"What are we going to do if we catch up with whoever saw us, Vroom?"
"Well we're sure not going to ask them over for supper, are we Woody?" Vroom asked, a guffaw escaping his throat.
"You mean? But if we get caught... I mean if we're caught with the animals again we'll never get another hunting license, but people? I don't want to go to jail forever!" Woody almost wailed, as his four wheeler bounced down the trail.
"Calm down, nobody's going to jail for anything. And stop rambling!" snapped Vroom, as he gave his vehicle more gas, and pulled away from his partner in crime.
The two researchers stopped their van after driving down the rough trail for about twenty minutes, and listened.
Nancy cocked her head. "I hear ATV motors, way back. Like they're coming from the other side of the lake."
"Then we'd best get a move on," Reed replied grimly.
Nancy checked her phone every few minutes. "I'm not getting a signal yet. There's a little town about twelve miles down the road once we get to the highway, but I don't know if it has a tower."
Reed gripped the wheel of the two wheel drive vehicle harder, his knuckles bone white. "If they're after us on ATVs, it won't matter once we reach the highway. We'll be able to move faster than they can."
Nancy tapped a finger on her phone, then put it in her lap. "I'm hoping if they do, the signal might reach some parts of this forest... I know we're faster than an ATV, it's just on this little trail. I was surprised the old girl even made it to the lake."
"She's a tough old bird. Remember when she went thirty miles on a flat tire?"
Nancy laughed. "Yeah, then we slept in the garage's parking lot until they opened."
She checked the little GPS device and smiled. "All but one of the birds we tagged survived. They're headed south. Oh, and we're only three miles from the highway!"
"I must be getting close... it's time to get this overwith!" Vroom muttered to himself, looking at the rapidly darkening sky.
After a disgusted look over his shoulder, he kicked his powerful machine into maximum speed.
"Finally!" he shouted, raising one meaty arm when he saw the vehicle's lights in the distance.
"Reed? I can hear an ATV, even though we're moving. It must be getting close.
He stopped the van, and removed the keys from the ignition. "We aren't going to make it to the highway, Nancy. We're going to have to abandon the vehicle, and make our way to that town on foot."
Nancy hopped out, and promptly pulled the spark plugs. "Criminals always know how to hotwire things in movies," she grinned, in response to Reed's open mouth.
Reed nodded. "Let's get moving, I don't want to be anywhere near here when those poachers show up," he said as he handed the GPS to Nancy.
He stayed close, shining an adjustable beam flashlight in front of them. "At least cutting through the woods from this point we only have about five miles to go. Gotta love those winding country roads, they'll eat up your gas every time."
She nodded. "We'll still be getting there in the middle of the night. But even if there isn't a tower, it shouldn't be too hard to contact the police."
Vroom grinned when he saw the lifeless vehicle ahead. "The lights are off... I wonder if they ran out of gas."
"Hey folks! Need a hand?" he shouted as he approached, gun ready.
After circling the van and checking underneath, he kicked a back tire. "Idiots! They took off on foot. Why can't anything ever be easy?"
Vroom went back to his four wheeler, and grabbed a clean piece of meat wrap paper. Then he withdrew a pen from his shirt pocket.
Scribbling awkwardly, he tried to remember the last time he had written more than his name. "woody im gonna try and catch up with them in the woods you take the trail maybe they walked out to the highway meet me in hale".
With his literary masterpiece finished, the poacher put it on the seat of his four wheeler, using a large rock as a paperweight. Then he plunged into the now dark woods, GPS in one hand, flashlight in the other.
"That wasn't so bad," Nancy panted as she and Reed stepped out of the woods in front of a sign welcoming them to Hale.
Reed rubbed his now red face, grimacing. "Speak for yourself, I think every tree branch you bent slapped me," he replied.
She began walking briskly on the old fashioned cobblestone street. "This place seems to be deserted," she observed.
Ahead, a single streetlamp illuminated a large building. It had a sign announcing that it was Hale's Bar. "It'll be worth the pain, we'll get to sleep in real beds tonight. And I'm sure someone will have some cream for scratches."
The two researchers were halfway to the light, when a four wheeler blocked their path. Turning back, they were just in time to see a man with a flashlight emerge from the woods.
*"To be continued!
Describe what you see:
I see a deserted street, at night. At the end of it is Hale's Bar, and a little closer there's a fine art shop. There's also a street lamp.
The street is cobblestone, and the sidewalk is not entirely smooth.
Describe what you feel:
I feel like this is either a very small town, or the picture was taken a long time ago.
