Breaking out of Eden.

Secrets of the Desert

Crouching in the gutter in some dirty part of the Cairo was not where I wanted to be under any circumstances. Yet here I was huddled amongst the horrible smells and passed out drunks that live in the poorer parts of the city.

Why was I in this positional you ask? The answer was sitting in the grimy bar across from where I was crouching.

Naomi was at this point using her considerable charm on an FTK officer and hopefully convince him to go back to her place to 'talk'. This would take them right past the alley where I was currently squatting thus giving me the perfect opportunity to dispose of him and get his uniform for James.

The bar door opened and the bass of song that was playing thumped making the ground vibrate. Out came a very drunk man wearing the black suit with a strip of green around the collar that was the uniform of the FTK and on his arm was a very disgusted Naomi.

He was slurring his words as he stared at her with glazed eyes. He suddenly halted in his jerky movements that had been his way of walking and fell against the wall pulling Naomi with him, who let out a loud yelp.

I saw my chance and I lifted the gun in my hands and took one shot. There was a thud and a groan then he fell to the ground.

Getting up from my place in the alleyway I walked over to Naomi who at this point looked furious.

"Why couldn't you have let him grope you for the past two hours and then I could have shot him with a dart gun?"

I was trying to hold in my laughter "because I've been trained to use a gun and I have better aim."

She waved her hand in the air, "your short I'm sure you would be hard to hit."

I nodded my head, not wanting to anger Naomi more than she was already. Looking down at the man that was slumped against my foot I shook his off with a disgusted look. "help me get his uniform for James."

Naomi huffed but helped me pull him towards a small doorway down the alleyway where I had been crouching. Inside we found James slumped on an uncomfortable looking wooden chair snoring softly.

Rolling my eyes at his lax behaviour, I gave one final tug and the FTK officer was inside. With four of us in here there wasn't much room. James and Naomi had found this place when they had first went to interview the families, this was where they used to live.

It was small, a bit too small but was a welcome cover from the blistering heat of the daytime. The only thing in the small apartment was a scrubbed wooden table and a moth bitten mattress pushed against the damp wall.

When Naomi and I made it through the creaky door and dumped the body of the FTK officer on the floor James finally jumped into action. He quickly bent down over the man and pulled a small square device that had been sitting on the right shoulder pad of the uniform. he crushed it between his fingers. "It's a tracking device." he explained after I sent a strange look his way, "the Council don't event trust their own law enforces, this," he said, holding up the small ball of broken wires and crushed plastic, "is how they keep tabs on them, the officers don't even know, or care for that matter."

"So why do you know?" Naomi had her arms crossed with a suspicious look on her face.

James just gave a small shrug and tapped the side of his nose. "Now that," he said with a wink in her direction, "would be telling."

I had to laugh at James' behaviour, it never ceases to amaze me how he can be so happy all of the time.

"Anyway," I said hoping to get back on subject. "Will this fit you." I ask James, hoping that it will."