Leather & Lace- THE SPECTER SERIES [book five]

Chapter SIX

Lacey Paxton

You don't know how long you sit at the end of the cot, staring off into middlespace.. Trying to calm your frayed nerves..
Maybe Hours..
Its as though Kingsley's presence has triggered a state of shock.. You can't think clearly.. It's difficult to breathe properly or find any semblance of a grip on your chaotic thoughts..

When you finally shake free from your out of body trance, you make your way outside to discover that night has fallen.. You can see the lamp light shine on brightly through the canvas walls of the dining tent and the silhouettes of figures moving about inside.. Even at a distance you can hear their voices as they sit down to dinner, chatting and laughing away, completely unaware..

You wish you felt strong enough to join them, to walk over there and allow yourself to be in the presence of kind people who care about you.. But you can't..

With a sigh, you grab a clean towel and fresh change of clothes before heading to the showers.. The water is freezing as you stand beneath the tricking drizzle, but you don't care.. Anything to feel cleaner..
Less grimy.. Less dirty..
You scrub your skin until it is red, raw and almost painful to touch.. Something you have done before.. Many times..

After the cleansing that makes you feel no cleaner, you brush your teeth and pull a comb through your damp sandy blonde hair, staring at your tired, broken reflection in the mirror before dressing in clean jeans and a fresh white soft cotton t-shirt..

"Breathe in... Breathe out.." You mumble to yourself, counting to ten before you bend to pick up your worn medical coat the clink of glass catching your attention.. Crouching down you pluck the strange vial of purple goop from the shower floor.. With all the emotional trauma of the afternoon you had almost completely forgotten.. "What are you?.."
You shake your head, tucking the vial into your jeans pocket before placing your dirty clothes in the laundry box..

As you make your way through the camp back to the bunks you see that Sanjake's SUV is no longer parked by the dining tent.. He must have taken Kingsley back to wherever he is staying in Druitt...
Good. You're relieved he is gone..
But from the way he came in here bossing Sanjake around, you cant shake the feeling that he will return..

You need a plan of action.. Should you say something to Sanjake?.. Should you confront Kingsley?.. Should you just leave?.. Go home and pretend none of this happened..

You force a smile, not at all convincing at a group of young junior volunteers who sit, smoking their cigarettes behind the infirmary and they nod to you as you pass them on your way to the pharmacy tent.. Slipping inside you light a dim lamp and begin to look around for the pallet of purple vials, not a difficult task since they are exactly where you had left them..

You carry the pallet back to the table and take out a pen, scribbling the serial numbers down before you tear the strip of digits off and tuck it into your bra.. You are just returning the little pallet of vials back onto the shelf when somebody screams.. "AHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRR!!!" The kind of scream that only comes from true horror, long and torn, it seems to reverberate endlessly..
Until shrill, ear piercing cry dies on a keening gargle..

Then the gunfire begins..

TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT

Rapid fire shots in lightning fast succession ring out through the night as chaos and cries erupt through the camp.. Rushing to the door you look out to see rebels, their faces masked and their heavy machine guns blazing.. You watch, in suspended terror as the masked men mow down the patients who try to flee the infirmary, either in a hail of bullets, or a swing of a thick blade..
Sick and injured patients..
The junior volunteers..
Children..
Everyone..

They are merciless.. Methodical... This is no accidental rebel attack.. This is a purposeful massacre..

When you see one of the rebels moving towards the pharmacy, a rusty brown machete in his hand.. Your pulse pounds in your ears as you duck back inside, panic clawing your heart in its razor sharp talons..
They're going to kill you.. Or worse..

Looking around your eyes fall on a small stainless steel cabinet beside the shelves of medications, you rush over to it, throwing the door open and pulling out the boxes before climbing inside and pulling the doors shut with a quiet click..

"Get the vials, Bates.. I'll find the doctor.." The thud of heavy boots and grunts as they enter the tent.. You hear one of the rebels issue a command, a low growl before the sounds of glass shattering and furniture being overturned crash and clatter all around..
Something crashing into the cabinet, sending you spinning and crashing into the walls in the dark.. You wince, but don't dare to make a peep.. "Take care of the medics.. All of em.."

You hear the scuffle as their boots clomp away from your hiding place...

More screams.. Cries.. Pleas for mercy.. More gunfire.. More yelling.. "Shut the fuck up!!"

"No! NO PLEASE.. NOOO!!"

Then... Silence..
Nothing..

You sit, folded in that cabinet so long your legs begin to tingle and fall asleep before cramping painfully.. Your back aches and your left arm burns with a searing sting.. Your head is swimming..

Finally after what feels like an eternity of silence, you push against the cabinet door, shifting the steel frame shelf that has fallen on top of you.. It thunks to the ground as you tumble out into the destruction, pushing up to your feet, stretching your raging muscles..

The pharmacy tent is a mess.. Absolutely demolished, everything has been torn to pieces.. All that effort.. The hard work the team had put in.. All gone..

Oh god.. The team..

In a stupid dazes state you wander outside.. The bodies.. They're everywhere.. The patients you had been treating.. Your colleagues.. Your friends.. Everybody.. They're all dead.. Slaughtered so viciously..

You pad on trembling legs towards the dining tent where you had last seen Priya and the others.. Afraid of what you will find.. Pushing back the flap to the tent you see what can only be described as a bloodbath..
Some of your friends have been shot so many times their bodies are barely recognisable.. Others have been hacked to pieces by machetes..
The brutality.. The savage intent of it.. You've never seen anything so disturbing..

You back away as the ground shifts beneath you and a dizzying nausea rolls through you.. You feel sick.. Like you might throw up.. As a med-student you had seen some pretty gory things... None of which even come close to what you are now witnessing..

Out of nowhere, a deep authoritative voice calls from the darkness.."HEY!"

Flight instinct kicks in, you are not going to stand around here and wait for them to come back and finish you off.. Like a flash you take off at a sprint, bolting behind some nearby tents before ducking into the trees and weaving ahead, running at full pace.. Having run track in high-school, you are more than capable of keeping up speed for a good duration.. So you do.. But you have no idea where you are or which direction you're headed.. Or what is happening..

After running until your lungs are on fire and your legs are jelly you collapse beside the trunk of a tree, tucking yourself close and trying your hardest to be invisible... When you don't hear anybody chasing you.. That's when the tears fall..

Wracked with sobs you bring your knees to your chest and bury your face in your hands.. "Oh lord.. Oh god.. Priya.. Mateo.. Fleur.. Oh god.. They're dead.. They're all dead..."
Rocking back and forth to self soothe, the metallic scent of blood still lingers fresh in your nostrils.. Looking down you see somehow your white shirt is soaked in the sanguine crimson fluid..

The crunch of dried leaves and the snap of a twig cracks nearby and your head whips up and you peer into the inky blackness, heart beating so loud it should give you away..

Somebody is coming..