The light diminished with another pulse, letting the darkness encroach a little bit more. The chattering sound ceased when the camcorder screamed out for more power. I placed an arm in front of Alison in a protective gesture when the chattering sounds picked up from the other side of the road, forcing us to place our backs to the open road to watch both directions. Our evidence wouldn’t mean squat if we couldn’t present it.
“Connor.” Alison moved closer to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her holding the knife in an odd fashion that was more for show than defense.
“I know, just stay close.” The chattering sounds stopped to leave us in silence again. Running over our options didn’t help. We were better than three kilometers from the Fergusons and nothing in-between.
“What about him?” Alison moved to my left inching closer to the fallen man. “We can’t just leave him here.”
“I know.” I never liked to abandon someone I had the chance to help, but the situation was well out of hand. I didn’t know if we were capable of getting ourselves out of the situation, let alone someone else.
“You want to leave him?” She knelt down and inched closer to the man, when a rustle of the underbrush made her fall over backwards. Scrambling over to me, she aimed her camcorder light back at the noise. The dim light only revealed moving branches as whatever it was darted off to the right of the beam. I reached down and placed a hand on her shoulder to show support.
After a couple of forced breaths that made her relax, she flipped the knife in her hand readying for a fight. I glanced down on her while I kept my pathetic penlight focused on the trees where the movement was located. I wanted to end this unnerving game, but we needed the man at our feet. We needed to get him out of here now.
“Can you reach him?” I asked in a low voice. She forced herself to her feet and moved forward again. She aimed her camcorder light at the underbrush between the trees as she folded her knife and wedged it in her pocket. Her outstretched hand almost had him when something stung the back of my hand, making me drop the penlight. It hit the rocks and winked out. I shook the pain out of my hand while the digital alarm on the camcorder sounded and dimmed the light once before blinking out entirely. Instinctively, we froze until our eyes could adjust to the night. The bad part about wishing for something is that sometimes the universe hears you.
“Connor.”
“Shhh.”
In a heartbeat, the sounds of movement erupted from both directions, cracking and snapping their way to us. I released Alison and stooped to retrieve the penlight while Alison fussed with the camcorder. Slapping the penlight on my hand in rapid succession made the pale yellow beam come to life. An electronic beep indicated Alison’s fiddling had worked and the camcorder light flooded the underbrush. I turned to the other series of sounds on the opposite side of the road, and shined the tiny light across the area.
After watching the bushes rustle for a few breaths, the movement stopped. Alison scrambled away from the hoaxer lying in the ditch. Instantly, she was on her feet and had her knife in hand. In spite of my instincts, I stepped forward, bringing her with me.
“I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I.”
“What do we do?” Our best chance at understanding this mess was lying in the ditch. We needed him. Ignoring the voice in my mind telling me to keep back, I crept forward.
“We take him with us.” Placing the penlight in my teeth, I hooked my hands under the man’s arms and pulled him onto the road. A low grunt came from the woods, clearly unsatisfied with our action. Alison swept the light over the area making sure we wouldn’t be chased away again. The man groaned indicating that he was still alive. I checked the man’s wounds again to see how we could minimize further injuries while we moved him.
“Can we move him?”
“I think we can, but then again there’s not much choice here.”
“Good point.” Alison kept the light on the underbrush looking down at the injured man. I took the penlight back into my hand and swept it over the other area as a deterrent. We needed to get out of here. I did not want to be jumped out here in the sticks. “How?”
“Grab his arm.” I pulled the man over and Alison lowered the light to help. Hooking my arm under the man, Alison did the same so that we could carry the man between us. The noises of movement through the underbrush began approaching us again. Alison quickly swept the dim light over the area to halt the movement.
“He needs a diet.” Alison grumbled as she realized why I insisted on having her help. I wasn’t weak by any means, but hefting a two hundred pound man for a mile or more out here was just asking for trouble.
“I know.” I tried to keep the open knife and penlight in my left hand while I lifted the man on my right, with Alison on the other side of the man. “It’s a good twenty minute walk back to the Ferguson’s but we might be able to cut that down.”
“Come on then.” Alison took the first grinding step forward. Noises picked up behind us, encouraging a faster pace.
“Keep up.”
“I am,” Alison complained. The sounds of breaking branches approached her too closely. She swept the light over the area, stopping it. “Quit it!” She cried out at the night. “I’m sick of this lousy game of red-light green-light.” Cursing under her breath, she sounded about ready to snap. “Get lost!” She snarled.
We moved as fast as we could with the dead-weight between us, but the wood cutout on the man’s foot was digging a furrow in the loose gravel. The two stalkers continued to crash through the underbrush on each side of the road.
“This bites.” She stumbled a couple of paces. “Connor, I’m sorry about the whole trying to kill you thing.”
“Forget it.”
“I’m serious.” She staggered under the man’s weight on her shoulder. I’d almost forgotten about our wounds that were definitely taking a toll.
