Aiden smiled in response to her jumpiness, and the redness of her cheeks. Frankly the tunnel experience was more intense than he thought it would be, on lots of levels. The blushing was something they had in common.<br/><br/>Once he was satisfied that the cover was back in place he studied the room to make sure they hadnâ€™t knocked anything out of place. He then took the flashlight from her with an appreciative smile. â€œLetâ€™s go,â€ he whispered simply, keeping his voice down.<br/><br/>The building around them was under construction and completely unlit. It took a few minutes for them to find their way out of the darkened shell. In the process Aiden stumbled a few times on tools and debris that littered the place, though he managed to keep the noise to a minimum. The third time he banged his shin quite hard, and walked with a slight limp afterwards. Still, though, nothing would stop him now. He was almost giddy with excitement at the prospect of being free again, and the pain was inconsequential.<br/><br/>They waited at the open doorway leading to the loading dock for a long time to make sure the coast was clear. From there they darted between stockpiles of bricks and lumber that lined the dirt road leading to the site. The whole time Aiden felt incredibly tense, as if a guard was hiding behind every stockpile. Luckily for them, there werenâ€™t any in sight. All of them must have been on top of or inside the walls. The couple made the tree-line without incident.<br/><br/>â€œYou know, I think we are almost home free,â€ Aiden added with a breath of relief. â€œI was thinking we should walk a ways through the stream, that way we throw off the bloodhounds that they bring out tomorrow. We can follow it down the hill into town, then break into the country store. The store should have civilian clothes we can change into â€“ and if weâ€™re lucky â€“ bus passes. We could get on the first bus that shows up in the morning, and be in Grand Central before they even know weâ€™re gone.â€ He searched her eyes for her thoughts. Clearly Aiden had planned these next moves well in advance. He hoped she didnâ€™t find it curious that he didnâ€™t mention any of this before now. Regardless, his expression made it clear that they had to decide on where to go next, and quickly!