“Here they are,” the man said.
“Tell them we are taking them to the airport. They will wait for everyone there. It may be a couple of days, but they will have food. Can these women manage?” I asked.
The man didn’t even hesitate.
“Yes, they will be fine.”
“Okay, let’s get them downstairs.”
Rake pulled up in a black SUV without any headlights on, and we didn’t hesitate to load everyone into the vehicle. The adrenaline was pumping, but the children were amazing and none of them were crying at all, not even the infants.
They loaded onto each other’s laps, and within sixty seconds of arriving, Rake was pulling away from the building. It was a huge relief to get all the youngest children out of there. If we ended up having to run on foot, the children who were left could all make their way with us. As the car pulled away, though, I noticed some movement in the building across the street. I wasn’t positive about it, but I thought we had at least one person over there.
“Thank you,” the man said as he hugged me when we got back into the building.
“Don’t thank me yet. The rebels will get word that those children have arrived at the airport and we will have a much harder time getting out of here. Let’s go back upstairs and start planning.”
“I’m Roane,” the man said. “Should we prepare the rest of them?” he asked eagerly.
“No, look,” I said as I opened the window and showed him the activity in the building across the street.
As we glanced out the window, a person very quickly ducked behind the shades of a window in the building across the street. It could have been someone just hiding out over there, or it could have been a whole group of people that just didn’t notice us until the car had left, but either way, there was definitely someone across the street.
“You’re partner is here, should I bring you to her?” Roane asked. “You can make preparations and let us know.”
“Yes, bring me to her,” I said.
As we walked up to the fourth floor, Roane brought me over to a petite woman who was sitting in the corner with the other women and separating out some food into bowls. I saw her hands before anything else and knew it was her.
“There she is,” Roane said.
“Thank you,” I said before sitting next to the woman. “Howdy, partner.”
She turned toward me and smiled so wide I would have sworn we were sitting at my kitchen table back at home. Ana looked relaxed and at peace, yet she was sitting there with me in the middle of a friggin’ war zone.
“Nate,” she said as she reached under the table and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go in the other room. I don’t think I’m supposed to kiss you in public or something like that.”
I followed her into a small, makeshift bedroom that was at the other end of the floor. First I looked out the window to see if there was any movement. Then I turned around to give her a piece of my mind.
“You are insane. What the hell are you doing here? Do you want to die?”
Ana smiled at me and didn’t seem fazed at all by my anger. In fact, she seemed very amused by it.
“It appears I’m having some trouble with my logical decision making after my trauma.”
“Ana, this isn’t funny. I was lucky to get those children out of here, but we have been made and won’t be able to send another group tonight. And by morning, it’s likely this place will be surrounded. We could all die.”
“What do you need me to do?”
She looked at me as if she was planning on helping me or something, instead of understanding that having her there just made the whole operation much more difficult for me.
“You? I don’t want you to do anything. I can’t even talk to you. Stay out of my way and listen to the directions I give.”
“Nate, I know it’s a surprise to have me here, but I can obviously take care of myself. I can help.”
“Fucking hell, Ana, why are you here? I don’t get it. Did you miss me that much?”
Suddenly, her face turned from sweet and nice to something totally different. She was angry with me.