Closing his eyes to protect them against the desperate fingers which were now clawing and scrabbling at his face, Carr moved his hand over the guy’s mouth and rapidly punched his blade four, five, six times into the exposed rib cage at the side.

For a moment, the mortally wounded man’s strength seemed to increase, but then his hands fell from Carr’s face and he went limp.

He was still breathing, but it was laboured, frothy blood from his ruptured lung spilling from his mouth.

Then he gave a kind of resigned sigh and was silent.

Carr wiped the knife and his bloodied gloves on the dead man’s tunic, recovered the Welrod, and stood up.

As he re-sheathed the knife, Kev McMullen appeared at his elbow. ‘What the fuck happened?’ he whispered. ‘I’m watching our six and then I turn round and you’re rolling around on the floor with the cunt.’

‘Fucking Welrod didn’t fire,’ said Carr, under his breath. ‘Had to use the knife.’

‘You okay?’

‘He fucked my shoulder up a bit,’ said Carr. ‘But I’m fine.’

He looked at the pistol.

‘Need to know this bastard works,’ he said. ‘Wait one.’

He twisted the cocking mechanism at the rear of the weapon to expel the dud round from the chamber, and then pushed it forward to reload the weapon.

He put the barrel to the head of the man at his feet and pulled the trigger.

This time, the weapon gave its characteristic near-silent pop, and a neat entry hole appeared in the guy’s forehead.

Shaking his head and muttering to himself, Carr reloaded it and replaced it in its holster.

A few metres away, Geordie Skelton breathed a sigh of relief and quickly replaced his dead battery.

Carr dragged the body fully around the corner, and keyed his mike.

‘All call signs, phase one complete,’ he whispered. ‘Move to the gate.’

‘Me and Fred moving, John,’ said Skelton. ‘Fucking battery died. Sorry, mate.’

‘Doesn’t matter, Geordie,’ said Carr. ‘Least of our worries.’

Carr threw a quick look to make sure Kev was following, and they quickly moved along the wall towards the main gate, the shapes of Geordie and Kev approaching from the south-west, moving purposefully towards the judas gate, and their entry point, and phase two.

After that it was all into the unknown.

Chapter 95.

95.

THE FOUR MEN were stacked up outside the judas gate.

John Carr was at the front, on the hinged side to the right, Kevin McMullen behind him.

They were the entry men, first through the breach.

Each carried a suppressed Diemaco: they had no idea how many fighters were on the other side of the wall, and that ruled out the single-shot Welrod.

Of course, this increased the chance that they would be heard going in.