Spy School Project X

Surprise

Cracked House Barbecue

Charleston, West Virginia

June 1

1330 Hours

I was hungry. Very hungry. I'd never really liked barbecue before after "the incident" when me and Mike tried to chug a bottle of barbecue sauce each and both threw up. But now that I was here, in this old diner, the booth seats half ripped and the tables stained with a substance that looked alarming similar to blood.

The waitress, sporting possibly the most southern accent I'd ever heard had brought us our food a few minutes ago, and everyone was silently chowing down, as I don't think Erica or her family had eaten anything either. I got a sirloin steak the size of my head, while Erica had a salad, despite my objections about her getting enough to eat. Cyrus had ordered ribs, and Alexander had pondered the menu for at least a minute before he did anything, and even then it was Cyrus who snatched the menu from his hands and ordered for him.

We had successfully escaped the CIA, who was probably now frantically looking around, thinking someone had caught me - or killed me. I was wondering where Mike was, as he hadn't contacted me since we left, unlike Zoe, who'd been sending a constant stream of messages my way. He's probably on a date with Trixie, I thought, snickering slightly. Trixie was Erica's younger sister that she was very protective over. So protective in fact, I only learned of Trixie's existence when Erica had to go rogue to protect her.

I finished the last bite of my steak, cleaning of the plate. I sat back, leaning my head against the leather back. "That was good," I mumbled to myself, in a serenity like no one was trying to kill me. Erica had finished her lunch long ago, pulling out a book - Seventeen Unique Uses For Nooses - and reading it diligently. We had already paid the check, which was strange. You paid when they delivered the food.

Cyrus finished his soon after me, and then started to get up, indicating lunch was over. "Come on," he said. "We need to get on the road again." This instituted a series of whines from Alexander, who was delicately eating his steak as to not get any sauce on his suit, which he had (despite Erica's best efforts) insisted on wearing.

Erica pulled out a five dollar bill from her pocket and placed it in the center of the table, the tip. Alexander took one last measly bite as he was dragged from the table by Cyrus. Me and Erica just walked out, trying our best not to look like we're related to a grandpa having to drag a fully grown man from the lunch table.

I walk ahead of Erica, opening the front door for us both, I let her walk through first, something I've been taught by my parents since I was little. She responds with a sarcastic, "Wow, such a gentleman." If I didn't know any better, I think I saw a small smile creep onto her face.

We walked out into the parking lot, the hot sun sitting high in the sky, not a cloud in sight. The parking lot was blank, only a few cars sitting there. We were on the outskirts of the city, in the more suburban area. There are mostly one and two story buildings, but close enough to the main city to hear the traffic and constant noise.

I walked over to the car, going on the same side as I did previously. As I reached for the door handle, I heard a muddled voice from inside it. "Can someone get me out of here?" the voice asked, slightly worried. I frantically looked around, unsure where it was coming from. Erica looked at me, confused. "Please," the voice said again. I managed to locate it from coming from the trunk. "I'm really hungry." I walked over to the trunk and give it a pull, not remembering it was locked.

Erica came to my side and walked past, taking the keys that I thought were with Alexander and opening the car door. I suspected she stole them during the ordeal between him and Cyrus.