she stayed asleep during all of this!?
Her eyes searched for Marcus first and found him, a few metres below her with Carlos. Hiding behind a rock, they were getting shot at from all angles.
Panic flared through her body before her adrenaline surged and her breathing calmed.
“Where are they!?” Julia screamed as she peered through her scope, scouring the mountainside and the valley below but saw nobody.
“Two, o, clock!” Kazeem shouted in his thick accent.
Julia turned to two, o, clock and soon found a few targets.
Picking them off with short bursts of automatic gunfire, Julia found her mind raging with confusion.
How had they found them so fast?
But she could not think of that now as gunfire erupted around her. Crouching down below the window bullets lodged themselves in the brick, taking chunks of stone with them.
Julia looked across at Ray who was squeezed into the corner by the door beside Kazeem. He was okay for now.
Twitch and Julia shared a look as the gunfire stopped and they rose back to their feet, resting their rifles on the ledge as they shot back.
Julia felt her lips tug at the corners when she made another kill shot only for another five men to break cover and charge towards them.
She, Twitch and Kazeem cut them down instantly when her gun ran out of ammunition.
Crouching down to the side, so that she was facing Kazeem and Ray, Julia pressed the release clip on her rifle.
“How many of them are there!?” Julia screamed in frustration as she removed the clip of ammunition from her rifle.
Hearing the clip rattle along the ground, Julia reached into her belt and retrieved another when she looked up and saw it.
Peering through the doorway, she saw the men approach from the flank, their bodies pressed to the mountainside for cover.
Hurrying, Julia tried to slam the clip into place but she missed in her frustration. After a few seconds she heard the magazine click into place but when she looked back up her blood ran cold.
The men had stopped approaching and lowered themselves to the ground as they prepared an RPG missile.
“RPG!” Julia’s screams were drowned out by the gunfire.
Raising her weapon to shoot, Julia’s eyes widened in fear as she realised she could not take the shot.
Kazeem was right in the middle, she could not shoot them without killing Kazeem.
“RPG!” Julia shouted as loud as she could as she ran to her feet, and pulled Twitch out of the way.
“RPG!” She screamed in explanation when Twitch looked at her with confusion.
His arm reached out and clasped Kazeem by the shoulder, dragging him through the doorway.
“Ray,” Julia dived forward and crouched in front of him, sending shots through the doorway to cover Twitch and Kazeem.
“We need to go,” Julia grasped his arm when gunfire erupted around them.
Pressing them back into the corner, Julia’s heart was hammering inside of her chest as fear gripped her body.
Any moment now that missile was going to blow them to high heaven.
Julia raised her rifle and shot blindly through the doorway, “We need to go, Ray. Now!”
Unsure of what would happen, only knowing that they could not stay there, Julia yanked Ray to his feet and pushed him through the door.
“Left! Left!” Julia instructed him but as he spun, his feet stumbled over the rocks and Ray hit the deck with a thud.
Glancing at his body, Julia looked hastily over her shoulder and saw the men begin to take cover. Her body hummed with life, her body slick with sweat as her eyes focused on the missile, waiting for that blast which must surely happen.
But after a few seconds, nothing came and Julia was snapped back into reality by Marcus screaming her name.
Reaching down and lifting Ray off the ground, Julia began to push him towards Twitch and Kazeem in the distance when she risked a look over her shoulder and watched as the RPG was fired.
Her heart felt like it had frozen inside of her chest as she watched it impact with the ground a few metres behind her, sparks igniting.
Julia felt the earth shudder beneath her boots as a sudden wave of warmth and pure energy blew her forward off of her feet, the explosion deafening her.
The last thing Julia remembered before she hit the ground was Marcus calling her name and how strange it felt to be blown up twice.