Hi! I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I posted the first chapter; it seems to have gone by so fast. I know it's probably getting annoying with my saying "please comment!" all the time, but the reason I out my book on this website was to get feedback and improve my writing skills. So, please consider commenting; it will mean a lot to me. Now, without further ado, please enjoy! This chapter is important!

Chapter Four

Stranded

Betton Woods

Betton Hills Florida

April 20th

0300 hours

"Hey." Erica muttered sleepily next to me.

I had no idea where we were, but my head was pounding, and everything was heavy. There was faint talking somewhere near us, and whoever it was seemed to be annoyed about something. And I recognised the voice, but I couldn't figure out why. I could tell I was lying on the ground, although it was significantly softer then any ground I had ever laid on. I shifted my eyes to the right, and I saw Erica lying there beside me, and I cringed at the sight of her. She had a black eye, and her lip was bleeding pretty bad.

"Hi," I replied, barely moving my mouth.

"How long have we been out?" She asked

"I don't know."

"You're the math genius. You should know." The words stung and made me soar at the same time. I liked Erica telling me I am a genius, but she was only saying it to tell me I should know the answer, which I don't.

"Well I don't know."

So she moved on.

"Do you know at least how far away the people are? The ones who are talking?" she asked.

"I think so. Give me a sec."

I did some quick mental math, determining the distance of the voices, and the depth difference between us and them.

"Approximately 20 metres in length, and we're a metre deeper."

A slight smile appeared on her face.

"Watch out. I'm not going to be stable."

It wasn't much of a warning. One second, she was lying on the ground, the next, she was standing. Well… sort of. She stood, but took a step too soon, lost her balance, and fell back to the ground.

"The stupid floor is springy." She muttered, pulling out a flashlight from a pocket.

It only then registered with me that it was dark.

She shone the flashlight across the ground near us, which showed us we were somewhere in a forest. And they had taken care to lay us on especially soft moss.

Slowly, Erica stood again, and quickly shut off her flashlight. Although possibly too late.

The quiet chatter had stopped, and footsteps were getting louder.

I wasn't the only one who noticed. Erica froze, and then before I could argue, she had pulled me up to my feet, and started quickly dragging me deeper into the forest. I felt top heavy. My legs had turned to jello, and I could tell Erica was annoyed that I wasn't being helpful. We could still hear the people behind us, and Erica wasn't stopping. Suddenly, she pushed me hard, and I fell to the ground. I heard the snapping of a branch, and then Erica was on the ground next to me. She held her breath, and then let it out as she heard two cries of pain."Get up, and run like your life depends on it." She said sharply.

Next second, we were both running. I could no longer hear the people behind us. I took it as a good sign, and I took it as the time to ask Erica what she had done.

"It's an unimpressive trick, and I'm surprised they didn't see it coming." She replied.

"But… what did… you… actually do?" I asked between breaths.

"I'll tell you later. There's a high probability that there are more of them out here." She was speaking like she was on a walk, not a run for her life.

We fell back into silence, and I noticed that after what felt like several hours, we were both panting.

I noticed the forest was lighting up very slowly. Morning was around the corner.

"We can stop." Erica said, leaning against the tree to her left. I collapsed to the ground, and then immediately regretted it. I had never seen so many insects in one place. And some I had never seen before. I quickly got back up and copied Erica by leaning against a tree. We stared at each other for a few seconds before she looked away quickly and started checking all her pockets to see if she lost anything.

"You said something about the mailbox." Erica said, looking up from her utility belt.

"I did. Do you have Brane Dammage's ID card still?"

"I just saw it." She said opening a pouch which was filled with what suspiciously looked like hundreds of ID cards. She pulled out a few, and then handed me the one of Brane Damage.

"How many ID's have you stolen in your lifetime?" I asked, taking the card.

"This is only one year's supply. I lost my third utility belt when we jumped off the bridge during camp. And, it's not only ID's. I have gift cards and credit cards too. Why do you need the ID?"

