Everlasting Love - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 The Hitchhiker

        "Doc to Martin. I'm in the woods near I-10. I see no activity. Repeat, no activity." Nadia thought her code name to be mildly amusing. The general had asked her about a code name. She looked down and saw her shoes and said, "OK, I'm Doc, you're Martin. Agreed?" the general agreed.
        Her mission was to go out and report any and all activity. She acted enthusiastic and played along. She didn't know why they trusted her. Geez, she thought, how stupid can they get? She had her own plans. She knew this city much better than they did, although she had no sense of direction whatsoever. They trusted that she was where she told them she was. As long as she was within a few miles of where she was supposed to be, she was fine.
        Her orders were to report every hour on the hour during the daytime. It's just too easy. She thought. She already had her plan figured out completely. That night, after her last report of the day, she made her way to a bridge that went over Buffalo Bayou. She ripped the batteries out and chunked it into the bayou. It was now a race against time.
        Nadia started walking southeast on the freeway. Hitchhiking is illegal in Texas, but it was her only chance.
        After about a quarter of a mile, a minivan stopped by her.
        "Hey kid, where ya going?" the man in the driver seat asked.
        "Galveston."
        "Hop in!" the man said.
        "George!" His wife started chewing him out.
        Nadia walked around the other side and got in. For some reason, she was surprised to see more people in the back seat. A boy about nine, a girl about fifteen, and the eldest brother, probably about nineteen. They were all staring at her. Nadia suddenly felt nervous, but she kept her cool.
        "Hi." She smiled.
        Everyone else mumbled their greetings, they were all tired, for they had been driving all day. After awhile, the blob shaped, eggplant colored minivan pulled into the drive-thru of a Whataburger. Everyone ate their late night dinner and time passed quickly. Soon they were on the Galveston bridge. Nadia breathed a sigh of relief.
        After about five minutes they were at the beach house. It was almost 10:00. Nadia got to sleep on the top of Jenny's bunk bed. Jenny was the girl. Nadia fell right to sleep.

        Nadia was taking a quiet stroll through the woods. Everything was peaceful and birds were singing. The forest was a familiar one, she was walking through Memorial Park. As she walked on, the forest became darker. She saw figures moving in the now moonlight night. She saw them more clearly now, they were redcoats, well equipped with muskets and tricorn hats. But to Nadia, they weren't redcoats, they were KGB agents. She broke into a run, with the redcoats in pursuit. She kept running, they were crashing through the Virginian woods behind her. She ran until her feet and her sides hurt. Then the ground came up and met her. A tree root had caught her foot.
        Everything was silent.
        Nadia gathered herself and dared to look up. She saw a headstone. Her eyes adjusted and she made out the lettering. It said simply, Laura Owens.
        Nadia had never heard the name before, but for some reason it sounded familiar.
There was a girl, about Nadia's age, sitting on the headstone. She was wearing black Jnco's, and a Hard Rock Café shirt, nothing out of the ordinary. She had somewhat long, ash blonde hair and dark eyes. She somehow knew who Nadia was.
        "My God!" Nadia sat bolt upright in her bed.
        The sudden jolt woke Jenny, "What's wrong?" she mumbled.
        The dream continued in Nadia's mind. The girl sitting on the headstone was speaking to her.
        "Your gun! Get rid of your gun! It's bugged! You still have it with you!"
        "Oh crap." Nadia whispered under her breath, "Jenny, I need your help. First of all, is this place locked?"
        "No--"
        "OK. Now, I know you don't want to do this, but my life kinda depends on it at the moment."
        "What are you talking about?" Jenny asked.
        "I have a gun with me and I have to get rid of it. I'll explain later. C'mon, let's go."

        Jenny shut the back door. They were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, but it wasn't over yet. They had creeped through the house. Jenny in front, because she knew which boards not to step on.
        "So, now where do we go?"
        "The nearest parking lot." Nadia said.
        They only had to walk about a quarter of a mile to find one. There was a convenience store with a pickup truck parked outside. They crept up to it, Nadia dropped the gun onto a small pile of rags in the back. They slipped away, back into the shadows. At long last, they were home. Nadia and Jenny were creeping to their bunks when someone stepped on a very loud board. This spooked everybody, they both ran silently to bed.
        "OK, Nadia," Jenny said, "tell me, what is going on."
        "Where do you want me to start?"
        "Wherever you want, so long as I can understand it."
        "OK, When al this started, I had a pretty normal life. You know, school, hanging out, friends, that kind of stuff. We would always come to my house and play pool in my basement. Well, we knew this guy, and he was, I don't know, there was something really weird about him. And he knew stuff, he could tell the future. He told us about this whole war thing. So, we all came over to my place. Don't ask why."
        "OK, I don't see where this is going."
        "You will," Nadia continued, "The next morning, some submarine was sunk, basically, this was the first shot fired. That started World War III. OK, now, in case you didn't know, I'm Russian, my parents were from St. Petersburg. For some reason, the KGB knew about me. They've been watching me for like, my whole life. They barged on in our house, and took me away. For some stupid reason, they trusted me. Don't ask me why. They gave me a gun and a radio and sent me out to be a spy. It was just too easy. It must've been a trap or something. I really don't have a clue. So right now, I'm a fugitive, running away from the KGB."
        "Are you serious?" Jenny asked.
        "Yes, I'm dead serious. Which is why I need to catch a boat and get outta this country. Do you think you could arrange something for me? I mean, if not, that's fine, I can hitch a ride on a cargo ship."
        "But isn't that pretty dangerous?"
        "Yes, but it's safer than me staying here."
        "Oh, well, I don't think I can help you. Sorry about that."
        "That's fine, just some food or clothes or something to take along would be fine."
        "OK," they were both getting tired, "Goodnight."
        "Goodnight."