Chapter Three - The Sucking Chest Wound
Chapter Three - The Sucking Chest Wound
He needed to control his environment as much as he possibly could. He needed to isolate the variables and then inhibit their effect. He knew this because he’d been taught it often enough while in the SAS.
He cocked his head to one side hearing the squeal of breaks not far off. When he turned to look he saw two, American Humv-e’s heading at full speed towards them.
‘What the hell is going on now?’ He exclaimed in a loud voice. The Humv-e’s fishtailed and screeched to a complete halt on opposite sides of them. As they did so their doors flew open and four black-clad men jumped out of one vehicle. Five Robo-men de-bussed in typical special force’s formation, from the second vehicle. They all wore black face masks and black nylon and Kevlar body armour and were instantly recognisable as the Rani’s Robo-men.
One hour earlier they had crashed to the floor in a heap appearing inside the building that they now stood in front of. After the usual vomiting and disorientation Agent Johnson surveyed her surroundings. Evans and Barrett were already checking the perimeter for any signs of the Rani’s troops and Louise Ruth sat in one corner, conscious that her previously sodden clothing was now only slightly wet as if she’d been out in the rain, not submerged in the sea.
Walking over to her Johnson realised that she had been crying. Kneeling next to her, Louise Ruth looked up. A slightly yellowing bruise showed clearly on her left cheek where she had been struck by the wolf woman. She noticed that agent Johnson’s clothing was also no longer sodden but damp as well. Despite this improvement she still felt cold and uncomfortable.
‘Sorry… this is my… entire fault… she should have just taken me.’
Johnson shook her head. ‘We were dead the minute her men hit the beach… nothing to do with you. This way we get to live a little longer and try and figure out how to get home.’ Johnson passed her a handkerchief to wipe her eyes with. ‘Come on… let’s see where we are and I’ll tell you some good news.’
Standing they walked towards Barrett who was staring out of one of the windows his SIG held at the ready. There was something too familiar about the house they found themselves in but he was too busy watching for Robo-men insurgents to dedicate any of his conscious thought to the problem. It would come to him eventually.
‘Clear at the front boss and Evans has a similar story about the rear. Robson’s covering the windows in the next room. He’s still a little shaken… new to this sort of thing.’ Johnson smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. Despite her experience she too was a little jittery. ‘If we have to move quickly there’s a few vehicles at the front and rear we could use. In fact Evans has his eye on the Dodge Sedan over there.’ Johnson gazed passed him and noticed the giant American estate car that would suit their needs perfectly.
‘Good work sergeant.’ Just then they were joined by Evans who was smiling as he approached them.
‘I got her… did you see… I got her.’ Johnson nodded and watched Louise Ruth’s expression change from fear to confusion.
‘Mine went off to the left… took out one of the soldiers,’ Barrett said shaking his head as he did so.
Johnson turned to Louise Ruth ready to explain. ‘As we were transported out of there all three of us tried a fast draw shot. Apparently Evans won. My shot went to the left as well hitting one of the robo-soldiers in the face.’
‘So…’ Louise Ruth said, not sure whether she should voice the thoughts that they were all thinking.
‘So the Rani now sleeps with the fishes.’
‘Err… I hope you mean dead. Just conjures up pictures you don’t want to know about.’
‘Dead as disco in an old people’s home… and you can eat cod and chips any time you want in the comforting knowledge that they weren’t molested in any way.’ Evans said looking pleased with himself.
‘Right let’s get out of here and find a more suitable location while we try and figure out where we are, when we are and how we’re getting home.’
Five minutes later they were in the parking lot and things were hotting up all around them.
It wasn’t until Barrett entered the parking lot that he realised where he was. Standing before him, thrusting up towards the sky like a hand of hope stood the twin towers of the World Trade centre.
Almost transfixed by the edifice that had haunted his dreams for a decade he stood froze to the spot. Momentarily forgetting the situation he was in, his left hand thrust into his jacket pocket and pulled out the Magellan navigation system. Activating the power switch he waited patiently for it to power up. As it did so sweat poured down his face and tears ran down his cheeks as the date appeared in the right hand corner. It was September the tenth, Two Thousand and One.
As the others piled into the Dodge, thoughts whirled around in Barrett’s mind like a film on fast forward. From the corner of his eye he noticed Johnson staring at him then at the building that seemed to scream back at them. His hands began to shake and the years of training and professionalism he had undergone and been know for, disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Johnson walked up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder tried to remain calm. ‘We need to go. Those Robo-men we saw back at the beach… they’ll be after us if we stay in one place long enough.’
Johnson knew that Barrett’s family had been killed in the September 11th terrorist attack but didn’t know what to say or do to help him snap out of the trance that threatened to take over him. As if he hadn’t heard a word she had said he took a step forward and patted his pockets as if searching frantically for something.
‘A phone… I need a phone… just to tell her… tell them not to go tomorrow.’ Before she could reply, two shots rang out striking the concrete between them, kicking up stone in their wake.
As the two vehicles skidded round the corner Johnson left Barrett’s side and immediately engaged the vehicle to her right leaving Evans and Robson with the Humv-e on their left. With Barrett’s immobility she was left to face the five black clad assailants that spilled out of each door on her own.
