A white tailed deer ran across the parking lot and into the woods when Carter and Travis arrived at Bear Run rifle range. The rifle range looked vacant as far as they could tell and they wondered how much daylight they had left." Over there." Said Travis pointing to a set of train tracks running through the woods. Carter pushed the four wheel drive button and drove over the rocky terrain towards the railroad tracks which ran through the woods. Travis fidgeted with his sunglasses and kept staring at the handle to his passenger's side door.
"Are you sure we should do this all by ourselves? Should we be calling the SWAT team or HRT?"
Carter straightened up in the driver's seat and caressed the steering wheel with his thumbs." You worry too much broomstick. You know how careless those SWAT team guys can be trampling through the woods. The kidnapper will hear those idiots coming and might get away." Said Carter pursing his lips. He pulled the Chevy Tahoe right along side the railroad tracks on a slanted dirt path making the SUV careen slowly through the woods.
"So we're just going to do this whole job by ourselves?" Asked Travis
"That's right broomstick. All the credit is going to go to us." Carter said reassuringly.
Travis balled up a fist and gave Carter a charlie horse right on the side of his leg." You know I can't stand that nickname."
Carter rubbed the side of his leg and grinned." They've been calling you that since high school. Why should I stop now?"
Travis put the sunglasses back on his face and itched his nose getting ready to sneeze. The ride became bumpier as they followed the tracks into the woods." So what exactly are we looking for?" He finally asked.
"I dunno. My guess is a small cabin somewhere in these woods." Just as Carter was talking Travis noticed a fresh pair of tire tracks veering off into a skinny trail going through the woods.
"Did you just see that?" Asked Travis. " See what?"
Carter put his foot on the brake and looked at his partner quizzically.
"Back up for a minute. I think I saw something." Carter put the Tahoe in reverse and backed up slowly.
"There." Said Travis," See those tracks leading into the woods?"
"This must be it." Said Carter putting the SUV in park.
"We just gonna park here?" Asked Travis.
"Well, we don't want him to hear us coming bone head." Carter cut the engine and pushed a button that unlocked the trunk. Then he took a minute to look over Travis' face with a bestial look of his own like he was ready to capture Big Foot." You ready for this?" Asked Carter with steely eyes.
"Let's do this." Replied Travis clenching his teeth together. Travis opened the glove box and pulled out two glock 40's and handed one to Carter. They opened their doors at the same time and walked over to the back of the SUV. Carter rummaged through some old police uniforms in the trunk before he pulled out two bullet proof vests. He handed one to his partner and then unzipped a black duffel bag and pulled out two headsets." Try this gear on." He told Travis. They both put the gear on and then flipped the tiny microphone on the headset in front of their mouths.
"Testing, testing can you hear me?" Said Carter into the headset.
"Loud and clear." Replied Travis. They quietly shut and locked the trunk of the SUV and tip-toed into the forest following the tire tracks in the mire. The wind picked up a little causing the sun to flicker through the tops of the trees. Carter took the lead not even noticing the spider web he just walked through." I'll pay attention to the ground. You watch everything else." Said Carter bending his knees carefully with every step. The tire tracks ended just 50 yards into the woods when Travis noticed a sparkly thumbtack pinned eye level to a tree. They both stopped and looked around when Travis spotted an identical thumbtack pinned to another tree just 10 yards away.
"It looks like someone marked a trail." Said Travis pointing to the thumbtack.
"Let's follow it. It could lead to where he's keeping her." Said Carter loading his gun. They both moved in a crouching position and ambled along making sure to stay alert for any signs of Tina or the kidnapper. After 8 minutes of stumbling over fallen branches and swatting at gnats circling their faces, they could find no more thumbtacks in trees to follow. They scratched their heads deciding what to do next when Carter noticed shot gun shell casings scattered under a big oak tree. When he looked up he chuckled to himself and scratched his chin.
"Yo Travis check this out. We're a bunch of idiots. This trail led to someone's hunting spot. Do you see the tree stand up in the tree?"
Travis put his gun in his holster and walked over to the big oak tree." Aw Crud! What do we do now?" He said picking up and examining the shell casings. The swarm of gnats buzzing around their faces was starting to get to them. Neither one of them had a compass and they were worried about getting lost.
