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Chapter 16 Hunted

Warm sunlight in my eyes wakes me up, and the dull throbbing pain of the bullet wound in my leg is not far behind. Yea, everything that happened last night wasn't a nightmare was it? Yawning I notice two things; one, Ashley is not in the tent with me, and two, the tent flap is open which is letting in the sunlight. Where did she go? It takes me a moment to jog my brain and remember what she wrote down last night. She must be close by then. I also notice that the wind has calmed to a gentle breeze allowing the scent of water to filter into the tent. We must've set up right next to the creek we smelled last night. I try to sit up only to have a jolt of pain come from my injured leg, of course I had to be shot in the dominant one. I manage to use the other leg to get myself into a sitting position and scoot myself over to the open flap of the tent. Sticking my head out I can't believe my luck considering what has happened. We camped in a small alcove of grass right next to the creek and surrounded by trees except for one small area. Ashley must've seen this and led me inside last night before setting up camp. Off a few feet to the side of the tent I see a mound of fresh dirt, she did say she was going to bury all the blood soaked bandages and clothing.

Looking straight ahead I can see her leaning over at the shore of the creek, to the side is the pan on a cooking pad. She must be purifying water while doing something else that I can't see since her body is blocking the view. To let her know I'm awake I let out a yip in her direction. Ashley freezes on the spot and stands, turning to face me I see she has some of the bindings in her hand minus some blood stains on them. She smiles and yips back before making her way up the embankment and to the tent to lay them on top in the sun. Her pants are soaked from the ankle joint down and her hands are soaked from the mid forearm down but she doesn't seem to mind. Once they are placed on the tent she shakes herself and her hands showering me with little droplets and causing me to retreat back into the tent. When she is done I poke my head out again and watch as she takes the pad and pencil out of the pocket of the pants before taking them off and placing them on the tent so they can dry. She hands them to me and I scoot aside to let her into the tent.

'Once the water is purified and everything is dried after I am done washing them, we will set off.' I look over at Ashley as she takes out two more breakfast bars and the canteen. She places one of the bars and the canteen in my lap carefully as to not aggravate any pain I am in. And I am in a decent amount but I try not to show it. She then opens the second one and starts eating. I open the canteen and take a sip of water before placing it on the ground and opening my bar of fruit, nuts and sugar that is laughably advertised as healthy on the wrapping. Ashley takes the pad and pencil while I eat as she seems to have just gulped hers down and writes something down.

'I found a branch that will be usable as a crutch for you, it's on the ground behind the tent. How are you feeling Alpha Jack? How is the pain? I am sorry if it's too much, I decided to change and disinfect the wound again while you were asleep. Glad you sleep heavy enough to not have woken up during it though.' Crap, well I'm glad as well. The pain was hellish the last time she did it. Anyway after I finish my food I pick up the pencil start writing. As I do Ashley cleans the tent up of the opened wrappers and stuffs them into one of the packs. I hand her the pad and pencil when done.

'Enough that I wish they packed some pain relievers, though I am glad you did that while I was asleep. Anyway, did you notice this secluded clearing last night and purposefully have us camp here?' I hand her the pad and pencil before scooting a bit to move back into the sunlight instead of the shade cast by the drying garments. It may be a warmish spring, but it's a bit chilly in the shade. When I am finished stretching Ashley hands the pad and pencil back to me.

'No. I smelled the creek and used the first bit of space between the trees to get closer to it, just so happened to be like this. I guess that is also the reason they didn't find us last night.' I put the writing implements down and just relax in the sunshine rather than write a reply. It shouldn't take that long for that stuff to dry in direct sunlight and while I have no choice but wait because moving causes pain. Ashley is moving stuff from my backpack to hers, looks like one of the only things I will be carrying is the tent once it's taken down. Once finished she picks up the canteens and heads out of the tent. Good thing we have the stuff to purify water because I guess I went through a lot of it last night. I watch as her shadow covers the tent and then goes behind it and picking something up. When she comes back around she lightly tosses the canteens and the empty pan into the tent before holding up a branch that kinda looks like a crooked Y. This must be what she wants me to use as a crutch. Yipping lightly she reaches for my hand and I reluctantly grab a hold of hers.

