Chapter Twenty One #3
She looked around seeing frightened faces.
Yes, she was scared, too. She had known there were risks in her job, but she had never expected to be in a situation like this.
With people throwing bombs at them. Her legs felt weak, and she sank to the floor, her back against the wall.
More explosions outside, and the shouting was getting louder.
This was bad. Really bad. Some of the women around her were crying.
Some trying to make calls on their phones without success
“How long till our evacuation team gets here?” one of her male colleagues asked.
“ETA is four hours,” the marine replied.
“Those people will be inside here in thirty minutes. We must leave,” Joe said. Charlie recalled he was one of the ambassador’s intelligence aides.
“Sir, there are only two exits to this embassy. Both are blocked. It is safer for us to stay until the team arrives. They know the situation and are prepared.”
The marine turned away, talking on a radio, and her colleague sat down.
What choice did they have but to wait and hope the evacuation team got here before the protesters stormed their way inside?
She shuddered, trying not to think of what might happen if the team did not get here in time.
She’d counted eight US marines guarding them.
There might be more she hadn't seen, but even so, too few against the hundred plus protesters outside. They would be overpowered in no time.
Hopefully, a big team was coming to get them out.
She closed her eyes and thought again about Donnie.
The time before she’d seen his laptop. It had been so perfect, she had been happy.
Really happy. At least she had experienced that.
If she was going to die here, she would always be grateful they shared that time.
A shout that sounded like “RPG” had her opening her eyes just as a wall came tumbling down. Dust filled the foyer and blurred her vision. Someone grabbed her arm, pulling her into another room. This dust was thinner here, and she looked out the window to chaos.
Cars were on fire; bodies lay on the ground. The gates were still intact, but the Marines were now having to use force to stop the protesters getting inside.
“Charlie?”
She turned at her name, seeing the ambassador on the floor. A marine was placing a bandage over what looked like a stomach wound. Blood spilled onto the floor around her.
“Ambassador? Oh my God. What happened?” Charlie dropped to her knees beside her.
“She got hit by debris, a piece of rebar,” the marine said. “Here, can you hold this?”
Charlie placed her hands where he instructed, noticing the piece of rebar sticking out of the ambassador's stomach. Her hands shook, but she looked at the woman she admired and gave her an encouraging smile. “You're going to be fine.”
“I’m sorry I asked for you to come here,” she whispered.
Charlie shook her head. “I was flattered you remembered me, and I was not forced to come. I chose to.”
The marine added more gauze, then looked at her. “OK. You can let go. It’s the best I can do right now. Stay with her. Let my sergeant know if anything changes.” He nodded to the marine who had spoken to them before.
“OK.”
The marine smiled at the ambassador. “Stay as still as you can. We going to get you all out of here soon.”
Charlie took hold of the ambassador’s hand. It was cold, clammy.
“Hang in there, ambassador. It won’t be long now.”
“I think you can call me Amanda. You have my blood all over your hands.” She smiled weakly.
Charlie didn’t want to look at her hands. Didn’t want to see the blood. Didn’t want to believe she was here in the middle of this horror.
“Do you have family waiting for you back stateside?” She forced a smile.
“My parents. I never married. No kids. Married to the military, I guess.” Sadness filled her voice. “How about you?”
“Um, my parents. I’m not married either.”
“But there’s someone special?”
Charlie nodded. “Sort of.”
“Ah.” Amanda smiled. “How serious is it?”
“I... I don’t know. There’s some stuff we need to sort out.”
Amanda squeezed her hand. “Do you love him?”
“Yes,” Charlie whispered. That was the problem. She did.
“Does he love you?”
“I don’t know. We haven't said it to each other. I know he cares about me.”
“Is he a good man?”
“Yes.” He was. Despite everything, Donnie was a good man, with a pure heart. None of what happened had been intentional.
“History and the past craft us into the people we are today, but remember, the past is the past. Sometimes we lose sight of the present because we are stuck living in the past. Don’t let fear rob you of happiness.”
The ambassador closed her eyes. She looked sad.
“Amanda, are you still with me?”
“Yes. Just tired. Tell me about your man.”
Blocking out the shouts and screams from outside, Charlie talked. The ambassador opened and closed her eyes and gave the occasional nod. Hopefully, her story was distracting the woman from the pain she must be feeling.
When Charlie finally stopped talking, the ambassador opened her eyes. “You know your brother’s death wasn’t Donnie’s or your fault. Sounds like you both need to let go of that guilt. If you love each other, you can help each other move on from this.”
Amanda let out a gasp, clutching her stomach.
“Amanda? What is it? What’s wrong?” Charlie looked around for the sergeant or any of the marines, but a much bigger explosion than the last one sounded right outside.
Then gunshots. Lots of them. The building was under attack.
Another explosion sounded above her and plaster fell from the ceiling missing her by inches.
Instinctively, she leaned over, sheltering the ambassador who couldn’t move.
“Go, Charlie. Get out of here,” Amanda rasped.
“No. I’m not leaving you here. We leave together.”