Chapter 10

Considering Charlie was in the middle of a shoot-out, and she without a gun, she was doing relatively well. Points for her! Flat out in a squat run from check-out registers to columns, and zigzagging with Super Spec-Ops Man at her back, Charlie’s night officially tilted-out on the weird-o-meter. Honestly, though, in a strange way, she was having fun. Sure, most people with bullets––or laser beams or whatever––coming their way would be flipping out, but Charlie wasn’t most people; and damn, but it felt good to have her blood pumping again.

She hadn’t had this much fun since Kandahar; but she really had to stop and think here. She didn’t have a clue who this operative was, who he was working for, or how he did his magic show entrance. Aside from that, he was decked out in weapons and asking for more. Which could only mean, that he was expecting some serious fire power later, or that he needed help. Needing help immediately won out; considering he continued to talk about him needing her to help him and his brother. Additionally, he made several comments about people being after . It had happened before, but Charlie had been absolutely certain there was no chance of that happening again––which was why she had all the extra cameras. Right? Yeah, no sell. She was screwed.

Her best chance was to stick with the guy who needed her help, and was offering his. At least until all of this was straightened out.

They stopped to breathe for a second behind a security door between stores. Charlie’s heart was beating so hard in her chest, the top part of her body literally moved with it. Or was that her breathing? It was hard to tell. Beads of sweat tickled her skin as they trailed a line between her breasts.

She looked over at her GI Joe, and smiled. She couldn’t help it.

“Friends of yours?” Charlie asked.

“No,” he said, with a crooked grin, taking deep breaths of his own. Sweat slicked down black hair across his forehead as he looked out from their spot every few seconds.

“I don’t understand where all the cops are. You’d think all this shooting would have the shoppers going nuts and law enforcement covering this place,” Charlie pointed out.

“You still don’t get it,” he said. “We are frozen in a moment, a moment in time, a place in the universe where everything around us has paused for an undetermined amount of time, and you and I are in a little sprout––off in a different dimension. We, you and I, and these bastards on our tail, are the only ones here, because we are the only ones who can be.”

“Alright, if what you’re saying is true, and I’m not saying I believe, but I’m entertaining the idea...so, if it true, how do we get back?”

“We get your weapons, and get back...alive...to the spot we were originally in, back there,” he said, nodding with his head.

“Well, then we’ve got another hundred feet out to that opening, then we either come back the way we’re going, or we go through the outside entrance, and double back on the creepos catching them with their pants down.

they haven’t stationed a guard there, that is,” Charlie stated.

“Lead the way, I’ve got your run,” the soldier said, and he winked at her.