Ashley pulls me up onto my good leg while getting out of the tent and quickly sticks the improvised crutch under my arm on the side of the injured leg. The roughness of the bark kinda digs into the skin under my fur but it seems to work in taking all the weight off that side of my body and allowing me to just dangle said leg without putting any weight on it. Looking at her she nods, then motions with her hands while saying 'Walk'. I get the message, I need to get used to walking with this, so I get to work practicing. Slow steps at first and then I go a bit faster to find a proper gait as I walk back and forth in our little secluded area. Glancing back at Ashley I see that she is busy packing everything up, the first aid wrap seems dry enough so she rolls it up and sticks it back into the first aid kit, followed by putting her pants back on. She then pulls everything out of the tent and with a simple cord pull, the tent itself collapses and now can be rolled up for storage. I walk over and try to help her put the sleeping bags away only for her to bark at me and say 'Walk' again. Sighing I do as she says while she sticks everything except the tent into her backpack.

Only the tent goes into mine making my pack look laughably empty in compassion to her completely stuffed one. I almost fear she won't be able to lift it only to be proven wrong as she does so, all-be-it with a strained growl. Ashley then looks at me and barks out 'Come Alpha Jack.', I hobble on over now pretty used to the way using this crutch alters my gait and walking speed. Though I bet my armpit will be raw by tonight. Anyway, once I am standing next to her she helps me put on my backpack. It's laughably light compared to yesterday, even then the added weight momentarily makes me touch the ground with my injured leg causing a small throb of pain from it. She pulls out the compass and the small laminated map from her pants pocket and observes both for a moment or two. I have to say I feel useless like this and yet, maybe, just maybe we can make it. If we are not chased or attacked again.

Ashley gently takes my free hand in the one that is not holding the compass and starts walking forward. Turns out the creek right now roughly runs in a Northeasterly direction. So once we exit the little secluded area through the opening we used last night, we follow the creek. I don't know how long but eventually I have to yip at Ashley to stop so I can take the shirt off and use it to cushion the improvised crutch against my armpit. Lucky for me I still have my winter coat of fur or the slight breeze and the cooler shaded areas would be uncomfortable. We continue our quiet hike soon afterwards. Don't know what's worse, being bored or having been shot. Ashley stops every once in a while to check the compass and map, especially after the creek doubles back on itself. All around us are empty fields and farmland with the occasional homestead off in the distance. If we can see them, anyone in them can most likely see us so I have to wonder if they will do anything or not. I just hope they don't come after us with firearms.

I also notice that while we are getting some distance between us and the town, I am slowing us down enough that I doubt we will make more than five miles before nightfall at this rate. By the time the sun is at its zenith my good leg and my shoulder that is leaning against the crutch are sore. Looking over at Ashley shows her pace has slowed and she is constantly adjusting the backpack. 'Stop, Tired, Rest.' I say to her, she stops walking then looks to me. Ashley looks around and points to something nearby, looking over I see it's some trees and rocks in a pile, okay. I take a deep breath and hobble over to it. Ashley though beats me to it and sheds her backpack as soon as she gets there. Once I arrive a minute or so behind she removes my backpack for me then helps me sit down on a sun warmed boulder. Such a relief to be off my foot and not carrying the backpack. Also the warmth of the boulder helps sooth my soreness. When I hear Ashley opening her pack I glance over in time to see her taking out a couple more of those breakfast bars. She yips at me and thrusts one into my hands when I stick my tongue out in response. They don't taste that all that good and I am already sick of them. I wish I could have more of that stew Mark made.

