How does the diction of this passage best support the tone?

colonel francis crept back to the map room while the others remained in the canteen. he was scavenging for something quite earnestly, constantly peering over his shoulder.

a. the use of present-tense verbs moves the story forward in real time, creating a hurried tone.
b. the narrator uses words such as "crept" and "scavenging," creating a suspicious tone.
c. the use of long, complex sentences causes readers to slow down, creating a suspenseful tone.
d. the narrator creates contrast by saying "others remained in the canteen," creating a conflicted tone.

i have read the novel roll of thunder hear my cry by mildred d. taylor.

1. this isn't like any other story i've read or watched because it is about a black family in mississippi right after slavery in the u.s. had become illegal. most of the novels i have read were about slavery. another point is that the author of the novel used symbolism in a way i haven't seen before. for example she uses thunder as something negative meaning something bad will happen. but by the end of the novel, she made thunder a good thing.

2.   one character that changed during the novel was stacey. stacey is the eldest child of the black logan family. around the begging of the novel stacey was avoiding the white boy jeremy simms. he had a dislike for jeremy's family. but at the end of the novel stacey began to like jeremy.

3. the author starts the novel with the problem that the children of the logan family have to avoid the white kid school bus while walking to school.

being surrounded by crimes, poverty, and failing schools as well as his own lack of confidence in his abilities.