Bill could see their home now. A flood of relief washed over him and a hint of sadness that the battered tower in the distance was in fact now his home. “Standby, Terry.”
His spirits lifted when he saw two sentries outside the front door of the tower, only to drop when he realised that neither of them were from his group. The nearest man, holding up what looked like an SA80, held up his hand in acknowledgement of the van, believing it to be reinforcements. Although the fight was going well, and they were already on the fourth floor, they had taken some casualties. The shock on the man’s face was palpable as he realised that it wasn’t Frank and Joseph in the front of the van. Shock and fear gripped him, rooting his feet to the ground as it suddenly dawned on him that the van was heading directly for him and clearly had no intention of stopping.
Bill lowered his head and, through gritted teeth, warned Terry to brace for impact. The enemy, because that’s who the man was, threw himself sideways at the last minute, the front left wing of the van clipping his legs, shattering both the man’s shins, screaming as he hit the ground hard. The second sentry took the full impact as he turned, alarmed at the yell from his friend. His head hit the windscreen, the glass shattering into hundreds of fragments, bathing Bill and Terry in a shower of glass and blood. The sentry, tossed sideways after the initial impact, crumpled beneath the nearside rear wheel, his legs broken. But it didn’t really matter: the fractured skull and crushing chest injury had ensured his death.
Bill slammed on the brakes, throwing Terry forward violently, only the seatbelt preventing him from any injury. Bill grabbed his loaded shotgun, flung the door open, and jumped out at the ready. He ran back to the first man he had hit, banging on the side of the van as he did so, yelling, “Get out, get out.” He reached the injured person who was crawling away from the scene, pulling his battered body along with his elbows. He struck the man twice with the butt of his gun, leaving him unconscious or dead while he looked for the man’s SA80.
Having found the gun, Bill gathered his group together outside the entrance to the tower block. Jake had been left in the back of the van for now. The shattered door lay just inside the entrance, the blackened frame around it evidence that explosives had been used to blast a way in. Graham and Vic’s bodies could be seen crumpled on the paving slabs outside, a pool of blood having congealed beneath and around each one, verification of a brutal death.
“Bastards,” exclaimed Bill. “Time we sorted these buggers out.”
Two shots were heard from somewhere inside the building. Bill checked their weapons. He had a fully loaded double-barrelled shotgun draped over his neck and shoulder, a piece of thick cord used as a sling. In his hand, he held the SA80, with two magazines he had taken from the attacker stuffed in his pocket. Aleck and Terry had a shotgun each. Terry had swapped with Aleck and now had the double-barrelled shotgun along with a pistol. Aleck was unfamiliar with weapons but knew the basics of how to fire it, and Bill was glad he’d had the TA lads give all of them some instruction on firearms. He just hoped he pointed the Remington in the right direction. Vincent now had a shotgun that had been taken off the attackers.
“Right with me, but keep your weapons pointed downwards until you have a target. I don’t want a hole in my backside.”
They laughed nervously, sheens of sweat on their faces, visible in the now grey dawn light.
Bill went in first, through the wrecked entrance way, the large reception area empty, the attackers satisfied that the two they had left, plus the occupants of the van, would be sufficient to cover their backs. Ahead was a long central reception desk with a bank of unused lifts behind it, and to the right, where Bill was headed, a wide set of stairs that would take them up the twenty-four storeys of the tower. Bill placed a boot on the first step. The torch, with his fingers over the torch face restricting the glow, showed him the way. The assault rifle, slung around his neck, the grip clutched in his right hand, pointed upwards as he slowly ascended. Terry was on his right, the rest close behind. At the top, the stairs bore left, doubling back on themselves, and Bill peeped around the corner, checking it was clear before climbing the next set of steps. At the top was a short landing, another set of steps off to the left that led up to the second floor, and a door on the right that would take them into the first-floor area. Originally offices, they were now used as a makeshift guards’ room, the first barrier to protect the tower block from attack such as this. Another shot resounded above them. Bill pushed the door open slowly, keeping his body back from the door, two bullet holes in it and a number of chips in the wall evidence that there having been a firefight in this area. He shoved the door all the way open, crouching and scanning the area ahead. With what little light there was coming through cracks in the boarded-up windows, he could see one body and recognised from the clothing that it was Howard. No sign of movement, and no one else could be seen.
“Vincent, you wait here and cover our backs. Don’t let anyone get past.”
“I’ll hold it, Bill. Just sort those buggers out,” Vincent encouraged.
Bill, Terry still on his right, Aleck not far behind, ascended two more flights of stairs as they zigzagged to the second floor. This floor, normally sealed off, had its door kicked in, but no one was to be seen. Halfway up the next flight of steps, three more shots were heard in quick succession, and the higher up they got the more bullet strikes and holes were evident. Three more floors were cleared, but now, just below the seventh floor, the fight definitely sounded closer. The invaders must have pushed Bill’s group back to the eighth floor.
Bill held his hand up, signalling they moved slowly and quietly, then turned off his torch. Just before he got to the corner, he heard voices. When he peered around the corner, dark shadows were lined up along the stairway. A flash of light from a gunshot further up the stairway took away any night vision he may have had momentarily. He cursed silently. Pulling Terry and Aleck close in, he whispered instructions, and the three of them moved into position. There was enough noise ahead to disguise any sound they made.
Bill knelt down, just at the base of the steps, on the left, with Terry standing to his right, both barrels of his shotgun pointed at the shadows above. With his shotgun, Aleck also got ready to play his part. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be, thought Bill. He nudged Terry.
One of the shadows, sensing something, turned and looked over his shoulder. He was met by a blinding flash of light and 250 pellets of the number 5 shot that disintegrated his face, turning it into mass of churned-up flesh, bone and blood. As the badly wounded man fell down the steps landing at Terry’s feet and nearly knocking him over, and before the other intruders could react, Terry raised the barrels of his gun again and, with a crash of fire, emptied the second load into the two shapes he could see further up. His weapon empty, barrels smoking, the smell of burning gases filling the air and having done what Bill had asked of him, he stepped back to be replaced by Aleck with his shotgun aimed at the attackers above. The attackers now found themselves in the position of being defenders. In the meantime, Bill got up from his crouch and fired round after 5.56mm round into the group above. Not aiming at a specific individual but just wherever he could see a shadow, the shocked faces of the enemy lit up every time he fired a round. The smell of blood and death filled the air. Three more crashed or slithered down the stairs. Five of the eight men who earlier had been waiting for the seven ahead of them to launch an attack were either dead or seriously wounded. The survivors panicked, escaping, charging up the stairs and around the curve, seeking protection from the walls around the corner. They collided with their colleagues causing even more panic and confusion.