AN: For those enquiring about what's changed, I'm mostly strengthening their BDSM relationship, having re-read it I think I miss the mark on some occasions with how much Ana gets out of being submissive to Christian. I must stress that in this story the BDSM is going to be integral to the overall 4 (possibly 5) books that I have planned for this series (3 of which are finished), if a real BDSM relationship in and out of the bedroom (not just kinky fuckery) is not for you then you may want to not bother with this story. What I will say though, is that anyone who thinks a person can't be submissive while also being incredibly strong and confident, then you clearly have no idea about BDSM and again should probably stay away from this story. If you think that Ana being collared by Christian makes her weak, dehumanizes her and blah blah blah then seriously don't continue with this, it's really not your cup of tea. Any review that now calls Ana names for being a sub will simply be deleted as you have been warned.
Chapter Three
She hit the wall and then the pavement with a crash, and before her mind could even begin to wonder what the hell had happened, another explosion hit her ears. She covered her head with her arms and squeezed her eyes shut tight as what felt like debris fell on and around her. Another bang! This time, slightly further away but it sent more debris towards her. She clenched her jaw tight and held her breath. Something large and heavy landed near her, shielding her from the world. Her heart raced in her chest, as the smell of smoke filled her nostrils and scratched at her throat. What the hell was happening?! Another explosion! This time even further away. Sobs caught in Ana's chest as she prayed that she would survive whatever this was. Whatever was going on around her, she knew that there would be people who had died. Multiple explosions had gone off in a busy marketplace! She squeezed her eyes tighter, kept her arms over her head as she waited for the next bang.
She desperately tried to calm down as she lay there. Silence had finally fallen. There wasn't a single sound to be heard anywhere. She could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears, her mind racing trying to figure out if she should move or stay where she was. Then there were screams, anguish filled screams and wails coming from all around her making her want to curl up in a ball and stay hidden. It was deafening. Slowly though, Ana pushed away the large metal sheet that had landed and covered her. It had landed right next to her and leant against the building wall that she had landed next to. It had become a perfect little protective canopy over her. As she turned and looked at it a sob caught in her throat. There were holes in it, as though it had been shot at multiple times.
She stood and felt pain all over her body. Coughing to clear her throat she blinked rapidly, there was smoke everywhere, darkness filled what had been a sunny blue sky. As she started to feel the ground beneath her feet, she looked around. It was carnage. Bodies were strewn everywhere, some still, some moving. Others were starting to get to their feet. The pain in Ana's arm was intense, she looked down at herself and saw her clothes were torn and bloody. She clutched at her arm, at least it was still there, she thought. She shuffled her feet and looked down as the tinkling sound hit her ears. Glass, nails, nuts and bolts were littered over the floor. She scanned what had been a beautiful market day. The place was destroyed, pieces of the stalls that had survived the blasts were hanging awkwardly, pulled from their rightful positions. The fabrics and waterproofing were all ripped to shreds and blowing in the light breeze that whistled through the street. Many of the shops around them had had all their glass blown in, Ana knew that meant as well as those outside who were injured there would be people in those shops hurt too.
Suddenly she thought of John and Doug. She ran back towards the office, ignoring the protesting pain in her legs. She found them, lying on the ground right outside the fish and chip shop. She grabbed at John, he was face down, covered in blood, she turned him over and put her fingers to his neck. He was dead, but she didn't get a chance to release the sob that was coming. Hearing a groan, she turned and saw Doug trying to lift himself up but he collapsed back onto the pavement.
"Doug." Ana called going over to him. She turned him over to look at him, he was a mess, his face covered in cuts and bruises and she could see the blood marring his shirt, dust-covered him in a grey blanket.
"Ana… you need to get away, there could be more." He coughed and spluttered.
"I'm not leaving you." She choked taking hold of his hand, she knew if he didn't get help soon, he could die. "Where are the office keys?" She asked hurriedly, she needed to get him to safety.
"Pocket." He replied groaning in agony.
Ana dug into his pocket and removed the keys. She saw the bodies of his police protection officers on the pavement and she knew they were dead too, they were likely the reason Doug was alive.
She got the keys out and ran over to the door to open the office, thankfully this one appeared as though the windows had survived. She needed to get Doug in there and anyone else who was injured who needed a safe place to go. She knew it wouldn't be long before the emergency services arrived and took control of the situation but until then she needed to do whatever she could to help those who were hurt.
