A Spy's Home---Book 3: A Friend I've Never Met

Chapter 18

Zylina's Point of View

I stood on the counter, and peaked on to the top of the shelf where the box originally was, but there was nothing up there but dust. Sighing, I carefully climbed down from the counter top, and shook my head, causing the boys to deeply sigh.

"Well, I dropped the box, so it's on the floor somewhere if it's not on the shelf." I pointed out, rubbing the back of my neck; I didn't know how long we had until Lilian might need our help, and not being able to find the file put me under a lot of pressure and stress.

"Alright then, then let's get to looking." Luke sighed, getting on his hands and knees. Rory and I looked at each other, shrugged, and copied Luke's actions.

Minutes later, I looked under the counter-top I had my little fall on, and spotted the file in the far, dusty corner. "Found it!" I called the boys over.

They crawled as quickly as they could to my side, and peered down below the counter. A smile crept on both of their faces, but they quickly faded.

"Can you reach it, Zyl?" Rory asked. I shook my head, and saw Luke glance at me with confusion.

I looked over at him, and asked, "What?" with a bit more sass than I intended. Fortunately, Luke didn't take offense to my comment.

"So, he can call you Zyl, but I can't?" Luke exclaimed. I rolled my eyes at the stupid question, before answering, "Rory's practically my adoptive brother, of course he get's to call my Zyl."

I couldn't see it, but I somehow knew that Rory had a smirk that said, "Ha, I get to call her by her nickname and you don't." I turned my attention back to the file, and whispered, "Rory, can you get it?"

Rory stretched his hand out under the counter; barely, his finger-tips brushed over the file. "I...I think...." his voice trailed off, as he started dragging the file back in our direction. Once it was in his hands, he pumped his fist into the air.

As the boys smiled, I couldn't help sense that there was something off; retrieving this file was too easy, and I had a sickening feeling.

I felt Luke's touch on my shoulder, and I saw him gesture to the file out of the corner of my eye. "It's your file, open it." he told me.

Rory stuck his hand out to hand me the file, and with shaky hands I retrieved it. I took in a shaky breath, mentally preparing myself to open it. I hesitated when I slipped my finger under the edge, and muttered, "Can you boys let me read this alone?"

I saw Rory look past me toward Luke, and nod his head; I didn't take my eyes off of the file as they existed the file room, and when I was finally by myself, with the silence and dim light as my only company, I found the mental strength I needed to flip the file open to the first page.

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

I gasped as I saw a string pull between the cover page and first piece of paper, and that's when I saw it, the source of my worried instinct; there was a bomb stuck to the first page of the file!

I jumped to my feet, and dropped the bomb on the floor; there was only 30 seconds left! I sprinted from the room, and out into the dim halls. Luke and Rory were leaning against the wall, and flinched a little when they heard my shouting.

"Guys, run.....RUN! It's a trap! There's a bomb about to blow!" I watched as their eyes widened in shock, and Luke started running toward the exit door, while Rory, being my protective "adoptive brother," stayed a few seconds longer to wait for me to catch up.

I ended up sprinting in front, since I was the fastest runner, and I didn't keep my eyes on the boys behind me.

Bang!

Ah!

I skidded to a stop almost immediately, and snapped my head around; Luke was laying on the floor under a really low pole!

As I started running back for him, I heard the explosion sound in the file room, and the halls before me were getting brightly lit, by a spine-chilling orange glow.

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Luke's Point of View

I had only looked behind my shoulder for a second; one....second! The next thing I know is that I'm laying on the metal floor with my head throbbing with intense pain, and my ears are annoyingly ringing.

I groan a little as I try to get myself out of the dazed trance that I was currently stuck in, however, I heard the boom of the explosion that we were running from in the first place.

I try to lift my head, but find myself too weak to do so. I see the orange light on the metal ceiling, and my eyes go wide; I wanted to go out fighting, or go out at an old, ripe age surrounded by friends and family; not like this, alone and dazed.

I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for my doom, but that's not what happened. I felt two hands reach under both of my shoulders, and lift me to my rubbery legs. Dazedly, I looked over and saw Zylina wrap her arm around me as support, before half dragging me away from the explosion.

Rory was in front of us waiting, and once we caught up with him, he wrapped his arm around me, and assisted Zylina in carrying me for safety.

I winced at every step I was forced to take, and I turned my head to look over my shoulder. The fire was getting closer; were we fast enough to make it out before this whole building went ka-boom?

"Luke, keep moving, don't look back." I heard Zylina say, causing me to snap my head back forward, which was a mistake; a sudden jolt of pain shot through my head and my knees buckled from underneath me.

"Don't pass out on us now! The exit is right there!" I heard Rory shout. Before I could process the seconds that had passed by, I felt Rory and Zylina grab me again, and drag me the rest of the way.

Finally, I felt smooth cement give way to rough gravel; the last thing I heard was another explosion, but this time it was louder, and more ear-drum shattering, but the sound wasn't the only thing coming from the explosion.

What followed was a wave that sent all three of us flying backwards; when I landed I hit my head on the rocks, and I allowed myself to slip into unconsciousness feeling the heat from the flames only yards away, and warm blood trickle down the side of my face. 

TBC....