| It was at least three minutes before we stopped to catch our breath. Taylor and Isaac hit a high five. Then I saw the blood on Taylor's hand. "Anyone got a hanky or something?" I asked, heading towards him. Angie handed me one, as I took his hand. "Gross," she declared. "You don't have to," he looked up at me. "Trust me," I said, tying the hanky around his hand to stop the bleeding. "Where to now?" Zac asked. "Let's try and find our way out of here and find some transport," Isaac replied. "You know, every vehicle you guys have touched in the last week has either been crashed or dumped," I realised. They chuckled. "Wait... you did worse?" Isaac suddenly looked at Taylor and Zac. They sobered. "Uh... let's go, shall we?" Zac indicated for us to keep going. After about ten minutes' travel, we came to a road. "Which way?" Zac asked. "Left," I suggested. "Any particular reason?" Taylor asked as we began to walk. "Well judging by the way we were walking, their driveway is that way," I indicated behind us. Ike chuckled. It was only seconds later that we noticed a dark van coming down the road behind us. "Oh man..." Taylor watched it as we stood there. "It's too late, they've seen us," Isaac realised. "Get into the bushes!" Zac exclaimed. We ran for cover, and I noticed Taylor pulling out the gun again. We heard the van screech to a halt soon after, and doors opening. "We know you're in there!" we heard Troy yell, as they began in after us. "Head that way," Isaac pointed in the direction the road headed, "we need to get into civilization as soon as possible." We changed direction. A sudden gun shot was heard, as a bullet hit a tree near Zac. He flinched. Then we began to run. In less than fifteen minutes, we came to a gas station. We ran straight in. There were about three people in there, as well as the cashier. "Knives, weapons, anything you have!" Isaac shouted, going straight for him. "What's going on?" he asked, looking at us. "Taylor?!" Isaac called. He turned to him then rushed over. Zac and I kept an eye out. Taylor again revealed the gun and pointed it at him. He raised his hands. Please, we need anything you have," Ike pleaded. The man nodded and fetched some knives from under the desk. The three other customers had frozen at our ambush. "Incoming!" Zac suddenly called. Then I saw the van pulling in. "Oh no..." Taylor's eyes widened, seeing it. Isaac took some pocketknives, handed one to Taylor, and threw four to each of us keeping one for himself. He gave the rest back. "What's going on?" the cashier demanded. "You four, out the back! Quick!" Isaac instructed, before seeing the customers. "You three keep down, and you'll be fine," he said. They ducked. "What about us?" Taylor asked, seeing Troy and others almost at the door. Ike looked around. Zac, Amy, Angie and I went through the back door, and I closed the door behind us. Having second thoughts, I left it open a crack. "Behind the counter!" Ike ordered, as they jumped the desk. "Get down!" he ordered the cashier. He did so. It was then that the men came through the door. Taylor aimed his gun at them. I heard them stop, and guns arming. "No," Troy instructed, "I said only go for the legs, and can you see them?" I could only just see Isaac and Taylor. Taylor was looking scared. "What now?" one of the men asked. "What are you gonna do, shoot me?" Troy asked. "If I have to," Taylor replied. Then I heard movement. "Zac's fine," Taylor suddenly said. "This isn't Zac's," Troy replied. Suddenly, Taylor cried out in pain, and fell to his knees, dropping the gun on the counter. I heard the men begin forward, before Isaac took the gun and pointed it at them again. "Come on!" I heard Zac's voice behind me. He'd got Amy and Angie out, and come back for me. "Wait," I insisted, still watching. We suddenly heard surprised cries from a woman, probably one of the customers. "Leave her alone," Ike ordered. "If you don't put that gun down in ten seconds, you'll be responsible for another death," Troy threatened. Isaac looked down at Taylor, still in pain. "Ten..." Troy began. Ike looked back at him. "Nine..." he went on. "All right, all right," he raised his hands, then dropped the gun. "I knew you'd see reason," Troy said, as I heard him push the woman away. Then I saw him going over to Ike. He took a look at the floor, then glared at him. "Where's Taylor?" he demanded. I took this moment to close the door, and follow Zac out to where Amy and Angie were. "What took you so long?" Angie demanded. "I had to make sure they were ok," I almost gulped. "Are they?" Amy asked. "Isaac's been caught again, but Taylor disappeared," I looked around. "You called?" came a voice from behind me. I turned. "Taylor?!" I exclaimed, "what... what happened to you?" He glanced at Zac, holding his hip. "I managed to crawl through another back door. Isaac didn't make it, did he?" he looked worried. "No, he didn't," Zac replied. "Now what?" Angie asked. We looked around. "There's a bit of a town further down the road," Zac indicated. "Then that's our destination. Let's go," Taylor gestured in that direction. Again, we began to walk, using cover whenever we could. When we got to the town, we made for the nearest park. Not two minutes after we'd hidden ourselves from view, not one, but two vans slowly drove past. "I bet Ike's getting it," Zac mumbled. "So what do we do now?" I looked between them. "Hopefully lie low for a while," Taylor was looking around. "We can't stay in one place for too long," Amy warned, wiping her eyes. "You're right, we should keep moving," Zac suggested, rubbing her shoulder. Taylor stood up again. "I have a feeling we should head that way," he pointed south. "I don't know if you realise this, but that's where the vans headed," Angie pointed out. He shrugged. "We need to contact Brad... he might even know someone who can help," Zac said as he stood. "Good idea," Taylor replied, as we began across the park to a street on the other side. |
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| Chapter 21 - The Gas Station |
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