Once the office door was open she ran back to Doug, there was no way he could walk so Ana grabbed under his armpits and apologised as she started to drag him along the pavement, wholly aware of the debris she was dragging him through but with little other choice she did what she felt was necessary. He cried out in pain and Ana gritted her teeth and found every piece of inner strength she could, while Doug wasn't a large man, Ana was injured, but her priority was getting him to safety.
"Ana…" He protested but she didn't stop, she had to get him into the office, he was vulnerable, his security was dead and they didn't know if all the explosions had gone off. She knew there could be more, and she had to make sure Douglas was safe. He was not just her friend, he was the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition.
Once in the office, she lay him down on the floor. He groaned in pain and Ana checked to see how she could help him, he was likely to lose his foot, that much was obvious. It had obviously taken a lot of the blast, it was a bloody mess. She ran into the back to look for anything she could use to make a tourniquet, every episode of Casualty she'd ever seen now coming to the forefront of her mind and making her hope she could help. There was a scarf hanging up and she knew that would be perfect. She ran back to him, she was an autopilot now.
"This will hurt." She muttered as she wrapped the scarf around his calf. As she pulled with all her might Doug screamed. Tears stung at her eyes and she blinked them away hurriedly, this was not the time to cry. She needed to focus. "I'm going to see if anyone else needs my help." Ana told him before dropping a gentle kiss on his forehead and hurrying off, she was of no use to anyone sitting there keeping him company, even if the safety of the office was appealing right now.
Outside was pure and utter carnage. The screams and cries swallowed and surrounded her, she could hear nothing else but the sounds of those who were injured. Her eyes were on fire, smoke, and dust consuming her as she struggled to focus on the scene around her. She coughed to clear her throat, her chest was burning, and she struggled to inhale through the thick cloud that enveloped her.
Seeing many getting up and trying to walk around Ana leapt into action, her instinct to help kicking in. She ran over to all those on their feet and told them that the constituency office was open and that they were welcome to go in there to wait for emergency services. Then she knew she needed to help those who couldn't stand. She went over to the nearest person to her and found them unconscious. She looked for a pulse, once again on autopilot. There was one, but it was weak. She scanned the poor man for injuries, he had signs of blast marks all over his legs and a deep gaping wound in his abdomen. Ana knew in her this man wouldn't survive but she had to try and help. She took off her jacket and pressed it to the wound on his abdomen.
"Anything I can do to help?" Ana turned to the man who had come to her shoulder.
"Can you find someone who can open a church hall or a community centre, we need somewhere for the families and the walking wounded, they're all in the constituency office at the moment but it isn't big enough." Ana explained as she pressed hard to the wound, hoping to save this man's life.
"I am the vicar of King's cross. I will go and tell everyone in the constituency office to come there. I will call the congregation and ask for help to make tea and coffee." He replied and Ana nodded at him, grateful someone was able to help.
"Thank you." She said before looking around for some more support. "You there, come here!" She shouted to a man who, disgustingly, was filming on his mobile phone. "Put that away and take over from me here." Ana said.
He did as he was told, shoved his phone in his pocket, and took over putting weight on the injured man. Ana was now free to go and help others.
Anyone who could get up and walk she now direct to go to the church, she found the stall that sold scarves and took one, wrapping around her bicep which she'd become aware had a large chunk of skin hanging off ever since she'd removed her jacket. She didn't feel any pain until she pulled the scarf tight keeping the piece of skin where it should be, but she didn't think of that, she needed to carry on and help as many people as she could. As she walked from one person to the next she played with the silver necklace around her neck to comfort herself, Christian would be the only one who would be able to bring her any real comfort right now.
Body after body, she found people of all age, race, colour, and creed whose lives were over. She realised that this was close to where one of the explosions had gone off and to make life a little easier for the emergency services she turned the bodies over and crossed their arms over their chests so that they would know they were dead at a mere glance, freeing them to help those alive but seriously hurt. Their wounds were catastrophic, limbs hanging off, skin peeled away, insides on the outside. Ana prayed that death had come quickly to them all as she turned their bodies and crossed their arms on their chests. Placing her hand on the forehead of each she wished that they were at peace now and out of pain. Each and every face was committed to her memory. She choked on her sobs, she needed to continue to help but it was hard, she had seen more than a dozen that were deceased so far and by the way the street was, she knew there would be dozens more.
Where the hell was the police?! She could hear sirens wailing but they weren't coming towards them, there were multiple sirens, but they were going away from them. Why were they not coming to help?!
"You! Can you go and find some bandages or something from somewhere?" Ana shouted to someone who had come over to help but looked like they didn't know where to start. "There's a Superdrug up the road, just tell them that we need everything they've got."