Still, food 'is' food so I open the package up and slowly eat it. Once Ashley finishes with hers she stuffs the wrapper back into the backpack and takes out the first aid kit. I watch as she unwraps my wound and lifts the gauze on both sides. In my favor only the surface of the gauze that was touching the wound seems to have some blood on it. The bad news is that the skin under my fur from what I can see around it on at least the part I can see is inflamed a bit. Ashley lets out a whine at the same time that I realize that she is going to have to use that damn spray again. She takes it out and uncaps the top, but looks up at me. I am still eating the bar so I quickly chew and swallow the piece I have in my mouth so I won't choke if I howl in pain. A second or two after I swallow she sprays the entrance and exit wounds, of course I howl in pain from it. But it's not the white hot lance of pain that it was when she first used it. It still is an intense burning sensation that dies down quickly as the liquid evaporates. I was hoping that little rest stop would allow it to stop aching for a bit, no chance of that now as it seems to start up anew as Ashley puts fresh gauze and re-wraps it with the same binding. She stuffs the used gauze into one of the smaller pockets of my backpack and I hand her the wrapper of my lunch once I am able to finish eating it.

'Ready?' Ashley asks me, sighing I nod. Grabbing the crutch I use it to stand as she puts her backpack on before helping me put mine on. The creek is still to the right of us with open fields to the left of where we are at, off in the distance ahead of us I can just barely see the outline of more of a forest proper. We were supposed to be there by last night but at our pace we will reach it before it gets dark. Being a day behind is better than being dead I guess. Ashley looks at the map and compass before pointing in the direction we will be going, she sets a pace that I can stay within a few feet behind her. We just walk in mostly silence since I can hear the creek and the occasional bird. This would be pretty relaxing if it wasn't for why we are taking this hike and the dull throbbing of my bullet wound. When the brush is thick near the creek we hug close to it and sometimes take a game trail through it to shield ourselves from the view of the homesteads. Otherwise we just try to keep a brisk pace that I can keep up with. By mid to late afternoon the overall soreness of my body masks most of the pain from my shot leg unless I make the mistake of trying to place my foot on the ground. We also run out of trees and brush as the creek's course deviates from the direction that we need to go. Now we have open fields of both farmland and wild land on both sides with homesteads in both directions. Our only solace is the looming edge of a large patch of forest possibly a mile or more ahead of us. Looking at Ashley I give her a whine, which she returns in a sympathetic tone. Waiting till nightfall will put us even farther behind so we will have to risk it.

Ashley gently supports me on the side I am using the crutch as we try to pick up the pace to cross this open area faster. Only for us to go back to the original set up of going a bit slower while I walk under my own power right behind her. The reason? The hills in between us and the edge of the patch of forest hid some man made lakes that if we hug the shore lines a bit, would put them in between us and the homesteads. Meaning if they want to get to us they would have to take the long way around. She takes out the canteens for us as we take this path so we can take a short drink before putting them away. It takes us the rest of the afternoon and into the golden glow of the evening before we reach the edge of this patch of woodland, and an unwelcome smell of freshly cut pine and other trees.

If it wasn't for this scent I think putting up the tent several yards inside of it would make a good and secluded place to set up the tent for the night. Instead, I follow directly behind Ashley in single file as we use a game trail to cut through this area in hopes of finding a better spot farther north. I have always heard that being in a forest makes it seem later than it actually is as the trees block sunlight, this is the first time I have seen it myself as my low light vision and the loss of color definition kicks in once we lose sight of the entrance of the trail. Except the scent grows stronger as we continue north until actual nightfall when we breach the other side of this patch of woodland into an empty logging area. The rising moon provides enough light for Ashley and me to see an intersection of two country roads up ahead on the top of an embankment. On the other side of the road running parallel from the direction we are facing is a convenience store at the same level as the road with a few log filled semi's and other equipment parked.

I stand there and glance at Ashley who looks back at me, then the sight of headlights in the distance silently makes the decision we were considering silently a moment before. We turn around and head back into the woods, going back down the game trail a few yards Ashley then takes my hand and pulls me gently through some brush to a small area between a few trees that looks just large enough for the tent. Guess we are going to stay here for the night. It's still close enough that we can see some of the light from cars going down the road to the intersection, but we should be out of sight for the most part. She sheds her backpack while I let mine fall to the ground, I am about to reach down and try to get the tent out of it but she gently grabs my hand and shakes her head. I'm not that much of a cripple because of this but I understand that she wants to minimize any risk of any more injuries. So I watch as Ashley sets up the tent, then takes out the sleeping bags and toss them in followed by our backpacks. She takes my hand while I shed the crutch allowing her to help me into the tent. Once inside Ashley zips the flap closed and moves a few things about so she can turn on the flashlight safely.

