Sorry for the delay in posting, I had deadlines to complete.

Chapter 15

Atkins's breath came in heavy bursts as he glared down at the woman crumpled at his feet. Tightening his grip on the knife, he briefly imagined replacing her vertebrae with it. 'Consider it payment for drawing the first blood' he mentally added as he unconsciously moved towards her, his mouth watering at the prospect as he watched her eyelids droop closed.

Drawing the blade back he trailed his gaze over her back, his eyes darting to the exact point he wanted his gleaming steal to taste iron.

With a jump, he pitched forward to end the woman's existence when an unknown entity pulled his wrist away, the force causing his entire body to follow for fear it may detach all together. He closed his eyes against the sharp pain such a jerked movement cause to his wrist and shoulder joints, giving him the time to register what felt like finger nails digging into the skin of his wrist.

Opening his eyes with a start, he found himself staring into a set of, all too close, brown eyes.

A shiver ran down his spine at the coldness that met him in those eyes, a sharpness present far greater than that of his blade. If there'd been any warmth in this woman before they'd taken her, it was well and truly gone. This was a broken woman out for blood.

But he wasn't going to let her have what she wanted.

Pulling his arm from her grip, he made to bring the blade down to pierce her ribs when, in one swift movement of her head, blinding pain erupted in his fragile nose once more. Through his cry of pain, he vaguely registered the clatter of the knife hitting the floor and squinted against the building tears.

Through the watery haze, he saw it. That same crazed look in her eyes with his blood spattered half way down her face. She'd done it again, just like she had when she'd broken his nose in that van the day they took her. This time, however, there was no one to stop him cutting the bitch in two.

Feeling significantly braver and fuelled by his rage, his eyes darted down to see the knife on the floor, hers following. Within a second, both eyes met once more. Silence surrounded them as they stared. Both knew that whichever made the first move would break the suffocating tension, yet neither was quite ready to do so.

Bernie's eyes momentarily moved to Serena's prone body on the floor as she let out a deep breath. The sound alone of the air moving past her lips was so shocking against the eerie silence that the man across from her jolted into life once more.

He bent down to retrieve the knife when in one swift move in his periphery, he felt a weight on his back and an arm around his throat. Bernie thrust her hips forward and brought her upper body backwards, effectively pulling the man's hand away from its intended target before he could reach it.

The man coughed and spluttered as he clawed at the arm still locked around his throat from behind. Bernie's pupils grew wider as she tightened her grip, her brain vaguely registering that she saw her own arm clad in desert army fatigues as opposed to the crumpled and torn fabric of her green shirt.

In blind panic, Atkins pitched backwards, ramming the woman against a pillar with all his might. Bernie cried out in pain, her grip loosening as she felt her back crack under such force and leave her winded. Gasping for air, she sunk to the floor as he pushed himself away from her.

Tears sprung to her eyes when the air didn't seem to quite fill her lungs. Thinking of Serena, she pushed through her discomfort and looked up just in time to see the sharp end of a knife being thrust towards her. Moving on instinct, she dug her latex covered nails into the grouting of the grimy floor beneath her and slid her body down further to lie flat on the tiles.

Vibrations shook through her as the knife connected with the wall above her, the force alone causing fractures in the blade until it shattered.

"Cheap piece of shit" she heard the man spit out.

With adrenaline coursing through her veins, she kicked up at the man now standing over her in a bid to take away his advantage. What she was unprepared for was the man grabbing her foot and twisting. Helpless, she rolled her body with the foot when the pain alerted her to her ankles breaking point.

Faced down on the floor, she felt her foot being released and scrambled to get up. In one swift move, a hand grabbed at her scalp, roughly pulled her to her feel and pressed her against the glass just to the side of the wall she'd been so harshly slammed against not a minute earlier.

Breathing hard, Bernie watched as the glass fogged, blurring the warped reflection of the man behind her. She shut her eyes tight as the man moved his body to become flush with hers.

"I have you now, bitch" He whispered into her ear "and I'm going to enjoy it"

Bernie felt his body weight lift away from her as he give himself some room. She didn't know what he was going to do but she saw her opening and took it. Fighting against the hand holding her face against the glass, she brought her fist back hard against his crotch.

A wave of satisfaction rolled over her to hear his pained roar in her ear. With that roar came his loosened grip, which she also took advantage of by knocking his arm away with hers and pivoting on the spot. He barely had time to look up at her before he felt a fist connect with his jaw.