It was utter chaos, people shouting from all angles. Ana spotted a pair of legs hanging out from under a collapsed stall a few feet away. Seeing some police officers starting to rope off the scene, Ana felt relieved that someone else may start taking control soon even though they were armed and dressed in riot gear. She didn't have time to think any more about it though as she turned her attention to the lady under a collapsed market stall.
"Over here!" Ana shouted trying to get some of those who'd come to help to come over to her. A few burly men in high-vis heard her calls and rushed to her aid. They lifted the stall, piece by piece, it weighed a tonne. The woman underneath was alive but in a bad way. She was shivering and as Ana lent down to help her she spotted the pole that was going through the woman's abdomen.
"As-Saalam-Alaikum." Ana said seeing the hijab the young woman was wearing and taking a stab that she was Muslim.
"Wa-Alaikum-Saalam." The woman replied through gritted teeth, she was obviously in a lot of pain. This woman was going to die.
"I'm Ana, you're ok, help is coming." Ana said hoping she was reassuring but this woman wasn't hearing her, she was caught in a land of pure agony. "Can you stay with her, keep her company till someone comes?" She asked one of the men who'd helped move the scaffolding, he looked down at the woman and saw what Ana saw, he nodded, what Ana meant was stay with her until she passed because it wasn't going to be long.
"Help me!" Someone called dragging Ana's attention to them. Ana rushed over to where the call to help had come from, she was unable to rationalise why there were no ambulances arriving. They had to be aware of what was going on right? She didn't know where her phone had gone because it wasn't in her pocket, she couldn't call the emergency services herself to find out what was going on.
Ana found a woman lying there, both legs gone from the knee down. The stench of blood consumed her and she choked on the bile rising in her throat. It looked like something out of a horror movie, some of the leg below the knee was still there but it was like shredded paper that had stopped half way through the shredding. Except, this was not some paper but was someone's legs. This was what she expected a war zone to look like, not a busy London high street.
"Please help me." The woman sobbed, tears down her cheeks as she held as much of her weight up on her elbows. Ana knew she was fully aware of the state of her legs. She was lying in a pool of her own blood and Ana knew if she didn't stem the bleeding then this woman would also die from her injuries. She scanned the scene frantically, she needed something to make tourniquets. That's when her eyes fell on the body nearest to her and she swallowed at the thick saliva in her throat as she realised what she needed to do.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered, choking on her own sobs as she removed the belt this man had around his waist, she had little choice but to take it to save the other woman's life. He was dead, he had no need to keep his trousers up any longer. It was all she could think of to stem the bleeding the other lady was suffering.
Another body beside him and it was the body of a lady wearing a neckerchief, she took that too while apologising profusely. Ana wasted no time in wrapping the woman's legs tight in the improvised tourniquet, she gritted her teeth and finding every piece of strength she could she tied them both up. After making the woman as comfortable as she could she called over another person who was on scene to come and sit with the lady, Ana couldn't sit around, needing to keep busy and help others.
There was another body besides the woman, and as she had done to others turned it over, she gasped when she saw the still body of an infant in its mother's arms. This was it, breaking point. Ana slowly placed the mother's arms around the child as she thought about the cruelty of the world. This child was pure and innocent, had done nothing to no one, hadn't even had a chance to learn to talk. How could it possibly be that this baby was dead?
That was when she realised she couldn't do this anymore. What was the point? She was running around desperately trying to help people but seeing this innocent baby, just a few months old killed her. The tears started to fall.
"Oh little one." She breathed through her tears as her hand stroked down the cheek of the infant, her heart shattered in her chest. Then she heard a noise. No, she dreamt it right? She touched the baby again and this time not only did she hear it, but she saw the face of the baby move, scrunch up and release. Holy shit the baby was alive!
She pulled the baby from its mother's arms and checked it for injures. The blankets were covered in blood but there didn't seem to be a mark on the baby. Though it had been beneath its mother and so likely had been hurt in some way.
There was still no sign of the ambulances. As Ana wrapped the baby back up in her arms she knew she needed to get this baby seen to and fast, this baby could not be a victim of this bombing anymore than it had been already. She scanned around looking for someone who could help. Everyone was busy helping the walking wounded or comforting those who'd been injured a bit more. Spotting the small gathering of journalists Ana knew that they would have to help her. She held the baby tight and rushed over, there was a female presenter there, just getting set up.
"You." Ana said. "Please, take this baby to the nearest hospital." She said already passing the baby over.
"What?" She asked horrified, her eyes wide as she looked at the tiny bundle in her arms.