‘Get down,’ Evans shouted to Louise Ruth as he drew out his SIG. There was a sudden hail of bullets and the windshield of the Dodge shattered into tiny diamond-like pieces. ‘Get back into the house now’, he said as he turned to return fire.’
As she leapt from the rear of the vehicle he ducked behind it, using it for cover. With the eyes of a marksman he scanned the area for the Rani’s men. He knew that they wore rubber-soled boots and so could move silently and stealthily without him hearing them, but that wasn’t going to stop him taking down as many as he could.
Gripping his pistol in both hands he moved it around in a slow circuit tracking all points of the compass, starting from his far right interlinking with Robson’s arch of fire and moving steadily in a clockwise direction. Barrett, he knew, would be covering Robson’s arch of fire and Johnston would cover Barrett’s so there would be no gaps for the enemy to breech.
A moment before it happened he could see it happening in his mind. Robson took four rounds, three to the chest and one to the head. He was dead before he hit the ground. Slowly and deliberately Evans shot the first man in the chest as his hand was coming out of his coat. He saw him fall sideways but hadn’t the time to wait to see if he went down.
He shot the next man in the throat and the chest finding the weak point in his armour, just as his automatic came to bear on him. The weapon flew into the air as the bullet tore a hole in his flesh. Instinctively he knew that he was out of it. Someone shouted something as he shot the next man in the face as he was crouching to fire and saw his arms going up with his firearm. With his chest exposed he shot him again completing his double tap to finish him off.
He thought it strange that men would wear thick body armour to protect them, yet it was their faces they put in the line of enemy fire, which weren’t protected. Instinctively he knew he had to get back to the first man because he wasn’t sure of him and by the time he aimed the 9mm at him he realised that he was too late. With Robson down there was no one to cover his arch of fire.
The bullet caught trooper Evans in the chest, with a sickening thump and it was all over. His mind had registered a flash and he felt as if a sledgehammer had hit him just below the heart. The noise of the first shot was lost in the pounding impact of the bullet hitting him. At first he felt no pain, but he knew that it was coming. Numbness spread throughout his chest and his mind remained calm, as if waiting for the next step. A second shot tore into his thigh dropping him to one knee. Despite the wounds he held the 9mm steady and while his opponent still looked at him he shot him four times in the face and chest. The man’s brain must have died but his right leg and arm still twitched.
He was aware of the silence as he looked at the bodies all around him, knowing that they were dead. Slowly he replaced the 9mm into its shoulder holster and tried to stand. It took him three attempts before he made it.
He tried to stay standing, concentrating on his own body, but deep down he knew that the wound was bad. He could see the blood coming through the thin green material of his UNIT shirt. A hand grabbed hold of him from behind and eased him down gently. From his new position he could clearly see Private Robson’s lifeless body as the breeze blew his hair across his face.
Sergeant Barrett knew that he’d screwed up. He knew that his inactivity had lead to the death of private Robson and probably Evans. As shots sent stone chippings flying all around him all he could think about was his wife and daughter. It had been Robson’s scream that had brought him back to reality.
Drawing his SIG he’d dropped as many as he could more desperate to keep himself alive than he’d ever been in the last ten years. Without a word he bent forward and slung Evans over his shoulder. He just managed to see Agent Johnson, from the corner of his eye, fire a double tap into one of their attacker’s heads as he lay on the ground. Retrieving an MP5 and a back pack, she slung them over one of her shoulders and headed back towards the house, covering the approach as she did so.
Bursting through the front door Barrett quickly laid Evans on the ground next to Louise Ruth who clutched the first aid box with a look of nervousness showing clearly on her face.
‘Private Robson?’ She asked, but Barrett shook his head, the pain of his death showing clearly on his face. Robson had trusted him to protect his back, to cover the very arc of fire that had got him killed. None of the others might have seen it, they’d been too busy, but he knew. His failure to keep his head in the game had resulted in the death of one soldier and possibly two.
‘Steve didn’t make it… but Evans needs all the help you can give him,’ Barrett said, his voice betraying his emotion.
Looking at the wounded man Louise Ruth stared into his eyes. The first thing she noticed was that his pupils were dilated and his skin felt cold and damp. The entry wound, she realised, was just below his right breast and the exit wound showed clearly under his right shoulder blade causing relief to surge through her. She knew the theory of dealing with a chest wound but had never practiced it.
‘Sergeant… put a dressing on his leg wound and check for others. I’ll take a look at his chest.’ She knew that the lung was punctured and with a sigh or relief she realised that it might be something she was able to deal with. With any luck it shouldn’t be fatal.
‘It went right through you,’ she said as she examined him closely. Evans looked up at her glassy eyed, his mouth open. Louise Ruth opened his jacket and shirt, getting down to the skin as quickly as she could and pressed a folded field dressing, which Barrett had passed her, against the wound.
It was as bad as it could be, she could see as panic rose in her throat. The sucking chest wound was bubbling air and blood. On closer examination she could see splintered pieces of rib bone in the wound, which made her shudder. Having tied off the wound Barrett ran from the room as more vehicles pulled up outside, black clad soldiers spilling form every door.
