12 Seconds (#1 in Military series)

Chapter 23

Chapter 23 

“Where the hell did you two get to?” Carlos looked up when he heard them approach, pausing with a screwdriver as he re-screwed the radio together.

Marc hurried to Carlos’s side, ignoring his question as his voice rose in hope, “Is the radio working?”

Carlos gave a heavy-hearted scoff as he pushed the radio away, scratching his temple in frustration, “its dead.”

Julia stepped past Marc and knelt by Ray’s side, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead. She did not know what she was feeling for, only that her mother used to do it to her when she was ill.

She could tell nothing about his condition other than his skin was clammy and he was still unconscious.

“Marc, we need to get him out of here.” Julia did not like to think of what might happen when they did manage to leave, but they couldn’t stay here.

“Right,” Carlos exclaimed suddenly, tapping the RPG that rested by his side like a well-behaved puppy, “Where are these trucks? I want to blow something up.”

His comment injected a burst of humour into their deprived moods, Julia saw Twitch chuckle to himself.

Marc nodded, granting Carlos’s wish, “Okay, let’s-”

But Mac did not get to finish his sentence when Kazeem stepped forward, a look upon his face that instantly drew everybody’s attention.

“Kazeem?” Julia rose to her feet, “What is it?”

“I was thinking,” Kazeem told her hesitantly, his voice shy, as if he was scared to speak about it, “instead of blowing up all the trucks, why do we not take one?”

“Take one?” Twitch looked over his shoulder at Marcus.

Kazeem nodded, his eyes flashing between each of them, looking for acceptance.

Julia lifted a shoulder as the idea blossomed in her mind, “We could drive it back to the compound.”

Carlos looked up at Marc from where he was sat on the ground, “It beats sitting here another night and waiting for the cavalry.”

“Well-” Marc began to speak when Carlos pointed up at him.

“But I still get to blow something up,” Carlos informed him sternly, his other hand resting on the RPG, “I’ve always wanted to use one of these.”

Marc rolled his eyes at his friend before stepping towards Kazeem, “What’s your plan?”

Julia saw the spark of genuine pride in Kazeem’s eyes as his plan was recognised, quickly followed by fear when he realised he had just volunteered to carry it out.

And that was how, thirty minutes later, Kazeem found himself scaling down the side of a rocky hill towards three terrorist militia trucks in the middle of a desert with Marcus by his side.

Julia was perched on the hilltop, resting face-down on a flat piece of rock, with Carlos beside her, their rifles raised and ready, their eyeballs glued to the scopes.

“How much ammo do you have left?” Carlos asked, his voice turning from flamboyant to professional with the flip of a switch.

Julia looked back at her waistband and blinked slowly, trying to calm her nerves.

“One magazine,” Julia turned back to the front, “Which is currently in my rifle.”

Carlos arched an eyebrow as he shuffled on the rock, settling in, “Don’t forget your handgun.”