Goode Things Take Time

Chapter Eight

There comes a time in every spy's life where, I'm sure, they get tired of running. I had been on the run for about a month. July was hot and sweaty and I welcomed it like an old friend. At Blackthorne there was no "Summer Vacation." We didn't swim in pools or have barbecues. Instead, we trained.

And that's what I did. I got up at dawn and ran my five miles through the dark, preparing myself for what was to happen in August. I didn't know the exact plans. I didn't know the exact time. But wherever it was, whenever it was, I'd be ready.

Something that most people don't realize about espionage is that it's a lot of waiting. And that's what I did. Everywhere I went I was careful, always looking behind my shoulder, checking my surroundings for suspicious activity.

Until... I wasn't.

I was walking along a narrow sidewalk near random alleyways around mid-July. The sun beat down on me like an oven and I was looking for a place to stay the night when I heard screaming. It was another teen, my age, yelling bloody murder and I ran towards her insticively. A man was holding a gun to her head while another was throwing her cellphone out of her purse, trying to get her into a car. She was clawing her way, but the men overpowered her. She obviously had never had any training to deal with that sort of thing, so I jumped in.

"Leave her alone" I said calmly and surely. These guys were large and built, but as they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Besides, they weren't deliberate in their plan and had obviously done this on a whim so I felt pretty confident that I would be able to take them.

"Oh yeah?" scoffed the bigger one, looking around "you and what army?"

"He doesn't need an army" Said a voice behind me. "But he has the rest of us, anyhow."

It was a gang of teenagers, bruised and ugly, but obviously tough. There were about ten of them and they held bikes and skateboards in their hands.

"Let her go" Said another boy. "Or else you'll find out what happens to guys like you in prison."

The two men looked at each other and laughed. Big-ugly held up his gun "This is my gun. He would very much like to hurt each and every one of you-" But he didn't finish because I ran up to him and pushed his hand up, making him fire the shot into the air. I punched him in the face and smacked the gun out of his hands into the street to where one of the other boys retrieved it.

The two kidnappers looked at each other nervously and dropped the girl onto the floor. One of the other teens took a picture of the license plate, and two of the boys went to help the girl up. The leader of the boys turned to me and looked me up and down, apraising me.

"I've never seen you around here before." He said "Name's Ashton."

"Zach." I said

"Took a lot of guts to do what you did out there." He told me

"Thanks."

"Why don't you hang with us for a bit?" he said "We were about to go down for a bite to eat." I looked back towards the girl who sat down, crying. I looked back at him.

"Just a sec" I said, and I sat down next to the girl. She was short with chin length curly brown hair and hazel eyes. "Hey, are you okay? Need me to walk you home? Or is someone coming to get you?"

She looked at me. "M-My parent's aren't home right now. They can't come to get me. So if you don't mind, it would make me feel a lot better if you could walk me home." I smiled at her and looked back at Ashton.

"Sorry man, gotta get this girl home first."

"Hey" he said "You can always come later. I'd like a guy like you in my group."

I shook my head. "I can't. I don't live near here."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Where do you live?"

Well isn't that a good question. "I live in Roseville, Virgina." I said finally.

"What are you doing in New York?"

"Visiting a friend. But I'm leaving tonight."

"That's too bad" He said as I helped the girl up. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too."

The girl and I stuck to the main roads, lest someone try to abduct either of us again. She had mangaged to calm herself down enough to talk a bit.

"So" I asked "You have a name?"

"Sure." She said "I'm Abigail."

"So, Abigail. Where are we headed?"

She pointed to a row of high rises. "That way."

We made our way through the streets of Manhattan until we got to this place called the crown building.
"I live on the 21st floor." She said, leading me up. We were standing outside of the door to her apartment and she looked at me"Wanna come inside? I have icecream."