Chapter 12

It was pitch black out when the vehicles finally rolled into a grotty looking industrial estate. The land reeked of waste, even from inside the jeep, a fact that wasn't aiding Bernie's mood. They came to a halt just beyond a shabby run down warehouse. Bernie kept her eyes forward as Simon turned the engine off and lifted a radio from the dash board.

"Right lads… this is it" he spoke "you all know the plan, get in, get the loot, get out. Shoot any and all who stand in your way. This time next week, we'll be rolling in it"

Simon turned to Bernie "Right, Major! Shall we?" he held out his hand but Bernie turned her back to him and simply opened her door and got out.

Hanging back a little, she watched as the men, balaclavas hiding their faces, crept towards the building in formation and sized up their opposition through cracks in the metal work and broken windows.

"9 men in sight, Simon" came a crackled voice over the radio.

"Excellent, on my mark we engage" he replied.

Bernie scoffed. Who did these men think they were? From her stand point, they were nothing more than boys playing adults. Bernie watched one man in particular hold his gun sideways. Amateurs! They probably got every bit of knowledge they know from films!

At Bernie's scoff, Simon reached across and grabbed her arm. Before she could react, he dragged her across the pavement towards the building.

"Ok" he said into the radio.

"Wait!" whispered Bernie sharply.

Out of reflex, Simon halted his orders "what is it now?"

Bernie raised her sharp gaze to his and brushed his hand off her arm "I don't plan to die here tonight, check again and see how many of those men are armed and what they are armed with"

Simon held her gaze a moment longer before giving the order to his scouts.

"4 hand guns and 2 knives in sight" replied the radio.

"Happy?" whispered Simon "What use is this information; we're going to shoot them all anyway!"

Bernie rolled her eyes "The men with no weapons aren't an immediate threat. Those with knives are a close combat threat. Your immediate targets should be those with guns. They're long range and they'll take out your men far quicker than the ones with hand weapons"

Simon let out a puff of air in exasperation "Right, slight change in plan, lads. Target those with guns first" Bernie rolled her eyes once again "Happy now?"

"No. If you actually knew what you were doing, you'd have planned a reconnaissance before coming out here." She spat back.

"What?"

Bernie looked up. Simon followed her gaze and his eyes widened "They probably already know you're here" she said with a hint of mirth.

Tearing his eyes from the CCTV camera overhead, Simon hastily pulled the radio to his mouth "ENGAGE! I REPEAT! ENGAGE!"

The doors to the warehouse burst open and in ran the men, Bernie closely dragged along by Simon.

Shots began to fire as men huddled behind crates and pillars. Bernie flinched upon hearing the first bullet leave its barrel. It had been a long time since she'd heard the roar of a gun and she found that it filled her with adrenalin.

After that the formation of dispersed and split up, it didn't take long for the first of Simon's men to fall. Bernie, after a shove from Simon, ran towards the fallen man hidden behind a stack of crates by the far wall. She could practically feel the burning friction against her clothed skin as she narrowly dodged gun fire, a sensation that shook her somewhat as she knelt beside the man and opened her med kit.

Her eyes caught sight of metal and she reached across the groaning body to take his gun from him. Just as she brought the gun back to herself, it was swiftly taken from her grasp. Looking over her shoulder in panic, she saw Simon with a knowing look on his face.

"I'll take that, Major, and you can get back to tending to your patient" with that, Simon was gone.

Bernie pressed down on the man's wound, it was pointless though. She didn't have the equipment she needed to save him. She wasn't lying when she said the contents of the bag were rubbish. Checking his pulse, she knew she was too late.

Bernie, brow furrowed, tentatively ran a hand down the man's body and gasped as her fingers curled around a rectangular object at his thigh. She quickly reached into his pocket and drew out his phone. 'YES!' she thought with sudden glee. Perhaps she didn't have to kill anyone after all to follow through with her plan.

Checking over her shoulder to make sure Simon couldn't see her, she quickly brought the screen to life. Her shoulders dropped at the sight of the lock screen. 'Just my luck'. She froze momentarily as a thought struck her. She should still be able to make an emergency call! Hitting the green button, the screen came up with 'Emergency calls only'. Bernie almost giggled as she slammed her thumb down on the numbers and rang.

"Police and Ambulance." She stated clearly "I don't know where I am but there are estimated 20 armed men and currently 3 casualties with gunshot wounds, 1 fatality" with that, she placed the phone on the floor between the crates even as the woman on the line continued to talk. She had no time for names and what not, they'd trace the call and know exactly where to find her.

Bernie then rummaged inside the bag and drew out the glass bottle she'd found in there earlier and smiled. Making quick work of the lid, she began pouring the liquid iodine on the concrete floor, staining letters into its surface.

"Major, where are you? There are men seriously injured out here!" she heard Simon yell from somewhere on the warehouse floor.

"There's only one of me and I'm currently saving a life!" 'Serena's life' she added mentally.