I was surprised. For once in my lifetime, I knew something before Erica.

"Can I see the picture of the man at the mailbox?"

"Sure." She dug out the plastic bag again, and handed it to me. It was getting lighter every minute. I could hear the birds again, and I didn't need a flashlight to see anymore.

"I was right!" I said after a moment of looking between the two articles.

"Well? Are you going to explain or what?" Erica asked, coming and looking at the pieces too.

"It's Brane Damage! Brane was at the mailbox!"

"That doesn't answer much you know. There are so many more questions. For example, what was he doing at a McDonald's way out in Florida? What is the letter about, why is Dane involved and all that stuff. Oh, and more, what is Xorvat?"

That's when I lost my cool.

"I got somewhere at least. It's not like you've thought of anything more than that."

That struck a nerve. Erica narrowed her eyes at me, and she lost her temper as well.

"Oh yeah, 'cause I totally didn't risk my life coming from Washington to Florida to get you, and then figure out how to get the ID card, fight two bad guys and watch my grandfather suffer from a heart attack."

I gaped at her, and I saw tears glisten in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea." I whispered.

"Of course you have no idea!" She said angrily. "I couldn't bear to tell you when I first saw you because I knew it would mess up the mission. I didn't even mean to say it now. Please don't let it distract you."

I nodded, and fought back tears. The Erica I had known for practically three years was gone. A new Erica had replaced her. One who was willing to show slight emotions, one who was able to trust.

I didn't know I would feel so sentimental about Cyrus. Cyrus who was colder than Erica. Cyrus, who didn't really like me. Cyrus who was the best spy in the CIA.

Cyrus Hale was in his late seventies, although he had the agility of a twenty year old. When I had first met him, he had taken out four enemies in thirty seconds. But also from the time I had met him, he had been cold, saying I better be worth all the trouble he had taken to save me.

He was Alexander's father, Erica's grandfather, and traced all the way back to The Great Nathan Hale himself.

Erica had retreated back to the tree across from me, and we fell into silence once again. I set the picture down onto the ground, and then the ID card beside it. I studied them closely, trying to see if it answered any of the questions.

'Xorvat' puzzled me the most. But I let that pass. Something else had caught my attention.

"Erica can you pass me the letter please?" I asked.

She didn't reply, but thrust the note into my hand. With one glance at it, I realise that I was right.

The ID card was split into two parts. Half was a picture of Brane, and the other half was three lines with information on them. The top line had his name. The middle line had the word 'Xorvat' on it. And on the bottom line was his agent number. Agent 225. And the letter was from Agent 225.

"Brane is Agent 225." I said to Erica.

"The agent who wrote the letter." She said to herself.

"Which means-" I started.

"That Xorvat is an evil organisation." She finished. Then we shared a smile. I had to ask my question now.

"What happened on the way here?" I put in quickly. But as usual when it came to Erica, I was wrong, and now was not the time to ask.

"Later." She muttered.

That's when I heard a twig snap. I swiveled my head around, and saw someone dash behind a nearby bush. Erica was instantly at my side, aiming her gun.

That's when the person raised both hands in the air and came out from behind the bush. She was sheathed from head-to-toe in skin tight camouflage, but she removed her mask so that we could see her face. Her hair fell over her shoulders, and practically down to her knees.

"Shoot me now, or shoot me later. I know you'll choose one. But it doesn't make a difference. We have you surrounded." She said fiercely.

Erica didn't lower her gun. She quietly and motionlessly kicked my calf, and then with the tip of her toe pointed to the artifacts I had laid on the ground.

I knelt down, and picked up the ID card, the picture and the letter.

"My name is Clarice." The girl said. "You may have heard of me. You have stolen property that didn't belong to you. Hand it over."

And when I didn't move - mostly out of confusion - Her face hardened into annoyance.

"You may be smart, but you are still a kid. I am smarter, and I prepared for the worst." The next thing she said scared me out of my wits.

"Attack!"

And that's when I realised, we were dead meat.