| A few minutes later... "Ah, guys? Is it just me, or is that car following us?" Taylor pointed out a sedan two cars behind us. Ike squinted in the rear view mirror. "Hey, I saw those guys at the cemetery," he realised. "Should this be a cause for concern?" I asked, slightly nervous. "I'm not sure," Ike replied, checking a side mirror. "Well, do they look like bad guys?" Amy asked. "Considering what Greg looked like the first time we saw him - compared to what?" Ike asked. Taylor gulped at the mention of Greg's name, as he remembered the last few moments of his life. We came to a set of traffic lights, as the car behind us swapped lanes to turn. Now they werebehind us. Taylor, Amy and I turned to watch them. Now we could see four men in the car, all wearing black with dark sunglasses. Not one of them spoke a word. The man in the passenger seat suddenly lowered his sunglasses and looked straight at us. We hurriedly turned back, as Ike kept his eye on them in the mirror. The lights turned green. The next set of lights we came to happened to be deserted. "Oh great," Ike mumbled. "At least now we can tell if they're a threat, they have an opportunity," Taylor said, looking back. We came to a halt. "They're moving..." Taylor began, shifting his weight, "and... the car door's opening! Ike, we can afford a fine to go through a red light, can't we?" He hesitated, watching the driver get out of the car and begin walking towards us. "Yes we can," he agreed. Then he floored it. Taylor and I (who were in the back) turned to watch as the driver ran back to the car, got in, and began to speed after us. "I guess they're a threat now, huh?" Amy asked. Ike didn't reply, but kept watch in the side mirror, his face full of determination. He remembered what Zac had said - about not getting caught - and was determined to make that a reality. And he didn't care how many fines he had to go through to do it. At the moment we were on a straight stretch of road, so they weren't gaining on us. "This is broad daylight! Is there no helicopters or cops or anything around?!" Taylor exclaimed, feeling jumpy. Then I saw something on the side of the road. Then suddenly there were flashing lights and blaring sirens. We hesitated. "Oh crap," Taylor and I said together. "You two don't need that damn connection," Amy exclaimed. "They're after us," Ike confirmed. "The other guys are falling back," Taylor informed us. "Duh, if the cops catch us they won't need to," I pointed out. "Depending on who's side they're on," Amy added. "Well it doesn't matter, they'd slow us down anyway. Plus, who are they gonna believe? Minors or professionals?" I explained. Meanwhile, Ike was beginning to duck in and out of cars. And then we heard the helicopter... "Oh so NOW they decide to show up!" Taylor exclaimed. "Youknow, we could be on Australia's Most Wanted for this..." Amy told us. I thought for a second, then rummaged through my bag for my mobile phone. "Ah, does anyone have a road map? Cos I have the distinct feeling there's a slight traffic jam up ahead," Ike raised his eyebrows. Taylor immediately began looking for one. "Hey! Hey, ah... yeah, yeah I know! Yeah, we're fine... sorta..." Ike glanced at me in the rear view mirror. "I mean sorta! Well some guys were following us... yes those kind of guys!... Yeah, they were chasing us first, then we got into this... yeah, it's right above us. Yeah ok. Umm, I'm not sure where, we've gotta find a way out. Yeah we know there's a jam. What?! Hang on... Ike?" I got his attention. "Next time you get a chance to turn right, do it. It's clear," I said. "Ok," he replied. "Yep. Yeah ok. Thanks, see ya." I hung up. "Was that Zac?" Ike asked. "Yeah, and guess what? We're on live TV again - radio and everything. Plus, they think we're armed," I explained. "Woah..." Taylor said, still flicking through the street directory he'd found. "And that's not it. They're blaming us for a robbery that just took place somewhere back there, so watch where you're going," I warned. "You were right not to stop then, they would have taken us in for sure," Taylor murmured. "Excuse me, but am I the only one who realises that we're still actually in a pursuit?!" Ike exclaimed. Suddenly, my phone rang. I quickly grabbed it. "Hello?...Oh shit. Ike! There's a bloody spike thing up ahead! Don't go over it!" I exclaimed. "Crap," I heard him murmur as he changed direction down into a side street. "Thanks Zac... ok thanks, bye." I hung up again. "Dammit he's a lifesaver - literally," Amy said. "We're still not out of danger yet," Ike informed us, "how are you going Taylor?" He was still flipping pages. "Getting nowhere fast, how are you going?" He hesitated. "If I see a street I go down it. I need help man," he admitted. "Yeah I'm getting there!" Taylor exclaimed. "Ah, Ike? When was the last time you checked the fuel gauge?" Amy pointed to it. Ike glanced at it. "Bad news guys," he announced, "we're almost out of fuel." Taylor and I looked up. "How much longer is it gonna last?!" I exclaimed. "Fifteen kilometres at the most," Ike replied, "better start looking for places to abandon the car Tay." He started flipping the pages of the directory again. "I don't even know where we are anymore!" he exclaimed. "Give it here," I grabbed it off him, "it's a bit hard when you don't even know the damn city that well." Taylor nervously looked back at the police as I flipped through to see where we were. "Uh oh..." we suddenly heard Ike's voice. We immediately looked up. "Ah..." I began. "Now what?!" Amy exclaimed. There was half a house taking up the road. I grabbed my mobile and got onto Zac again. "Zac! Man, give us some directions!... Uh, ok. Weneed somewhere to dump the car cos we're out of fuel too. Yeah I know... ok. Ike?! Go right!" Ike swerved, missing the house, and managing to get down another side street. I hung up on Zac. "They seem to be gaining," Taylor looked back nervously again. "Zac said there's some kind of drain or creek near an oval a few blocks away - we can dump her there," I added, "through the next set of lights, right, then left, and the oval's there." Then we were silent for a few seconds. "What about our school stuff?" Amy asked. "We have to leave it. With this on TV I don't think we'll be getting back there anytime soon," I replied. She didn't reply. "There's the set of lights," Taylor informed us. We happened to make it through a green light. "There's the turn-off," Amy pointed. "Ok guys, let's hope this works," Ike sighed. |
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| Chapter 3 - Pursuit |
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