“I know, but it wasn’t wholly your fault. Between the attack at your evil mother’s, and that jail, you were a little more scrambled than usual.” Turning my penlight back at the stalker on my side of the road, I watched thick underbrush stop moving under the light, until my flashlight died completely. “Well…” I rattled the flashlight to no avail, forcing me to pocket it. Adjusting my grip on the knife, I tensed for an attack. Unfortunately, I wasn’t watching my footing any longer, and I brought the three of us down onto the gravel. Self-pity wasn’t doing anything but distracting us right now.
The camcorder light winked out, leaving them an opening. The two stalkers crunched and snapped their way ahead. I glanced over at the shadow of Alison crawling to her feet. When push came to shove, there was no one else I knew that I’d want watching my back.
“I’ve been a terrible to you lately.”
“This really isn’t the time. You’re my partner for a reason, Alison.” I pulled the man up while Alison got his other side. “I need you.”
“Thank you.” The sounds cracked and snapped closer until we could see the branches along the road moving. Whatever or whoever our stalkers were, we were about to find out. I felt a sharp pain stab through my head.
“Trust, Connor,” a soft voice whispered.
What?
“Trust.”
“Trust.” I echoed dragging us forward.
“Connor, we’ve ….” Letting out a yelp, Alison fell to the roadside taking us down with her. I looked up to see the branches overhead moving and a foul stench flooding the air. Across the wounded man, I could see Alison cursing and struggling to free her knife. I tensed the knife in my hand bracing for whatever would come. The movement stopped, unexpectedly giving us a reprieve. Still cursing, Alison held the knife out in front of her. It suddenly occurred to me that I could now see her more clearly. Light?
I watched the road as light flowed over us, and it suddenly occurred to me why when I heard the sound of tires on the gravel. The road was fully illuminated when the headlights of the car appeared. I fought to free myself from under the man’s weight. Our stalkers quickly snapped and crunched away from the road.
“Alison!” I freed myself while she sputtered and cursed her way free. Charging onto the road, I waved and shouted at a junk van that raced past us without slowing. “Hey! Stop! Hey!” I flagged for the vehicle but it left us in a dust cloud. “Jerk!” I coughed.
“Why is it so hard to have people help?” Alison stamped her feet in anger. I kicked at the gravel. The thought clicked.
“Come on!” I raced back to the man and pulled him up. “Help me out.”
“The things we do…” She moved into position to carry him.
“Speaking of, what do you want for breakfast when we get back?” Finding motivation in a difficult situation can be the difference between survival and becoming a chew toy. We only had a few moments before our stalkers recovered.
“Huh?”
“Coffee? Say, a large caramel latte?” Focusing on the forest ahead, I glimpsed lights through the trees. We were finally nearing the Ferguson house, and our way out of this mess. “We’re almost there, so you better start thinking.”
“Ah, bribery.”
“So what’s it going to be?” Alison let out a yelp when her light winked out and something bounced across the road in front of me.
“The camera!” She darted after her camcorder. When she made it to the camera, something large and dark slammed into her to knock her down. The figure continued out of the road and into the trees.
“Alison!” I released the man to drop on the gravel, while Alison crawled to her feet. The large figure returned to her, but before I could act, a linebacker blindsided me and sent me sprawling across the road. The pain in my arm screamed that tonight was a lousy night to get a tattoo. I could just see Alison’s attacker crouched over her. I scooped up a large rock and pitched it at the shadow. The direct hit made them fall over and forced the other figures to scoop up their fallen comrade before they disappeared back into the forest. I crawled out of the ditch and over to Alison.
“Happy now?”
“Not really.” Alison swallowed her breath.
“Why did they retreat?” I coughed again. Shock crossed her face and she scrambled away from me to where her camcorder had been on the road.
“The camera!” She knelt over the remains and checked the pieces while I reached to pick up the man.
“Wasted?”
“They took the drive!” She screamed in frustration and rapidly patted her jacket searching for something. “And the letters!” She sat on the road, dumbfounded.
“Come on.” I took her hands and pulled her up before turning back to our hoaxer sprawled in the road. Together we scooped him up and started for the lights.
The trees on our right cut away to make room for the house lawn just as we heard the distinct movement of our stalkers approaching through the underbrush again. When we finally stepped into the light of the dooryard, I could see the reason why our pace had slowed. A large tear in Alison’s tights revealed a gash staining the fabric with blood.
As we cut across the lawn, a loud grunt drew our attention back to the road. In the darkness of the open gray road, I glimpsed a shadow pass from one side to the far side away from us. Alison took a large rock from the flowerbed and pitched it at the movement, while I banged my palm on the door.
“Get lost!” Alison shouted and a howl of pain erupted from the woods. “Ha! That’s what you get!”
Seth opened the door and we staggered into the living room with our hoaxer. I lowered the man onto the couch and retreated to other side of the room with Alison.
“What happened?” Carla started checking the man. “Seth, call for an ambulance.”
“Right.” The kid took off for the nearest phone.
“I hope we get something from him.” I plopped down on the cushy loveseat with Alison and gave her a sideways glance. She flashed me a sly smile and pulled a folded paper from the left side of her bra.