THE ELITE AGENT

28. BUTTERFLY IN A COBWEB.

Alex's POV:

I have no idea what I am doing. My life is already on the line, the FBI are hunting me down but here am I, trying to be a hero and save a school kid rather than turning my tail and running away.

I cough as the smoke turns more dense with each passing second. My eyes turn teary as I feel the vapor hinder my vision. I hold my breath, trying not to breath in the smoke and fill my lungs with it.

I navigate my way through the van quickly and effectively with the help of tiny source of cries from the kid. I make to the end of the van and look down the seats to see a red-head girl with freckles looking back at me with frightful eyes. I let out a sigh and smile at the scared kid.

"Hi, come here. Let me help you," I say, reaching out my hand towards the kid. She shakes her head as she tries to push herself back. Her pink cheeks were slightly covered in black ashes as her hands were wrapped around her legs, head slightly tucked down, too scared to look at me.

"I won't hurt you. I am really here to help you. Your brother is out there waiting for you."

"B-But mommy said... stranger d-danger," She stutters.

I let out a sigh. The smoke is making its way towards the end of the van. Soon it might catch fire. I have to hurry up. I look back at the kid and try my best to put on a smile, not showing her how distressed I am feeling.

"I am Alex. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"L-Lia."

"Lia, now that you know my name, we are not strangers anymore," I shrug. The girl slowly unravels her hands around her legs and looks at my hand, which is hanging to be taken.

"Just think I am one of your friends," I speak softly, subtly urging her to take my hand, and she slowly does. My smile widens are I pull her out and make her stand.

"Careful, I am hurt," She said, eyeing her hand that I held.

"What? Where?!" I panic.

"Here," she said showing me her tiny index finger. I narrow my eyes to see a small cut, very small that it's almost invisible to my eye.

Kids and their over-exaggeration.

"Don't worry. You will be treated," I say. She nods her head. Before I could turn around I hear a blast from behind.

The kid screams to the earth-shattering blast. I immediately squat down on one knee and wrap my arms around her, protecting her from getting hit by shards of glass. I clench my eyes shut as the van shakes terribly. Apart from the fact that I could barely breathe oxygen, I could feel the hot fumes of fire making its way towards the back of the van. I open my eyes and look back to see my intuition was right.

The van is catching fire.

We have to get out of here and I have to think fast. What do I do? Going back from the way I came from is out of question. It's already consumed in flaming fire. So, there's just one way.

The emergency exit.

I quickly remove my flannel and drape it around the kid's shoulders. She looks back to how fast the fire is spreading behind us and getting closer and closer. To add more delight to my situation, I hear sirens.

"Fire," the little girl whispered.

"Don't worry. We will leave through the emergency exit."

"But we have to stop the fire."

"Lia, we can't. Now, come on," I say, dragging her quickly to the emergency exit.

"I have a bottle filled with water. We can use that," She says enthusiastically after coughing twice.