12 Seconds (#1 in Military series)

Chapter 21

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.