Phew, this was a hard one to write. I hope its ok though, and I'd like to thank Hollie, Jo, Em, kassc and littlebit100. Enjoy!
They were five hours into the riots. It had just gone past midnight, and the officers who were scattered across London were really hoping that the rioters would pack it in and call it a night. No such luck. If anything they seemed to get rowdier, seemed to get more confident in themselves, and with their growing confidence came the use of weapons. Some of the rioters had brought bats with them, some had brought crowbars; it was quickly descending into madness. More and more people had arrived, swelling the rioters to massive proportions. It was out of hand, had been for most of the night, but the Metropolitan were simply out of officers to send. Everyone who could be brought in for action already had been. This was it.
"Right you lot listen, Inspector Gold's just been on the phone. We're to return to the station in about an hour for a break. Another team of officers will swap in for us. Once we're at the station she'll give us any new orders and updates, then we'll come back out here. Understood?" Smithy said to his team. There was much nodding and mutterings of "Thank God!" Smithy's team had moved from their previous location; they'd been sent up the road where another group of officers had needed help nicking a group of looters who'd just emerged from a ransacked electrical store. Once they had aided their colleagues, they had been instructed to hold their location along that street in case of repeat lootings. They were standing around talking when they heard an explosion come from around the corner, followed by screams for help. Nate was the first to run towards it, followed closely by Leon. Smithy rang in for fire back-up as he followed his officers. They rounded the corner and were immediately hit by a curtain of heat and smoke. Someone had set fire to a wine bar, but above the wine bar were flats.
"HELP ME!" a woman screamed from a window. There were flames spilling out the window, smoke nearly obscuring her.
"Bloody hell." Roger whispered.
"Sarge she's gonna have to jump. We'll have to catch her." Leon shouted over the roaring flames.
"Right come over here, all of you. Stand close together, position yourself under the window. That's it." Smithy ordered. He looked up at the window, "You need to jump!" he shouted to the woman.
"I can't! I'll die!" she cried back in hysterics.
"No you won't, look we're gonna catch you, see?" Smithy said.
"But what if you don't? I'll die!" the woman screamed again.
"If you don't jump you'll die anyway. I promise we'll catch you." Smithy shouted up at her. He watched as the woman crossed herself, mumbling a prayer. She climbed slowly out onto the thin ledge of the window, shutting her eyes before jumping.
Sergeant Stone's team were at the station, relishing being able to sit down and relax, even if it was just for half an hour. Most of them were getting food and refuelling. Beth, Millie and Jess were sharing a large bowl of chips while Will and Ben were scoffing down burgers. Tony was eating his sandwich quietly, looking longingly at the chips.
"Are you ill Tone?" Will said cheekily.
"What?" Tony asked, turning to look at Will.
"Its just, I've never seen you pass up burger and chips. And they've got your favourite tonight; lasagne!" Will said with a grin.
"I've been told to cut down on fatty foods." Tony said grumpily.
"No way! Oh well, I'm sure me and Ben can crack through enough fatty food for you as well. Nice sandwich?" Will teased.
"For God sake Will leave the poor man alone!" Beth said with a glare.
"Sorry Beth, jeez, lighten up." Will said, mock affronted.
"Shut up all of you. It's like being back on the streets." Callum complained, setting his food down.
"Has Gold given you any more instructions for when we get back out there?" Jess asked, passing Callum a cup of coffee. He took it gratefully, taking a sip before nodding.
"We're to take over from Smithy's lot so they can come and have their break. They're down one of the streets that's been hit hard by rioters, so we're basically on alert for more looters." Callum replied.
"Are we still being told to make arrests?" Millie asked.
"Yep, even though we're running out of room. All our cells here are already full. Any new arrests are being taken to Spicer Street at the minute." Callum said.
"Is there a solid plan of action yet?" Ben piped up.
"Nope, basically we're making it up as we go along, trying to put on a brave face for the public. The reality is, we're overwhelmed. We can't keep up. We're running out of cells, the hospitals and paramedics are overstretched, there's not enough fire crews to keep up with all the fires that the looters are starting. It's complete anarchy out there." Callum said shaking his head.
"I'm so ashamed of this country." Beth said sadly.
"It's horrific. We've got men and women fighting for our country in Afghanistan, yet our own citizens are the ones ripping our country apart. It's disgusting." Jess said bluntly.
"How long is this going to go on for?" Millie asked.
"No idea. This wasn't even supposed to happen in the first place. I have no idea what triggered it, especially on such a wide scale. The "powers that be" are worrying that the riots will spread to other areas in the country. They're also talking about bringing officers in from other police forces to help us." Callum informed them.
"So really we have to sit and wait." Tony said.
"That's exactly what we have to do." Callum said with a nod.
The woman who was trapped above the wine bar took a leap of faith. It seemed an age that she was falling through the air, but finally she landed, cradled in between the bodies of the officers. She burst into tears; never had she been so terrified. One of the male officers carried her away from the still roaring building that had been her home. He set her down gently on the pavement, wrapping a foil blanket around her.