Just as she'd finished the second word, she swapped hands. Her wrists were hurting from where she'd placed her hands against the dashboard when Simon slammed on the brakes. She made to begin her last word when a bang behind her sounded.

Bernie let out a scream as the bottle shattered in her left hand, shards of glass biting into her skin. What little remained of the liquid inside sprayed its self against the wall, traces of red bleeding into its orangey brown colour as it dripped down the wall.

Bernie turned to see a man with a handgun approach her. A small part of her mind vaguely registered his body clothed in that of the beige cameo uniform she'd once upon a time worn herself, however, as she cradled her bleeding hand, the need for protection outweighed her need to question why a soldier was getting mixed up in all of this. Her frantic gaze settled on a metal bar just to her right, but as he raised his gun, she knew she was out of time.

Bernie closed her eyes tight and thought of Serena. Her beautiful Serena. 'I'm sorry I couldn't save you, my love' she thought as she drew her hand up to caress the pendant hanging at the base of her throat.

'click'

Bernie's eyes shot open and watched as the man's face crumpled in horror.

'Click click click'

"Out of ammo" Bernie breathed in shock, perhaps Serena's necklace had some power after all. Her mind didn't linger long and before he'd had the chance to reload, Bernie found herself swinging the metal bar at his head with her right hand. One blow and he was out cold.

His body hadn't hit the floor before Bernie caught sight of something glinting in the corner of her eye. Swiftly taking a step back, she watched as a blade was swung down in front of her. Thinking fast and using the assailant's downward momentum against him, she rammed the end of the bar against the man's face, blood spurting everywhere as he cried out.

Dropping the blade and grabbing at his now broken nose, he didn't have much time to think before Bernie swung the bar upwards. He couldn't even cry out in pain. As Bernie drew the bar from between the man's trembling legs, he promptly fell to his knees before blacking out.

Slightly breathless, Bernie took one last lingering look at the man dressed in army uniform and turned back to the shattered glass and cursed. "There goes that plan" she bit out, anger lacing her words. Bernie knelt on the floor beside her stained message. She knew there was nothing in the bag that would allow her to finish it. Sighing, she threw the bar at the floor in annoyance and instinctively put her hands in the pockets of her coat. She winced immediately before pulling out a plastic card from the left pocket.

Drawing the card up to eye level, she saw the face of Serena smile back at her. 'Serena's ID' she thought. Bernie watched, mesmerised, as the blood from her wounded hand began to drip down onto the plastic.

Her mind then went into over drive. Dropping the plastic to the floor, she quickly opened her hand against the pain and began to pull pieces of glass from her skin. She smiled as more blood began to seep from her cuts. Turning back to the floor, she finished the message with her own blood.

With renewed hope, she pulled the phone from where she'd hid it between the crates and placed it beside the message. The phone was no longer engaged, which hopefully meant help was on its way. The phone belonged to one of Simon's men. If she died here tonight, they might find contacts on it to help them find him, at the very least her message would help them find Serena.

A thought struck her then as she read the message 'Hope Wing Clinic'. That meant nothing! How could she link it to Serena?

Her eyes flitted down to the I.D card. With that, she swiftly removed the coat from her shoulders and placed it over the message, hiding it and the phone away from prying eyes. She then set about writing a new message on the pale fabric of the coat. It was simple, but at this point, she was beginning to feel dizzy from blood loss and it would have to do.

She drew the I.D card up to her lips before placing it down atop the blood-stained fabric 'Good luck, my love' she whispered as she gathered her supplies, and make-shift weapon, and made her way through the rest of the warehouse to tend to Simon's fallen men.

She hadn't even noticed upon passing his motionless body that the man with the hand gun was no longer wearing a soldier's uniform, but rather a black hoodie and jeans.

It was as she'd reached the fourth man and her head started spinning that she realised she should have eaten something before this expedition to raise her blood sugar levels. It was as she reached the fifth that sirens began to blare somewhere in the distance and suddenly, her dizziness didn't seem like such a problem. A string of profanities rang out amongst the men who remained standing. Panic took hold as the men scrambled and grabbed what they could.

"Leave the dead!" yelled Simon above the hub bub "Grab those crates and let's go"

Men in balaclavas made quick work of hauling the crates out through the door. As the sirens grew louder, Bernie watched Simon approached her with a man in his arms "Is he alive?" Bernie nodded her head, unable to do much else "If you can, grab him and let's go"

Bernie grabbed the man's arms and leaned down to pull his broken body over her shoulders. With his arms resting over her left side and his legs hanging over her right, she raised her self on shaking legs to full height. He wasn't light by any means, but she used what little strength she had and hastily made for the door.

This man, it would seem, was not destined to be saved by her though. Just two steps from the door, she collapsed under the weight of his body, hers hitting the concrete with a dull thud. She vaguely registered his body being rolled off hers as blue and red lights lit up the walls around her. She then felt two rough hands haul her to her feet and drag her out through the open door and into an awaiting van.

With that, doors swung closed behind her and they were off.

Special thank you to everyone who has been reading and leaving comments, you literally make my day!