"Don't move!" Ashley whispered, as if she was scared that the mines would hear her, and set themselves off. She shuffled on the spot so that she was facing Luka's direction to ensure that he was not moving.
Luka scowled. "I told you to stop running. As if I don't know where my own fucking landmines are. Now don't move!" He slowly picked his way between the mines, edging his way towards her at the speed of a tortoise. But at least he didn't manage to blow them both to pieces. When he finally reached Ashley, he lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the house, picking up the pace once they were clear of the danger again.
Ashley sank into a chair at the kitchen table as Luka went back to the truck and finished unloading the supplies. She was too shaken to run for it again. As he finished putting some canned food into a store cupboard, Ashley whispered in a puzzled voice: "You could have been killed, Luka. Why did you come after me?"
Luka looked at her, an unfamiliar expression on his face. He seemed to be troubled. "If I hadn't, you would be dead," he replied. This was probably true, but it did nothing to explain his actions. Nothing believable, anyway. Up until now, Ashley had been sure that Luka existed solely to enjoy causing other people pain. There was no way that he seemed capable of any depth of feeling. So why did it seem as if he was upset at the thought of her dying?
Ashley dragged her shaking body to her feet and stumbled towards Luka. She flung her arms around him and hugged for dear life. "Thank you," she whispered, the words muffled since her mouth was pressed into Luka's neck. He slid his arms around her in response, and rested his cheek on the top of her head, holding her until her shaking subsided once more.
Luka is also confused why he run after her. She's just here for his enjoyment but deep inside him something came alive as if life is worth now living.
Several days passed; Ashley wasn't sure exactly how many. They settled into a semblance of a routine, twisted as it was. Luka was generally out during the day, after having determined that the landmine infested woods were impassable and it was an un-walkable distance to civilization along the road. So, escape looking ever more unlikely, Ashley busied herself with sleeping, and attempting to keep herself as fit as possible without the use of any equipment to help her. And waiting for Luka to come home.
She was becoming attached to him, and that was a problem. He made her feel alive; like the time that she had first flown solo or rode a bike by herself, even. He was rough and he was brutal but he was beautiful and passionate and intense and she lo --
No. Stop right there. It is so damn wrong. Do not think about it.
It was definitely a problem. Ashley had a job to do -- to finish, and people were relying on her. She needed to get to a phone. Luka had a mobile but he'd never left it where she could get at it without him knowing. She was going to have to think of something, she was running out of time. If she wasn't careful, she was going to be late, in more ways than one.
The opportunity presented itself in the end. They were making dinner, and Luka left Ashley in charge of stirring the food while he went upstairs to take a shower. She turned away from the cooker to find that he'd left his mobile on the kitchen table. Strange. She waited for several moments, and then heard Luka enter the bathroom and turn on the shower. It was perfect. She grabbed the phone and dialled the number for her contact, quickly stirring their dinner while making sure that she was in sight of the stairs. She'd see his shadow approach in time to put the phone back so that he was none the wiser.
It seemed to ring forever, and Ashley bit her lip in trepidation. Was she too late? A strange mixture of emotion washed over her at that thought. Something else not to think about. The call connected just in time to spare her having to identify her emotions.
Silence. She spoke quietly, identifying herself with her call sign and password only. The person on the other end of the line was satisfied, and confirmed their identity to her. "Report?" Ashley asked softly.
"Intelligence confirms they are acting on your information and moving into position," the voice replied. "We will be ready to meet them. Everything is going as planned."
"When?"
"Approximately seven hours. A team will be ready for extraction. Location?"
"Can you trace the position of this call?"
"Of course."
"Then it will be from here."
"Agreed. We will extract you as soon as the operation begins."
Ashley's breath caught in her throat and she didn't respond for a moment. She had no idea that things were going to happen so soon.
"Ma'am?" the voice on the other end of the line enquired.
"Yes," she replied, trying to mentally shake herself. "I'll be ready."
"I'm glad to hear your voice again, ma'am. See you back at Operations."
"Thank you," Ashley replied, and ended the call. A moment later, the shower turned off. She searched through the unfamiliar language of the menus of the phone, trying to find the call logs. She found the entry for the call that she had just made and deleted that single entry, thankful that the mobile phone was a Nokia and she was familiar enough with it to do this even if she wasn't sure of all of the language. She placed the phone back on the table exactly as if it hadn't been disturbed, and returned to stirring their dinner.
Luka returned to the kitchen feeling slightly uneasy but not sure why. He spotted the phone on the table and instantly recognised his potentially massive mistake. It didn't look as if it had been moved, but he couldn't be sure. "Dinner's ready," Ashley said over her shoulder absently. When he didn't reply, she turned to look at him, a puzzled look on her face.
He still didn't say anything. Ashley followed his gaze to rest on the mobile, then looked back up at him, a look of slight disappointment and embarrassment on her face. She looked away again, then turned back to the cooker and busied herself with stirring.
The intention was to make him realise that she hadn't touched the phone. Of course she hadn't, and how could he think such a thing of her? He still wasn't moving, so she sniffed a couple of times softly, willing tears to come to her eyes.
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