"I'm PC Taylor; can you tell me your name?"
"Diana Mendes." she said shakily, coughing. Leon handed her a bottle of water which she gulped down, "Thank you."
"I know this must be hard, but can you tell me what happened?" Leon asked.
"I don't really know. Obviously we heard about the riots on the radio, but we didn't realise how close it was to us. We were getting ready to leave when all these people just ran down the street and started smashing up the buildings. We were too scared to leave; we just stayed in our flat praying they would leave us alone. And then it just got really hot. My husband looked out the window, and all he could see was fire." Diana answered.
"Your husband? Where is he?" Leon asked, looking back up at the inferno Diana had just escaped from. Diana looked up, realisation dawning in her eyes.
"I don't know. He said he was behind me. Oh God." Diana cried, getting to her feet. She ran back to the building, but Nate grabbed her around the waist before she could get any further.
"Leon? What's going on?" Smithy asked, jogging over.
"She says her husband was with her. But she doesn't know where he is. He can't still be in there." Leon said wide eyed.
"No-one could survive in there for much longer." Kirsty said, looking up at the building.
"SARGE!" Mel shouted, rushing forward to help a figure that had just stumbled from an alley attached to the side of the wine bar. She caught the man before he fell to the ground, immediately rolling him on his side. His skin was blackened but he was alive.
"Bill!" Diana screamed, rushing to her husband's side. She smoothed his burnt hair back, whispering thanks over and over. "Is he ok?"
"We don't know, we need to get the paramedics here." Roger said, walking away so he could radio for medical assistance.
"Mrs Mendes, did you see who did this?" Smithy asked, leading Diana away from her husband. She craned her neck, trying to see past Smithy back to her husband, "Mrs Mendes?"
"N...no, I didn't. There was so many of them, they were masked or hooded. The few that didn't cover their faces were too far away to make out properly. We were too scared to have a good look in case they saw us." Diana said distractedly, yearning to get back to her husband.
"Ok thank you. The paramedics are on their way, you should go with them too to get checked over." Smithy said gently.
"No I'm fine; they need to look after Bill." Diana said with a nod.
"Mrs Mendes, you could have suffered from smoke inhalation and you're in shock. Just let them take a quick look yeah?" Smithy insisted.
"Yes, yes ok. Thank you." Diana said gratefully, rushing back to her husband.
"Smithy, we're here to take over." Callum said, walking over to his fellow sergeant. The break had been desperately needed but too short in his opinion.
"How's it going at the station?" Smithy asked.
"The Commander's driving Gold mad, so she's taking it out on us. She's trying not to, but you know how much the Commander gets to her." Callum said with a small smile.
"Yeah I know. Any news of us getting more officers? Or when we'll be able to go home?" Smithy asked.
"They're talking about bringing in officers from other forces, like the Kent Police. And as for when we can go home? No idea. Sorry." Callum said.
"Right then. We'll get back to the station. See you later." Smithy said with a nod as he beckoned his officers over to the van, ready to go and have a well deserved break.
Since Smithy's team had left, there had been no more looting or rioting activity along that particular stretch of shops. The fire crew had finally arrived, their apologies waved away by Callum. They doused the wine bar down, reducing it to a blackened skeleton of what it had been. The officers looked at it sadly. That was someone's livelihood, someone's home, gone in the flicker of a match.
Sally was sat with her face pressed against the cool table. Next to her was a steaming mug of lemsip as well as a fatty bacon butty which Nate had just set down. She grimaced and pushed the butty away. Nate placed a hand on her forehead.
"Sal I really think you should go home." Nate said in concern.
Sally shut her eyes tiredly, "No, I'm ok, I just need to get that lemsip down and have some more paracetemol then I'll be good to go again."
"Please Sal, you're not fit to work when you feel this ill." Nate pushed.
"Nate they need all of us. We're already overwhelmed; I can't leave my friends in the lurch by going home because of a headache. I love that you worry about me, but honestly, I'll be fine." she insisted.
"Ok, but seriously Sal, if you feel any worse, tell Smithy." Nate argued.
"Yes dad." she said tiredly.
Smithy walked into the canteen, heading over to the table where his team of officers were congregated, "Alright you lot? You all had a hot drink and something to eat? If not, do so now, I don't know when our next break is going to be."
"Sarge when can we go home? I was already on shift when the riots started; I've done sixteen hours straight." Roger asked.
"I know that you've been here well over your shift, but we need everyone we can get Rog. I don't know when we'll be able to go home. If you feel like you're lagging, then I'm sure you can get some rest. You'd need to run it through Inspector Gold first though." Smithy said.
"No thanks, I saw how snappy she got last time the Commander was here. I'm not going into the Dragons lair." Roger muttered.
"Rog come on, stop moaning. You don't half show your age sometimes." Kirsty said, rolling her eyes.
"Well excuse me PC Knight for wanting to know when I'll be able to get some sleep." Roger answered back.