I cover my eyes for a minute or so, got so used to the moon light that the small flashlight blinded me. I don't hear her moving during this time so it must've been the same for her. Once my eyes adjust I watch as Ashley rubs her eyes, then goes about taking out a large shiny bag with a pull tag on the bottom. She pulls it and sets it on the ground before I start hearing the sound of boiling water. It's a self cooking military ration, but due to its size it might be the only one we have. Not going to complain as I wanted something else than one of those highly processed meal bars, all I could taste on them was the corn syrup used to bind all the nuts and fruits. When the bag pops open the tent is filled with the scent of some kind of meaty confection. Ashley takes out a couple of disposable spoons and hands me one. She scoops out some thick paste filled with chunks of meat and veggies and blows on it before eating it, I follow suit to find out its beef stew. Not as good as Mark made back at the safe house but much better than what we were eating. We take turns scooping some out and eating it though Ashley seems to limit the amount she takes per spoonful. One of these is supposed to give the calories needed for an adult human to survive a day so for us it's about the right size to feed two.

We are about finished with our meal when the roar of a familiar sounding four by four echoes from the nearby intersection followed by the distinct sound of motorcycles that have had their mufflers removed. Most likely this means they are the American style rather than the crotch rocket Japanese style. Both Ashley and I scramble for the flashlight to turn it off, she gets to it first, my consolation prize is causing my wound to throb. In the darkness before my eyes adjust to it I can feel Ashley kicking the remains of our food to the side and pulling one of the sleeping bags over us. She then clicks the flashlight back on. With it covering us and the light they will most likely not see us, I hope. Because it sounds like he brought friends. I just wonder how they found us? Looking over at Ashley I see she has taken the pad and pencil out and is writing something down, she then scoots it the few inches over to me.

'How do you feel? How is the leg?' Picking up the pencil I write my answer as one by one I hear the engines shut off. Please just be getting gas or something. I slide it back over to her a minute or so later.

'Fine if I don't move it, if I do it makes it ache dully. If I am stupid enough to put any weight on it I get a sharp jab of pain. I am going to need your help or the crutch if we have to move.' I slide it back over to Ashley as the rustling wind and the other night time sounds resume as if they were waiting a few moments in case the motor's started up again. She soon slides it back to me.

'We will have to abandon the tent and the sleeping bags if that is the case. Won't have time to repack them Alpha Jack. Gonna quickly check the wound to make sure you haven't reopened it. Don't want to risk doing much else." I nod to her rather than writing down that I understand and Ashley doesn't waste a moment. She scoots back down to my legs and starts unwrapping the bandage wrap before gently lifting the gauze. As she does this the sound of the motorcycles pierce through the normal night time sounds, but not the four by four. I look down at her, and she looks up at me. The four by four is still nearby, the others are moving. That means they 'are' looking for us. Ashley hastily re-wraps the would and I hold my muzzle shut to keep myself from whining in response to the throbbing pain this causes. She then stuffs what she can back into her backpack and zips it up while I reach for mine only for her to gently slap my hand saying 'no'. The sound of barking dogs prevents me from protesting, though as Ashley opens up the tent I realize that there isn't much point in carrying an empty backpack when it would slow me down more than I already am.

Once Ashley is outside she helps me up onto my good leg and hands me the crutch. Of in the distance we can see the beams of flashlights now, time to move. They seem to be heading right in our direction. Which is directly south from the intersection, so we head east through the underbrush till we reach another game trail that heads north. Following it we eventually exit this patch of woods in time to see the group carrying the flashlights entering it where we did on our little backtrack to find a place to sleep for the night. With them in the woods Ashley takes out the compass and glances at it, then pockets it, grabs my free hand, and nearly pulls me behind her as we head north east in the general direction of the intersection. Hopefully we can put enough distance between us and their pet dogs, if they pick up our scent we are not going to have a chance at hiding. I have been ignoring it till now but I can still smell the scent of blood on me over my own scent as well as Ashley's.

