Page 21 of Once a Hero

Jake was outside the SUV now, weapon in hand. When nothing happened, he second-guessed himself.

It was probably an animal in the forest stepping on a twig.

While Earl locked the SUV, Jake listened to more rustling sounds among the giant redwood trees.

Hurry up. We have insurance. No need to lock it.

They heard a vehicle coming up the road.

“Help is on the way.”

Jake stopped him. He pointed to the trees on the side of the road. “Let’s make sure.”

Quickly, they ran to the side of the road and hid behind the giant trees.

Silently they waited.

The vehicle came by and stopped behind their SUV. Two men came out.

Armed.

This is not good.Jake held his breath.

And Earl’s phone rang.

* * *

Shots fired in their direction as Jake and Earl ran blindly in the forest. There was no time to check their GPS for suggested walking trails.

There was no time to even breath!

Or pray!

The forest was dark—pitch black—and Jake pointed his dim cell phone light on the trail in front of him to see the way without alerting their pursuers to where they were.

The bad news was that he had been trying to charge up his phone back in the SUV, but it hadn’t charged up much. He couldn’t remember if he had another charger in his backpack. If they didn’t find help soon, he’d run out of battery before the night was over.

Earl was breathing heavily behind Jake. “I need to lose weight.”

Jake couldn’t speak a word.

Gunshots!

Jake ducked, as if it helped. If their pursuers had night vision goggles, it was only a matter of time before they caught up with the duo.

Then what? Call 911?

More gunshots!

They were closer now.

Earl stumbled and fell. He let out a short scream.

Jake spun around. Earl’s ankle was in a hole by the side of the trail, where a root showed.

“What are you doing?” Jake snarled.

“I was trying to take a break.” He gritted his teeth.

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