Evans was sweating a cold clammy sweat and Louise Ruth knew that he was going into shock. Shots thundered in the confines of the room as Johnson and Barrett held back an attack from the Rani’s Robo-men. Trying to blot out the noise she knew she had to concentrate on the job in hand and let them do their work. Flipping out her mobile phone she smiled as she hit speed dial.
‘Are you anywhere near a computer?’ she said into the phone causing Evans to almost smile at the one sided conversation. ‘Well get off Facebook… this is important. Google sucking chest wounds for me…’ a pause as Louise Ruth rolled her eyes. ‘Laura… yes I need it now… it is important.’
Evans almost burst out laughing. He was dying and Louise Ruth was arguing with her sister. ‘Thanks… now tell me the treatment.’ Another pause which didn’t fill Evans with too much reassurance but did make him concentrate enough to stave off the effects of shock to his system. ‘Cling film… what you put over food… you’re taking the pi… alright cling film… what else?’
This would be so funny, Evans thought if it were happening to someone else. ‘Right… what about pain killers?’ Pain killers, Evans thought, just what he needed. There were two ampoules of morphine in his belt kit. ‘Right… and then what?’ The urgency seemed to have left her voice, Evans realised and wondered if this was a good thing or a bad thing. He’d never had an injury ‘googled’ before.
‘Oh… alright then.’ She was just about to hang up when the conversation continued. ‘he got it… I gave him it myself… yes it was a full bottle. Well I never touched it… alright I may have borrowed one of the cigars but I never touched the Jack. I’m fine… look I’ve got to go I have to type this up and hand it in. I’ll see you for Christmas… I will… right I’m going… then just throw them out, I don’t care… Look, you pick out the clothes and I’ll pay you for them… whatever you think… you’re the fashion expert… I’ll have to go my ride’s here… bye… bye.’ Louise Ruth flipped the phone closed then stared apologetically at Evans.
‘The good news is you’ll be okay. You can breathe with one lung for a while as long as I can get some plastic over the wound so that the lung doesn’t collapse.’ She turned towards the open doorway and shouted, ’Someone get me some cling film if you can find any.’
She was about to say something to Evans when he grabbed her sleeve. ‘Morphine… give me some Morphine for the pain,’ Evans pleaded as a tremor rippled through him. Louise Ruth shook her head, as her eyes redden. Silently she fought the need to get out, to run away and let someone else deal with the situation.
‘You know I can’t do that. Morphine will affect your respiratory system just when you need all the help you can get.’
‘But it… it hurts.’ Tears filled her eyes but she knew she had to be strong. As the adrenalin levels dropped in him the pain would increase to unbelievable proportions if she didn’t do something fast.
‘Turn over a little.’ Slowly and carefully she helped him roll over so that she could press another dressing against the entrance wound, which was small and surprisingly showed very little blood. Finished, she brought him back gently to lie on his injured side. More shots thundered out, almost shaking the walls to its very foundations. The smell of cordite filled the air making her feel sickly.
‘Well get you fixed up in a minute. Just hang in there.’ She said as she took his right hand and laid it on the dressing covering the air-sucking hole in his chest.
‘The pain, shit! It’s killing me.’
‘Here, keep your hand on it and press. The pain should go.’
‘Really?’ he asked through pain filled eyes.
‘No, not really but you’ll get used to it.’
‘I’ve been shot,’ he said as if she hadn’t noticed.
‘You’ll be okay. Try not to move.’
‘I can’t move. Shit!’
‘Don’t breathe too deeply. Try and relax.’ She could tell that it was a bad wound but concentrated on the job at hand. With her fingers she probed carefully beneath the dressing and pulled her hand away when she felt something that shouldn’t be there. There was something sharp and hard sticking out.
At the moment she didn’t want to think about it. His body had been ripped open by a high powered bullet. Blood was pouring out and logic dictated that the bleeding had to be her first priority. Evans screamed as she pressed down on the wound. She supposed that it was good that he felt pain. It meant that he was here and able to think.
Evans found that it was easier to breathe when he relaxed. Before, he thought that he was suffocating or drowning. Now it was easier and he felt less afraid about not being able to breathe. He did feel sick and was afraid that he might throw up. The sound was still there when he breathed, like bubbles in a straw but they weren’t that loud. It was difficult to move. It was like that film with Ewan McGregor when a dagger had been plunged into him and held him pinned to the floor. It hurt, but it hurt a lot more when he moved.
Looking up she realised for the first time that she was completely alone. Barrett and Johnson had both left to defend the house from other vantage points while she tried to stabilise Evens. Sporadic shots told her that more men were outside trying to get in. After a few minutes Johnson returned and dropped a roll of cling film on the floor next to her and removed a small bag from the back pack she’d picked up in the parking lot.
‘It’s a ‘giving set,’ she said and for the first time Louise Ruth realised that she hadn’t a clue what she was doing. She noticed the litre bag of saline fluid, a tube with a needle that could punch into the bag, a valve for regulating the flow and a needle with a plastic sheath for sticking into the vein. This was beyond her but she wasn’t going to admit it. Before she could ask questions Johnson left without a word returning to her defensive position at the far right of the house.
‘Right… we’ll do this logically.’ Pulling a wooden chair closer to her she hooked the saline bag on the back of it and punctured it with the first needle. Turning the regulator she let the fluid travel to the second needle which she held next to Evan’s arm. Because of his fitness and constant weight training his veins stood out prominently on his arm and were easy to puncture with the needle. Giving the bag a squeeze the fluid began to trickle into Evans’ arm.
