Americans in Kuwait Flee Gunfire, Fear : Scene: The ‘sounds of war’ compel couple to ignore U.S. advice and drive across the desert into Saudi Arabia.

There was no way out.

Rumor had it that the Saudi Arabian border and roads leading to it were closed. The airport runway was laced with cluster bombs.

Americans aren’t used to having no options. I’m no exception. This northern gulf state was invaded by Iraqi troops early Thursday, and my first impulse was to get out.

I’ve never heard the sounds of war. I didn’t know how close the invading troops were.

It was the not knowing that frayed the nerves. Some said it was over, others said the worst was yet to come.

I’d never known this kind of fear.

The whole bizarre drama began for me at 6 a.m. Thursday. An American friend phoned telling me the news. He said there were casualties.

I packed. It’s funny what you think of in times of crisis. I’d just bought a new pair of shoes the day before, and I wanted to be sure and pack them. I was leaving nearly all of my worldly possessions behind, but I had my shoes.

Others fled immediately. Our Iranian friends packed their cars and drove their families to the south fast. I didn’t even get to say goodby.

People were wondering what would happen next. I kept asking myself if my husband and I still had jobs. We worked for the Kuwaiti government. But was there a Kuwaiti government?

Within hours, the rumors really began to fly: The British Embassy was fired on, the American Embassy overrun. News reports via satellite told us that the emir had fled to Saudi Arabia.

For a few hours in the afternoon, we set about organizing a trip to Saudi Arabia and safety. But the U.S. Embassy told us to stay put. They said the roads were blocked.

My husband worked in the oil fields. Three of the oil rigs he worked on were under Iraqi control. There was a rumor that Americans on the rigs were captured by Iraqi troops.

We decided to ignore the American Embassy and try to get out. It seemed worth the risk to get away from the fighting, and we made it.

My hands are still shaking.

We drove about 60 miles from Ahmadi in southern Kuwait to the Saudi border.

For the first 24 miles of our tense trip we saw thousands of confident, smiling Iraqi troops. Many waved us on our way.

As we ventured further south, we saw armored personnel carriers, howitzers, missile launchers and tanks. They were heading south, the direction of the Kuwait-Saudi border.

Anyone with identification documents was waved across the border. Within minutes after leaving Kuwait we were greeted with hugs and tears by other joyous Americans and Britons. We saw about 100 who had managed to escape.

We traded war stories during the hours it took to get Saudi visas and clear customs.

Elizabeth Thames is an American from Glenrock, Pa. who worked for the Associated Press in Kuwait. She and her husband fled Iraq on Friday.