THE BOSS AGENT

9. TELL ME...NOW.

Agent Eighteen's POV:

I rest my head on the back of the seat and let out a sigh. Ben was chatting with Liam and Meghan was busy with her phone.

"I have never been to the other headquarters which chief was talking about, have you, Ben?" Meghan asks him.

"No, I haven't. It's going to be so much fun," he claps his hand as if a kid going to Disney land for the first time.

Meghan rolls her eyes muttering 'kid' under her breath.

Half an hour through our ride Ben starts getting grumpy and, as always, decided to bother us.

"How many more minutes left?"

"Alex, if you're tired we can switch."

"How about we jump and check if our parachutes are working?"

"Jen, park the chopper at the nearby Starbucks, I am hungry."

And well, the list goes on.

We finally reach our destination. We jump out of the chopper with our duffle bags.

"What place is this? I don't see any headquarters here, we are just surrounded by trees. Did chief give us the wrong address?" Liam questions.

"Nope. It's the right address. We will be hiking through the forest to get to the HQ, am I right Eighteen?" Alex directs his question toward me.

"Yeah...That's the reason why we are here this early. We might take a whole day to hike through the forest. So it's better to hike in the morning than at night," I reply

"How did none of us know about this place except for eighteen and Alex?" Meghan asks with a curious gaze.

"Trust me, I never knew of this place either. But eighteen insisted on hiking while we were just trainers but..." Alex trails off as if having a second thought about completing the sentence.

"But what? Tell me...NOW," Ben begs Alex.

Alex smiles in return and shakes his head, "Nope."

"That's not fair. Complete the sentence," Ben grumbles.

Alex and I let out a light laugh. Alex looks at me, "Shall we tell them?"

"Go on. You revealed half of the secret anyway."

He looks back at Ben, "We were hiking during the night."

"What?" all of them look astonished.

"That's because we don't want chief to know about it. We sneaked out and returned to the agency, but nothing can escape chief's eyes, can it?"

"Why didn't you both take me with you? It would have been great if I accompanied you both. We could have gone in search of Tarzan and asked him for a handshake or better yet, an autograph. Does he know how to write though? Anyway, I would be more than happy if he scribbles," Ben kept rambling about the non-existing missed opportunity.

"Why did you both sneak out?" Meghan questions again.

"That you will know eventually," I answer Megan.

I walk forward and the other members of my team follow me.

"You still remember the way?" Alex comes by my side and questions.

"Of course I do," I nod my head in confirmation.

We walk for ten minutes, 10 minutes 45 seconds to be exact and Ben starts grumbling about how hungry he is.

"I don't find any heat signatures or any building on my device. Are you sure we are on the right path eighteen?" Jen asks.

"There won't be any. It is heavily guarded and no tech can track the location," I address her back. She nods her head.

We walk for six more hours and reach the first clearing where the way is divided into two. I turn around to look at my team. They look exhausted. Liam slides down against the trunk of the tree, Meghan bends down placing her hand on her knees, Jen takes a sip of water from her bottle and Ben...he lays flat on the grass.

"I think they are exhausted," Alex whispers.

"Yeah... We might as well take a break. By the time we reach the next clearing, it would be dark," I reply.

We sit down and start munching the fruits and snacks we brought with us. I turn around to see Ben stealing Jen's chips as she was busy a few feet apart watching the scenario with her binoculars.

"Alright fellows, the path from now on might be dangerous. Don't touch any plant or fruits, don't step on quicksand, and make sure to keep an eye everywhere as there might be poisonous snakes and spiders."

Jen looks as if the colour drained out of her face. She looks so pale. We notice it and Liam was the first to address it.

"Everything okay?" Liam asks with concern.

She snaps out of it and answers. "Y-Yeah."

I look at her for a few more minutes and the realization hits me.

She hates spiders.

"I think we should leave. It might get dark until we reach the next clearing," I say and start packing the bag so do others. We start walking again with I cut the plants that block our way. I walk toward Jen and whisper in her ear.

"Don't worry. Spiders in here are limited edition. So you don't have to be scared about it," I try to joke to lighten her mood. She laughs lightly and shakes her head.

We walk for 8 more hours and reach the other clearing. I turn around to see all the members of the team lying down on the grass...completely exhausted. We have to save food for our return journey so I decided to go in search of food.

Oh, shoot. How did I forget about her?

I turn towards Alex and ask, "Wanna go on a stroll?"

"Umm, no. I think I'll pass," he replies already closing his eyes to have a nap.

I walk toward him and whisper, "We can meet her."

His eyes are suddenly wide open as his jaw hit the floor. "Really?" he asked astonished.

I nod my head with a smile.

I turn towards my team, "Alex and I are leaving in search of food. You all can rest for some time."

"Get me one big pack of a chocolate bar," Ben murmured.

"Sure, I think there will be Walmart around the corner," I reply sarcastically.

"Really...Then get pringles as well," he whispers still with his eyes closed.

I let out a chuckle and took hold of Alex's hand and trudged up the grassy path. I start whistling to get her attention.

Where is she?

We keep walking and stop a few times to grab some non-poisonous fruits.

"Where is she?" Alex quizzed.

"I don't know. Maybe she is asleep," I reply with a shrug.

Just as I bend down to grab a fruit, I hear Meghan and Jen scream. I abruptly turn around to see a horrified look on Alex's face.

Without wasting another second, we rushed past the tress and reached a familiar clearing. I turn right to see Ben and Meghan hiding behind a tree breathing hard.

I turn around to see Jen on the ground a few feet away from Liam and in front of them was

A black cheetah.

I don't waste another second and run as fast as possible toward Jen. Ben looks at me running past him towards the cheetah. His eyes widened when I placed myself in front of Jen when the cheetah pounced on her.

"EL!!" Ben screams for me at top of his lungs.