‘Shit… I don’t believe it was that easy… bastard’s working…right… let’s get you fixed up. You’re going to have to roll over again on your left side.’
Slowly and carefully Evans felt himself being turned. Every movement sent shooting pain throughout his entire body causing him to cry out. On his side he managed to take in a lung full of oxygen and surprisingly he felt better. Sweat dripped from his nose and his body relaxed as the pain diminished slightly. It was like getting a tattoo, he thought. As soon as the pain from the needle stopped his body relaxed and he could breathe again. With a mounting feeling of unease he felt his jacket pulling and heard the metallic sound of scissors.
‘You’re going to cut my jacket off,’ he said alarmed. His breathing sounded laboured Louise Ruth thought.
‘You can always get a new one,’ she said with a smile Evans couldn’t see. Shaking his head Evans raised his arm so she could pull the right side of the jacket from his body.
‘Three hundred pounds… I’ll… take the… pain.’
Changing his dressing she saw that there was very little blood but the wound still bubbled and sucked air when she uncovered it to put on the clean dressing. She knew that he heard the sound his own body was making and understood the implications of that sound.
‘I’m breathing… I’m breathing out of my… chest?’ She nodded and passed him a bottle of water.
‘Don’t drink… just rinse your mouth out.’ Taking a mouthful he spit the blooded contents across the floor.
‘I’m not supposed to drink, but can I smoke?’ She shook her head as she fastened the bandage in place.
‘Your lungs are in enough trouble as it is.’ She took the bottle of water from him and replaced the top. ‘Now would be a good time to quit.’
‘You know… how many times I tried to… to quit?’ She finished off the dressing by wrapping cling film around both the front and back of Evans’ body then looked down to admire her handy work. The cling film had stopped the air escaping from his chest which meant that the injured lung could now re-inflate.
‘It’s funny I’m not more scared of dying… but I think well… if it happens it happens.’ Turning him over onto his injured side she smiled in satisfaction when she heard the change in his breathing. ‘It’s interesting you know… I mean… this has never happened to me before.’ Not only had his breathing returned to normal he was sounding stronger.
‘If you’re not afraid of dying what are you afraid of? I mean… everyone’s afraid of something.’ Smiling she noticed his colour returning as the saline joined with his blood to increase his body fluids.
‘My greatest fear… I suppose was to do with being so close to freedom I could taste it… then being shot down or captured… just like Steve McQueen in the Great Escape. You can see the determination on his face when he put his hand through the barbed wire into freedom with the Germens all around him. It’s like life. You see the nearer I get to happiness the more scared I become. To have it all in my sights then have it taken away from me is a fate worse than anything I could possibly imagine. My respect goes out to Sergeant Barrett. How that man keeps living I’ll never know.’
Louise Ruth was just about to comment when Johnson and Barrett entered the room together. Looking down at Evans, Johnson nodded her approval and smiled.
‘Now, my friend, we are going to adopt the safe retreat.’ Louise Ruth looked mystified as she packed the first aid kit up.
‘What’s the safe retreat when it’s at home?’ Looking down at Evans she gauged whether they could move him or not.
‘It’s something from my Special Forces days.’ Johnson said removing the clip from her newly acquired MP5, to check how many rounds she had left. ‘It’s a manoeuvre that looks as if you’re retreating, but really you’re attacking from a different angle.’
Pulling one of the interior doors from its hinges they placed Evan onto it and between them carried him to the back of the house. As Johnson scanned the area with her MP5 Louise Ruth and Barrett ran towards the nearest car, an old Mercedes Estate car, perfect for their needs.
As they lowered Evans to the ground Louise Ruth noticed a number of dead Robo-men lying behind parked cars and small brick walls. ‘They had been busy’, she thought. Barrett picked the lock of the driver side door as Johnson took up a defensive position covering all angles. Deliberately he put all thoughts out of his head so he could deal effectively with the situation at hand. He couldn’t afford to get sloppy again or they all would die.
In seconds he had the tail gate open and Evens was hoisted into the back. Jumping into the driver side seat Barrett smashed the butt of his MP5 into the steering column releasing the locking mechanism. Pulling out a screwdriver from his belt kit he thrust it into the ignition and hammering it forward he twisted the lock and the vehicle immediately growled into life.
‘Neat… but aren’t you supposed to pull wires out from underneath,’ Louise Ruth said as she jumped in next to him. Barrett shook his head as Johnson leapt into the rear seat thrusting a few spear magazines she’d taken from the dead Robo-men into her back pack. Quickly winding down the window as she scanned the area ready to shoot anything that moved.
‘That only works in films.’ Hitting the accelerator he pulled out of the rear parking lot as two black clad figures broke cover and took aim with their weapons. Johnson took both men out with well placed shots that threw them backward to the concrete unmoving.
As they died one of the Rani’s soldiers noticed the Mercedes drive headlong into the wall opposite with a bone jarring crunch. Before his eyesight finally diminished he noticed that the vehicle was empty. As he coughed up thick clots of blood that covered his balaclava the naked foot of a woman passed before his eyes then just as suddenly the pain stopped as blackness took hold of him.
