Thank you all so, so much for the wonderful support on the previous chapter. You properly brightened up my crap week at work! I hope this next instalment meets with approval :)
P.S. Should I get Tumblr? Is Tumblr good?
Chapter Two
It took her brain a couple of seconds to register what it was.
She ran through all the likely mundane possibilities in the first second.
A tray dropped by a waiter. A sudden car crash outside. A bit of decorative cement falling from the ceiling.
The next second told her that a dropped tray wouldn't sound like that, there was no road close enough for an audible car crash, and that the building was structurally sound. Then the screams of people close by registered in her head, and that was when her brain caught up with the adrenaline that was instinctively sparking through her body.
Someone had fired a gun. Elizabeth jolted back, a delayed instinct.
Then there was another gunshot, and Henry's hand tightened on hers as he realised what it was and said, "Oh my God."
They stood there frozen in the middle of the dancefloor, stopped mid-step and still in hold even though the music had come to an abrupt end at the sound of screaming from somewhere near the entrance. Everyone around them seemed to be suspended in the moment, their senses not yet unstuck enough to react.
"Madam Secretary!"
Elizabeth's head whipped round at the sound of Matt her DS agent as he ran towards her from where he had been stationed near the door. Something made her look behind him and she caught sight of a woman on the ground just inside the room, and a wet splash of red on her otherwise yellow dress. Shit. Standing over the woman were two armed men, dressed entirely in black, wearing Kevlar vests and masks over their faces and sturdy black helmets that at a glance she would guess to be high-grade military issue. They were holding rifles that they aimed at the guests closest to the door.
Oh God. The presidential palace was under attack.
"Elizabeth, move," Henry said quietly, using the arm he had around her waist to apply pressure and urge her in the opposite direction, towards a door in the far left corner of the room that led to a corridor behind the scenes at the palace.
Matt and another of her DS agents were almost with them, and it made sense that they would go for the far door. It was hidden out of the way and most of the other guests would probably not be aware of it. If they ran for it now, they should have a clear path through. Elizabeth, with Henry pressing close against her, took a couple of stumbling, halting steps towards it.
Then all of the windows exploded inwards.
The noise was deafening, the sound of the initial explosion echoing in her ears and combining with the crash of shattering glass, more gunshots from the entranceway and the shouts and screams of four hundred shocked and frightened people. Dust rained down along with the broken glass, and Elizabeth was just able to catch a glimpse of Matt losing his footing and stumbling a few metres away before she lost sight of him in the crush of bodies and falling debris from the damaged building.
"We gotta go!" she yelled at Henry as they twisted around where they stood, trying to determine exactly what had happened and which way they should go.
"That way." He pushed at her shoulder to turn her in the direction of the far corner where the other door was, holding tight to her arm. They started moving forward.
A loud, authoritative shout from somewhere near the entrance – one of the bulletproof men, no doubt. What were they saying? Their words were too muffled and too far away and her ears were ringing too loudly with panic for Elizabeth to make out the words, but a few seconds later a group of people to the left of her suddenly started surging back, clearing a circle, and she bet she knew exactly what it was.
The small hand grenade that had landed in the centre of the circle went off, confirming her suspicions and leaving those who hadn't made it out of the way on time bloodied and on the ground. Oh no.
People were dying.
Some part of her urged her to go to them – urged her to help – but she had Henry with her and she didn't know what these perpetrators wanted and it couldn't be a coincidence that the attack was timed to coincide with her visit, and so there was no way she could stay.
The throng of people trying to flee in the opposite direction were blocking the route they were trying to take.
Aided by Henry at her back, Elizabeth tried to push her way through. She could just see the door twenty or so metres away. They could make it.
The lights went out and the level of panic in the room increased tenfold.
Elizabeth blinked against the darkness. She could hear her pulse racing, could feel the beat of it in her chest and was hyper aware of the rush of blood in her veins as she struggled to compensate for the sudden drastic change in lighting. It wasn't pitch black; there was a little light from the broken windows and an emergency strip light that ran along the floor, but the unexpected change and the clouding dust and press of bodies around her threw her off. Behind her, Henry tripped, snagging her abruptly around the waist to steady himself and swearing in her ear as he did. "Sorry," he said as he righted their position.