"Come on you lot, shut it. Let's just have some quiet yeah? While we can." Leon said to the group.
"Nicely said Leon." Smithy said with a nod.
"Sarge? What are we doing when we get back out there?" Mel asked.
"No idea. Inspector will tell me before we leave. I think she said that us and Sergeant Stone's team will be put together to man a larger area that's been targeted." Smithy answered.
"Oh right, at least we'll have extra back up then." she said with a smile.
"Right you lot, I've just had instructions from Inspector Gold. The van is coming to get us in a minute to take us across the city. We're merging with Smithy's team and have been told to patrol the area outside of a shopping centre which has been targeted. The road that the shopping centre is on leads to residential housing, so we've been ordered to keep any rioters and looters away from that area at all costs. Understood?" Callum asked.
"Sarge." they all replied as one. They climbed into the van, joining Smithy and his team, exchanging horror stories of what had happened so far during the nights, with Nate and Will competing to see who had the best stories. They all quietened down though as the landscape drastically changed. They thought they'd seen bad; here there was a burnt out double decker bus, most of the shop windows had been smashed in, there were police grappling with the rioters, small fires had been lit in bins...there was no end to the violence and chaos.
"Safe to say I don't have a good feeling about this." Roger muttered.
"Seriously Rog, shut up." Ben hissed.
"Come on Rog, we've seen worse than this." Tony said, nudging his friend, "At least they haven't brought the water canon out yet; you know it's bad when they do that!"
"I know we've said it before, but your safety is priority." Smithy said, addressing the group before they got dropped off.
"But sarge, doesn't that go against being told to stop the rioters and looters at all costs from getting to the residential areas?" Millie pointed out.
"Correct Millie. So what we're saying to you, unofficially, is do your best, but if apprehending a rioter or preventing a looter is going to harm you in any way, do not do it. Call someone to help you by all means, but don't handle something on your own that you don't feel comfortable with. Is that understood?" Smithy asked. They were mutterings and nodding of heads as they disembarked onto the mean streets of London.
An hour and a half later and the officers had been lucky so far. They'd grabbed a few looters who thought they'd be cocky and try and steal from the electrical store right in front of the cops. Will and Nate took great joy in tag teaming against the two youth who were immediately subdued and thrown in a police van. But apart from a few minor occurrences, all was quiet. It didn't last long though. Some minutes later the officers could hear chanting, yelling, shouting, getting nearer and nearer. Eyes peeled, bodies tensed and alert, they listened as the shouting increased, and then they saw the great sea of people approaching.
"Hold the line!" Callum shouted at the officers, who all raised their riot shields and made sure their batons were secure in their hands. At first it was only small rocks that smattered against the riot shields. And then it was bricks. They struggled to stop the bricks from hitting them, or from smashing the windows of the shopping centre, but once again, the group of rioters greatly outnumbered the officers. The bricks were coming thick and fast, as well as the jeering and laughter of the mob. They stopped a short distance from the officers, taunting them.
"Sarge what do we do?" Mel asked wide eyed.
"We hold the line." Smithy answered, his eyes never leaving the mob in front of them.
"Do you think we can take them?" Callum said quietly to Smithy, who shook his head slightly.
"We've got to wait and see what they do." Smithy whispered. Someone stepped forward from the mob, a well built man with a red bandana across his face.
"Oi pigs! You're in our way! We've got some shopping to do!" he shouted, much to the delight of his cohorts. "Get out of our way before we steamroll you!"
"STAY WHERE YOU ARE OR WE WILL ACT!" Smithy shouted, more confident than he felt.
The man just laughed, "You and whose army?"
"Smithy, I've radioed for assistance, ETA five minutes." Callum said urgently.
"We can hold them off, can't we?" Jess whispered.
"We're going to damn well try." Callum said back. The man took another step forward, getting cocky.
"I heard that one of your lot's been killed tonight? Is that true? I hope it is, all pigs deserve to die." the man shouted furiously.
"COME ANY CLOSER AND WE WILL ACT ACCORDINGLY." Callum shouted.
The man just laughed him off. He turned to face the bristling mob behind him. "FOR JACKSON MANN!" he yelled, and the mob moved as one, towards the officers, swarming them. The officers jumped into action, desperately trying to apprehend as many of them as possible, trying to hold them off until back up arrived. The officers were strong, but the mob had brought baseball bats and crowbars with them. They were swinging wildly at the officers, hitting each other as much as anything. Then came a scream. The apparent ringleader had gone after the female officers, figuring them to be the easier targets. He'd gone after Sally, who was struggling to stay focussed with the men surrounding her. He gripped the crowbar firmly in his hand, swinging it forcefully against her helmet. The helmet absorbed most of the force, but it was enough to knock her to the floor. Her head was pounding, she couldn't see, she couldn't concentrate, she couldn't stop the men from trampling her, she couldn't stop them kicking her and hitting her with their weapons. The last thing she remembered was desperately screaming before it all went black.