"Oh my God! No, I can't!" I stopped dead in my tracks.

We had only gone about one hundred feet down the dank sewer and already I thought I was going to die from the horrific smell. Jake had LED lights for both of us so we could try to tread carefully, but seeing what we were walking through just made it that much worse. I tried to hold my breath, but realising we'd be walking for miles, that just wasn't going to cut it.

"It's easier if you put a mask on," Jake called out from in front of me.

"Oh, I didn't think of that," I reached for my back pocket for my mask. "Ugh! I must've dropped it back there!"

"Sucks for you!" I swear he cackled.

"You are such an asshole, you know that!?" I yelled.

"The more you talk the more you inhale shit!" he shouted back.

I tried coming up with a retort, but my senses had enough of my surroundings and I nearly wretched. It took all of my self-control not to lose my lunch.

"Please, just kill me. This is too much," I groaned.

Jake paused for a moment, then turned around to come back. With his hood and mask covering his face, I couldn't make out whether he was coming to offer support or chastise me. The last thing I expected from him was to take off his mask and to loop it around my ears. I could feel the heat in my cheeks rising from the feeling of his fingers on my skin.

"Don't you dare vomit on it," he threatened casually.

I rolled my eyes as he went back to leading the way. Just when I thought I saw a bit of the Jake I knew, he had to taint it with the prick version. I still had so many unanswered questions, but I didn't want linger in the sewer longer than I had to. I walked quickly to catch up to Jake, who didn't even look back.

"Shouldn't we be running?" I commented.

"And risk slipping on shit? No thank you!" he replied. "It'll take them a while to sweep the building before they realise how we gave them the slip."

"So, can we talk about earlier then?" I questioned.

"What about earlier?" I couldn't tell if he was playing ignorant or if he really was that clueless.

"You killed those people back there," I pointed out.

"And?" he acted so nonchalant about it.

"Is that an everyday thing with you?" I frowned.

"Only when it's necessary," he clarified.

"That was necessary!?" I asked in disbelief.

"For my survival, yes, I deem it pretty fucking necessary," he glared at me. "Don't act so high and mighty. When you have people shooting to kill you, you gain a different perspective."

"Is that what made you so bitter?" I teased.

Jake was quiet for a moment, then responded with a simple, "No."

I realised I must've hit a sore spot so I left it there. "There's still that other thing I'd like to discuss, if it's all right with you."

"What?" he said with a layer of annoyance.

"Duskwood...," I trailed off. "You just vanished. I waited a long time for an explanation."

"Didn't seem like it," he mumbled. "It was complicated."

"Try me. We've got plenty of tunnel left," I sighed.

"I'd rather not," he insisted.

"Ok, fine. Your turn," I offered.

"My turn for what?" he asked confused.

"Ask me something," I smiled.

"Is there an option where we just walk without the noise?"

"Nope! You might as well give up!" I grinned.

"I am still capable of shooting you," he warned.

"Actually, that would be a terrible idea. You'd risk igniting the methane down here and setting off a huge explosion," I pointed out.

"But you'd stop talking," he reiterated.

"Wow, you hate me that much, huh?" I shook my head in disgust.

I couldn't tell if Jake was intentionally ignoring me or not as his expression was impossible to read. I gave up and tried to come up with different ways as keeping myself distracted while walking down the sewers. I found trying to come up with a cover story the most time consuming of the distractions. Explaining all of this in case anyone found out was going to be difficult. It probably would be easier to just say my favourite sneakers were damaged and beyond repair in a freak incident. Same for my pants. And my jacket. You know what, the entire outfit had to go. It would save me the trouble of trying to scrub the yuck out of them. It was no wonder Jake's bag stunk so bad if he spent a lot of time in places like this just to escape capture. I almost felt bad for the guy. Almost. He was still a jerk.

Suddenly Jake turned and went down a side route that led to stairs up. As we climbed up, I could smell fresher and fresher air until we reached the top.

"Oh thank God!" I sighed with relief when I saw the gate leading outside.

Jake opened the gate and held it for me to walk through first. To my surprise, we exited into a grove of trees. It was already well into the night, but there were street lamps in the distance. I could hear the sounds of music so we weren't far from civilisation.

"I'll have my mask back now," Jake pushed as the gate closed behind us.

"Hmm? Ok, sure," I shrugged and handed the mask back to him. "I only vomited a little," I teased.

Jake gave me a questioning look as if he wasn't sure whether I was joking or not, then put his mask back on.

"So I guess I'll see you never then!" I nodded and turned to walk off.

Jake grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back, "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Away? From you?" I frowned.

"You think it's over?" he gave me a bemused look as he took out his phone.

"Isn't it?" I raised my eyebrow in confusion.

Jake typed away at his phone, then showed me his screen. On it was a news site displaying a police sketch of a hooded man and a photo of me from my social media with the headline "LIVE UPDATES: International Criminals on the Run in Our City!"

I did a double take, "Wait, what? Is this some kind of joke?"

"Oh yeah, we just walked through the sewers for the fun of it!" Jake said sarcastically. "No, the second we slipped through their fingers, they added you to the most wanted list. Their plan to use you to weaken my defences failed, and these people don't take failure well."

"That's ridiculous! Look, we just have to get me to the embassy and it'll be fine," I thought out loud.

"Your embassy?" he laughed. "Your government is the last one I trust."

"I'll explain what happened, they'll sort it out with the government here," I ignored him.

"No, you're not listening. Your government is complicit!" he grabbed my arms to make me look at him. "Who knows what will happen if you go there!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked apprehensively.

"We don't have time for me to explain everything. Just trust me, they'll cover this up any way possible. You going home won't even be a consideration for them," he insisted.

I tried to make sense of what he was saying. I couldn't go home? That was crazy. "No, you're wrong! I'm innocent! I didn't do anything!"

"It wouldn't be the first time an innocent had their life ruined by them, trust me," he sighed. "Even if we get you home..."

"What? Are you saying I can't go home under any circumstance?" my voice started to shake despite my struggle to control my frustration.

Jake averted his gaze from me, "Right now we need to focus on getting distance from them. Once we do that, I'll be able to get a better feel for how bad the situation is."

"Is there any chance we can go back to my motel?" I asked innocently. Jake gave me a confused look. "To shower and get clean clothes!"

Jake's eyes widened, "Of course not! Anything in your name is now off limits."

I groaned loudly, "So I'm going to smell like this forever!?"

Jake gestured towards the sound of music, "No, no, I've got a plan. Come on."