“Let’s get you a scarf to cover your head and some food to bring with you. If you are going there anyways, it would be safer to just have you bring the supplies.”
“I can’t bring food for 50 people with me; that’s a lot of food.”
“Trust me, we don’t have a lot to give. I’ll give you a backpack full and a couple gallons of water. It will be tough carrying it all, but you can do it.”
I wasn’t exactly sure I had the strength to carry all that he was asking, but I certainly wasn’t going to tell him no. It sounded like they were only bringing food to the building a couple times a week and I couldn’t imagine how one backpack full of food was enough to feed fifty people for very long.
“Thank you,” I said as I tried to sound more confident. “I’ll carry in whatever you can get me. No worries.”
Timothy brought me out to a more comfortable area and delivered a black scarf that I could use to cover my head. Within a few more minutes, he brought me over a large plate full of food and a soda from the vending machine.
“You look too young to work for one of those contractors. You must be very good at what you do.”
“I’m new at it, so not as good as the other guys. But I’m trying.”
There was no way I was going to tell him the truth: that I didn’t work for anyone and shouldn’t even be there at all. The lie didn’t seem all that huge to me and I did want to help rescue the people that were in the office building. But I certainly didn’t have the firepower or experience to do too much for them. I needed to get in contact with Nate and his guys.
The only way I knew to get a hold of Nate was to contact Jordan and Chase. It was a risky move, but I decided to make a phone call to them. I couldn’t risk something happening to me and no one knowing where I was at. I also couldn’t risk that Nate and his group had found a reason to abandon their plan and I would be stuck in the office building with the fifty other people waiting to be rescued. I got Timothy to let me use his phone and I dialed Chase.
“Hello,” he answered cautiously.
“It’s Ana. I’m safe. Can you get a message to Nate and tell him I’ll be waiting at the office building?”
“What? Ana, what are you talking about? Where are you? What office building?”
“Nate will know what I mean. Just get the message to him please. I can’t tell you any more than that. I just wanted you to know that I was all right and I really need that message delivered to Nate. Do you think you can get it to him?”
“Yes, I can. I’ll Skype him right now. It would be better if you called him though…”
“No. I only have access to this phone for a minute. Oh, and tell him there are 50 people not 20. I have to go.”
“What? Wait!” Chase said, but I hung up the phone.
Even if Stephano’s people had been listening, I didn’t think they would have gotten enough information to actually know where I was or how to find me. And I hoped that Chase could actually get the information to Nate so he could be better prepared when he arrived to rescue the employees.
“You ready to go?” Timothy asked me.
“I’m ready if you are.”
I took a few deep breaths and mentally prepared myself for what I was about to do. Nothing about the days ahead was going to be easy, and there was a small part of me that thought I might be suicidal or something like that. Although I didn’t feel like I wanted to die. What I felt was that I wanted a purpose to live.
I missed Nate a
nd couldn’t wait to see him. My anxiety was up as I thought about how he was going to react to me being there. It was pretty insane that I had come there and I felt like he was probably going to flip out, but what I wanted him to do was wrap his arms around me and kiss me when he saw me. I missed his touch, the gentle feeling of our bodies moving together, and I couldn’t wait to have that again.
My life hadn’t been all that easy and I could count on my fingers the number of people I truly cared about; Nate was one of those people. Sure, he was bullheaded and hard to get along with sometimes, but so was I. When this was all over, I was going to make sure I told Nate how much I appreciated everything he had done for me. I was going to make sure he knew that I cared about him.
As Timothy drove along the streets of Damascus, I made mental notes of all the roads along the way. We were going to have to get the group of people back to the airport, I thought, so I wanted to try and remember the route we were taking. The airport seemed well operated and safe, so I hoped we would all be able to get out of town easily once we got there.
“I have the food and water in the back. You’ll want to get it loaded onto you before we get there. Just recline your seat and get yourself ready. It should take about five more minutes.”
In the back seat was one giant backpack and two large bottles of water. They looked like they held around three gallons each and had straps on them to carry over my shoulders. I flipped my personal backpack around to my front and slid the large backpack on and then the water bottles. The weight of everything made it hard for me to even sit up straight and I wasn’t sure I would even be able to stand up when I tried to. But I had eaten and drank plenty over the last twenty-four hours; the people stuck in the office building might not have had any. I would be just fine.
Timothy pulled into a dark alley and I knew it was time.
“The Resolve Oil building is straight at the end of this alley. Walk quickly and keep your head down. Stay to the edges near the walls. Walk around to the right of the building and there will be a small, blue door. Knock three times and then wait ten seconds and knock three times again. Someone will open the door. Tell them I sent you, and they will let you in. Then you can connect with your group from there.”
“Great, thanks,” I said as I turned my legs outside the car and prepared to stand up.