Firebomb (The Jewel Project #2)

09.2|| The Agent

"William, calm down!" Tom struggled to push William behind a bush.

"No, I have to get back there, I have to save him," William moaned, trying to charge back where they came from.

"We'll save everyone, but we have to get away first." Tom leaned his entire weight on William and finally floored him. Jerry quickly joined them.

For a few moments, they stood in silence, listening. The only sound was the rustling of a small breeze through the leaves. They waited another few minutes, then Tom raised his head to look over the bush. He ducked back instantly, his heart pounding. A couple of Snitch Gravel's men were heading towards them holding rifles.

"We can't search every damn bush of this forest. We just can't!" one of them was saying desperately.

"We have no choice. If the boss finds out she escaped, it's our heads," his companion answered.

The two hurried past the bush in which Tom, Jerry and William hid and disappeared out of sight. Tom listened carefully, but he didn't believe they were in any immediate danger. The guards weren't looking for them, but for the agent. A wave of joy swept through him and he felt like fist pumping the air and doing a little victory dance.

After a few moments, Jerry stood and stepped out of the bush. "This is strange. How come they're not looking for us?"

"Because the agent escaped. They were looking for her!" Tom said joining him. "At last, some good news." He stopped and robbed his chin. They were in a little predicament. Should they search for the agent or bust the others out?

"What are we going to do?" Jerry said quietly.

"I think..." Tom looked to William. "Who did you want to save?"

William only stared back blankly. After a few seconds, he raised a hand and pointed somewhere behind Tom.

"What is it?" Jerry asked excited.

"It's a tree," William answered flatly.

"Yes, we see it's a tree. What about it?" Tom asked having a bad feeling.

"It's a nice tree," William answered.

Tom felt a burning desire to kick William, but turned away instead. "Okay, now that's done, let's see where we stand. We're completely lost and clueless..."

"We're not lost," William said from somewhere above them.

Tom whipped around and stared up the tree to which William had pointed.

"Where are we, then?" Jerry asked looking up the tree, too.

"We're half-a-day away from the labs," William answered, climbing down from the tree with startling ease. His boots clanked and he hit the soft ground.

"Great. Let's go save the others," Jerry said excitedly.

"Oh, they're not at the lab," William said smartly, brushing leaves of his shirt.

"Then where are they?" Pause. "William?" Tom asked worried.

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout..." William started singing and dancing joyfully.

"Oh, great, he's dumb again!" Tom said pissed off and once again felt the urge to kick William. "I'll go see what's going on."

He jumped, grabbed on to the lowest branch and scurried up the tree as high as he could. After pushing a few branches aside, he could see the labs and they were indeed much closer than he'd expected. Another set of buildings stretched to his left and he guessed that was where the others were.