Stumbling backwards, he held his hands up as he felt her fist connect with his face once more. He braced himself against the third strike, a strangled cry accompanying the significantly weaker blow. His eyes shot open, hands still held up to defend himself, to see Bernie cradling her left hand, blood filling the glove encasing it.

Bernie winced, her hasty stitches had burst and her hand felt like it had been torn open. She didn't hesitate for long, she knew she couldn't let him get the upper hand again. She could feel it in her bones, her body was ready to give out. She couldn't give up though. Not yet. Not until Serena was safe. So with her vision blurring and her body aching, she lunged forward once more and threw her uninjured fist out with her waning strength.

This time Atkins anticipated her. His hand closed around the fist headed his way, effectively trapping it in place. Bernie's eyes widened momentarily, however, he wasn't interested in gloating. He instead shot his other hand up to clamp around her delicate neck and shoved her backwards until her back hit the wall.

Letting go of her fist, he wrapped his other hand around her neck as she fought against him. Punches rained down on him and nails cushioned by latex dug into his hands, but he didn't stop. The woman was a force to be reckoned with and he had to end her.

He'd seen what she'd done to Ali and Lucas, who else could it have been? Simon had given him a signal to go and see where they were, the only two men that had come back with him. He intended to clap them on the back, only to round the corner and find them both out cold in the corridor. One's arm bend out of shape, the other's teeth on the floor instead of in his mouth.

Hearing her rasping breath as he literally choked the life out her, he couldn't help but wonder where Simon was. Once he'd found Lucas and Ali, he'd run back as fast as he could for fear that this monster in his hands had done the same to him in his absence, however, on the way back he heard a cry of 'RUN SERENA!" and then SLAM! He rounded the corner to collide with the short haired brunette.

It was only now that he realised he hadn't actually seen Simon and a wave of panic washed over him at the thought. He looked into the woman's face, her eyes struggling to stay open and her blows so weak he could barely feel them. Risking a glance behind him, he called out Simons name.

With Bernie's dying breath, she watched as his attention turned away from her momentarily. Focussing all her energy, she drew her legs up against the wall and planted her feet flat against it. With no time to lose, she forced her legs to push herself away from the wall, effetely throwing Atkins off balance.

His hands left her throat only for a second before she had a hand on his face and was ramming him back against the glass wall behind him. His head hit the thick pane with a dull thud that echoed through his skull, it took him a moment to realise he was falling… why was he falling?

He could see the woman above him, as if time were suddenly slowed down. The silence was deafening. He watched through her fingers as her eyes widened… and then everything went black as the back of his head cracked against the metal worktop on his downward decent to the floor.

Bernie let out a grunt as she landed on top of the man, her breaths coming in gasps as she fought against the burning sensation in her lungs. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she looked back at the place where the glass should be. She didn't quite anticipate putting the man through the window.

Letting out a relieved sigh, she momentarily rested her head on the man's chest. She needed to get her breath back. Just for a moment. She smiled to herself as she closed her eyes. She could almost imagine that it was Serena she was using as a glorified pillow.

Serena.

Bernie's eyes shot open and she pushed herself up on her elbows. Serena! She had to get to Serena! Adrenaline suddenly filled her blood once more. She tried to bend her knees up so she could stand, however, her left wouldn't respond. She could feel her left leg but as she tugged once more she realised it seemed almost tethered somehow. Like it'd been tied down.

Looking back at her legs, she tugged at her left once more. It was then that she realised. Her leg was lying half way across the base of the window frame. Upon further inspection, she noticed the jagged shards of glass still littering the frame in random places.

Biting her lip against the sudden warmth she felt blossoming around her leg, she thought about Serena. As a doctor, she knew she shouldn't move without help encase the shard moved and caused more damage. As a rational human being, she knew no one would be coming to help her anytime soon and she needed to get to Serena now.

Bracing herself, she placed her hands flat against the floor and pushed herself up, her weak muscles faltering with the effort. When she'd got herself up far enough, she once again tugged at her left leg. In her line of work, she couldn't afford to be squeamish, but she couldn't deny the bile that rose in her throat at the sucking noise her punctured flesh made as it left the glass shard. Swallowing hard, she pushed herself back onto her toes.

