Above Board

Chapter 16

"WILL!"

Brian reached him first; Will had turned white, he was gasping for breath as Brian caught him in his arms.
"Oh Jesus," Brian muttered, seeing the extent of the damage. "Oh Jesus Christ, no. Just-Hold on, Will. Can you hear me son? Hold on!"
Instinctively he laid Will down and put pressure over the wound to control the bleeding. This wasn't an easy task - blood was pumping through Brian's fingers no matter how hard he pressed down, and he couldn't do more with his hands heavily bandaged.
The leader was still holding the knife, absolute shock on his face. The blade was stained, dripping slowly with Will's blood.
"That's right, Brian, try and keep him calm." Sara's first-aid skills kicked in as she knelt next to Will.
"What do we do, Sara, what do we do?" Brian babbled, pleading to his wife.
"I need...I need to see where the injury is." Sara prised her husband's hands off Will's chest. Immediately, blood spurted out. Brian moved out of the way as Sara took off her scarf. "Okay, well it looks as though the blade's penetrated an artery."
"That's bad, isn't it?" asked Brian.
"Mum..." Will whimpered.
"Sshhh, try not to talk, son," Sara soothed him, stroking his hair. "Keep as still as you can for me."
She turned to the others. "Has anyone got scissors?"
No-one said anything.
"Answer me!" she shouted. "This is an emergency! I need some scissors! Now!"  
A soldier jumped, patting at his pockets. "I've got some nail clippers," he suggested, pulling a small pair out. 
"Perfect." Sara took them and began carefully snipping away at Will's top. 
"Sara, what're you doing?" exclaimed Brian. 
"I need to check there isn't more than one stab wound." Sara explained. 
To her relief, she could only see one penetrating hole in her son's chest. She wrapped her scarf into a ball and applied direct pressure to the hole. "Right, Brian, I need you to take my coat off."
"What?"
"I don't have any gloves with me. We need to create a barrier between ourselves and the blood to prevent infection. I can't do it because I can't take my hands off the wound. We have to keep him as comfortable as possible until help arrives."
Brian carefully wrapped his wife's coat under Will's head, whose breathing was getting more and more shallow. 
"I don't like the sound of his lungs at all," Sara lowered her voice out of their son's earshot. 
"Shouldn't we get him to sit up or something?" Brian wondered. 
"No I'm not sure how deep the blade went in and I don't want to exacerbate his injuries," 

Brian glared up at the young leader, who was sitting on a box, examining the blade.
"Proud of yourself, are you?" Brian snapped. "Think you're such a big man?"
The leader didn't reply. 
"Brian, this isn't helping anyone," said Sara. "You have to remain calm for Will's sake, please."
By now, Will was drifting in and out of consciousness. Brian and Sara kept tapping his face, pleading with him to stay awake. 
"Hey, I don't like the sound of that." The leader was glancing at the opening, from which red blue and white lights were flashing. "Is it the fuzz?"
A Bandit peered over the side of the barrier. "Bloody hell! It's the Five-O, government agents, ambulance people, the lot!"
"Oh thank God," Sara whispered. "The police are here. They must've got my message."
"I don't think so." The leader pointed his blade at the McCormicks. "I don't like the Five-O very much. Call them off, send them away, or you'll get merked."
"Come on, lad, we know you don't mean that," Brian protested. "Haven't you done enough?"
"Grandpa has a point," said a Bandit. "It'll be ten years in the nick if they bust us. Come on, let's get out of here, man. That lot have done nothing to you."
The leader paused, dropping his blade. "Alright." He pointed at the McCormicks. "But if I ever see your faces around these parts again, I won't show mercy next time."
"You won't," Brian promised. 
The leader whistled with his fingers to the other members. "Come!" he yelled.
The Bandits let out war cries and raced back to their motorbikes. Brian, Sara and army soldiers watched as they clambered aboard and rode over the top of the barrier, sparks flying, engines roaring and voices hooting, until all was silence.
"So...what happens now?" a soldier wondered.
Brian was startled; he'd completely forgotten about General Ripley's cadets. He opened his mouth to answer, when two ambulances, a marked squad van and two police cars screeched to a halt outside the Channel Tunnel.
Officers in black riot gear charged out, pointing their weapons and shining torches.
"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS IN THE AIR!" they yelled. "SHOW US YOUR HANDS! DROP YOUR WEAPONS! GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! NOW!"
"We're not armed!" Sara cried, keeping pressure on Will's chest. "Please, my son's bleeding, he needs help!"
But no one was listening. Ripley's cadets tossed their firearms aside and surrendered. They were put in cuffs and placed in the squad van. 
The McCormicks found themselves surrounded by demanding officers. 
"Stand down, leave them." Gavin ordered, emerging from one of the police cars. Brian could see his Secret Service badge dangling around his neck. 
Gavin put a hand on Sara's shoulder. "Sara I got your distress call; are you alright?"
"No, but my son. My son..." Sara blinked hard to stop the tears - she had to be strong for Will. 
"Oh God..." It was then Gavin noticed the state of Will, and the amount of blood he was losing. "Can we get some help over here, please?" he shouted to the ambulance. "Quickly! This boy requires immediate medical attention!"
"It's alright, Sara," he added. "We've caught up with the Liberation Army; we're storming the base as we speak and arresting Ripley's accomplices. Where is the twat anyway?"
Brian pointed at Ripley's body. Gavin took off his glasses and scratched his head. 
"Cowardly bastard. Did for himself, did he?"
"Actually he was stabbed with this." Brian bent down to pick up the knife the leader had dropped.
"No, no, no, no, no, Brian, don't touch it." Gavin stopped him. "There could be crucial fingerprints on the hilt that might lead us to the perpetrator. Do we know who did it?"
"No, I didn't catch a name, but whoever it is also attacked my son." Brian said bitterly. "He's long gone, he took off with the other Bandits."
"You mean he was one of them?" Gavin was shocked. "They never come here!"
"Well, they do now."