Chrissie's POV

Where this is placed between all the crazy happenings, I honestly don't know anymore.

That stupid job offer. I guess I was too eager to get on an official expedition that I wasn't careful.

That's how I ended up getting framed by the North Korean military; grilled for hours in interrogation rooms; and being stuck in this damn country for- has it been 3 months?

Geez. I just wanna go home.

"Move it already." The prison guard barked in Korean. I'm not too fluent, but by his tone it was probably something along those lines.

I begrudgingly carried on under the guard's surly face.

There was another man sitting down in the office. I inadvertently slowed my pace; reporter instincts still up and running.

He wore a rumpled tuxedo and a wicked bruise on the side of his head. He was talking angrily to the dispatcher on the other side of the table.

A Korean businessman in trouble? I thought gleefully.

A loud slam made me jump.

I turned around to see two more guards grabbing and jostling a man into a cell.

You know, a funny thing is, for some reason, the cells are not black. They're not even dark gray. They're green.

It was supposed to be the type of green you see in hospitals to calm you down, but the condition of this prison was really bad.

So on one side you'd see a calm green tinge that slowly rusted and turned darker until it was basically vomit green.

See, this is what being stuck in a dangerous foreign country can do to you. It makes you ponder the shades of green.

"You'd better speak before we kill you." One of the guards threatened after a lot of struggling.

The man stared stoically from behind the- green- bars. "Kill me, then."

The guards left with urgent mutters and curses.

I watched the new prisoner with detached interest. The military would put anyone in jail at this point, for any reason. I've talked to innocent exchange students and watched normal citizens be accused of treason. This place was corrupted as hell, seriousl-

"Hey."

His eyes snapped to mine and I bumped against the wall, startled.

"...what?" I said, in a you're-not-talking-to-me-right? tone.

He looked left, right, and made a motion to come closer.

I hesitated. Everything about this guy seemed odd. The "kill me" talk, the strange dark clothing, he seemed American, and he was quite young to be here of all places.

But hey, I'm a curious girl. And I didn't fancy observing green cells for the millionth time again.

I slid over to the opposite wall, leaning against it.

"What're you here for?"

"I'm on a mission to assassinate the dictator." He deadpanned.

I blinked several times. Surely he was joking.

"Oh."

"So...how's it going?" I asked awkwardly.

"Pretty bad." The guy said with a sigh.

He had wrapped his arms around his legs and was leaning his head against the bars. He looked nowhere deadly, if that's what he was in prison for.

"Last night was my only chance, and now my cover's blown. I could try to disappear and go at it again, but the security's been upped and there are search parties in every-"

"Heeey! I know you!" I blurted out. "You were that guy all dressed in black with the shades-"

"SHHhh." He hissed. "You don't know me. If they see that you do, they'll interrogate you and you don't want that."

I sighed. "Don't worry. They've been at me for three months. This isn't going to change much."

"So...why are you here?" He asked. A fire lit up in those blue eyes.

"I took a picture of a statue- and it was in the picture zone!- but a couple military guys were just there in the back. It obviously means I'm an undercover spy trying to cause mayhem and chaos." I ranted sarcastically.

The young guy looked back down at the floor. I could practically hear the gears turning in his head at light speed.

Finally he stood up, which surprised me. He was taller than expected, maybe a couple centimetres more than me, and in such good shape. I'd only seen the poor civilians and lazy high-class hippos lately.

"I can get you out of here, but..."

He started quietly. "It's going to be very crazy, and very risky. Do you trust me?"

I laughed nervously. Again, this had to be some sort of joke. "This is just...what? Why- You're the one stuck in a cell."

"I have my ways."

Then he stuck his hand between the bars, which took me off guard again, because I was getting the vibe he was some expert martial artist or something.

"Austin, codename Skyrise and definitely not Tardigrade. 18 years going on 19. Special agent of the Pentagon. I hope you don't mind some danger, because this is going to be one wild ride."

And boy, was he dead right.