She gripped his forearm tight to keep him with her. She couldn't lose Henry. She couldn't.
She had already lost track of her DS agents.
"Stay with me." She yelled to be heard above the noise and turned her head back for just a second to reassure herself with the sight of Henry's face. His worried gaze found hers, but she could still see the determination in him. The former Marine was not about to lose his cool.
Good. That was good.
Someone bumped into her, jostling her and unsettling Henry's arm from around her waist. She stumbled, suddenly anchorless, reaching out for Henry but instead catching the arm of a passing man who shrugged her off as he barged past, the force of the shove sending her tumbling to the ground.
"Elizabeth!"
She heard Henry's yell from somewhere above her as she hit the marble hard on her hands and knees. OK. Don't panic. It was OK. All she had to do was get up. Push up from her knees and reach one hand up for Henry to grab and then run full pelt to the door in the back corner. Easy. But then someone's shoe collided solidly with her shoulder as they moved swiftly past, jarring her and making her lose her balance. She cried out with the shock of it as she crashed down, her head thumping the marble and sending little bursts of light exploding in her vision like fireworks.
Henry reached out for Elizabeth as the running man shoved her and she started to fall. Her name was ripped from his throat as he tried to grab her and failed, dodging back to avoid a couple of people trying to get by.
As he dodged to avoid the collision, he lost sight of his wife and for the first time felt the true terror of the situation wash over him.
He had no idea what was going on. It had all happened so fast. One moment he was dancing and flirting with Elizabeth and the next there was carnage. He knew Elizabeth's security detail was in the room, no doubt looking for them, but he had no idea whereabouts they were.
And frankly they weren't Henry's first priority.
He heard Elizabeth's shout from the ground and Henry bodily pushed someone out of his way so he could get to her. Thank God. He saw the blue of her dress and the blonde of her hair and reached down to pull her up, his hands tight on her arms. She came back up to him, but she wasn't helping him as much as she should be, a little too much dead weight for his liking even as he saw her pushing up with her palms against the marble.
"You OK?" He had to yell the question into her ear to be heard over the din ricocheting off the marble room like bullets.
And, of course, there were also actual bullets ricocheting off the marble.
Elizabeth blinked rapidly like she was having trouble focusing, clutching his arms as she used him for balance. It took a few seconds – seconds they could ill afford to lose – but then she nodded, looking steadier on her feet. "Fine," she replied, and it sounded like the truth.
Henry pulled her to him in a tight, brief hug. He had only lost sight of her for four or five seconds but he had felt every microbeat of them. They absolutely could not afford to get separated. They needed to get out – together. He was about to tell her to run for her life but then another gun went off, closer this time, much closer, close enough that Henry heard the crack and echo and the screams this time weren't from the opposite side of the room but maybe two or three people away. Way too close.
On instinct, they started to run, hands clasped tight together in a bruising grip so that they wouldn't be parted. A tiny part of Henry's mind was still wondering what this was, what was happening, wanting answers and an explanation, worrying that it was only happening because the perpetrators knew about Elizabeth's presence – that she was a target. The rest of his mind was focused on getting out, his military training helping to keep him focused on the task at hand.
Get out first. Worry about the rest later.
The rest. Like what had happened to Elizabeth's security detail. He had seen Matt stumble when the windows exploded. He hoped that they'd be able to regroup and soon.
He was aware of sweat beading on his forehead and mixing with the dust that had fallen to cake his skin. His lungs were burning with the effort of moving against the crowd. He could feel the adrenaline white hot in his gut and in his veins. And Elizabeth's hand in his, where it should be. For now, that was all that mattered.
And there – there was the door at the back of the room, the one that most people probably wouldn't even notice because it was set back behind the stage where the musicians had been performing, used only by staff and officials and not the party guests who had been ushered in through the front.
The door was ajar like someone had already gone through it. Henry thought nothing of it. The musicians had probably used it to flee, and maybe a few guests who had been close by and spied the exit route.
He put on a burst of speed as they reached the door, Elizabeth keeping pace at his side, both of them breathing heavily. They ran through the door…
… and immediately stopped dead at the sight of what was on the other side.
