Action Excerpt from- Cuba51
On the first toss, the hook caught on the parapet of the building. Shush Al said, putting his finger over his mouth. Well wait for a few minutes, to see if they heard the noise of the hook hitting the roof. Waiting quietly, in the thick part of the tree, five minutes ticked slowly by. No one appeared. Lets go, Al said. The line is high over the fence on this end, but will sag with your weight to a few feet from the ground. Wear those gloves like I told you, otherwise, youll get rope burns, and worse, leave your finger prints somewhere. He swung off, hand-over-hand, toward the building.

Jos wasnt fond of the slack wire act, but managed to drop down beside Al in a few minutes (the longest in his life).

Muy bueno, Al whispered. Over here, he pointed, there are several drums of diesel motor fuel stacked near the building. Help me let some out on the ground; well create a little diversion.

They emptied the contents of two drums before Al ignited it.

Lets go! Run between the trucks and dive inside. Take this short piece of pipe, he said, reaching under the barrels, finding another one that was beginning to get hot. Theyre the only weapons I could find; Come on! Follow me! Al yelled, over the crackling fire, Keep rolling, when you go under that door there is no way to know whats on the other side.

Al leaped to the loading platform and rolled under the door with his seamans knife in his teeth and the pipe in his hand. Jos was right behind.

Nobody in this section, Al whispered, when their roll was stopped by a row of drums containing wire cable. He crawled among the drums and stacks of boxes, looking back often to be sure Jos were on his heels.

Scattered across the center section of the warehouse were hundreds of kegs with the radiation cross on them, and a lot of tools used in working with radioactive materials.

Just beyond, was an office with two doors. There was a guard holding an automatic weapon standing in front of the doors. Several workmen were assembling some sort of device in the center of the building.

Taking a route resembling a maze, they crawled from crate, to barrel, to crate, until they were within a few feet of the guard by the door. Al held up his hand, there was no more cover to hide behind, between them and the guard . . . they waited. Time passed slowly; a workman had moved to within a few feet and was opening a crate. If others came to help him, they would be discovered; Al and Jos flattened on the floor and waited.

They should discover the fire soon, Jos whispered in Als ear. I can smell it. The words were hardly out of his mouth, when the front gate guard burst in yelling: Fire! Fire! Everybody help! The building is on fire.

There was a stampede toward the doors, even the guards left their posts to investigate.

Every moment counts, Al whispered.

The last man had not reached the outside doors, when Jos and Al burst through the door into the office. Inez and Sarah were gagged and bound to the chairs. Al took the knife from between his teeth, and slashed Sarahs bonds, and without looking, tossed it to Jos, so he could free Inez. Reaching around her head, Al removed Sarahs gag. Before she could get her hands up, he gave her a kiss and jumped back.

You dog, she hissed, and slapped at him. Youll never change, he laughed and grabbed her hand. Come on, or that will be your last kiss; we have only a few minutes before the fire department arrives and this confusion subsides." Dodging between the drums and boxes, keeping low in case someone returned, they ran to the half opened door. Al peered under, All clear, he whispered, dive under and keep running! Taking Sarahs hand, he pulled her under with him.

Nobodys in front, theyre all in back, fighting the fire, Al shouted, pushing Sarah ahead, and reaching back for Inez who had emerged. Run girls! Run as fast as you can! Through the gate, he pushed them through the gate Jos had just unlatched. Al remained behind long enough to relatch it, and snap the hanging padlock. Up the bankdammit! help them Josthe car is in that grove of trees. The padlock would slow the guards for a few minutes, while they fished for a key.

Their luck was holding; the guards had not returned. Al trailed behind watching over his shoulder, as they scrambled up the bank and into the grove.

Into the car! Al yelled over the sirens of the approaching fire engines. Nobody saw us, but someone will be around to admit the fire fighters, Al declared, continuing his domination over the rescue. Sirens seemed to be coming from all directions, echoing off the hills. Through the trees, Al saw the guards. They were puttering with the locked gate, trying to unlock it to let the engines in. Turning, he pushed the girls into the waiting car, and drove off on the course he had plotted. The whole back wall of the building was ablaze.

No one missed the prisoners for several minutes; until the fire department had the fire under control, and it was safe to go back into the building.

Inez was sobbing in Als arms. Jos was driving now, and they were under the canopynot far from his house. Sarah was staring straight ahead, more worried about Joss driving, than her narrow escape. It seemed her life with Al had always been like that.

Were here, Jos announced, eager to take over the job of comforting Inez. Before the neighbors see us.