EIGHTEEN:
Your Briefing:
Hannah is undercover at her spy agency CGT and searching for her mother Evelyn, a traitor planning a terrorist attack. After he was missing for ten days, a raid on the CGT headquarters revealed her husband Zeke to be leading the charge informing her that he works for the real government. While giving him an update on their search for Evelyn, Stephanie discovers her secret and agrees to help her take CGT down. The team head to the location of a safe house Evelyn left in a letter to Hannah before she chose sides against her. They arrive and begin to walk to the small barn structure when Ian steps on a landmine. What will happen? Can they disarm the mine?
Beside Ian, Moroz crouched down and inspected the area under his foot.
“Are you sure?” Hannah asked. Ian rolled his eyes,
“I think I know what a click sounds like.” He said, crossing his arms and looking down. Stephanie scoffed,
“Landmines don’t just click like in the movies.” She said, moving closer a little. Ian didn’t notice her movement as he looked up and pursed his lips.
“Hey, I went through training too thank you very much.” He said, shaking his head slightly.
“Evelyn loves to engineer things to her own specifications. If there are landmines around here, he very well could have stood on one.” Hannah said, edging closer.
“Looks old and crude. Could be dormant.” Moroz said, turning to Ian. “Want to chance stepping off?” he asked. Ian squared his shoulders and motioned towards the barn.
“Why don’t I just wait here while you all go in?” His voice wobbled a little and Hannah crossed her arms.
“Ian don’t be ridiculous.” She glanced at Moroz, “What kind is it?” She asked, motioning towards Ian’s feet. Moroz rolled his eyes,
“Landmine’s don’t click and warn you. It’s dormant. Are you questioning my judgment?” He asked, setting his jaw. Stephanie moved closer to Moroz,
“Are you questioning the agent in charge?” She asked, sparking an argument as Stephanie and Moroz talked over each other. A high piercing whilst echoed across the farmland and Stephanie and Moroz looked over to Ian.
“There could be a timer attached to this thing ticking as we argue. This should be my decision.” Ian said, looking down. “It looks like an anti-tank mine. If it’s been here since Evelyn sent that letter, there is a chance Moroz is right.”
Moroz huffed and smiled. Hannah nodded to Ian.
“Ok Ian. If you want to step off, I won’t stop you. It’s your life.” She said, taking a small step backwards. Stephanie and Moroz followed suit and Ian took a few deep breaths. He looked up at Hannah and smiled.
“Just in case,-“
“No, no. There isn’t a just in case. If you say ‘I’ve always loved you’, I will shoot you myself.” Hannah interrupted, smiling. Ian nodded and as he jumped to his left. They all flinched.
Silence.
Ian laughed,
“Guess it’s my lucky day.”
They all chuckled and kept moving towards the barn. When they got to the large doors, Ian and Moroz pushed one back as Hannah and Stephanie pulled out their guns. Cautiously the four made their way inside, covering all angles for a possible ambush. When they called ‘all clear’, Hannah looked around the small barn. A few pieces of equipment, a work table and bales of hay were all that was inside.
“This is a safe house?” Moroz asked, scoffing. “Waste of time.” He said, kicking a hay bale. Hannah rolled her eyes,
“With Evelyn, nothing is what it seems.” She said, moving further inside. Ian pulled Moroz with him to inspect the farming equipment and Stephanie moved next to Hannah.
“Are you sure we’ll find something?” She asked quietly. Hannah nodded,
“I know we will.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the wooden key from the puzzle box. “I know this will have a place to be inserted.” She smiled and moved over to the workbench. As she looked at the items on the bench Hannah sighed, nothing resembling the key. Ian and Moroz were bickering quietly behind them and Hannah felt her patience disappearing. She spun around,
“Moroz!”
They boys looked at her and frowned. She thought carefully about her next words and lowered her voice.
“Who exactly sent you to our little team?” She asked, folding her arms across her chest. Moroz matched her body language and narrowed his eyes.
“That’s classified,” he spat out. Hannah took a step closer,
“Well in this team, we work together.”
“And we don’t question the agent in charge.” Ian said, nodding towards Hannah.
Moroz moved to take a step towards her and Ian reached out for his arm, pulling him back. As Moroz glared at Ian, Stephanie cursed behind Hannah. She turned to where Stephanie had dropped a large paint can on her foot.
Hannah moved towards her and Stephanie put up her hand,
“I’m ok. Go back to insulting each other.” She said, dropping onto a nearby hay bale. Hannah began to say something when she spotted it. The paint can had been resting on the workbench in front of what looked like an electric socket.
“There wasn’t any electricity hooked up in here was there?” Hannah asked,
“None that I could see.” Ian said behind her. Hannah smiled and looked down at her key. She moved to the socket and inserted it into the left side socket. She tried to turn it and felt resistance. Frowning, she pulled the key out and took a deep breath, trying the right one. As she turned the key, Hannah felt a lock being released and heard a loud click.
Moroz jumped backwards as the floor underneath him started to move.
FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT ON THURSDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2018 with HCC!
Christy Grace Scarlet Pen 