We reach the east/west going road at the northern border of the openly logged area we were in after a few minutes. The convenience store is off in the distance about a hundred yards to our right so we are well within the cover of darkness. Still I can see the four by four parked next to it with some people standing next to it. If humans had better night vision we would be shit out of luck, but they don't so we are able to cross the road and head into the field on the other side without them even seeing us. As Ashley nearly drags me along behind her, a minor wonder how she can move so fast with that backpack, I can't help but remember a bit from my history class about England. They used to hunt foxes for sport. A group of horseback riding humans and a pack of bloodhounds would chase the unlucky vulpine till they were worn out. Letting the dogs attack the poor animal till they came by to finish it off. I can't help but realize how ironic it is, genetically I may be more related to the dogs they are using since all Bio-Morphs are wolves despite their outward appearance. But as far as I'm concerned since I look like a fox, I mostly am a fox.. One that is being hunted like they used to do to non bio-morph ones.

Before we even reach the patch of woodland, possibly a half a mile or so behind the convenience store. I hear the sound of a dog barking and the dim glow of the human's flashlight barely makes the couple of yards of field between us and the start of said woodland a shade brighter than the moonlight glows. Both of us nearly dive for the cover of the underbrush, well more like dash for it. I can hear my own heartbeat in my ears as we just plow forward. I don't know when exactly, but sometime after we entered the patch of woodland yet before we got far enough in that thickness of the underbrush lessens due to the size of the trees. I have to let go of the crutch. Adrenaline was blocking the pain and reaching down to touch the bandage shows I have reopened the wound as my hand feels sticky warmth. The momentary pause to check it though causes me to feel the lancing pain from it as I have been bearing weight on it. Ashley though silently grabs me and supports that side allowing me to hobble with her further into the woodland. My momentary pause and the now slower pace has allowed our pursuers to catch up.

They are probably only a dozen yards behind us, the dog or dogs they have barking loudly, and now more than one beam of light slicing through the darkness in the forest. Ashley stops in her tracks and I am about to growl at her to keep going till she suddenly pulls me to the side and lets me down to the ground. Next thing I know she is pulling me back before I notice that she has found a cavity under the roots of a large tree, just large enough for both of us. So I use my good leg and arms to help pull myself under it and next to Ashley. Trying to not focus on the pain nor what is in the underbrush that I am rubbing y wounded leg on. The only way for both of us to hide under here is for me to lay on my wounded side while being spooned by Ashley. She puts her chin on my shoulder as we stare out in the direction we entered it. We lay there silently other than the quiet sounds of our breathing as we hear the barks get louder along with the foot falls of three, no make that two people and some dogs. Eventually they stop directly above us, thank god the entrance was facing the opposite way otherwise they would have spotted us. We, we should run. I try to move but Ashley squeezes me tightly preventing me from doing so. Either that or she is scared, can't tell with her behind me.

The sound of their dog's panting gets louder the tree above us creaks, possibly from one of our pursers leaning against it. "Damn it, you said these mutts of yours could track!" The deep voice of the guy leaning against the tree above us yells out. Both of us flinch at the fact he's so close and yet doesn't have any clue about us being here. At least we now know that the dogs they have are not bloodhounds at least. I just hope they are not a large breed. Ashley shifts and then bumps against my injured leg as soon as her leg touches mine her hands are around my muzzle before I could do the same to stifle the whine of pain that I was about to let out.

"Were ya deaf earlier? I said they ain't tracking dogs. Now because ya wouldn't listen we seem to have lost them!" As the other man speaks I hear the foot falls of one of the dogs walking around the tree and coming closer, then stopping.

"Not yet we haven't. We both saw them enter this here patch of woodland. Got some of the other boys at the other end of it. If they saw em they would have shot at them or called us. They're still in here, somewhere. We'll find em and skin em for killing Kennesaw." The one leaning against the tree replies and hits his hand against the trunk on the skinning part causing my ears to go flat back. Followed by the sight of a mutt of a dog more or less. A mixture of several breeds making the pet small to midsize with a grayish coat dopey ears and playful eyes hopping down from above us. The pet just turns and sits facing us panting and looking like he's having the time of his life. This is one of the dogs they were using to go after us? I feel stupid for overestimating the intelligence of these people.

