Chapter 21



Jules gasped as her eyes squinted against the light that blinded her through the smoke.

Her memories were distorted as she remembered the explosion.

Dust clung to her throat, threatening to choke her as she reached out her arms, dislodging large chunks of building brick from on top of her.

Of course, Jules frowned, she had been in the house when-

“-Ah,” Jules let out a sudden exclamation when she felt the pain only for her chest to be overcome with coughs as she took a deep breath, unsettling her lungs that were full of smoke and dust.

Shaking her head clear, Jules felt a fierce pounding at the back of her skull.

Reaching up, Jules gritted her teeth in pain as she pressed her hand against her hair, her fingers growing wet.

When she pulled them back, dust falling around her as she moved, her eyes widened when she saw what was staining her fingers.

Blood.

Her eyes fluttered shut as a great pain enveloped her mind, forcing her body to become immobile momentarily. She could not move, she felt like she could barely breathe as she gasped for air.

“-Reynolds!? Reynolds!”

Over the high-pitched whining in her ears, Jules could hear someone calling for her as if they were shouting down a long tunnel.

She needed to get out of here.

Forcing her eyes open despite the way they stung, water pooling in her eyes, Jules looked around at the heap of rubble she was bathed in.

Trying to get her sense of bearings accurate, Julia knew that Marcus had been on the ground, searching the street with the others.

She needed to find Marc.

“Reynolds, for God’s sake, answer me! Reynolds!” Ramirez’s voice filled her ears.

Fumbling around, Jules grasped her fingers around her rifle, feeling immediately better when she tried to sit up and something black clattered against her chest, hanging from a wire.

It was her radio.

Reaching out with trembling fingers, Jules pressed the ear piece against her ear but when she heard the voice on the other end, Jules found herself pausing.

Her brows furrowed together in confusion. The voice kept calling for her to report back and Jules knew she should. She knew she had to let them know she was alive and where to find her.

But she couldn’t. She couldn’t seem to get her lips to move because- Jules swallowed uncomfortably. She couldn’t because she didn’t recognise the voice.

Her heart began to palpitate in her chest. Jules knew everybody on the comms, how could she not recognise the voice?

Urgency set into her bones and Jules scrambled to her feet, stumbling out of the remnants of the building and into the street.

The heat was suffocating and the sun was blinding but as she gazed around her, Julia turned in a circle.

Where was she?

“Reynolds!”

Julia could not respond as she continued to look around her, her heart racing in fear as she tried to figure out where she was.

This wasn’t England. The streets were lined with three-storey grey buildings, burnt out cars littered the street and bodies with bullet holes lay across the street.

Julia didn’t feel right as she reached out a hand to steady herself but she found nothing there. Collapsing to her knees, Julia caught sight of the gun that lay in her grasp.

Throwing it away from her, Julia panicked. What was she doing with a gun?

But her thoughts were pushed aside as her stomach began to convulse, her throat working against her as she vomited on the ground.

“Reynolds!”

Looking down at where she vomited, Jules frowned before she gazed up at Marcus rushing to her side. How had she gotten out here?

“Where’s my rifle?” Jules whispered when she spotted it a few feet away from her.

Crawling around the mess she had made, Jules clasped her fingers around her rifle and stumbled to her feet.

Marcus caught her when she threatened to drop again.

“We need medevac!” Marcus called into the radio as he pulled them into a secluded doorway, resting his hand against her cheek.

“Jules, speak to me,” Marcus whispered, his eyes searching hers fiercely, “Reynolds!”

“I’m- I’m fine,” Jules leaned forward, brushing off his concern, when she blinked rapidly.

“Mar- Marc?” Jules whispered as darkness began to creep in from the corners of her eyes.

“Jules? Jules!” Marcus was calling, urging her to stay awake, but Jules could not withstand it any longer.

Her eyes closed.

As Julia opened her eyes, groaning against the pain, she had to squint against the memory of blinding sunlight.

As she turned her head, seeing burnt cars and demolished buildings, her sight began to clear and the vision subsided.

She was not vomiting in the middle of a street. She was lying on her back staring up at the stars.

Julia took a few moments to breathe and assess her situation.

Her head hurt and the lining of her mouth was covered with dust but as she raised her arms and looked down at her body she was relieved to find that she still had all of her limbs.

Letting her head fall back, Julia closed her eyes and thanked whoever was watching over her when the ground shifted beneath her.

“Marc?” Julia whispered as she began to hear footsteps, crunching against the mountain rocks beside her.

