Escape and Rescue

   (When we last left Fred, he was escaping from the non-PEANUT terrorists that had captured him and had run into a little trouble with an alligator)

   Fred tried to push the alligator off. “Blurgh!  I said get off me!”
   Again the alligator obeyed and rolled off.  Then the men came around the corner, running full out.
   “Sic ‘em!” Fred yelled.
   The alligator let out a roar and rumbled forward.  The men skidded to a stopped and fell in a heap, then scrambled over each other, desperately trying to get away.  Both the men and the alligator soon disappeared around the corner, but a high pitched scream told Fred that not all the men had gotten home free. 
   Since there was no place else to go, Fred hurried after the alligator.  He found it chewing on a pair of pants, looking very satisfied with itself. 
   “Hey,” Fred said. “Don’t eat that.  It’s not good for you.”
   He took hold of a pant leg that was hanging out of the alligator’s mouth and tried to pull it away, but the alligator jerked his head a little and pulled the leg out of Fred’s hands.
   “Fine, be that way.  But if you get sick and die, don’t come crying to me.”
   With a definite snap of his jaws, the alligator finished off the pants.
   “Okay, now that you’ve finished your little snack, how do we get out of here?”
   There was only one way to go, down the hallway, but the alligator took his time, swinging his head back and forth, sniffing the air.  After a while, he decided and lumbered off, up the hallway, in the direction of his tank.
   Fred walked alongside him, trying to argue. “Wait, you can’t go back there.  We gotta get out of here.”
   The alligator gave a shake of his head and kept walking.
   Fred tried again. “But it’s a dead end back there.”
   The alligator ignored him.
   Fred gave up.  Arguing with an alligator is like arguing with a stone wall.  A few seconds later and they were back in the room with the alligator tank.  Instead of hopping back into the tank, the alligator went to the middle of the room, and stopped.  Fred looked around.
   “What now, genius?” he asked.
   In answer, one of the walls blew up.  Well, not the whole wall.  Just a man sized hole.  As if he had been expecting it, the alligator went out of the hole.  Fred followed, a bit mystified.  Outside was an alleyway, bare except for a single black car.  The alligator hopped into the trunk, which was standing opened, and it closed behind him. 
   The back door opened and someone with a British accent said, “Hop in, Fred.”
   Fred did so, simply because he couldn’t think of anything better to do.  Once he shut the door behind him, the car started moving.  In the seat next to him was a man with short brown hair, matching eyes, wearing a suit.
   Fred said the first thing that came to mind. “I want my alligator.”
   The man laughed. “He’s actually our alligator.  Alexander is a very good boy.”
   “Alexander?”
   “That’s the alligator’s name.”
   “Oh.” Fred looked down at his feet. “So I can’t have him?”
   “We might be able to arrange something.  Depending on whether or not you accept our job offer.”
   Fred was puzzled. “Job offer?”
   The man nodded. “Yes.  The one we offered you when you were in the States.  Even gave you the plane ticket that got you here.”
   “Oooooohhhhhhh,” Fred nodded.  “Now I remember.”
   The man smiled. “Good.”
   “So who are you, exactly?”
   “My name is John Smith and I am head of M007.”
   Fred gaped at him.

   To be continued….