Where Are We Now

Chapter 24

Afghanistan

Its dark and the ground is uneven, where is this. Molly looks around trying to work out where she is. Then suddenly she recognises it, the ditch in Afghanistan when they were making their way up to the mountain pass to find Badrai.

She sat down wondering why she was here when she heard footsteps

"I fucking hate night goggles" said a Mancunian voice and she had to smile

"You and me both" said the other clearly distinctive London accent "So we're here again then Molls"

"Seems like it mate" she replied "But I'm not sure why"

"Well you're obviously stewing on something mate" said Fingers and she grinned at him

"Might just be in a spot of bother"

"You'll be fine mate, Spanner is with you, top bloke you know that" said Elvis

"What you thinking girl" said Fingers

"I'll give you bloody girl" she retorted "Not sure what's right anymore and I've been thinking"

"Well we all know that's bloody dangerous darlin, what you thinking about"

"Do you think he wants Georgie and he only came back cos he can't have her? She's moved onto Prof?"

"Bloody hell Moll" Fingers rolled his eyes at her "Why can't you just accept if he wanted her he would be with her. If she has moved on and without him then he would be on his own, he wouldn't lie to you"

"Yes, he would, he did for 3 months when they got back, covered up what the pair of them had been up to out there"

Elvis sighed before speaking "I know you're hurtin' darlin" and his sad eyes searched hers before continuing "but, and you ain't going to like this, she was hurtin' too and she used him to feel near to me. If I was still alive she wouldn't have. He was a mate and it got out of hand"

"Do you think it's serious then with Prof?"

"Yeah!"

"I just can't see how it can be the same, me and him, after what they did" Elvis cupped her chin and turned her face to look at him

"You always had him on a pedestal, could do no wrong" he gave her a weak smile "Well he fell off, he's not perfect but he does love you"

She held his hand "Will we get out of this" Elvis smiled "Yeah! You have my boys with you"

"You scared of the dark Molls you wanna hold my hand" Fingers laughed

"Piss off Fingers" and he laughed heartily

Molly put her hand on Elvis cheek "What should I do?" he smiled at her before replying "Be happy, he could make you happy again. Georgie moved on and I think that will be with Prof and I'm pleased for her, it's what I would want if I can't be there. At some point she would have realised Charlie was wrong for her and it seems she has. Just as he realised she was wrong for him and from what I can see that was virtually immediately afterwards".

"Fingers? Said Molly changing the subject

"Yeah?"

"I don't like the dark much"

"So, you want to hold my hand then?"

Molly smiled while still looking at Elvis and running her hand across his cheek

.

Molly was in that peculiar half consciousness between sleep and waking she could feel something fuzzy on her hand and something warm next to her.

"Fuck what's that" she said and screamed loudly which echoed around the cave.

"Bloody hell Molls, What the fuck you doing it's my bloody beard you're stroking" said Spanner and she could hear the titter of laughter around the cave.

"I …. I thought it was a rat" she stammered and the laughter grew louder.

"Molly's scared of the dark, Molly's scared of the dark" came the sing song voice of Brains and Dangles, while the rest carried on laughing at her waking up to stroking Spanner and thinking she had hold of a rat. Well they weren't just laughing they were pissing themselves.

"Come on Molls get a grip, our turn on watch, get moving" said Spanner but he was laughing with the rest.

They got up and moved to the front of the cave to relieve Jackson and Kingy

"Alright Molls" said Kingy "What was the noise, thought I heard screaming"

Spanner was almost double with laughter "You did, it was our Medic having the hebbie gebbies about holding a rat"

Molly gave him a quick dig in the ribs but was laughing at her own silliness at being a little upset over a dream about Elvis but woke to find herself stroking Spanner.

Kingy and Jackson left to go back to the group while Spanner and Molly took up their positions.

"You want to tell me what that was about Molls"

"Not really, just had a dream that's all" she started "about Elvis"

"Arrh" he said "Still miss him myself"

"Do you think him and Georgie would have got married in the end"

"Our Elvis may have been a bit of a wild boy but yeah, he loved her and he would have married her. You could see it, how they patched it up on that last trip to Afghan"

"Do you think she still misses him?"

