The three jogged toward the edge of the town and came to a small, shack like house. It looked as if the harsh weather here could destroy, but obviously it hadn't. Clint made the risky decision to knock on the door for information. To anyone else they were just tourists. They walked up and knocked. Something big clanged and two people hushed each other. A man, small and scared looking, opened the door an inch. He looked over the faces of the people at his door.
"English?" He said.
"Yes, we're er-"
"Business?" His voice trembled; he was definitely packing himself with fear.
"Tourists. Actually…" Clint took another risky decision. He was feeling confident at how close he was to finding her. He was suppressing the fear of… failure. "We're looking for someone. She's in trouble,"
The man at the door looked over the people again. "Well, you're definitely not Russian. I guess… Come in, quietly!" He waddled away to a table. He sat at the end and there were four cushioned seats left. The shack was small and cosy, cluttered with family photos and books and knitting patterns. And elderly lady came out and sat next to the man, quietly and nervously.
"H-h-hello, I'm… N-n-n-n-Nina," She was having trouble getting the words out. She put a large plate of warm garlic bread on the table. The three only then just noticed how hungry they were. They helped themselves to some bread.
"This is my mother, and I'm… I'm Milne. So you're… looking for… someone? A girl? Yes?" He paused between each sentence and uttered each word individually.
"Yes. She sent a distress letter calling for help. We've pinpointed her location. The trouble now is getting in. The trouble later is getting out. We were wondering if you could… brief us on what's going on inside?" Mark's charming voice gained Milne and Nina's trust. Nina nodded furiously to show this. Clint was happy that Mark had spoken first, except he wouldn't call it a 'distress letter.'
"Well, you'll know about the Vibranium mine then?" Milne's words flowed easier now that he was talking about something he knew about. "It was just discovered, not long ago. The Glowing City had quite a lack of attention before it," Clint thought that Vibranium sounded familiar. He tried not to think on it though, his goal was to find Nat. "Well, some miners were sent there to get some. Put word leaked. Well, you can figure what happened next. Everyone's trying to keep it quiet though, so there is less competition. But the Russian government found out and sent people here. And not miners either! Good Lord, no. These men and women were not miners, but killers. They were brutal. Don't get me wrong, they would only kill if they needed to. But when they did, they did it quick and professionally. Most of the time.
"Anyway, they came in and started searing for the mine. And only a few people know where it is. They went off to the forest just up there," he pointed vaguely towards the back of his house. "And they didn't come back. Mother says they found it and are staying around there," Nina nodded violently again. "But I reckon something's eating 'em," his eyes grew, "you know, killing 'em cos it wants it all to itself. That's what I think," Mark went to speak up but; "And the town is crawling with soldiers. All he ones that are too scared to go into the forest and too scared to go home empty handed. They're stuck here," Milne finished with a definite nod and stuffed his mouth with garlic bread.
Bell wiped her mouth and spoke up. "So, what would happen if we just walked in there?"
"Well, you'd get taken to the hall and questioned. They don't want no tourists going round in case they are actually looking for the Vibranium. You know, security is tight," Milne answered through garlicky teeth.
"Damn,"
"Wait! We can do that! We can go to the hall, go straight to the centre and Nat will see us and speak up! We'll be fine!" Clint felt so relieved that he had thought of that that he physically felt his shoulders relax. The pang loosened its grip and he breathed easier.
"What? I thought she was the one in trouble? I thought she lived here and the Russian's were threatening her?" Mark's sunken features had starting to look healthier with all this time outside. His frown of confusion creased a strong brow into thinking eyes.
"No, she said she was sent here! But-" the pang returned, tighter than ever, "it wasn't Russia that sent her. It was… someone else. Damn it," he rubbed his forehead. "She's everyone's enemy. Well done, Nat."
"Cool, ok. That's alright," Bell was thinking out loud. "We want to get her out of here, right? So we need to sneak in and find her. You said you know exactly where she was, so we go there. Say she's there, we find her, alive-" Clint's stomach flipped twice, "And we get her to follow us out. I assume she's fairly able?"
Clint couldn't help but laugh, "Fairly, sure,"
"Right. This shouldn't be too hard if we go under cover of night? I mean, it honestly doesn't sound that hard? It's five o'clock now, we've got a couple hours to wait, and then we go? Sound good?" Bell slapped the table in confidence.
Mark slowly nodded, running through the plan. Clint agreed to. Nearly there, Nat, nearly there.