Breaking into the room, the agent ducked past the warehouse shelves and slumped behind a crate on the sandy floor. Taking out his pocket watch, he opened it up and pointed its mirror towards the doorway. However, for a split second, he noticed a shadow move behind him out of the corner of his eye. Whipping around, he came face to face with a child. A young girl. He was pointing his pistol at a little girl.
“Who are you?” she croaked.
“Look…” he lowered his gun.
“What are you doing here?”
“Kid… Calm down…”
“… What—?”
“Look… Dammit. What is a kid like you doing here?”
“That’s what I asked you!”
“Shhh! Shh shh! Calm down.”
He could hear hurried footsteps echoing down the long hallway.
“There are bad guys out there chasing me,” he explained. “So I need you to calm down and be quiet.” After that, he turned his eyes back towards the doorway.
“Okay…” the girl said in a low, dragged out tone. “… and who are you?”
He faced her again, perplexed by her insistence to answer her questions.
“The good guy,” he simply replied without much patience left. The footsteps grew louder and louder.
“Why are they chasing you if you’re the good guy?”
“… What?”
“Why—?”
“No, no, I heard what you said. But now is really not the time for questions, okay?”
“But why are they chasing you?”
“Please… girl…” The voices and footsteps were practically just outside the doorway.
“What did you do to them?”
“Because I’m trying to save a friend, okay?!” he snapped. “That’s why they want to kill me!”
A shout from behind. They found him, and heavy boots swarmed into the room. The agent cursed under his breath and shut his watch, pocketing it and bringing up his pistol.
“Okay…” the girl finally whispered. “Then shut your ears.”
He turned to her, befuddled. “What…?”
“Shut your ears,” she said one last time before she drew back, straightening herself a little bit. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth wide, taking a deep breath as she turned towards the front of the room. Not knowing what she was going to do, the agent quickly obeyed at the last possible instant.
A tooth-shattering force struck him in the chest and knocked him down to the ground. Legs flailing, he tried to reach for his chest, but his arms were paralyzed, his fingers stuck in his ears. He tried to look down and see where he was shot, but couldn’t see the wound. He did, however, see the boxes and crates behind his little nook quiver and shake, as if there was an earthquake rattling the facility.
Eventually, just as suddenly, he was able to move again. His arms loosened up, like a fleeting cramp, and his hands dropped to the sides of his head. He gasped for air as he felt his chest heaving. Reaching, he felt nothing. No wound, no penetration in his vest. Raising his head from the floor, he saw he was fine. The girl was slouched over him, both arms reaching for his faltering hand.
“Hey… Are you okay…?”
He fumbled as he tried to get up from the ground, weakly gripping the girl’s arms as she pulled him up. The agent shakenly nodded, still dazed. Allowing him to sit up, the girl gave the agent some time to come to his senses, aimlessly staring around at the ground. When he eventually raised his eyes, they rested on her face, whose eyes were locked with his.
“This way,” she motioned. “I think I know where your friend is.”
Getting up, he remembered the situation he was in after exposing himself to the open and gazed towards the doorway. The men that were chasing him were flat on the ground, limbs spread open across the floor and their rifles scattered around. They were like flies zapped out of the air. He eyed them with bewilderment before turning to follow the girl, who was already crouched and halfway through a vent in the wall.
“C’mon. This way.”