Chapter Four - Out in the MMFD
He needed to control his environment as much as he possibly could. He needed to isolate the variables and then inhibit their effect. He knew this because he’d been taught it often enough while in the SAS.
He cocked his head to one side hearing the squeal of breaks not far off. When he turned to look he saw two, American Humv-e’s heading at full speed towards them.
‘What the hell is going on now?’ He exclaimed in a loud voice. The Humv-e’s fishtailed and screeched to a complete halt on opposite sides of them. As they did so their doors flew open and four black-clad men jumped out of one vehicle. Five Robo-men de-bussed in typical special force’s formation, from the second vehicle. They all wore black face masks and black nylon and Kevlar body armour and were instantly recognisable as the Rani’s Robo-men.
One hour earlier they had crashed to the floor in a heap appearing inside the building that they now stood in front of. After the usual vomiting and disorientation Agent Johnson surveyed her surroundings. Evans and Barrett were already checking the perimeter for any signs of the Rani’s troops and Louise Ruth sat in one corner, conscious that her previously sodden clothing was now only slightly wet as if she’d been out in the rain, not submerged in the sea.
Walking over to her Johnson realised that she had been crying. Kneeling next to her, Louise Ruth looked up. A slightly yellowing bruise showed clearly on her left cheek where she had been struck by the wolf woman. She noticed that agent Johnson’s clothing was also no longer sodden but damp as well. Despite this improvement she still felt cold and uncomfortable.
‘Sorry… this is my… entire fault… she should have just taken me.’
Johnson shook her head. ‘We were dead the minute her men hit the beach… nothing to do with you. This way we get to live a little longer and try and figure out how to get home.’ Johnson passed her a handkerchief to wipe her eyes with. ‘Come on… let’s see where we are and I’ll tell you some good news.’
Standing they walked towards Barrett who was staring out of one of the windows his SIG held at the ready. There was something too familiar about the house they found themselves in but he was too busy watching for Robo-men insurgents to dedicate any of his conscious thought to the problem. It would come to him eventually.
‘Clear at the front boss and Evans has a similar story about the rear. Robson’s covering the windows in the next room. He’s still a little shaken… new to this sort of thing.’ Johnson smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. Despite her experience she too was a little jittery. ‘If we have to move quickly there’s a few vehicles at the front and rear we could use. In fact Evans has his eye on the Dodge Sedan over there.’ Johnson gazed passed him and noticed the giant American estate car that would suit their needs perfectly.
‘Good work sergeant.’ Just then they were joined by Evans who was smiling as he approached them.
‘I got her… did you see… I got her.’ Johnson nodded and watched Louise Ruth’s expression change from fear to confusion.
‘Mine went off to the left… took out one of the soldiers,’ Barrett said shaking his head as he did so.
Johnson turned to Louise Ruth ready to explain. ‘As we were transported out of there all three of us tried a fast draw shot. Apparently Evans won. My shot went to the left as well hitting one of the robo-soldiers in the face.’
‘So…’ Louise Ruth said, not sure whether she should voice the thoughts that they were all thinking.
‘So the Rani now sleeps with the fishes.’
‘Err… I hope you mean dead. Just conjures up pictures you don’t want to know about.’
‘Dead as disco in an old people’s home… and you can eat cod and chips any time you want in the comforting knowledge that they weren’t molested in any way.’ Evans said looking pleased with himself.
‘Right let’s get out of here and find a more suitable location while we try and figure out where we are, when we are and how we’re getting home.’
Five minutes later they were in the parking lot and things were hotting up all around them.
It wasn’t until Barrett entered the parking lot that he realised where he was. Standing before him, thrusting up towards the sky like a hand of hope stood the twin towers of the World Trade centre.
Almost transfixed by the edifice that had haunted his dreams for a decade he stood froze to the spot. Momentarily forgetting the situation he was in, his left hand thrust into his jacket pocket and pulled out the Magellan navigation system. Activating the power switch he waited patiently for it to power up. As it did so sweat poured down his face and tears ran down his cheeks as the date appeared in the right hand corner. It was September the tenth, Two Thousand and One.
As the others piled into the Dodge, thoughts whirled around in Barrett’s mind like a film on fast forward. From the corner of his eye he noticed Johnson staring at him then at the building that seemed to scream back at them. His hands began to shake and the years of training and professionalism he had undergone and been know for, disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Johnson walked up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder tried to remain calm. ‘We need to go. Those Robo-men we saw back at the beach… they’ll be after us if we stay in one place long enough.’
Johnson knew that Barrett’s family had been killed in the September 11th terrorist attack but didn’t know what to say or do to help him snap out of the trance that threatened to take over him. As if he hadn’t heard a word she had said he took a step forward and patted his pockets as if searching frantically for something.
‘A phone… I need a phone… just to tell her… tell them not to go tomorrow.’ Before she could reply, two shots rang out striking the concrete between them, kicking up stone in their wake.
As the two vehicles skidded round the corner Johnson left Barrett’s side and immediately engaged the vehicle to her right leaving Evans and Robson with the Humv-e on their left. With Barrett’s immobility she was left to face the five black clad assailants that spilled out of each door on her own.