"Mother is dead, this baby was crushed beneath her. There are no ambulances, please get the baby to the nearest hospital as quickly as you can. Don't let this baby die."
The woman nodded whilst looking terrified at the fact Ana was handing over this newborn. Ana gave the baby a quick kiss on the head before hurrying off, she had to trust that the journalist would do the right thing and get the baby seen to while she returned to help those who were still waiting on emergency services.
As she scanned around, looking for the next person who needed to be helped she saw two young Police Community Support Officers rushing in her direction, they'd been around since the bombing happened, helping as much as possible but this was the first time they'd been close enough that she could speak to them before getting distracted by anything else. She ran to them, angry that there weren't more emergency services on scene yet. London knew how to respond to terror, yet these were the first on scene. It had surely been over an hour since the first bomb had gone off.
"Where the fuck are the ambulances?" Ana asked desperately, she didn't understand why there weren't more people here to help. They should have been on scene in a matter of minutes, but they weren't here!
"Ma'am the anti-terrorism unit is on scene ensuring that the scene is safe before they can give a go-ahead for the paramedics to come to the area." One explained gently, he obviously knew Ana wouldn't be happy with the answer but it's all that he could give.
"Also there's been an explosion at the Emirates, they've been sent there too." The other explained.
"There are dozens injured and dead, there were four or five explosions and the Leader of the Opposition Douglas Hall is in the constituency office severely injured, his police protection officers are dead." Ana explained hurriedly, they needed to get someone to Douglas. He was a high-ranking politician and needed urgent medical care, they couldn't let him die because they were securing the scene. The emergency services needed to be here. Surely that was what they should have done?
"We understand that but they had to clear the scene at the Emirates too, there have been two car bombs up there. Ambulances are on scene working now, as soon as they say here is safe they will allow them to come here too." Ana shook her head, she couldn't understand why they weren't coming now, people would die simply because they weren't there to get them to a hospital.
"And what if there is a bomb? We're just collateral damage?" Ana scoffed angrily. The PCSO just shrugged, in other words, yes, Ana was right.
"Hi there, we're nurses from the Royal Free." Two women in tunics and high vis jackets said as they approached Ana and the officers with large kit bags.
"Thank God someone is here. There are dozens injured." Ana said again. "I've put most of the dead on their backs with their arms crossed over their chests so that you know they're dead. But there are people dying out here and need medical attention." Ana choked, her voice was full of the stress she was feeling. "Is it only you two?"
"At the moment, they want us to let them know when we know how many need ambulances, they've all been sent to the Emirates."
"Officers, am I right in thinking these were nail bombs?" Ana asked, she'd seen the injuries, the skin hanging off people, she was also aware of the nails, nuts and bolts she'd found all on the floor all over the street.
"It looks like it." One of the officers replied though Ana realised these were green rookies, they didn't have a bloody clue what they were doing, and this was likely to be their first terror event.
"Media is gathering." Ana said signalling over to where photographers and camera crews were setting up. "Keep them away." She said before turning back to the nurses. "The injuries are bad. There are people with their skin ripped from their faces and bodies, some are naked like all their clothes have been blown off and their injuries are dire."
"Ok, let's go and see what we can do. We've got some triage tags maybe you can help figure who needs urgent care, then we can call up to the Emirates for any free ambulances to come down here."
"No bloody call up the Emirates and tell them that we are needing ambulances here now! We are not second-class fucking citizens down here, people are dying because they aren't getting to the hospital fast enough so call them and get us some fucking help!" Ana was boiling realising that all the support had been sent to the Emirates, the incident control should have been prepared for multiple explosions, to respond properly to simultaneous events just like they had to do on July Seventh when multiple tube trains and a bus were hit by suicide bombers. These events weren't so far removed that one could take priority over another.
Ana went off with the nurses, one of whom was calling it in that ambulances were needed as a matter of urgency and that left the two officers to take care of the press, she explained that the walking wounded had all been directed to the church now and that Doug was in the constituency office. The nurses praised her for her quick thinking and actions, but she didn't need their praise, she needed ambulances to get people to hospital. She went to check on Doug, reassured him that help was coming, and found a bottle of water in the fridge for him.
Once she left him one of the nurses gave Ana a handful of tags in traffic light colours. Those given green would need only basic medical attention, those given yellow would need attention soon and those who were given red were likely to die without help. Ana found herself having to do more and more tourniquets on arms and legs, she lost count of how many limbs she came across that were just lying in the street, their owners elsewhere in the street.