"I don't know what you want me to say Molls. I know you and Major James have kept things pretty quiet about what went on in Bangladesh but the army is a small world and there was gossip"

"What gossip?"

"Him and Georgie" he said "None of my business of course and I think Elvis would say the same but I wouldn't read too much into it. Think they both knew it was toxic they were looking for something that the other couldn't give".

"You really are quite deep aren't you Wicket"

"Don't call me that half pint people will think I'm soft"

"Spanner?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think we could have the torch on for a bit" Spanner chuckled into the darkness and turned on the torch.

She really needed to get a grip and think about the task in hand. They could be here a while and she needed to stop worrying about Charles and if he really did care for her.

The following day the group were just sat around the cave having already given up playing i-spy and she was about to punch Dangles if he started singing the "Wheels on the bus" again. Prof came and sat down near her.

"Molly you OK?"

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?"

"Just asking" he continued "So have you known Georgie that long then?"

"Yeah quite a few years now. Well since she ….." she stopped thinking it inappropriate to mention since the wedding that wasn't. Not that she knew her well at that point it was only afterwards when her and Charles had got together and she had been introduced to Elvis that she put two and two together and worked out her colleague and Elvis had been an item. It was after Georgie became 2 section medic and went to Kenya that they became good friends.

"It's alright, she has told me all about her past. Elvis leaving her standing at the alter and then them getting back together on tour". Molly didn't really know what to say so just shrugged and nodded.

"She told me about Captain James"

"Well he's had promotion since, he's Major James now" she really wasn't sure that she wanted to continue this conversation here and with him. She hoped that no one could hear them. She knew that Dangles and Brains knew but didn't think Kingy or Monk did and she certainly didn't want that kind of gossip following their careers for years.

"I think she will always regret what she did and misses your friendship, your girly nights out" Molly couldn't think of a single thing to say in response. If she did would she start to get angry and then everyone would know.

"She thought he was single, that you had broken up" Molly could feel her heart starting to race as her anger levels rose.

"Firstly, she never asked me or spoke to me to ask how I would feel about a friend sleeping with the man I hadn't even started divorce proceedings with. Secondly she was bloody quick off the mark wasn't she, it was only a day later and she's shagging her mate's husband" she whispered through gritted teeth.

Prof looked down at his feet not knowing what to say and in hindsight seeing how angry Molly still was over this perhaps he should have kept quiet. Brains could see them from where he was sitting as they had put the truck lights on so they could make cups of tea. He mouthed to see if she was OK and she nodded in return.

"Look Prof her and I have had this conversation. I know where her head was at we've made our peace but we will never be best buddies again. The trust has gone"

He nodded "I can see that. My wife left me for another man. Took me ages to get over it and stop checking Facebook to see what she was up to. It was only when I read she was pregnant with her new fella I realised I had to stop and move on myself".

"What about Major James will you and he get back together, I think Georgie would like that" She looked across at Prof and could see he genuinely wanted to try and help and she shrugged non-committedly

"I 'ad him on a pedestal thought he was perfect now I know he ain't" she could feel her eyes filling and was determined not to let him know. "I still love him, fool that I am, so we're working on it" and she got up to sit with Brains and Dangles.

"Molly" he called after her so she stopped to look at him.

"You're not a fool"

.

She sat next to Brains who shoulder bumped her and she smiled back at him while looking across to Mimi and Throbber who were deep in conversation and laughing. She must talk with Mimi make sure she was OK and not concerned about their predicament. Monk, Roberts and Davis were chatting to their left. Kingy and Blue were on watch and she could see that Jackson and Spanner were dosing.

It hadn't taken long to get into a routine of guard duty, sleep, latrine clean then there was tea and eating. To make sure that the battery of the truck didn't run out they only kept the lights on for a few hours and then used 2 of the torches to make sure that everything lasted until help came. The cave system wasn't that big. There was the main area where they were sitting now, where they slept and ate. There were two smaller caves that led off from this one and they used one of those for a latrine. One thing she hadn't realised was how cold it got at night, not that it was that warm in here during the day but there was a distinct chill at night so that they huddled together for warmth.

