Page 38 of Trapped With the Secret Agent

The clock was ticking.

“Time to go.” He slipped out with Georgia behind him, hugging the shadows between buildings. They reached the end of the block and ducked into a tiny space between two houses. There was something lighting up the street to the right.

“Stay here,” Peter whispered.

Eyes wide, Georgia nodded and shrunk back as far as the walls would allow. Wearing all black made her almost invisible.

Satisfied that she was as safe as possible, Peter crept around the wall, keeping low.

It was another tank. Or maybe the one that just drove by them. It didn’t matter where it came from, the bottom line was that it was there, in the middle of the street, illuminating the entire intersection. Four men, rifles slung over their shoulders, stood near the idling machine, talking and gesturing with their hands.

They couldn’t go that way, and they couldn’t afford to waste any more time hiding and waiting for these guys to move on.

Peter slithered back into the crevice where he’d left Georgia.

Sliding in close, he put his mouth right by her ear. “There are soldiers and a tank watching the intersection. We’ll have to double back and go around.”

He felt rather than saw her head move in acknowledgement.

They made their way back up the street, moving cautiously, alert to the possibility that more soldiers could come upon them at any moment.

Rounding the corner, they went north instead of east, past more multi-story darkened buildings without seeing anyone or hearing any more military equipment moving their way. Peter picked up their pace a little.

They passed a battered car parked on the street that still had all four tires.

He glanced at it but kept on walking.

“I thought you wanted to steal a car?” Georgia whispered; her head bowed.

“I do, but we wouldn’t get more than a block before someone stopped us. There are too many men patrolling this area. We’re going to have to get farther away before we try stealing a vehicle.”

Georgia groaned but didn’t say anything else in response. He understood. He was worried, too. The night wouldn’t last forever, and they had a long way to go yet.

They walked two more blocks before the vibrations under their feet told them that another tank or large vehicle was approaching. The buildings around them all looked deserted, some with their windows boarded up. Peter had to try three doors before he found one unlocked. They slipped inside and hovered motionless by the door as a big truck roared by, followed by a tank, then a second one. It stopped and they could hear men talking. Peter risked a quick look through a crack in the door.

Crap. They were right outside.

Pushing Georgia out of the way, he turned on the flashlight and, covering the front again to prevent too much light from escaping, he looked frantically around for something to brace the door closed should any of the soldiers try it.

The inside was nothing more than a burned-out shell. No wonder no one was around, this part of town had seen better days.

Seeing nothing that could help, he gestured to Georgia to follow and started searching for a place to hide. Footsteps echoed outside and the doorknob rattled. Peter turned off the light and yanked her down behind a pile of half-burned boards that had fallen in from the ceiling. He pulled her close and tucked her head into his chest.

Burnt wood crunched as someone moved around the room. A beam of light hit the back wall and shone up into the partially collapsed ceiling. Peter ducked his head as it moved over the pile they hid behind. He could feel Georgia shiver despite the warm night air and all the clothes covering her.

The crunching sound moved away, and a man yelled in Arabic that it was nothing but a burned-out building. No evidence of the escaped American convicts inside. Peter could hear another man answering him then the tank’s engine revved and a second later it rumbled down the street.

Peter stayed motionless for a long time. Long after the vibrations of the tank stopped bouncing the ash-covered floor.

“Peter?” Georgia’s whisper was muffled, and he realized with a start that she must have been having a hard time breathing pressed so close to his chest.

“Sorry.”

“It’s ok.” She touched his hand. “Can we go now?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

---