Sundown

  Eva knew her time was running short but she had two more stops to make and they were life or death related so she pumped her legs as fast as she could to get to Stage three of Four.

The flow of pedestrian traffic coming and going down the busy sidewalks of the city frustrated her to no endshowever They belonged here..not her.She cut down a breezeway and the cobblestone path between the two tall apartment buildings took a slight incline. The muscles in her calves screamed"Enough Already!" But her brain was elsewhere.She got to the end of the breezeway and hooked a left. There it was across the street less than a hundred yards away.She was sure of it, She reached into her jacket pocket and removed the Solar polarized glasses and placed them over her eyes.The illumination marks on the front of the building stood out like Christmas lights on a house in July. Eva removed the glasses and placed them securely back in her pocket.Then she glanced up way up into the sky she reckoned she had less than thirty minutes to get the information she needed here then hit Stage four.Off across the street she went,traffic was less congested on this block. As she made her way to the front doorIt swung open and a handsome man came through it,he glanced up as if he,d seen something then continued down the side walk.Before the door closed Eva was through it and making her way to the stair well.She hustled through the two flights and down the hall to a door marked LAB.Eva bent down and removed a Velcro strap off her ankle and unzipped the pouch.Inside was an envelope of fine powder,she poured a little in the palm of her hand and blew the contents over the face of the key pad.As expected the first four numbers were the most common,d used all the remaining had no smears or oil on them.She went for it keying in 1-2-3-4. Swish the door opened and she steps inside,and replaced the bag and straps back onto her ankle..Hurrying she walks past the tables and desk looking for filing cabinets or shelves.the room is dark so she reaches on her hip and removes a mag-lite.The luminous bulbs cut through the darkness like a hot knife through frozen butter.Off and near the back of the lab she sees a office so she makes her way to it.As she approaches the door she tries the knob its locked Damn it!The timer in her head is counting down and shes fooling around with locked doors,shes got no time for this,a glass window is off to the right of the room so she grabs a chair and takes out the office window.She follows suit and enters the office,rushes to the file cabinet near a wall and flashes her high beams over the first documents in the top shelf,Nothing she needs here..Second drawer....Nada.Bottom drawer...Here we go! She grabs the literature and stuffs them all in her pack then slings the pack onto her back and quickly as she makes her way out of the lab clips the straps and tightens the load around her shoulders and waist so not to bounce and bobble.Out of the lab and down the stairs taking them three at a time,out the door and onto Stage Four!She peers upward again as her legs strain and her fears are now creeping in,(Not enough Time)"Its getting Dark,Save yourself."NO! Fuck You! I,m not going Quit!She hauls ass down the street then hangs a right go go go!Eva is huffing and puffing now the brightness earlier out side is fading fast But Eva is determined to finish this mission!Come on! She yells at her self she sees the park its empty of foot traffic but the tree limbs hanging and stretching this way and that gives her an eerie feeling but she races past them as the sky gets darker and darker.She can see the Pink house a ways from the park she must get to it and retrieve a box on top of a mantle in the front room.Between strides she reaches in her jacket pocket and remove the glasses and places them over her eyes.There illuminated next to the front door only her eyes could see are the letters C.U.R.E.Between breaths Tears well up in her eyes and she extends her strides to cover more ground.Her shoes hit the pavement hard from the previous grassy turf and she literally covers the distance fast.She gets to the door and its unlocked,it swings open on the first try.Inside its pitch black,she reaches for her flashlight and notices its not on her.Outside the brightness is almost gone...That,s not good for her.She slaps at the wall next to the open door and finds a push button switch.She pushes the bottom one light illuminates the room she rushes to the mantel and grabs the only woodenbox on it then hauls ass out of the house to the back of it.. between two trees the rippling tear in time and space is closing and Eva Dives head first grasping and holding the wooden box tightly to her chest.The End.