She hoped it wouldn't be too long and she wondered if her family knew. If she knew Charlie and she thought she did he would have contacted them and she wondered how they reacted. Nan would be worried but would her mum and dad after they had thrown her out. Yeah they would, her dad was probably worried sick. He always had these get rich quick schemes, even tried to get her married off so he could have a nail gun stuck through his hand for the insurance. They had always made up in the past and she was sure they would do it again. Help would come.

The routine of it all was tedious and left her with too much time on her hands to think. Maybe that's why after her conversation with Prof and her dream she was having doubts about Charlie again. When she was with him she knew she loved him and he was certainly very affectionate with her, just like he used to be but now he wasn't here she wondered if he really did care about her or whether he would rather be with Georgie and she was just second best. She was staring down into her tea deep in thought

"Stop worrying about it Molls" Dangles had moved to the other side of her and she was now sitting in between her oldest colleagues and friends Brains and Dangles.

"Me I'm not worried I know we'll get out of here"

"I hope Jacks is OK she must be out of her mind by now"

"I'm sure she will be OK Dangles; the army will look after her"

"Do you think that is why we stick with army as friends?" said Dangles philosophically

"Well we understand each other, what we've seen" replied Brains equally thoughtful "Maybe that's where I have always gone wrong in the past. Should have picked an army girl"

"You found one yet then" laughed Dangles and Molly snorted a response at his nosiness

"Well as it happens" there was a bit of pushing and shoving between the three of them while they waited for Brains to continue

"Well when I came back from the pub couple of weeks before we left for here" he hesitated and there looked like there was a slight flush to his cheeks but Molly couldn't be certain "The MP on duty Janet was very nice, helped me back to barracks"

There was a lot of whooping from Dangles "About bloody time" he said "Jackie and I were hoping you would meet up with her. She's a lovely girl. Well suited to you both from Liverpool"

"The fact we both come from Liverpool does not mean that we are a perfect match"

"Nice uniform though" laughed Dangles and got a swift elbow in the ribs from Molly and a glare

"Well are you going to see her again then" Molly thought she may as well be just as nosy with her old friend and gently elbowed him to get a response

Brains had a huge grin on his face "Think I might when we get back"

They had settled back into a companionable silence drinking their teas and after 3 days in this bloody cave they were rather hoping they would be found soon.

.

Aldershot

Lieutenant Colonel Beck strode down the corridor to Major James office and didn't even bother to knock and walked straight in to find him standing by the window looking down on the parade ground drinking his coffee. On closer inspection he could see the dark rings under his eyes and the stooped look to him.

"Charles"

Charles swung round quickly as soon as he heard his name called "Any news"

"Yes Charles, we've found them. Well I say that, we know where they are but now need to send in engineers to get them out"

"What happened?"

"We sent drones in to search the area where the team were meant to be that day and there were aerial shots of what looked like the remnants of the Mastiff. Seems it took a direct hit"

"Oh god" said Charles as he sat at his desk

"No Charles there was no one in it" Beck continued "There is a second tracker from the SF group it's very faint but it's coming from the cave. The cave that Colour Sergeant Kings section were due to be in vaccinating the children"

"So, what happened?"

"We are only surmising at this stage but it would appear that while SF were evacuating the area after their mission they were being followed by a second group" he paused while he checked that Charles was absorbing the information "they inadvertently led them to the cave that Molly and the team were in. The insurgents had an RPG and fired at the mastiff which in turn has brought down the entrance to the cave trapping them all inside".

Charles put his head in his hands "How long can they last in there"

"With water and their rations weeks, but don't worry the Royal Engineers are already on their way there to look at the situation and the feeling is that they will have them out within the next couple of days"

"Can I go out and help with the rescue"

"No Charles, leave it to the Sappers they know what they are doing" said Beck "When they get out there will be a medical to check they are OK then debrief as to what happened up there finally normalisation and home".

"How long?"

"No reason why she shouldn't be home in a week to 10 days don't think they will bother with Cyprus in these circumstances. Just get them home"

"Thanks Roger for letting me know"