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Li cowered under the table and heard the glass smash and saw, slowly, the shadow of the lorry first as it blocked out all light from the cafe, soon followed by the bulk of the lorry itself. Paulo was protecting her from the glass with his body, and she could look up and see the lorry plunge into the far wall, missing the toilets by a few inches. It passed over the counter, forcing Jack and all the other employees to duck behind it. Bottles and glasses were thrown onto the floor. Then Li noticed with a sinking heart that the cabin was on fire. She knew that if the fire spread to the engine, the whole truck would go up in flames, taking the whole building with it. They had to get everybody out.

Finally, the lorry came to a stop further into the building. Whatever shop was on the other side of that wall had probably suffered just as much damage as this one, she thought. She listened for the screams, but they had all stopped. There was just complete silence. Was everybody dead? Then she stood up, forgetting the table above her, and banged her head against the side. She ignored it and scanned the cafe. Thankfully nobody seemed to have been hurt - or killed. Not yet, anyway. They had perhaps a minute or two before the truck exploded. The other four members of Alpha Force stood up as well. They were all fine, except for a few cuts and bruises. She pointed towards the fire in the cabin, took a deep breath, and -

"Everybody get out! Now!" She yelled. Suddenly, all around her, the panic started. Everyone was just too eager to follow what Li had ordered. A mad rush followed, some people crying and others moving robotically, still in shock. A woman held back, looking frantically round her for something.

"Come on! We've got to - " began Paulo, taking her by the arm and trying to drag her towards the exit.

"No!" she screamed, "Where's my son? He went to the toilet - where is he?" She was crying hysterically and searching the whole room for him. Alex glanced at Hex.

"How old is he? We'll get him." He said quickly, grabbing Hex's arm.

"Seven - no, eight..." she began, but Alex and Hex were already off towards the toilets.

"Be careful!" Amber called after them, before returning to help Paulo and Li get everybody out. The woman was still hesitant to go, but Li laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's OK," she said, "My friends will get him," Li glanced back towards the toilets to see Alex and Hex, but they were not in sight. She turned back and got everyone out the cafe. Then she said to Paulo, "Did everyone behind the counter get out?" Paulo nodded and helped Li get the customers as far away from the building as possible.

"Can you see anyone?" called Alex, climbing over the broken door frame. Hex peered into the tiny toilet. He didn't like the thought of being stuck in there when the truck blew.

"Nope." Alex opened the first cubicle. There was no one there. Hex was looking in the second, but no hope. With a last burst of hope, Alex moved over to the third and last door, but the door was locked. Frantically, he banged on the door.

"Who's in there?!" He called, "Can you open the door?" Nobody answered. Alex swore. With a grunt, he pushed his shoulder into the door and it moved a bit. Hex saw him and ran over.

"Here, I'll help," he muttered, then banged on the door with his fist again, "Stand back, OK?" On the count of three, Hex and Alex both shoved the door and it came free off its hinges. Hex rubbed his shoulder, breathing hard, and turned back towards the door where he could watch the fire in the truck. There was no point in trying to put it out, but he could get an idea of how much time they had.

"Alex! We've got about a minute!" Called Hex, from the door, watching the fire in the cabin rapidly spread towards the engine. Alex ignored him and focussed his attention on the kid cowering nex to the toilet seat. He appeared to be in shock. He wasn't moving and was staring blankly ahead. Alex shifted uncomfortably - it was like he was staring right through him. He moved closer to the boy, who made no sign that he knew his cubicle door had just been smashed off. Alex knelt down in front of the boy.

"See if you can put the fire out!" He called back to Hex. He knew it was pointless but it would give Hex something to do. They all hated having to wait around. He heard Hex run off and offered his hand to the boy, who's eyes suddenly flickered and moved over to Alex's hand. He stared at it as though he'd never seen a hand before, "Come on! We've got to get out!" He said, kneeling down. The boy stared at him with wide eyes, and nodded slowly. Alex gently put his hand on the boys arm and stood up, and the boy followed.

