My heart hammered repulsively in my chest, the sound emitting throughout the silent air with ease. The pores in my palms seeped with perspiration as my fingers ran relentlessly along one another in a frenzy to free the anxiety that was distressing my veins. The temperature inside my body increased despite the sour air slicing my skin as I awaited any detectable movements from the other side of the crate.
The minutes passed by agonizingly slowly as the silence persisted to consume my ear drums. Following the final gunshot, all torch light had been cut off, leaving my eyes to uselessly ransack the limited area around me.
Rigidly clenching the cold, metal-plated handgun, I attempted to shift my body into a more defensible position, with any hope of Bennett returning being minimal. I was forced to swallow the heaving lump within my throat at the realisation of this, but I knew that it was a necessity if I were to have any chance of making it out of here alive- I needed to focus on anything but Bennett.
I heaved my hips across the concrete, increasing the distance from the end of the crate before deviating my weight onto my knees. My pistol was pulled in front of my chest, aiming it directly at the opening to the left of me. My index finger tapped relentlessly along the base of the gun as I attempted to pace the breaths fleeing my lung. My mind was unable to occupy itself with one mere thought, so instead fought between multiple, all of which forced my pulse to quicken with each minute that prolonged by.
My ears pricked up at the pulsation of a hushed sound, soon to be followed by a succession of what appeared to be footsteps alongside a pained grunt. I held my breath deeply within my chest as my ears detected the sound advancing in my direction, my finger tightening around the trigger of death gripped in my hands.
My eyes swung aimlessly around the murkiness shrouding me, catching sight of an obscured silhouette crouched at the opposing end of the crate, causing my body to instantly lurch backwards. I remained rigidly still, watching their movements and keeping my breathing hushed.
"Adds," my arms fell immediately at the sound of his voice, the pistol being draped softly over my lap as my head fell against the crate. I released a heavy breathe, hearing him shuffle his way over to me before enveloping me into his arms.
"You're okay," I breathed, nudging my face into his neck in a desperate search for any kind of warmth.
"You are too," Bennett replied, his voice slow and calm as he soothed his hands over my pain engulfed body. "I need to call your Dad, he needs to know that I've got you, okay?"
I nodded as he pulled his body away before returning to his full height. I fiddled with the safety clasp of the handgun in my lap, placing it down onto the concrete at the side of my knees to allow my right arm to clasp around my rib.
"Philip?" he requested, having moved a few meters away from me to carefully eye the opening of the path. "Look, I need to be brief-," he began, though was interjected by my father. This clearly agitated him as he desperately tried to inform my father of what he felt was necessary. "Philip!" he snapped exasperatedly before his voice grew quiet once more, "I've found her."
A silence followed on the other end of the line before I heard my father's muffled voice, but his words weren't sharp enough for me to obtain any details.
"The one on the main loading deck? West side?" Bennett requested. "I really doubt that's the safest option Boss, having more people only means that there's a higher chance of us being seen, not necessarily more safety. - Okay, but I need you to understand that she's struggling sir, she's obtained a gunshot wound and it isn't looking good."
Bennett turned his back to me, mumbling something incoherent to my father and hanging up shortly after. "We're meeting your father and his team so we need to get moving. Do you think that you'll be able to manage that Adds?"