As she took a moment to take a deep breath and try and calm down she looked down at her painful feet which were squelching. She swallowed hard the vomit that rose in her throat, she saw she was standing in red jelly, she knew it was human remains of some kind and once again she struggled not to be sick. She walked away and then kicked off her shoes, they were hurting her feet so much now and hindering her from helping people anyway and seeing them covered in human remains she didn't want to continue wearing them.
Spotting the bright lights of McDonald's, she ran there, knowing many of those who had not been involved directly in the explosions would be gathered inside, yet to be moved on by police.
"Excuse me, we need you to get water out there to the injured." Ana told the teenager behind the counter who was chewing away at a piece of gum like she had no care in the world.
"I'll need to call a manager." She said shrugging. Ana gritted her teeth, she was going to explode herself in a moment.
"Listen, there are people dying out there, get some water, and get drinks to those who need them. I will sort it with your manager afterward. Please."
The teenager rolled her eyes but went into the fridge anyhow and started removing the bottles of water, Ana took as many as she could in her arms before rushing out. It was amazing to see how many people were helping their fellow human beings and if it wasn't such a tragedy Ana would have admired the humanity being shown by fellow men.
She hurried around with water, giving them to all those in sight, she was relieved to see the McDonalds workers coming out with more bottles, freeing her up to help further. Some asked her to pour it on them, they couldn't drink it but needed to feel the refreshing liquid on their faces. Ana was happy to comply, in the process washing some of those whose faces had been injured. One she came across had lost her entire cheek, it was hard to look at, Ana could see teeth that shouldn't have been on show to anyone but a dentist. She gave her an orange tag, tying it to the woman's wrist before moving on, giving out more water, and tying more tags. She couldn't believe the extent of the devastation, the bombs had clearly been planted a great enough distance apart to cause the most damage, some in the middle of the streets would have been hit by the debris of more than one bomb, those were the people who seemed to be worst off that were alive to tell the tale. There was someone on the ground choking on their own blood, Ana helped rub their back and gave them some water but she couldn't see anything else she could do to help them so got up and moved on.
Grabbing more scarves from the stall as she passed once again she continued to help treat the wounded. She helped wrap up a mangled hand that was missing several fingers, she held bandages to heads that were bleeding profusely. Every time she saw an injury she hadn't yet come across she knew the victim would stay in her mind forever. This was nothing like the Parliament Square attack, they had been littered with bullets, these people had been littered with nails and all manner of metal debris piled into an explosive to cause maximum damage.
More officers were starting to arrive now and starting to take control of the situation. More cordons were being set up, lights and sirens filled the surrounding scene as ambulances and medical cars started to arrive. Ana knew it had been hours since the first bomb had blown, what had been late afternoon was now dusk. There was a relief though, knowing that now people would start getting the proper treatment they needed and could be transported to hospitals. She scanned her surroundings again, her eyes fell upon the body of a little boy, no more than about four years old in the corner by the wall of one of the shops. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, this was the youngest body she'd seen so far. Going over to him she fell to her knees beside him. He looked as though he was sleeping, so peaceful. Ana bowed her head and said a little prayer, hoping that this little boy had died quickly, without pain and that he was at peace.
"Excuse me Ma'am." Ana turned to see what appeared to be a senior officer beside her.
"What?" Ana asked, her eyes not leaving the little baby in front of her.
"You're going to need to leave now." He said quietly, his eyes avoiding the body on the ground.
"You need to get someone to move this boy." Ana said. "He can't stay here overnight, no way." She choked on her tears, she couldn't cry now, she needed to remain in control.
"Ma'am forensics need to work first." The officer replied, they couldn't just move the bodies, that would destroy evidence and cause problems for them in trying to figure out what had happened here.
"Listen." Ana said getting up and squaring up to the officer. "This little boy is someone's child." Ana said, finding strength from somewhere to confront the officer. "He is not going to stay on this cold and hard pavement overnight, we have to learn from the mistakes of the past. Now find me someone to do the forensic work here so this child's body can be moved. Until then, I am not going anywhere." She knew of a child who had been left on the ground overnight after a terrorist incident and she was not about to see that happen again here. No way, they would have to drag her away kicking and screaming before that happened.
Ana lay down on the floor with the little boy's body, showing the officer he would have to carry her away if he wanted to move her on and she wouldn't leave without a fight. He gave her a small nod before wandering off, leaving Ana there with the little boy, for now.
"Hush little baby don't say a word, mummy's going to buy you a mocking bird…" She stroked her fingers through his hair, as though she was trying to comfort him even though he wasn't there anymore, this was just his shell trapped on earth. This was someone's baby and chances are there was someone out there who loved him, who wanted him to come home and be safe who would never get to see him again.