"It's OK," he said, but he'd never realy been great with kids. And all the time he was becoming increasingly aware of the time they had left. The boy took hold of his hand and he ran towards the door, stopping to find Hex. He was holding a fire extinguisher and was about to pull the string when Alex knocked it out of his grasp.

"No time," he said, "We just need to get out." The three of them ran out of the cafe and down the main road. Alex breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the group futher up, huddling together with their hands over their ears. Hex quickly scanned the street. Nobody. That was good - the others had cleared the area already.

"Thats him!" screeched the woman, pointing at the figure holding on to Alex's hand.

"Thank God," whispered Amber. She let out a breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding when she saw the three boys. She'd been so worried the truck would blow while they were still in there. It had been like deja vu, when Hex had ran back to the burning truck to rescue Samir in Western Sahara, next to Morocco.

Before they reached them, the woman's son let go of Alex's hand and ran straight to his mother, embraced in her arms. Amber smiled. Alex and Hex slowed as they reached them, breathing heavily.

"You got him, then," she said, playfully punching Hex on the arm. He was about to reply, when, a few hundred metres away, the fire in the cabin reached the petrol stored in the engine.

Everyone threw themselves face down on the ground with their hands over their ears, as the impact hit them. Paulo had instructed everyone as what to do when the truck blew. Even from this distance, they felt the heat wave pass over them, and if they had looked up, they would have seen the building, a few blocks away, go up in flames, tongues of fire reaching the sky and disentegrating.

When Paulo was sure the blast was finished, he cautiously raised his head. He had been protecting a young girl under his body, and he quickly checked to see if she was OK. She was fine, just a little scared. He stood up, brushing himself off. All the others followed him and Alex, Li, Hex and Amber came over to talk.

"What the hell was that all about?" asked Hex, looking to check if his palmtop was still safe.

"I don't know, but it seems we're in on something..." Alex grinned at the other four faces.

"You mean we can't even enjoy easter without getting burning lorries thrown at us?" said Hex.

"Thank God we saw it in time." Li whistled, staring at the black smoke already billowing into the sky.

"Thank God Hex saw it in time," replied Amber, rubbing Hex's arm. The others murmured in agreement. "Well, Jack's not gonna be happy," sighed Amber. Almost on cue, Jack tapped her on the shoulder. She turned, surprised to see the look of guilt and terror on his face, "Hey, are you OK?"

"What do you think? My job's just been blown up," he scowled.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean - " Amber began, but Jack silenced her with a finger to his lips. Behind her, Alex, Li, Paulo and Hex continued talking about the explosion.

"Listen," the urgency was clear in Jack's voice, "This was - well, I don't know how to say this, but - " he paused, "No. I'll just say - " Amber didn't have a clue what was wrong. What could be bothering him so much?

"I'm sorry, OK?" he said, and turned and ran down the road. The other four had stopped talking, and had only heard his last two words.

"Jack - wait - " Amber called, but he didn't listen. He turned the corner and disappeared from sight. Amber frowned and turned back to her friends.

"Well, I don't know what that was all about," she said, "But he was acting as if he was kind of responsible for the explosion." The other four members stared at her, aghast.

"Who is he?" said Paulo, frowning in thought.

"Jack. He runs the cafe. He's always been a really nice guy - often gave me free drinks and stuff. Only recently, come to think of it - he has been a bit secretive. Like he's got a problem which he can't talk about. Sometime's I've seen him looking so stressed, even when nothing seems to be wrong. It started about a couple months ago, I guess." Amber recalled. They were silent for a while.

"Jack who?" Alex said, suddenly. Amber looked at him.

"I dunno. I've never asked. Might know it if I heard it, though."

"Jack Scrivvens?" Amber nodded, surprised. "He was in the news, I think, a while ago. Something like he fled from Washington because he was being threatened. How long's he been living here?"

"A year, maybe." Amber was now fully alert, staring at Alex. They could be onto something.

"Yeah - that's around the time I saw the article. And then maybe his threateners tracked him down a couple months ago - "

"And that would explain his strange behaviour!" finished Amber, her face lit up. There was silence for a minute, all deep in thought, before Paulo said -

"Bang goes that relaxing Easter."

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