Opening her eyes, Julia lifted her head, wincing against the ache in her neck, and looked towards a figure that was approaching her.

Shaking her head, Julia tried to clear her vision of the bright dots but even in the darkness Julia could not see who it was.

“Who is it?” Julia shouted, her heart beginning to pick up pace when they didn’t respond, their face covered in darkness.

Reaching out her arm, Julia let out a sudden exclamation when pain flared down the length of her arm and into her shoulder.

Gritting her teeth, Julia turned her head and tried to find her rifle.

Her breathing was growing erratic as the man continued to walk towards her. He was close now, only a few feet away.

“Urgh,” Julia grunted as she tried to shuffle her body away but it felt as if she was being held down by a great weight.

Her fingers grasped ragged rocks, pushing away dirt as she tried to locate her rifle but it was nowhere to be found.

Turning her head back, Julia watched as the man dived towards her, his fingers curling around her neck.

The first thing she smelt was the stench of tobacco on his breath, making her want to gag as she grabbled at his arms, digging her nails into his flesh as he continued to squeeze his fingers around her throat.

This close, Julia could see the thick beard the covered his lower jaw and the ruthless stare in his eyes.

Moving her hands up his arms, Julia found his neck and forced her hands beneath his jaw, forcing his head away from her.

Julia let out a small scream of pain as she forced herself to keep pushing, despite the agony that flamed through her arm.

Her lungs felt like they were on fire as her heart began to palpitate in her chest, her body alive with fear.

This man was willing to kill her and that was terrifying.

But she wasn’t ready to die. Not yet.

Pushing the man further away, Julia managed to wedge her knee up between them and plant her boot against his most sensitive area.

The man recoiled instantly in pain, letting out a small howl.

Julia gasped for air as she lifted her boot again and kicked the man in the face, keeping him away from her.

Turning onto her side, Julia was still trying to catch her breath, her throat hurting with every breath she took, as she patted her hands down her body trying to find-

“-Yarrgh!” Julia exclaimed when she was thrown onto her back, the insurgent now straddling her hips as he clasped his hand back around her throat.

Holding her immobile, Julia’s legs kicked out behind him as she watched his other hand grasp a rock the size of a small football.

Adrenaline pumped through her body, her heart pounding in her ears, as she reached towards her belt, her fingers grappling with the strap.

Her eyes bulged as she saw him rise the stone, the pointed end about to be slammed down into her face.

Gritting her teeth, Julia played for time as she tried to buck her hips, hoping to dislodge him but he remained firmly sat atop her, his lips spreading into a smile.

Julia knew that that smile would haunt her forever, as she managed to unclip the strap and remove her knife.

Whipping the knife from its confinement on her belt, Julia wasted no time in sinking the blade into the man’s ribs.

Her hand ached from the force needed to push the weapon through his flesh and Julia thought she had touched bone by the way the blade seemed to rattle.

The man froze on top of her as Julia removed her blade.

A wave of anger engulfed her as she stuck the knife into him again. And again.

His blood covering her hands as he released the stone from his grip.

Julia gasped when it dropped a few millimetres to the side of her head, imbedding itself in the gravel.

Screaming in pain, Julia threw him off of her and watched as his body rolled down the slope a few times before it stilled.

Letting out a deep breath, Julia fell back on to her back and closed her eyes as she fought to regain her breath.

After a few seconds, Julia knew she needed to find the others.

Ignoring the pain that radiated up her arm, Julia tried to stay low as she turned over onto her stomach and looked around her.

Darkness had truly fallen until she could barely see a few feet in front of her hand.

Keeping the knife clasped firmly in her hand, Julia began to crawl forward, gritting her teeth against the pain as she knocked her arm.

“Ray? Ramirez?” Julia called for her comrades, “Marcus? Twitch!?”

But nobody was answering as she continued to crawl over the mound of dislodged earth and brick from the bunker.

Looking around her, Julia tried to keep positive but in this darkness they could be lying dead beside her and she would not see them.

“Marc!? Twitch!?” Julia shouted in frustration when the earth beside her suddenly shot up into her face as a bullet hit the ground.

Julia paused as she turned her head away, trying to clear the dirt from her eyes, when more bullets exploded against the pile of rubble she was crawling through.

Hurrying forward, knocking her knee on a piece of rock, Julia let out a small yelp of surprise when she was suddenly falling forward, rolling down a slope before slamming into the mountainside.

