The Other Side

The Town That Cried Wolf (Ch. 3)

Tucker wakes, confused and dreary. He cannot see anything in front of him, except for a blurry dark void. The intense smell of smoke enters his nostrils. He thinks he can hear something next 5 vision clears, so does his hearing.

"Hey!" A voice next to him yells.

It hurts a little to turn his neck. Tucker looks to his right and sees a young man, who from his perspective, is positioned sideways. Everything comes back. The crash. Instantly, Tucker looks to his left and sees Montoya sitting motionless. He reaches for her but immediately recalls his arm after feeling a sharp pain in his ribs.

"Perez?" He calls out. "Perez?!"

Montoya starts moving, giving Tucker a huge wave of relief. Like him, her senses seem to be coming back. Nokmmw knowing Montoya is fine, he grabs the radio dangling from the dashboard of the car. His finger presses down on the button.

"Hello?" he asks into the radio. "Anyone out there? Please respond!"

After a few moments of static, a voice answers on the other side, much to Tucker's relief.

"This is Chief Allen," the voice responds. "What's your situation, over?"

The chief? Tucker thinks to himself, confused. It was definitely his voice, which for some reason sounded as if it was shaking a little. Tucker disregards it and continues.

"Chief, this is Tucker Winston. Me and Montoya Perez have gotten into an accident. Our car is flipped on the side of the main road leading to the west side of the forest. Requesting any available units to assist us. Over."

"Hang tight, I'm on my way," Chief Allen says. "Over."

After a bit of confusion, Tucker sighs stressfully. If the chief is personally on his way to the accident, it can only mean one thing. A good scolding. The detective rolls his eyes and turns to the man waiting outside the passenger side window.

"Hey, are you alright?" Tucker asks.

The man turns his eyes away from the forest and to the trapped detective. Tucker notices something familiar about the way the stranger was eyeing the forest. It reminds him of Montoya's paranoid glances.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" the stranger answers. "Do you need any help getting out?"

"No, but I need you to step back," Tucker says, shifting his body so that his legs face his window.

Realizing what he's doing, the stranger backs away from the car. Once he's at a decent distance, his eyes go back to frantically surveying the trees around him.

Tucker slams his foot against the window. The impact is enough to crack the glass, but it doesn't achieve anything but hurt his ankle. Still, another kick is attempted. This time, his foot goes through the window, shattering it into tiny shards.

The sound of shattering behind him makes Tucker jump and he whirls his head around to spot the source of the noise. He smirks after seeing Montoya pull her leg from the newfound opening in the place where her window used to be.

They both climb out of their sides of the vehicle, careful not to cut themselves on the shards now littered on the street. After careful maneuvering, Tucker stands up, now free from the totaled car. The first thing he does is turn to Montoya, who's approaching him after going around the back of the car.

"Are you hurt?" Tucker asks, studying her for any cuts or bruises.

"No, I'm fine," she says dismissively, setting her eyes on the stranger. "The question is are YOU hurt. You almost got hit!"

"I- I'm fine," he assures her.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Tucker asks.

"Especially at this time of night," Montoya adds.