36 1. As Time Goes By

Six months had passed since Anne and the others had been taken out of the Amazon. Six months since they had heard and felt the explosion of Ethan's helicopter. Six long months!

The group had been stunned into silence for most of the trip home to the States. They transferred from the helicopter to a jet, landing at Killeen Fort-Hood Airport in Georgia. Upon arriving they had been unloaded onto the tarmac where a bunch of people in suits, they didn't know, were waiting for them.

Anne listened to the suits give a practiced speil, designed to convince the group from the Hive about how they, the suits, cared only about the young people's welfare and well-being. How they would be housed with the military for their own protection. Anne was having none of it. She watched the others, looking for an ally, but they all seemed to be numb, paralyzed. Even Rufus, the smart aleck of the bunch, had nothing to say. He stared blankly at the clouds passing by.

Surprisingly it was Griffen, the person she least liked, who gave her the opening she needed. They had been shuffling toward the hangar when Lucy stumbled causing Rufus to stop suddenly. It was like dominoes. The entire procession banged into the back of the person in front. They came to a halt. The suits turned back to see who was holding them up, impatience stamped on their faces. The leader of the suits opened his mouth, ready to demand they keep moving when Griffen flickered and disappeared.

If the situation had been different, the suit's reactions would have been comical. Their mouths dropped open and their heads swiveled on their necks, apparently looking for the cause of one of their charges disappearing into thin air. A few of them swore out loud. A woman sliced the air with her arms. Apparently the suits had not been given the full information on their new charges.

During the confusion Anne slipped behind a parked airplane. She sidled along the smooth body of the aircraft. In front of the nose of the plane was a door into the building..painted to blend in. Anne held her breath and wiggled the latch. The door swung in.

Once inside Anne could see she was in the mechanical workings of the airport. A quick glance assured her there was no one around. She hunched in the corner, pulled her backpack around and rifled inside for a change of clothes. Once she'd removed her old clothes and replaced them with new ones, she pulled a stained, beaten up hat out of the front pocket, pulled her hair up and jammed the hat on her head. With her appearance changed as much as possible, she started moving carefully through the area, always on the lookout for anyone spotting her and sounding an alarm.

After no more than five minutes Anne came up to an interior door. It too was unlocked. She slid it open a crack and peered out. It opened into a lunch room. There were tables, chairs and a buffet set up. In the farthest corner two people sat close together, heads tilted, holding hands, deep in conversation. Anne slid quietly into the room. She headed for the only other door. The couple ignored her.

Once out of the lunch room Anne found herself with a decision to make. The hallway sprouted left and right with no discernable difference. Instinct made her chose the left branch of the hallway. Carefully casual she strolled along the hall. Once a woman hurried past her without a nod or word. Anne relaxed a little. She remembered how she had stayed invisible most of her young life: people are way more interested in their own lives than yours.

The hallway ended with a glass door. It was locked, but from the inside. Anne turned the deadbolt, then the knob. The door opened outward. She stepped into the fresh air, pretending to shield her eyes from the sun, but really to protect her identity. It was clearly a parking lot.

Anne saw the exit and started moving in that direction, toward a guard post, excuses and explanations rattling around in her head. Her eyes trained on her feet she walked right past the guard, her breath tight in her chest, waiting for a command to halt.

Nothing. Apparently, they were more concerned with people coming in than going out. Anne took the sidewalk to the road and from there walked to the highway.

Six months later, Anne now lived in Tampa, Florida. She had chosen Florida because there were so many people migrating to the state, she figured no one would notice one more. Plus the good weather meant she could live rough outside until she got settled.

Anne had dyed her hair a neon orange and wore heavy, peculiar jewelry and bright, flamboyant clothing. She had once heard about a Canadian bankrobber who had dressed so outrageously during the robberies that even the teller he robbed couldn't give the police a description outside of his bizarre attire.

Her home was a 'studio' apartment on the second floor of a converted house. It was really a bed in a room with a fridge and microwave. She shared a bath with three other rooms. The landlord asked no questions as long as he got cash rent on the first. She didn't know the other renters and had no interest in socializing. She kept to herself.

Anne had found a job as a waitress in a new wave juice bar. She had spun a tale to the owner, Carol, about a bully boyfriend searching for her. Carol agreed to pay her in cash, so there was no record of her being in the city.

The minimum wage job paid for her meager living, but Anne's real money came from another, completely unexpected source. Gambling.

While Anne had hitchhked her way from Georgia to Florida she had come up with a plan to make money. Locking all three locks on the door to her room, she would meditate, concentrating on horse races, greyhound races or jai alai. Then targeting the one with the odds to win the most money she would visit a Pari-mutuel betting site.

As she won more and more it had become necessary to move further and further away to place her bets. Recently Anne had bought a small used car so she she could spread her bets around the state. Her end goal was to win a million dollars...to have enough financial security to set in motion her next plan. She was halfway there. Another six months and she would leave Florida and head to Canada.

And begin her search for Ethan.