"Drones." Natasha narrowed her eyes. "They're monitoring the place. If we can blind them, then we can get away. Where are they, out front or out back?"

"Both" Sophie replied "Maybe if we--" Something crashed against a window. 'Uh-oh' thought Sophie

(ignore this)

Natasha groaned. "That's going to cost me." She pulled Sophie and Wanda toward the bedrooms. Flinging open one of them, she dived under the bed. A slow, rusty creak followed a moment later, as well as some banging and quiet cursing from Nat. "Come on, you two," she said, her voice fading as she maneuvered herself down into the trapdoor. And try not to make as much noise as I did, please."

Sophie glanced at Wanda and silently slid under the bed after Nat.

They came into a little room, a bit like a storm shelter crossed with a basement. Natasha walked around the room, pushing inconspicuous buttons, turning knobs, and stepping hard in certain places. As she walked she explained. "This is my safe room. I can live here for up to a week if I've got food and water. I suppose I could go longer but there's no plumbing and it reeks by then. It's designed to have a specific pattern with specific weights to open the hidden door. If you're a stupid Hydra goon, you'll probably just blow the place to bits...Also bringing the above down on your head. If you're a spy, even if you figure out the pattern, you won't weigh enough. Or too much, depends. But we can get out from the door." As she said 'the door' a section of the wall rotated ninety degrees, exposing one side covered in weapons. She selected a few, and told Sophie and Wanda to grab some. "These actually work and are loaded and or charged, so be really careful." As they walked through, the door swung shut and a grinding noise followed. Nat cringed. "I really need to get in there and oil the place. It's not supposed to sound like that." She turned around and breathed in the damp tunnel air. "Follow me."

Sophie looked all around her, taking it all in. 'Woah' she breathed. She stepped up to the wall of weapons and reached for a pistol-like object and a couple of metal balls. 'Explosives?' She thought. "Um are you gonna tell us how to use these, or um do we just learn hands on?"

Natasha looked back. "The gun, I'm pretty sure you understand. Those little balls, though, are essentially immobilizing bombs. If you throw them and they hit someone, then the person will be tazed for upwards of one minute. If you fall, try not to land on whichever part of you they're on. So if they're in your pants pockets, you're probably going to be immobilized for ten minutes at the very least. It really hurts, too, sort of like my stingers but more." She held up her hands, showing the wristbands filled with electric charges. Wanda was looking over a pair of long knives. Natasha looked at them. "Are we ready? We've got a long way to go, and Sophie needs to be at school by eight. Right?" She looked at Sophie for confirmation.

"Ok, I'll keep that in mind!" Sophie grinned. "Yep" she nodded. "Ok, let's go!"

Natasha set off at a quick walk, sidestepping the ruts and dips in the dirt floor. She led them through several twists, turns, and forks, each separated by lots of straight going. Once or twice they came to a bridge made of a single slab of stone, crossing a subterranean river. After a few hours of the rapid powerwalking, Natasha stopped, breathing hard. "Everybody okay? No scrapes, bumps or cuts that need looking at? We good to go on another hour? We're about eighty-five percent of the way through. By now, the bad guys have figured out we're not in the house, have probably found the safe room, and are scanning all nearby terrain. We are now seven miles from where they'll be looking for us. Okay, are we good to go on?"