Hollie was getting more and more panicked as time passed. The sound of gunshots didn't seem to be slowing down, let alone stopping. The angry shouts that accompanied the noise appeared to be getting louder, making the teenager think that the figures behind the sounds were getting closer. She pulled Natalie up into a seated position, wrapping her arms around her and trying to share body heat. The older girl was hovering on the edge of consciousness and the cold, damp atmosphere in the building couldn't have been doing much to help.
Wondering what was happening outside the girl was tempted to return to the window for another look. She assumed that the police wouldn't be able to enter the building and come looking for them until the fighting had stopped, in case there were any casualties. Hollie couldn't blame them not wanting to put themselves in danger, but she wished that they would hurry up all the same.
She was so cold and tired that all Hollie really wanted to do was sleep. But, in the same way that she was trying to keep Natalie awake, the teenager knew that losing consciousness wasn't an option. Struggling to her feet, the seventeen-year-old hobbled backwards and forwards across the floor, rubbing her arms to try and keep them vaguely warm. After she had taken off her jumper and pulled it over Natalie's head to give her the extra warmth, the only thing protecting Hollie from the chill was her thin school shirt, which was ripped in several places.
Checking that the door was firmly barricaded, Hollie crouched beside her sister for a moment. She lifted her jumper and Natalie's top to assess the stab wound on her side. Wincing, she pulled them down again and moved the older girl's hand to press against it. Frustrated as her hand dropped limply to her side, the teenager glanced at Natalie's pale face and chewed her thumbnail anxiously.
"Come on, Nat… you have to stay awake." She ordered. "I need you to stay awake. Please!"
When there was no response, Hollie made her way slowly back towards the window. Her ankle was even more painful now, the cold causing it to seize up. She bit down hard on her lip, transferring the focus of her agony away from her foot. As the girl reached the window, she dragged herself back onto the ledge so she could look out again. Below her, the police were still milling about obviously not willing to enter the building while there was still a chance of anyone getting shot. The gunfire had stopped, but the shouting was still going on.
One of the figures seemed to be looking up, their attention fixed on a point somewhere to her left. Examining the figure closely, the teenager saw that it was a blonde woman. Leaning out as far as she could, Hollie tried to see what she was looking at. The woman below obviously noticed, because a sharp shout reached her ears and she pointed in her direction, before returning her attention to the spot she'd been staring at before. Wriggling slightly, Hollie ignored the sharp fragment of wood sticking into her stomach and leaned out a little further.
Glancing down, the girl's stomach seemed to shoot into her mouth and at exactly the moment she thought she was about to overbalance and fall, Hollie spotted a dark-haired woman leaning out of a window a little way to the left. Her heart soared with relief as the teenager instantly recognised the brunette staring at her and she felt tears burning in her eyes. Letting out a half-gasp, half-cry of fear and pain as she suddenly lost her balance, the teenager heard a loud, collective gasp from the crowd below and a shout of fear from the woman beside her.
"Hollie!" The woman called as loudly as she dared. "Hols! Hold on tight. Carefully climb back inside, sweetheart. Take it nice and slow, alright? Don't worry; I'm coming!"
"Hurry up, Auntie Jo, please!" The teenager begged. "I don't know how much longer Nat can hold on. She's lost too much blood and she's freezing."
"I'm coming." Jo assured her. "I promise you; I'm coming."
As the woman disappeared from sight, Hollie carefully shuffled backwards. She gasped loudly as the jagged wooden fragment on the ledge stabbed into her stomach. At the awkward angle, the teenager couldn't quite raise herself enough to stop it digging in. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Hollie pushed herself backwards and dropped to the floor. The sharp wood ripped through her skin and the pain pulsed through her as she hit the ground and her ankle crumpled beneath her. She wasn't sure whether her stomach or her ankle hurt more. For a moment darkness threatened to close in on her as she gasped for breath. As the light levels returned to normal the pain seemed to double and she felt as though she was about to be sick.
Hollie tried to climb to her feet to head back to Natalie and the door, which she had just remembered would need to be unblocked for Jo to get through to them, but even putting the tiniest amount of weight on her left ankle made her retch as the pain coursed through her. Instead, she resorted to crawling along the ground, dragging her foot behind her. Putting a hand on her stomach where the wood at caught her, she felt hot, sticky blood and suddenly her head started to spin again. Gritting her teeth and breathing as deeply as she could, Hollie continued across the floor.
Pausing briefly to check on Natalie, who seemed to be unconscious, she dragged herself over to the door and began pulling the metal bars out of the way. When they'd been moved, she tried to push the metal cabinet aside. From her position on the ground it was almost impossible. Angry tears forming in her eyes as she struggled, Hollie heard a tap on the other side of the door and froze.
"Hollie?"
"Auntie Jo? Is that you?"
"Yeah, I'm here, sweetheart." There was a slight shudder from the door as the woman obviously pushed on the metal. "Hols, have you locked the door? Can you let me in?"
The teenager let out a small sob of panic. "I'm sorry… I can't… I can't do it."
"You can't do what? You can't unlock the door? Is there a key?"
"I pushed a cabinet against the door…" Hollie explained in a low, thick voice, trying to stop herself crying. "But I can't move it now…"
There was a long pause and then Jo spoke again. "Stand back, I'll see if I can shove it from this side."
Shuffling away from the door quickly, Hollie leant heavily against the wall as she heard the door groaning as Jo pushed against it, causing it to move slightly. Glancing down at her stomach in the near darkness, the teenager removed her hand and stared at it in disgust. Even in the dim light she could see the blood smeared on her skin and gulped. Her injuries were nothing to those Natalie had, but they were enough to scare her. Pressing her hand tightly back against the wound, she closed her eyes and gave in to the heavy cloud of sleep that seemed to be engulfing her now that she knew Jo was outside and they would be alright.
A/N: So I heard the Waterloo Road trailer on the radio yesterday and Nikki was in it and I got so excited that I almost drove through a red light and there was a police car behind me. I so cannot wait until Thursday and she's back!