It was getting close to sun set and the woods was looking darker and creepier. Travis stood aloof to go take a leak in the bushes. Just when he was finishing up his business he noticed a small cabin looming in the distance. Immediately he grabbed for his gun and whispered into his headset." Carter, over here, I think I found it." He said zipping up his fly with the other hand. Carter pulled out his gun and walked over to his partner who was pointing a finger
towards the cabin.
"See it over there? This was your idea to do this ourselves. So what's the plan big guy?" Said Travis snorting a gnat up his nose.
"You approach it from the front. I'll sneak around the back. Pay attention and don't make much noise sneaking up." Said Carter releasing the safety on his gun. They split up in different directions while they whispered to each other on their headsets. Travis became startled when he heard the crack of the branch that Carter had accidentally stepped on. A million things ran through his head like a schizophrenic having a psychotic episode. It seemed like the whole forest was coming to life and Travis felt like he was being watched. Carter was already a good 50 yards away circling towards the back of the cabin, Travis felt his heart race as he thought about his wife and their soon to be son.
"You alright?" Whispered Carter.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't see any lights on." Said Travis caressing the butt of his gun with his thumb. He squinted his eyes and noticed what looked like rusty metal bars covering the windows." I'm pretty sure the cabin is hot." He whispered to Carter. Travis assumed the crouching position as he crept through the woods towards the front of the cabin making each stride exactly the same length. Massive spider webs occupied every corner of the roof.
"What's your position?" Asked Carter.
"I'm almost at the front. I think I see something in the window." Whispered Travis.
"I found a back door around here." Whispered Carter.
Travis lodged himself ducking beneath the front window while trying to listen for sounds. Slowly he got up and peeked through the window. It was very dark inside but he saw a silhouette of a long haired girl tied to a chair in the middle of a hardwood floor." I think I see her tied to a chair." Whispered Travis. He looked over and noticed the front door was slightly ajar. Travis crept over and put his ear in the crack of the door. Nothing." I'm going in." He whispered," Watch the back door in case he escapes."
"Okay, be careful." Advised Carter.
Travis tugged a little at the door and it made a creaky sound. The inside air felt dank and a fly landed on his nose scaring him half to death. Travis felt his heart race as he gripped his gun with both hands resting his index finger on the trigger. He opened the door just enough that he could slip his wiry body through going in sideways. The inside of the cabin appeared to be desolate and it reeked of mildew. As quietly as he could he tip-toed towards the girl tied to the chair. He was ready to shoot anything that jumped out at him.
The girl in the chair remained frozen and didn't make a sound. Travis became confused and squinted his eyes trying to spot movement in the dark. Why wasn't she moving? Was she already dead? He inched his way closer and closer to the girl in the chair and spotted a piece of paper neatly propped up on her lap. Travis took a deep breath and inched his way closer. Intense agitation filled his chest as he realized it wasn't Tina but rather a mannequin tied to the chair. He stepped closer to look at the piece of paper on the mannequin's lap. His eyes filled with horror as he looked at the piece of paper. Written in Bold letters on the piece of paper was the word " Gotcha!". Travis looked down and noticed a red LED light taped to the side of the chair blinking faster and faster. Then he heard a hissing sound that sounded like a lit sparkler coming from underneath the chair. That's when he figured out what was going on.
"Carter! It's a tra-". Before Travis could even take two steps back a bright white flash illuminated the room and a great big fireball erupted from the chair. Shrapnel flew in every possible direction destroying everything in it's path. The entire cabin blew into smithereens making a boom sound as loud as a scud missile reaching it's target.
Carter felt a wave of heat thrust into him causing him to go airborne making him fly backwards a good 20 feet. He landed along side a tree and the impact knocked him unconscious. The bomb destroyed almost the entire cabin and ended up blowing Travis into little pieces.
When Carter woke up everything seemed like a nightmare. The first thing he saw was a rusty metal bar wrapped around a tree. There was debris everywhere and most of it was still on fire. It looked like aliens had come and attacked just like in that movie War Of The Worlds. Carter put his hand on his head and felt blood. Everything seemed to happen so instantaneously and he was already having trouble remembering. Where was Travis? Was he not with him that day? He nearly choked to death when he looked down at his lap and saw one of Travis' brown eye ball staring him in the face. He flicked the bloody eyeball off his lap as if it were a creepy spider. He checked over his body one more time to make sure everything was intact. He seemed to be okay except for the gash along side his head. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his cellphone then used his teeth to pull out the antenna.
"This is Special Agent Carter. My partner is gone and I'm gonna need an ambulance. The kidnapper is still one step ahead."