‘Get down,’ Evans shouted to Louise Ruth as he drew out his SIG. There was a sudden hail of bullets and the windshield of the Dodge shattered into tiny diamond-like pieces. ‘Get back into the house now’, he said as he turned to return fire.’
As she leapt from the rear of the vehicle he ducked behind it, using it for cover. With the eyes of a marksman he scanned the area for the Rani’s men. He knew that they wore rubber-soled boots and so could move silently and stealthily without him hearing them, but that wasn’t going to stop him taking down as many as he could.
Gripping his pistol in both hands he moved it around in a slow circuit tracking all points of the compass, starting from his far right interlinking with Robson’s arch of fire and moving steadily in a clockwise direction. Barrett, he knew, would be covering Robson’s arch of fire and Johnston would cover Barrett’s so there would be no gaps for the enemy to breech.
A moment before it happened he could see it happening in his mind. Robson took four rounds, three to the chest and one to the head. He was dead before he hit the ground. Slowly and deliberately Evans shot the first man in the chest as his hand was coming out of his coat. He saw him fall sideways but hadn’t the time to wait to see if he went down.
He shot the next man in the throat and the chest finding the weak point in his armour, just as his automatic came to bear on him. The weapon flew into the air as the bullet tore a hole in his flesh. Instinctively he knew that he was out of it. Someone shouted something as he shot the next man in the face as he was crouching to fire and saw his arms going up with his firearm. With his chest exposed he shot him again completing his double tap to finish him off.
He thought it strange that men would wear thick body armour to protect them, yet it was their faces they put in the line of enemy fire, which weren’t protected. Instinctively he knew he had to get back to the first man because he wasn’t sure of him and by the time he aimed the 9mm at him he realised that he was too late. With Robson down there was no one to cover his arch of fire.
The bullet caught trooper Evans in the chest, with a sickening thump and it was all over. His mind had registered a flash and he felt as if a sledgehammer had hit him just below the heart. The noise of the first shot was lost in the pounding impact of the bullet hitting him. At first he felt no pain, but he knew that it was coming. Numbness spread throughout his chest and his mind remained calm, as if waiting for the next step. A second shot tore into his thigh dropping him to one knee. Despite the wounds he held the 9mm steady and while his opponent still looked at him he shot him four times in the face and chest. The man’s brain must have died but his right leg and arm still twitched.
He was aware of the silence as he looked at the bodies all around him, knowing that they were dead. Slowly he replaced the 9mm into its shoulder holster and tried to stand. It took him three attempts before he made it.
He tried to stay standing, concentrating on his own body, but deep down he knew that the wound was bad. He could see the blood coming through the thin green material of his UNIT shirt. A hand grabbed hold of him from behind and eased him down gently. From his new position he could clearly see Private Robson’s lifeless body as the breeze blew his hair across his face.
Sergeant Barrett knew that he’d screwed up. He knew that his inactivity had lead to the death of private Robson and probably Evans. As shots sent stone chippings flying all around him all he could think about was his wife and daughter. It had been Robson’s scream that had brought him back to reality.
Drawing his SIG he’d dropped as many as he could more desperate to keep himself alive than he’d ever been in the last ten years. Without a word he bent forward and slung Evans over his shoulder. He just managed to see Agent Johnson, from the corner of his eye, fire a double tap into one of their attacker’s heads as he lay on the ground. Retrieving an MP5 and a back pack, she slung them over one of her shoulders and headed back towards the house, covering the approach as she did so.
Bursting through the front door Barrett quickly laid Evans on the ground next to Louise Ruth who clutched the first aid box with a look of nervousness showing clearly on her face.
‘Private Robson?’ She asked, but Barrett shook his head, the pain of his death showing clearly on his face. Robson had trusted him to protect his back, to cover the very arc of fire that had got him killed. None of the others might have seen it, they’d been too busy, but he knew. His failure to keep his head in the game had resulted in the death of one soldier and possibly two.
‘Steve didn’t make it… but Evans needs all the help you can give him,’ Barrett said, his voice betraying his emotion.
Looking at the wounded man Louise Ruth stared into his eyes. The first thing she noticed was that his pupils were dilated and his skin felt cold and damp. The entry wound, she realised, was just below his right breast and the exit wound showed clearly under his right shoulder blade causing relief to surge through her. She knew the theory of dealing with a chest wound but had never practiced it.
‘Sergeant… put a dressing on his leg wound and check for others. I’ll take a look at his chest.’ She knew that the lung was punctured and with a sigh or relief she realised that it might be something she was able to deal with. With any luck it shouldn’t be fatal.
‘It went right through you,’ she said as she examined him closely. Evans looked up at her glassy eyed, his mouth open. Louise Ruth opened his jacket and shirt, getting down to the skin as quickly as she could and pressed a folded field dressing, which Barrett had passed her, against the wound.
It was as bad as it could be, she could see as panic rose in her throat. The sucking chest wound was bubbling air and blood. On closer examination she could see splintered pieces of rib bone in the wound, which made her shudder. Having tied off the wound Barrett ran from the room as more vehicles pulled up outside, black clad soldiers spilling form every door.
Evans was sweating a cold clammy sweat and Louise Ruth knew that he was going into shock. Shots thundered in the confines of the room as Johnson and Barrett held back an attack from the Rani’s Robo-men. Trying to blot out the noise she knew she had to concentrate on the job in hand and let them do their work. Flipping out her mobile phone she smiled as she hit speed dial.