"Good! because those two Bio-morph lover's managed to get away due to shooting out one of my tires. Hope ya serious about skinning em, wife's been wanting a new rug in the bathroom. Figure a fox fur one would do nicely considering I don't gotta pay for it." This both makes me happy and angers me. I'm happy that Patrick got away, yet I'm pissed they want to make a rug outta me and Ashley. As I hear one of them open up a small pack before hearing the sound of a lighter being used the mutt in front of us scoots closer and tilts his head. The mutt wants something and I rather it not start barking, so I'm gonna risk it. I slowly reach out from our hiding spot and rest my hand on his head. The mutt thrusts his head upward and tries to lick my arm as I pet him. Nice boy, good boy. When I finish petting you, you're going to go back up to your owners and not bark okay?

"Hope ya don't mind a few holes. Kennesaw somehow managed to hit one of em it seems, figures, the idiot who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn managed ta do so before being killed. Not to mention the ones we're gonna make when we find em." Well that explains why I'm not dead. Meanwhile, when I am done petting one of their mutts I let him lick my hand until he stops. Slowly I pull my hand back into our hiding spot without the mutt making a sound as he watches us. Next thing I know I see his leash being tugged and he stands before bounding back up to his owner, followed by the one of them that was smoking flicking the cigarette butt down here and thankfully missing us. It still reeks causing both of us to cover our noses.

"Na, I can always patch em with the skin of the other one. Gonna be nice to rub my feet through fox fur after a shower." Okay, that just sent a shiver down my spine.

"Let's get moving. I wanna be the one that catches them." The tree creaks as I assume he stops leaning on it. A few seconds later I can hear their and their dog's foot falls moving away from us. We wait for a few minutes longer after we can no longer hear their footsteps before scrambling out of the hiding hole and to some fresher air. Well, Ashley does. As soon as I get out from under it I collapse on my side from the pain of the wound. With the adrenaline rush gone the full force of the pain from re-opening the wound hits me. I am forced to gasp smoke tainted air while I force myself to keep quiet. Ashley looks back and then dashes over to help me up onto my good leg, both of us look down at the wrapping now wet with blood and caked in dirt. We both realize there is no time to change it so I just grip onto her shoulder and lean against her as she bares both my weight and the backpack's.

I watch as Ashley takes out the compass and map, only to put the map back into her pocket. Guess she has no clue where we are. Looking at Ashley I see that she is a bit confused from how her ears are half cocked and she's glancing about before looking at the compass. Hesitantly I gently grab the compass and look at it. Our backs are to our 'fox' hole, for lack of a better term, and the compass says we are pointing south-west. But it was obvious that those hics went nearly north-east. The same way we need to go ourselves. We will have to risk getting lost and heading straight north so we don't run into them before exiting this patch of woodland. Pointing at the compass and then in the direction we need to go before letting go of it and allowing it to hang off her wrist. Ashley quietly says 'Okay' and strengthens her hold of me as she walks and I hobble on my good leg while holding onto her. If we can get out of their makeshift dragnet and make it to the border I bet they will stop following us.

Without a crutch our going is slow. So I don't know how much time has passed when the underbrush starts to thicken. A sign that we are nearing the edge because the trees diffuse enough sunlight during the day to prevent them from growing. So we slow down a bit more, then stop upon seeing the beam of light from someone's flashlight off in the distance. Crouching down in the brush we stay out of sight till he passes, the idiot hic didn't even aim the beam deeper into the woods, they only looked a bit from side to side before using it to light their own path. Once the light from his flashlight shrinks to the point that we hope he is far enough away Ashley stands before helping me back up. As Ashley looks at the compass and in front of us, I look up into the sky. The moon is already in the other side of the sky from where it was after it got dark and before we were chased from the tent. Have we been walking all night? The pain must be masking my fatigue.

Ashley taps me on my muzzle and then points far off into the distance, I can just barely make it out. A tree stump out in the middle of the open field in front of us. A large one from what possibly was a giant tree. But now it has a couple of small trees growing out of it in a V sort of shape. Glancing down at the compass it is dead center in the direction we need to go. Nodding to her I understand what she is trying to say, we are going to head over there. Then I guess we are going to use the tree as cover before heading further north. Ashley taps me on the arm I am using to hold onto her, then we start walking on over to the landmark.

