The Enigma's Anomaly

Into the Woods (See What I did There?)

"Frank? Frank!"

"What happened?" I say blinking my eyes open.

"I hit a tree," Gerard says.

"I told you not to hit a tree."

"You told me to try not to hit a tree. I tried not to, and failed."

I blink my eyes open then remember where we are, "oh shit, Gerard we've gotta go!"

"You were only out for a few seconds," Gerard says, pulling the driver's side door open after I grab the handle on my side.

I notice quickly that the door does not want to open, and I see that it's because there's a tree branch blocking the door, so I crawl over the shift control and Gerard grabs my elbows to help pull me out.

"Come on, Frank, they're pulling over!" Gerard says.

"Wait no, I've got to grab something," I say and I quickly get the door to the back of the car open and grab the sweatshirt that's been sprawled across the backseat.

"Really? Is this the time to be thinking about clothing?" Gerard asks.

I pull my head out of the car and grab his hand, "I'll explain in a moment, now run!"

Gerard nods and we jog quickly behind us into the woods. I check the other car and see that they've pulled over a fairly long way down the road, because they had to speed down. They're quite a bit off all things considering. We've got at least a minute and a half head start.

There's two men, neither I recognize. One is bearded with dark brown hair, and the other is an intimidating looking Asian man.

"As fast as you can go," I say, as we cross under the threshold of the trees. The sun is still high in the sky, but it is most definitely setting. I don't know what time it is, sometime around dusk, but I forget to even think about it as we start to really run.

It's hard with the trees in our way, making it very complicated with the added obstacles. These woods are heavy, not much cultivating has been done, so we're really in the grasp of Mother Nature.

I hear the snapping of twigs beneath us, but also the sound of large men behind us, and a lot of heaving. My hand is sweating in Gerard's and I can't really do anything, but allow him to guide me. He's better at choosing the best route through the trees then I'd have expected, considering how gangly he's always made himself to seem, but I still get a bunch of scrapes on my arms and face. His legs are also longer so he's faster.

The sweatshirt in my arms almost gets caught on a few of the jutting branches but I yank it along with me, because I can't risk losing it.

The question is not whether or not these men will stop chasing us, because these guys mean business, it's whether they'll catch up to us, or whether we give up and let them find us. We've only been running for about five minutes, but I can already feel myself getting tired, and I'm too afraid to look back.

They're bigger which means they'll meet more interference, but they're brawnier so the interference won't have as much of an effect on them. I don't know if we're better built for this, or they are but we're stressed and terrified so that gives them a plus.

It's only about a minute later when they make us aware that they're armed. It's not hard to follow us because we are making a lot of noise, since the trees, leaves, and everything else is crunching beneath our feet, but still I'd have hoped we had some cover from the trees.

The sound of very large guns bangs behind us and I hear Gerard squeak, and he looks at me, his pale face an almost grey color. The trees around us make groaning noises from the tension on their bark, and I fear that some of the thinner ones' might collapse altogether. Those guys are going to kill a tree if they keep at it. I should probably worry more about us then them.