Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE BACK TO THE FUTURE
Abby stares at the movie screen as they burst into the movie theater. Beside her, Steve shoves a handful of the popcorn from the trash into his mouth. She glances at Dustin with an approving nod. The theater is perfect for evading the Russians, it's pitch black and full of witnesses. For now, it'll do. They scramble down to the two nearest vacant seats. Robin and Steve seem to have gotten a better bearing of their surroundings, though they still seem thoroughly discombobulated as they stumble across the carpet.
"You two sit," Dustin hisses.
"No, no, no! These seats are too close!" Robin complains loudly.
"Dude, these seats blow," Steve agrees as he shoves more popcorn into his mouth.
"Well good thing we're not just here for the movie," Abby hisses. "We're hiding, remember?"
"Well, we wanna watch the movie," Robin retorts.
"Then watch it!" Dustin exclaims. The man seated behind Steve leans forward and shushes them. Steve and Robin instantaneously turn back around to shush the man. Dustin holds back an exasperated sigh and quickly apologizes to the man. "Whatever you do, don't ... go ... anywhere."
"Fine, dad," Steve retorts. Robin lets out a snicker at this.
With that, Dustin, Abby, and Erica dart around the front row ducking out of the view of those who had already gathered there, apologizing profusely. They collapse into the three vacant seats on the end of the row, finally allowing themselves to relax. The adrenaline that had been pumping through Abby's veins is starting to wear away, her muscles ache and her eyes droop as she stares at the movie screen. She's not entirely sure what's happening as the man with Albert Einstien-like hair dressed in a white lab coat shouts about time travel, but she figures that it will make more sense as the movie progresses.
"Okay, it's official, I'm never having kids," Dustin mutters.
"Hey, they're only like that when they've been drugged by Russians," Abby replies in a whisper. "Usually. Probably."
Erica leans across Abby and whispers, "What are we doing here?"
"We're laying low," Dustin answers. "Cooling off. Like Oswald."
"Oswald was found in a theatre and shot to death," Erica replies.
"A week later."
"The point is, his plan didn't work," Erica responds.
"Well, good thing we're not Oswald," Abby whispers back. "Besides, it only didn't work because it was a set-up."