‘Are you anywhere near a computer?’ she said into the phone causing Evans to almost smile at the one sided conversation. ‘Well get off Facebook… this is important. Google sucking chest wounds for me…’ a pause as Louise Ruth rolled her eyes. ‘Laura… yes I need it now… it is important.’
Evans almost burst out laughing. He was dying and Louise Ruth was arguing with her sister. ‘Thanks… now tell me the treatment.’ Another pause which didn’t fill Evans with too much reassurance but did make him concentrate enough to stave off the effects of shock to his system. ‘Cling film… what you put over food… you’re taking the pi… alright cling film… what else?’
This would be so funny, Evans thought if it were happening to someone else. ‘Right… what about pain killers?’ Pain killers, Evans thought, just what he needed. There were two ampoules of morphine in his belt kit. ‘Right… and then what?’ The urgency seemed to have left her voice, Evans realised and wondered if this was a good thing or a bad thing. He’d never had an injury ‘googled’ before.
‘Oh… alright then.’ She was just about to hang up when the conversation continued. ‘he got it… I gave him it myself… yes it was a full bottle. Well I never touched it… alright I may have borrowed one of the cigars but I never touched the Jack. I’m fine… look I’ve got to go I have to type this up and hand it in. I’ll see you for Christmas… I will… right I’m going… then just throw them out, I don’t care… Look, you pick out the clothes and I’ll pay you for them… whatever you think… you’re the fashion expert… I’ll have to go my ride’s here… bye… bye.’ Louise Ruth flipped the phone closed then stared apologetically at Evans.
‘The good news is you’ll be okay. You can breathe with one lung for a while as long as I can get some plastic over the wound so that the lung doesn’t collapse.’ She turned towards the open doorway and shouted, ’Someone get me some cling film if you can find any.’
She was about to say something to Evans when he grabbed her sleeve. ‘Morphine… give me some Morphine for the pain,’ Evans pleaded as a tremor rippled through him. Louise Ruth shook her head, as her eyes redden. Silently she fought the need to get out, to run away and let someone else deal with the situation.
‘You know I can’t do that. Morphine will affect your respiratory system just when you need all the help you can get.’
‘But it… it hurts.’ Tears filled her eyes but she knew she had to be strong. As the adrenalin levels dropped in him the pain would increase to unbelievable proportions if she didn’t do something fast.
‘Turn over a little.’ Slowly and carefully she helped him roll over so that she could press another dressing against the entrance wound, which was small and surprisingly showed very little blood. Finished, she brought him back gently to lie on his injured side. More shots thundered out, almost shaking the walls to its very foundations. The smell of cordite filled the air making her feel sickly.
‘Well get you fixed up in a minute. Just hang in there.’ She said as she took his right hand and laid it on the dressing covering the air-sucking hole in his chest.
‘The pain, shit! It’s killing me.’
‘Here, keep your hand on it and press. The pain should go.’
‘Really?’ he asked through pain filled eyes.
‘No, not really but you’ll get used to it.’
‘I’ve been shot,’ he said as if she hadn’t noticed.
‘You’ll be okay. Try not to move.’
‘I can’t move. Shit!’
‘Don’t breathe too deeply. Try and relax.’ She could tell that it was a bad wound but concentrated on the job at hand. With her fingers she probed carefully beneath the dressing and pulled her hand away when she felt something that shouldn’t be there. There was something sharp and hard sticking out.
At the moment she didn’t want to think about it. His body had been ripped open by a high powered bullet. Blood was pouring out and logic dictated that the bleeding had to be her first priority. Evans screamed as she pressed down on the wound. She supposed that it was good that he felt pain. It meant that he was here and able to think.
Evans found that it was easier to breathe when he relaxed. Before, he thought that he was suffocating or drowning. Now it was easier and he felt less afraid about not being able to breathe. He did feel sick and was afraid that he might throw up. The sound was still there when he breathed, like bubbles in a straw but they weren’t that loud. It was difficult to move. It was like that film with Ewan McGregor when a dagger had been plunged into him and held him pinned to the floor. It hurt, but it hurt a lot more when he moved.
Looking up she realised for the first time that she was completely alone. Barrett and Johnson had both left to defend the house from other vantage points while she tried to stabilise Evens. Sporadic shots told her that more men were outside trying to get in. After a few minutes Johnson returned and dropped a roll of cling film on the floor next to her and removed a small bag from the back pack she’d picked up in the parking lot.
‘It’s a ‘giving set,’ she said and for the first time Louise Ruth realised that she hadn’t a clue what she was doing. She noticed the litre bag of saline fluid, a tube with a needle that could punch into the bag, a valve for regulating the flow and a needle with a plastic sheath for sticking into the vein. This was beyond her but she wasn’t going to admit it. Before she could ask questions Johnson left without a word returning to her defensive position at the far right of the house.
‘Right… we’ll do this logically.’ Pulling a wooden chair closer to her she hooked the saline bag on the back of it and punctured it with the first needle. Turning the regulator she let the fluid travel to the second needle which she held next to Evan’s arm. Because of his fitness and constant weight training his veins stood out prominently on his arm and were easy to puncture with the needle. Giving the bag a squeeze the fluid began to trickle into Evans’ arm.
