"Sh, Adds, it's me."
The hand that had smothered my mouth shifted to join the other in a tight grip around my trembling body.
"It's me, it's me," they repeated, pressing delicate kisses along my temple in a desperate struggle to calm my body down. "Please just breathe Adelaide."
My eyes were clamped rigidly shut, not wanting to believe nor return to the events that had previously unfolded. The pure terror bursting through every inch of my body was indescribable, an emotion that wouldn't be wished upon the cruellest of people. In a haste to annul the smallest of my hysteria, I focused my attention onto the words being supplied softly into my ear and the comfort of being held tightly against someone's chest.
"See, you're okay, I'm here." Bennett.
I flung my body around in a frenzied attempt to get a glimpse of him, though the severe lack of light proved as an evident obstacle. His structural outline and the uneven silhouette of his muffled hair was all that was visible. His palms reached for my face, holding my cheeks as he intently searched my features.
"Shit Adelaide," he cursed, reaching for my rib as soon as his gaze caught sight of it.
I winced immediately, causing Bennett to retract promptly. He muttered repeatedly under his breath, his mental blur visible in both his verbal and physical features. "It's bad isn't it?" He fretted, referring to the pain that I was doubtlessly enduring. "Can you move?"
"I can try."
"Adelaide., I need you to focus. We need to get to somewhere with more coverage. We're running out of time," he affirmed, shifting to a concentrated mind set. "You need to firmly hold onto your rib, I'm going to help you up okay?"
I nodded. Bennett reacted quickly by swinging his arms to either side of my body, hoisting me on my feet. The motion caused the unbearable agony in my rib to worsen, but I knew that the most important thing at that moment in time was moving to a safer place.
Bennett had set sight on a larger crate in the area opposite us, accessible by making our way over an open path between the various shipment machinery and containers, but this would immediately put us at an extreme risk of being seen.
"I'll cover for you," he said, removing one of his hands to take grip on a small pistol. "From what I know, there isn't anyone too close to us, but that's just for now so we need to move quickly."
The split second in which my foot landed onto the exposed tarmac, my heart was lost deeply within my chest as gunfire erupted into the air around us. Bennett, as if having expected it to happen, raised his firearm to the shooters, sending numerous bullets their way, each with upmost precision. He shielded my body with his own as our feet desperately tried to gain more ground. My head was consumed with the deafening strike of each bullet and the persistent stream of commands being belted from someone's throat in a haste to prevent our actions.
We neared toward the other side, soon coming within merely metres of safety, though at this point it dawned on me that the shooting had stopped. I flung my eyes from crate to crate, searching for any sign that the shooters were still there, waiting to strike again. I found nothing.
My body lurched behind the crate that it had been longing for, falling instantly to my knees as soon as we were out of anyone's sight. I spent a minute or two solemnly concentrating on restoring a regular breathing pattern while Bennett focused on scanning the area.
"You knew that they were there, didn't you?" I stammered, collapsing my head onto the wall behind me.
"I had my suspicions. But I knew that telling you would have just caused more aggravated fear, which was something that I didn't want for you."
"Where've they gone?"
"I don't think that you'll want the answer to that," he sighed.
"What? All of them?"
"There were five or six, all were shooting blindly so we had the upper hand," he explained, turning sharply on his heal. He crouched down in front of me, the light still not hitting his face enough for me to have a clear view. "There are too many of them in total to count, so we need to stay down until I know for sure that we can move and get you out of here-"
His speech was torn up by the hushed muttering that sounded from where we had been less than a few minutes ago. Numerous pairs of feet pounded along the concrete, the voices that went along with those being just about audible. "Who's meant to be on parole down this end?"
"Cliff and Ray," one answered. "But another team was sent down because no one has heard from either of them for an hour or two."
"Where's that team now?"
"No idea man, I mean this is just a repeat of what happened on the east wing isn't it," they rambled as the footsteps came to a halt.
"Bennett," another concluded. "He must be here. Who else could have managed that?"
Bennett reached his hand forward, carrying with it a second handgun. "This is just in case you need it," he whispered in a faint tone. "You know how to use it Adelaide, just remember everything that I've told you. Now I'm going to head out, I won't be long. Just stay here, okay?"
He reached forward to press a lingering kiss on my forehead before heaving himself to his full height and disappearing back around to the front of the crate.
It was silent for a minute or two, as if it were the quiet before the storm, but a storm wouldn't pacify as deadly enough for the gunshots that followed. A single trigger had initiated the succession of bullets that hurtled through the twilight. One after another, they suffocated the air, bounced from crate to crate and forced my hands to smother my head as if trying to protect myself from the terrorizing events unfolding around me.
I had tried to keep my mentality strong, but that had failed the instant that the first projectile had been fired and knowing that Bennett was out there alone made my heart lurch.
The time between each bullet minimised to less than a second, with shouts of agony being almost inaudible over everything else that was going on. I gripped the pistol tightly within my palms, searching for a sense of comfort but it wasn't the comfort I really longed for.
Within the blink of an eye, the air was left noiseless; my heavy breathing was the only sound obtainable. I listened attentively for any noise, simply a whimper, a footstep, a groan, a shout, a murmur, or a breath. Anything. However, all that I was given was the last thing that anyone would have wished for- a single gunshot.