Its smaller than it looked at a distance but once we put it in between us and the patch of forest it is a welcome piece of cover. Useful cover since just as we sit down behind it another beam of light from a flashlight pierces the darkness of this moonlit night. So they were not kidding on having several people patrolling that bit of forest. Where is he, and where is he going? Could he have spotted us and is coming this way? The urge to pop my head up and look is near irresistible. Ashley seems to have lost the fight against that urge and before I can stop her, pokes her head up above the edge of the stump to look. Just in time for the hic to shine his flashlight in our direction. Crap. I bark at Ashley, which snaps her out of her staring contest with the light and she pulls me onto my feet. I point to the first landmark I see in the direction we were heading and we just hobble as fast as we can towards it. A large tree in between us and the another patch of woods not to far behind it.

The hic yells at us to stop, like that is going to work. We just make our way to the tree as fast as we can with the heavy breathing of an out of shape person following behind us. How come he hasn't caught us yet? don't tell me he's some fat hic that is so out of shape an injured Bio-Morph and one carrying a heavy backpack can outrun him. As soon as we pass the tree a loud crack rolls it's way through the night, followed by something hitting the tree, and a yip of pain from Ashley. Shit. She stumbles and I look over at her as I help her back up using my good leg. Something took a chunk out of her right ear. I don't have time to check her over any further as we make a mad dash for the edge of the woods and the cover of the underbrush lining the edge of it.

As soon as we breech the underbrush we make a hard turn to the side and continue moving for a short while before deciding to stop behind a few trees and a bush. Grabbing Ashley by the head I both feel and look her over as she yips. No head wounds that I can see or feel, only a dime sized hole in her right ear. She sheds the backpack too and as soon as it hits the ground I hear it tear open and the contents of it pouring out. Including the sound of dripping water. Buckshot, the hic fired buckshot at us with a shotgun. I check over Ashley's back and find no wounds meaning that the backpack, the tree, and her ear took the hit. It's too dark to see what's damaged but at least Ashley isn't injured either. One of us suffering from a gunshot wound is enough. We just sit there catching our breath and in general just waiting and hoping our purser didn't follow us. By the time I see and hear Ashley digging through the remains of her backpack it starts getting darker, meaning the moon must be getting lower in the sky. Christ, that means it's almost dawn. Have we been running the entire night?

With a click the area floods with light before it's suddenly shut off. Okay the flashlight works. As my night vision returns I watch as Ashley drags the pack into the bush and turns on the flashlight again. Its leafs provide enough cover to dampen the light and I realize what she is doing when objects are thrown out haphazardly. One of our canteens, another MRE, some of our water purifying tablets. Then the one thing that make my blood run cold, the 'entire' first aid kit. All of it torn to pieces by taking the buckshot rather than it embedding itself into Ashley's back. Picking up the torn apart kit I see that all the gauze is soaked with the contents of the spray disinfectant and torn beyond use, same with the wound wrapping. To add insult to injury I can hear some of the buck shot rattling around inside. With all of this destroyed it now becomes a race against time, my bullet wound has been reopened and exposed to whatever is in the soil here. With no clean bandages nor antiseptic it's only a matter of time before infection sets in. Shit.

I drop it as Ashley drags the backpack back out from inside the bush, the main pocket is useless so she has stuffed everything she could that is still usable into the side pockets or tied them onto the plastic frame. Looking down at it with a whine is all I need to do for Ashley to nod at me, I think she too understands what it means. We are going to have to stop more often for water now that we only have one canteen to share, hopefully it won't slow us down too much. Speaking of which Ashley puts the backpack back on, stands, then helps me up before taking out the compass. As much as my good leg protests with fatigue, we are working against the clock here so we cannot rest. We have to get across the border and into Canada so we can be picked up, and then taken to the nearest hospital. As we head off in the needed north by north east direction I correct myself, technically it would be a veterinarian as a hospital is for humans. I'll be surprised if hospitals in Canada treat Bio-Morphs.