Wincing when the skin on her brow broke open, Julia opened an eye and found Ramirez’s face pressed closely to hers.

Julia closed her eyes in relief at seeing him alive before anger flared through her chest. Why hadn’t he answered when she called?

“Glad to see you’re still breathing, Reynolds,” Ramirez smiled, clasping her by the arm and pulling her into an upright position.

Julia shouted in pain when he pulled on her bad arm. Ramirez set her back against the rock face, when he observed the bloodied knife in her hand.

Ramirez gave her an encouraging look, “Badass.”

Julia scoffed as she wiped the knife clean on her uniform, it was already covered in blood she doubted a bit more wouldn’t matter, before sliding it back into its slot on her belt.

“Here,” Ramirez reached behind him and picked up a rifle, “I think you lost something.”

Julia took it gratefully as she looked around at the others.

Ray was knocked unconscious and lying between two rocks, Twitch was tending to an injured Kazeem and Marcus was across from her, lying on his stomach and shooting back at the insurgents that still remained alive.

“We’re all okay,” Julia let out a sigh of relief, her head bowing forward.

“Thanks to you,” Twitch tapped Kazeem on the shoulder, who was supporting a bandage on his head, and knelt beside her, “If you hadn’t shouted we’d have been blown to pieces.”

Julia said nothing as Twitch cut the sleeve of her uniform to get to her arm.

“How’s Ray?” Julia looked at his sleeping form.

Twitch focused on her arm, “He knocked his head. If he doesn’t wake up soon . . .”

Julia looked at Ray with fear. He had appeared so peaceful, as if he was just sleeping. Julia didn’t know that he might never wake up again.

“How many of them are there?” Julia’s question was directed towards Carlos who was sprawled out next to Marcus, resting a protective hand on the RPG beside him.

Julia gazed at Marcus’s back. He appeared uninjured but it hurt that he hadn’t looked at her or asked how she was.

But, Julia reminded herself, they had a job to do which was highlighted when another burst of gunfire hit the mountainside above them.

Twitch covered her head as a small shower of rock and gravel surrounded them.

When it stopped, Twitch went back to dealing with her arm.

Julia saw the look on his face, “Bad?”

Steve’s face began to twitch more than usual in distress, “There’s a piece of metal imbedded in your arm. I’ll have to take it out before your arm gets infected.”

“Then do it,” Julia nodded, “I’ve already lost my memory, I don’t fancy losing my arm too,” She tried to joke but she saw the way Marcus turned his head. He wasn’t happy about her comment.

“It’s going to hurt.” Twitch told her as he removed an instrument from his pack that looked like long tweezers.

Julia swallowed, “Couldn’t hurt more than-”

Julia was cut off as Twitch began to dig through her flesh, searching for the piece of shrapnel whilst she slammed her boots against the ground to keep from screaming.

It felt a red hot poker being pressed into her wounds for hours when Twitch let out a shout of excitement.

“I got it!” Twitch congratulated himself as he pulled the shrapnel from her arm.

It was like he had stabbed her and then, for good merit began to twist the dagger.

Julia breathed heavily through clenched teeth, “Thanks for the warning.”

Twitch threw the offending piece of shrapnel away as he began to bandage her arm, his eyes smirking with humour.

Once her arm was bandaged, Julia tore the ripped sleeve from her arm and crawled over to Carlos, rifle tucked under her arm.

“So,” Julia asked when another burst of gunfire erupted, Marcus returned fire, “How far up shit creek are we exactly?”

Carlos looked at her strangely for a second, “Pretty far, I’d say. There’s still just over a dozen of them.”

“We have the RPG.” Kazeem interjected.

“One RPG,” Carlos reminded him.

“Base must be looking for us by now,” Julia tried to rationalise.

“Yeah,” Marcus scoffed, “But we’re miles off course. They wouldn’t think to look here.”

Julia narrowed her eyes, “Then let’s give them something to look for.”

Carlos raised an eyebrow, “What’s your plan?”

Julia and Marcus shared a look.

“Do they have their trucks with them?” Julia asked.

Marcus looked through his night scope.

A few seconds he returned with an answer, “A few miles down the valley.”

“Those trucks have to be filled with petrol,” Julia was making this up as she went, “If we can lead them back to the trucks and bunch them together-”

“-then we could kill them and send one hell of a signal fire at the same time.” Ramirez laughed.

“Big enough for the rescue helicopters to see?” Julia asked.

“Big enough?” Twitch chuckled, “I think it would be big enough for them to see all the way back in England.”