How do you explain that?

"How do you explain that?"

"You can't" I stare at the body on the ground. Did we really just go through all that? The rain pelts down, soaking us to the bone. I shiver and let my hands drop to my side. I put my arm around Anya. We have gone through heck. She pulls away and wraps herself in her arms. I don't blame her. I would be pulling away too. My mind races as I realise what we have done. We managed to stop a criminal mastermind at the age of 15. Imagine what we could do when we're older. We could accomplish great things. But I don't know if Anya is ready to. It was a mad 15 days. It all started when we went to Africa, the land of the burning sun… 

“How hot is it here?”

“Too hot to register,” Anya and I have been walking for hours. We lost our tour guide group, and have been wandering around for ages searching for someone, any sign of life would be appreciated. No water is in sight. Suddenly a loud bang sounds from the left of us. We turn and immediately the heat disappears. A cool breeze floods our bodies as three men walk toward us. They look sketchy. One of them has scars and a big beard. The other two look like twins. They have short scruffy brown hair and big muscles. I grab Anya’s arm and drag her behind a rock. The big man catches my eyes. He walks toward us, thumping and pounding the sand with every step. He picks us both up by the scruffs of our necks. I wriggle and squirm but keep holding Anya’s hand. I can’t let go of her. They drag us into the forest and throw us into a black van. They tie our wrists and feet. I look to Anya. She shakes her head. We can’t get out. The men walk into the van and start the engine. I watch in horror as they blindfold both of us. The last thing I see is Anya squirming away from a big brute right before everything goes black. 

I don’t know how much time has passed before the van stops. It feels like days have passed. The roughians grab us and lift us out of the van. They laugh like thieves and grab a bag out of the trunk. I try to listen for Anya. No sounds come from her. I have to try and get my blindfold off. I wriggle and jiggle. It falls down just past my eyes. I desperately blink and my eyes adjust to the bright light. No forest is insight. A vast desert is laid out before us. How far did we drive? Anya is lying beside one of the men. I try to reach her. The man notices and walks over to me. 

“Where are you goin’?” He lifts me up and sits me on the van. I gulp as he pulls out a dagger. He holds it to my throat. 

“Don’t even think about it,” I look behind the man. Anya is standing and her fists are clenched. She aims and punches the guy square on the nose. He stumbles back and falls to the ground. Anya grabs my hand, she’s shaking. I lead her toward a large pyramid. She stumbles and I help her up. She isn’t one for fighting. We reach the pyramid. Where do we go from here? We have to get away from those men. No matter what. I do the only thing I can think of. I climb. Anya follows close behind as we climb the incredibly tall pyramid. The men come after us. I hear their footsteps on the hard sand. They climb, even the one that Anya hit in the nose. He doesn’t look too happy. They climb after us hot on our heels. We keep climbing. We’re running out of pyramid. What can we do? I grab Anya’s hand just as a man grabs my leg. I wriggle him off and lunge for the other side of the pyramid. My hand clasps air. No! I try as hard as I can to pull myself back. I reach the pyramid and grasp the side. The sand below crumbles away. I hoist myself up and help Anya up. Then I sit down and prepare to slide down the side of the pyramid. I take Anya by the hand. 

“What are you- NO!!!” She screams as we slide down the side of the pyramid. All three men turn to look at us. They gape in awe as we reach the bottom. I pick myself up and dust myself off. Anya sits there shocked. 

“We’re okay, come on,”

“Okay,” She stumbles after me and we race toward a distant town. It comes clearer as we get closer to it. Small houses and gravel paths run through the town. I run into the police station, Anya close on my heels. I walk up to the desk. No one is there. We need someone. I call out, “Hello?” 

“We need help!” We yell and try our hardest to get anyone's attention.  No one comes out. The men’s feet sound on the wooden deck outside. They walk through the doorway and lunge for us. I duck out of the way and merely miss a punch. Anya swings and trips one of them up. They fall and get knocked out. She smiles weakly at me. I punch the other in the face and make a run for it. The last man stumbles out after us. He’s coming for us. We reach the middle of the desert. Anya shows me her hands. A gun rests in them. Clever Anya. The man comes toward us. What can we do? I don’t want to kill him, but what else can we do? I take the gun from Anya and aim it at him. He holds up his hands. Then starts to smile slowly. That can’t be good. He draws a gun from his holster. I gulp. This will be tough. He fires and I duck, Anya dodges and falls to the ground. She gets back up, she’s alright.  I fire at the man. I hit him in the arm. He stumbles. He’s tired. He can’t do this much longer. Blood seeps through his thin clothes. I drop the gun as he falls to the ground. Rain starts to fall. I grab Anya by the hand and hug her tightly. We are so lucky to be alive. I feel in the man’s pockets. A bag of jewels fall out. Emeralds and diamonds come pouring out of the bag.  He stole these. We just stopped a criminal mastermind. No, three criminal masterminds. Woah. Anya rushes into the town and tries to find a phone. I keep watch and tie up the man. He comes to and groans. He can’t be feeling great. Sirens wale in the distance as Anya comes running back. We did it. After everything, we’ve been through. I never want to let Anya go. She feels like a little sister to me. I can’t let anyone hurt her.