Blowing Things Out of Proportion

Shia's worried face hovered over me. My head lay on his lap. The sun was bright overhead and the smell of something burnt made my stomach turn.

"There was a bomb in the car," Shia said. His eyes were greenish now, full of fear and worry. "I figured it out when you fainted. There, in the driver's seat was a huge bomb case. I'm guessing they were going to lock you in the car and blow it up," Shia said, sounding far away although his face was inches from mine.

"They said the locker! There was one in there and a trip wire too!" I exclaimed, trying to sit up. I was too weak to, however. I gave up and felt Shia shrug.

"I dunno who's behind this, but I'm pretty sure they are doing a damn good job in making sure you get in all the death traps," Shia said wryly. I looked up at him, only able to the stubble on his strong chin and neck.

"So, the car is…?" I asked, too tired to finish the rest of my question.

"The car is gone. I had barely enough time to pick you up and to get behind this sand dune before they blew it to fucking smithereens."

Shia's demeanor now reminded me of his character in I-Robot. What was it…ah yes, "Farber". He'd been seventeen then. Wow, Shia was twenty-two! For the first time, I noticed that he had his arms around my shoulders in a protective way. Cute, I thought. It comforted me that he cared that much. It really did.

"You know, Shia, I think you played really well in I-Robot," I said in a dreamlike state. I didn't know why I said it. I guess because it had just crossed my mind. I also felt that any conversation was better than none.

"Really? That was a long time ago. It was fun, though, Will was a great friend of mine then," Shia said, referring to Will Smith. I'd almost forgotten about him.

"What was your favorite movie to do?" I asked, feeling like the star-struck fan that I'd finally let myself be.

"Oh, God, I don't know. My latest, Eagle Eye, was pretty great. It was pretty hard, though. I was supposed to be working on another one right now. But I guess not. I wonder if anyone has sent for me yet?" Shia mused.

"I hope so. We have to get out of here soon. I wonder where we are at. Are we even on the same continent?" I wondered aloud.

"I don't know. Death Valley maybe, but who knows?" Shia said.

I decided to stop the conversation and change the subject.

"Did the building go too?" I asked. Shia shifted a leg from underneath me and stretched it out beside me.

"No, but the locker bomb did go off. It was more of a contained explosion. I'm not going in there again, though. There may be more," Shia said with a bit of contempt dripping in his voice.

I turned over to stare at the sand dune. I noticed something glinting in the yellow, sun-baked sand. "What's that?" I asked Shia, feeling suddenly weary.

I poked his knee when he didn't answer. "I dunno," he reached out a hesitant hand and grabbed it. It was a cell phone.

"Shit," he said as he studied it. Suddenly, it rang, and surprised, Shia dropped the phone on my head.

"Thanks," I said in annoyance as I grabbed the phone.

I opened it and looked at the silver buttons for a second before saying hello.

"You are still alive?" The Director asked in dismay. The phone was on speaker, so I tilted it away from my ear.

"Yes, and you should stop trying to kill me. You haven't been very successful!" I said with glee.

"I haven't tried to kill you yet. When I'm trying, you will know. A helicopter will arrive in ten minutes. You board it, or you will die," the voice told us.

"This is bullshit!" Shia said angrily, and he snatched the phone out of my hand. I sat up and faced him.

"It's not bullshit, Mr. LaBeouf. This is real. No one's yelling cut. Now, you both must decide if you are going to be selfish or protect the other person. The helicopter will be landing in your vicinity in eight minutes. You will be dropped off in a rain forest, your next destination. Do not resist, or you will be shot down on the spot. I would prefer that not to be so."

"Yeah? Well, shoot this!" Shia yelled and slammed the phone shut.

"Shia, I don't think pissing them off is going to help us any," I said, trying to pull my hair behind my ears.

"Look, right now, I'm the one who's pissed off! I was dumped in the middle of nowhere, and I'm being forced to listen to some crazed maniac! It's nothing against you, but I have things to do! This isn't funny! Playing Simon Says was not on my job description!" Shia said in pure anger. He stood up and kicked the sand dune, sending sand into the air. I stood too and looked towards what remained of the car. It was all over the place in the form of burning pieces of now useless scrap metal.

I scanned the horizon, listening for helicopter blades, but all I heard was Shia swearing and kicking at the dirt. Suddenly a large, black shape came over the horizon. "Uh, Shia, it's here," I said to him.

He came to stand beside me, the cell phone being held tight in his hand; I felt that he would crush it.

"I'm going to get us home!" Shia vowed under his breath.

The helicopter was now above us in the short five minutes it took to get there. It lowered slowly, the spinning blades whipping the air about, sending sand in every direction.

I noticed the door was open, and a person dressed all in black. And…he held a gun! He had his finger on the trigger and had it aimed at Shia. He brought it to his eye as soon as the giant helicopter touched the ground.

"No, no, no! We're not resisting," Shia said, his hands high. "WE'RE NOT RESISTING!" He bellowed. But it didn't matter. I heard a small pop and a whistling sound, and Shia fell face first into the sand.

"No!" I yelled and raced to his side. Another pop and another whistling sound, and I felt something hit me on the shoulder blade. I suddenly felt faint-headed, and the world around me spun. I was gasping for breath, and then my eyes shut tightly together.