“It’s my mother; she understands. She can understand English very well, but struggles with talking.”
“She knows how to break into a building?” I asked.
“Into a door, yes. My grandfather was a drinker and she often had to get into a locked room to help him when he drank too much. It was not right in our culture for him to do that and she snuck in secretly to help him.”
“Okay, then come with me.” I motioned to the woman. “We are breaking into that building right there.”
I pointed to the business across the street and she shook her head. We were going to get ourselves out of this mess and then I was going to make sure Nate was safe. Nothing could be worse than finding out that Nate had been killed in that firefight, absolutely nothing. I needed to keep moving forward and ensure we made it to safety.
The woman I brought with me across the street was indeed very good at breaking into doors. We went around to the back door and she used a small hairpin that she had to open the door. I told her to wait outside and keep watch as I ran inside to make my phone call.
There was only one person whose number I had with me, and that was Timothy Anders from the Red Crescent. I wasn’t exactly sure what I would say to him. I didn’t know if he would be able to help at all or not, but he was my only hope.
“Tim, it’s Ana,” I whispered in the phone.
I wasn’t sure why I was whispering since I was in the building alone, but I whispered all the same.
“Ana, are you all right?”
“I have a group of women and teenagers, our convoy was attacked and my co-workers separated from me. If you can get word to them that we are all right, that would be great. We are hiding out in a building until dark and will make our way toward the airport at first night.”
There was a long pause as Timothy took in the information I was giving him. He wasn’t used to this sort of danger and I could tell by his delayed response that he didn’t exactly know what to say or do.
“I know the company Resolve Oil; I can let them know your information and they could notify your team. You don’t have their contact information?”
It sounded ridiculous and I knew it, but my pretending to be on the team didn’t mean I actually knew where they were or what they were doing. I didn’t know how to contact any of them and that was a huge mistake on my part.
“Our normal communication is down. I’m not even sure they made it through the firefight.”
“Where are you? I can send some Red Crescent vehicles to get you guys.”
“Absolutely not; the rebels are only a few blocks away, we can’t risk any more lives. We are somewhere between the office building and the airport. I believe about one mile out, but not really sure.”
“I could try and do some sort of distraction to draw their attention so you all could make a run for it?” Timothy said with a questioning tone.
I appreciated his ideas, and they were good ones, but I didn’t want to be responsible for something happening to any Red Crescent volunteers. On the other hand, I also didn’t want to be responsible for something happening to any of the women and teenagers I had with me.
“Get with Nathan Foster from my team; he will guide you in what to do. If you can’t reach him, then talk with a guy name Baller. He is at the safe house and should have the most intel. I have to go. We will lay low for the day and move out at first dark.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tonight then,” Timothy said optimistically.
“Yeah, see you tonight.”
Neither of us sounded sure in our statements at all. There was a distinct chance we wouldn’t see each other that night at all. The odds were against us for sure. The women and teenagers were going to be led to safety by me, a woman who only days before had been shaken to my core over a raccoon that had slipped into the house. Nothing about that moment seemed to instill confidence that we were going to make it through it alive.
I didn’t need to know the outcome of our next twenty-four hours in order to push through it though. That was something I had done often at Stephano’s house. Each day brought something new and horrible to deal with, and each day I pushed through and made it to the next day. That was all we could do at that moment as well.
Sure, we were just a bunch of women and teenagers who didn’t know what we were doing. But we were also a group of survivors who had been through so much that we knew how important we were to each other. The language barrier didn’t matter to us; we were together and I was going to make sure we all made it to the airport alive.
No, I didn’t have the proper training to lead those women and teenagers to safety, but that didn’t matter at all. I didn’t need to be trained to know that if we didn’t succeed in our goals, we were all going to be murdered. That was enough motivation for me and I knew it was enough for them as well.
My focus was clear and with the help of the group we were all going to make it to the airport. When we got there, Nate would be waiting for me and I made a mental note to myself that I would tell him how much I cared about him. No more fear about putting my heart out there; if I lived through the ordeal we were in, I was going to live my life with such abandonment that everyone around me would be jealous.
Chapter Twenty-Two
NATE
“I’m going back,” I said over the radio to Baller.