Her head felt light, the corridor around her blurring as it spun. Despite the adrenaline coursing through her, she felt her eye lids droop. A moment of panic over took her as she recognised the symptoms. She was going to faint.

"N…o I c-can't" She murmured as she pulled herself up to stand using the wall as an aid. Through the hazy fog of her mind, her eyes sought out Serena. "s-s-S'rena… I'm coming"

With a heaviness to her limbs that defied any weight she'd ever lifted, she moved her legs, first her right and then her left. Her vision suddenly spiked and she cried out as white hot pain erupted in her left leg and shot up her spine. As her vision began to blacken once more, she realised somewhere in the back of her mind that she was on her knees, face to the floor.

Her eyes began to water and her mind fogged over. It would be so easy to let go, to just drift into unconsciousness. The rest that awaited her seemed infinitely more seductive than holding on with her bloodied fingernails to this existence.

The heavy black smog creeped further into her vision, the light all but disappearing into a mere pin head of white in her vision. Powerless against the oncoming collapse of her reality, she simply lay there and allowed what may to wash over her. The room was spinning, she didn't need to physically see it, she felt it. She vaguely registered that she wasn't moving, yet she felt the world rotate around her, almost feeling the velocity blow a delicate breeze on her face.

With her conscious thoughts smothered by the impending darkness, her only wish was that her body would just give up. If she didn't pass out soon, she was going to throw up.

Her body, however, had other ideas.

A crushing weight settled on her back and pushed her further into the filthy surface below her. Her breaths came in gasps as pain tore through the haze and erupted behind her eyes. Suddenly the light was too bright as it knifed at her vision through the suddenly absent darkness.

And then she felt it. The force of the air cracking her spine as bombs blasted around her and pinned her to the ground. Gasping in the acrid atmosphere, she forced the burning joints in her arms to fold in front of her so she could lift her head.

Confusion brought tears to her eyes as she took in the blazing flames all around her. Everything was on fire. The buildings, the cars… a war zone. She was in a war zone. She tried calling out, desperate for someone to help her, but her throat was so dry. It would seem the only moisture in the air were the salty tears trailing down her cheeks.

Coughing against the smoke, she buried her face in her desert camo clad arms for a moment. With sweat pouring down her face, she raised her head once more, the ache damn near unbearable as she surveyed the terrain around her. She'd barely had the chance to ask how she'd gotten there when her eyes landed on a prone brunette not 5 meters in front of her.

'Serena' her mind screamed 'Serena got hurt. Serena needs help. Help is my job. Helping Serena is my purpose'

With gritted teeth, she dragged herself along the dirt, one arm in front of the other. Closing her eyes tight she struggled on despite the hazards, despite her non- functioning legs, despite the fact that her helmet felt too small and was squeezing her skull.

'Helping Serena is my purpose' her mind repeated, completely unaware of the red trail she was leaving behind her as she crawled on her belly towards Serena. The only acknowledgement she made to the fact that her life essence was leaving her body was to push the heavy drowsiness to the back of her mind as it once again crept in.

"Serena" she rasped breathlessly as she reached Serena's side "Serena can you hear me?" she called a little clearer. Hands flew out instinctively to feel for a pulse.

"YOU BITCH!" she heard a voice growl from behind her. With her fingers, still on Serena's pulse point, Bernie swung her head around to look over her shoulder, an act that cause her vision to blur in and out of focus. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!"

Like an elastic band, her vision pinged back to reality with the feel of the small contraction at her finger tips. Shaking her head slightly, she took in her fingers at Serena's throat. "What the fuck just happened?" she muttered.

With blood rushing in her ears and blackness once again creeping into her vision, she couldn't be sure… but she almost thought she could hear wailing… sirens. Where were they? Were they at the hospital?

"Looks like none of us are getting out of this one alive" Said the gruff voice behind her. Swinging her head once more, she looked over her shoulder to see Simon walking towards them. "Tell me, Major, what do you think will reach you first?" Blue lights lit up his frame as he cocked the gun in his hand "Them… or my bullets?"

No sooner had he raised the gun that Bernie flung her body over Serena's. She had to protect her. He couldn't hurt her. Too many people loved her… One of whom didn't deserve to love her.

Bernie shut her eyes tight against the haze that once again took over. "I love you so much" she whispered into Serena's hair. "I'm sorry"

Bang.