‘Shit… I don’t believe it was that easy… bastard’s working…right… let’s get you fixed up. You’re going to have to roll over again on your left side.’
Slowly and carefully Evans felt himself being turned. Every movement sent shooting pain throughout his entire body causing him to cry out. On his side he managed to take in a lung full of oxygen and surprisingly he felt better. Sweat dripped from his nose and his body relaxed as the pain diminished slightly. It was like getting a tattoo, he thought. As soon as the pain from the needle stopped his body relaxed and he could breathe again. With a mounting feeling of unease he felt his jacket pulling and heard the metallic sound of scissors.
‘You’re going to cut my jacket off,’ he said alarmed. His breathing sounded laboured Louise Ruth thought.
‘You can always get a new one,’ she said with a smile Evans couldn’t see. Shaking his head Evans raised his arm so she could pull the right side of the jacket from his body.
‘Three hundred pounds… I’ll… take the… pain.’
Changing his dressing she saw that there was very little blood but the wound still bubbled and sucked air when she uncovered it to put on the clean dressing. She knew that he heard the sound his own body was making and understood the implications of that sound.
‘I’m breathing… I’m breathing out of my… chest?’ She nodded and passed him a bottle of water.
‘Don’t drink… just rinse your mouth out.’ Taking a mouthful he spit the blooded contents across the floor.
‘I’m not supposed to drink, but can I smoke?’ She shook her head as she fastened the bandage in place.
‘Your lungs are in enough trouble as it is.’ She took the bottle of water from him and replaced the top. ‘Now would be a good time to quit.’
‘You know… how many times I tried to… to quit?’ She finished off the dressing by wrapping cling film around both the front and back of Evans’ body then looked down to admire her handy work. The cling film had stopped the air escaping from his chest which meant that the injured lung could now re-inflate.
‘It’s funny I’m not more scared of dying… but I think well… if it happens it happens.’ Turning him over onto his injured side she smiled in satisfaction when she heard the change in his breathing. ‘It’s interesting you know… I mean… this has never happened to me before.’ Not only had his breathing returned to normal he was sounding stronger.
‘If you’re not afraid of dying what are you afraid of? I mean… everyone’s afraid of something.’ Smiling she noticed his colour returning as the saline joined with his blood to increase his body fluids.
‘My greatest fear… I suppose was to do with being so close to freedom I could taste it… then being shot down or captured… just like Steve McQueen in the Great Escape. You can see the determination on his face when he put his hand through the barbed wire into freedom with the Germens all around him. It’s like life. You see the nearer I get to happiness the more scared I become. To have it all in my sights then have it taken away from me is a fate worse than anything I could possibly imagine. My respect goes out to Sergeant Barrett. How that man keeps living I’ll never know.’
Louise Ruth was just about to comment when Johnson and Barrett entered the room together. Looking down at Evans, Johnson nodded her approval and smiled.
‘Now, my friend, we are going to adopt the safe retreat.’ Louise Ruth looked mystified as she packed the first aid kit up.
‘What’s the safe retreat when it’s at home?’ Looking down at Evans she gauged whether they could move him or not.
‘It’s something from my Special Forces days.’ Johnson said removing the clip from her newly acquired MP5, to check how many rounds she had left. ‘It’s a manoeuvre that looks as if you’re retreating, but really you’re attacking from a different angle.’
Pulling one of the interior doors from its hinges they placed Evan onto it and between them carried him to the back of the house. As Johnson scanned the area with her MP5 Louise Ruth and Barrett ran towards the nearest car, an old Mercedes Estate car, perfect for their needs.
As they lowered Evans to the ground Louise Ruth noticed a number of dead Robo-men lying behind parked cars and small brick walls. ‘They had been busy’, she thought. Barrett picked the lock of the driver side door as Johnson took up a defensive position covering all angles. Deliberately he put all thoughts out of his head so he could deal effectively with the situation at hand. He couldn’t afford to get sloppy again or they all would die.
In seconds he had the tail gate open and Evens was hoisted into the back. Jumping into the driver side seat Barrett smashed the butt of his MP5 into the steering column releasing the locking mechanism. Pulling out a screwdriver from his belt kit he thrust it into the ignition and hammering it forward he twisted the lock and the vehicle immediately growled into life.
‘Neat… but aren’t you supposed to pull wires out from underneath,’ Louise Ruth said as she jumped in next to him. Barrett shook his head as Johnson leapt into the rear seat thrusting a few spear magazines she’d taken from the dead Robo-men into her back pack. Quickly winding down the window as she scanned the area ready to shoot anything that moved.
‘That only works in films.’ Hitting the accelerator he pulled out of the rear parking lot as two black clad figures broke cover and took aim with their weapons. Johnson took both men out with well placed shots that threw them backward to the concrete unmoving.
As they died one of the Rani’s soldiers noticed the Mercedes drive headlong into the wall opposite with a bone jarring crunch. Before his eyesight finally diminished he noticed that the vehicle was empty. As he coughed up thick clots of blood that covered his balaclava the naked foot of a woman passed before his eyes then just as suddenly the pain stopped as blackness took hold of him.
Chapter Four - Out in the MMFD