The (Spy) James Who Loved Me

The assignment:

This week, we gave you the beginning and the end of the story – sometimes the very places we get stuck – and asked you only to come up with the middle.
You were to start your piece with “We had to leave immediately” and end it with “And then we realized we were already home.”  Limit is 600 words.

The Spy James Who Loved Me


We had to leave immediately.

James quickly cut the restraints on my arms and feet.  The concrete door that had locked me from the outside world was now a mangled pile of rubble.  The light and smoke from the hole on the wall stung my eyes, having been accustomed to the dark for so long.

James scooped me up from my fetal position on the filthy floor into his strong arms.  I wanted to say something, but my mind felt disconnected from my body.  All I could think of was how good it felt to be that close to James.  He smelled like bourbon and gunpowder; the latter roused me out of my dream-like stupor back to the situation at hand.

We had to get out--alive.

I tried to gather my surroundings, but lifting my head sent it spinning, and everything went blurry.  My eyes only caught glimpses: of sparks coming from charred wires hanging above, crimson bodies scattered like ragged dolls, and cement walls with no windows in sight.

I knew James was moving as fast as he could, but deadly bullets continued to close in on us.  The roar of machine guns and voices shouting in a language I didn't recognized echoed from every direction.  Metallic smell of fresh blood saturated the air.  Panic started to unfold from deep within me, making me nauseous.

Sensing my distress, James tightened his hold of me and said, “I’m here, Sweaty sweetheart… I’m here.”  As always, his voice did wonders to my body.  I wished we were somewhere else, ripping at each other’s clothes, tasting and pleasuring our bodies into sexual oblivion, instead of being in this hell hole!

We reached an emergency staircase where the air smelled like sweat and piss.  We were climbing up the stairs when I heard a loud snap.  James stumbled, but quickly regained his footing.  I lifted my hand to gently caress his jaw, silently thanking him for risking his own life to save mine.  I didn’t realize I was crying until I tasted saltiness on my lips.  James, I love you.

James suddenly spun around, in his right hand was his beloved Walther PPK semi-automatic pistol.  He fired at our chasers below, then aimed upwards and fired some more.  Two bodies fell off from the railings above.

James continued upward towards the rooftop.  I wiped the tears from my cheeks using the back of my hand, only to find it smeared with blood.  That’s when I noticed the growing red stain underneath James’ tuxedo.  He’d been hit.

“James, let me go. I’m slowing you down,” I managed to say.

“I’m not leaving you behind. Miles better get that helicopter ready for when we reach the top.”

Just when I thought we would never reach it, we saw the opening to the rooftop. Outside, we saw the helicopter, its rotor blades sending swirls of dust and debris our way. James moved sideways to shield me from the headwind.  Let’s go home, James…

I felt another pair of arms taking me away from James, but I didn’t want to leave his side.  I kicked and screamed for James, but I was too weak to put up much of a fight.  Then I heard a shot and saw James fell down on his knees.  His eyes were looking straight at me, his lips forming the words “I love you.”

And then all hell broke loose.

Bratatata

Bratatatatatatatatata….

On my TV screen, Daniel Craig—in his James Bond tuxedo--was being chased by the bad guys with machine guns.  I had fallen asleep watching Casino Royale.  I couldn’t believe it was only a dream… I was totally enjoying my role as James Bond’s girlfriend!   We were fighting to get home...

And then I realized we were already home :)