Eventually we breech this patch of woods and enter another open field, yet another farm field. It appears I was right too, the moon is about to kiss the horizon meaning that it must be early in the morning. Once it sets the sun should rise pretty quickly, so we trudge on. A silver lining to what happened is that Ashley's backpack is now lighter, which lessens her fatigue and helps her help me walk. By the time we reach a grove of trees at the end of this farm field my good leg and even my hip on that side are sore enough to match the throbbing of my bullet wound. We stop for a moment or two so Ashley and regain her bearings by using the compass, I look behind us to see if we still have pursers. No beams of light from flashlights and no distant sounds of dogs or anyone following us. Have we lost them? Most likely not, if I had to bet then I would bet on them going back to their vehicles and heading farther north than were we are to try to catch us again.

Ashley puts the compass away and helps me traverse the ground while going through the grove of trees. On the other side is a larger field but set inside it are man made square lakes that kinda smell of sewage and farm runoff. I don't think we have enough time nor purifying tablets to make any of this water drinkable. Ashley seems to have the same idea as she blocks my hand from grabbing our only canteen that we have both been sipping on every once in a while. We cover our noses with our free hands as we cross this section, the stench being pretty bad as we walk near the shore in between the rows of lakes rather than go around. At the end of the field is a four lane road, two in each direction. We take a few minutes looking in each direction to make sure the way is completely clear before crossing. Only to find yet another farm field on the other side, at least this one has large rolls of hay scattered about providing cover for us as we cross it. I am getting tired of these open areas considering we have some idiots trying to hunt us down.

I wish it was just forest from here to the border with its twenty foot wide strip of cleared foliage. I'm about a century or more too late to have that easy of a way north. Letting out a whine in frustration and fatigue at this situation causes Ashley to respond with one as we continue on from this field to an open grass filled one. Maybe a farm field left to go fallow so it can be used in a few years? Whatever the reason off in the distance is a grove of trees and what appears to be a decent sized pond. Tapping Ashley on the shoulder and pointing with my free hand is all I need to do to get us moving in that direction. We can't stop to sleep but we can stop and take a break, especially since the golden light of dawn is starting to break on the horizon.

We reach it shortly after and I find a place in the sun to sit down and take all weight off my legs, Ashley drops the backpack next to me and then does the same. The sun feels, nice, it would be nice if I could just take a nap. Except that the thought of those hic's hunting us helps push any thoughts of sleep out of my mind right now. Last thing I want to see in my life is waking up to the business end of one of their guns.

For her part Ashley seems to be thinking the same thing. Rather than nearly dozing off like I was, she has been taking out the remaining food before handing half of it to me. Then takes the boiling pan that seems to have some dents in it, with a cooking pad and some of our purifying tablets. She walks over to the pond and gets to work purifying some water to refill our canteen. I just look down at the couple of breakfast bars she handed and stick my tongue out in disgust. Still I open them up and start eating, food seems to take the edge off the fatigue. As the water boils and is purified by the tablets Ashley sits back down and leans against me to eat the two she gave herself. She eats them faster than I do and upon finishing checks on my injured leg. At least it looks like it has stopped bleeding again. She doesn't even try to take off the bandage wrap being the only roll we have now. At least she gently brushes off some of the caked on dirt and stuff that stuck to it from hiding under that tree.

One of those filters would have been better, and faster. The water is not done being purified even by the time I finish with my food. Looking at Ashley I just say 'Tired'. One of the few words I know. She just replies. 'Not safe, no sleep'. Stating the obvious. It is still relaxing to sit here in the sun so I just lean back against her as we wait for the purifying tablets to do their work. If it wasn't for our current circumstances this moment would be a nice and relaxing one. Faster than I would like the water is done purifying and Ashley gets up to pour it into the canteen, then packs everything back up into what's left of her backpack. Once it's on her back she stands and then helps me up and we are off again. After awhile I notice off to our right is a two lane service road, then shortly after do I start to hear the noise of that four by four truck. Glancing to Ashley we move as fast as we can over to a low area and duck into the overgrown grass and weeds. Thank god for tall grass, the truck passes by loaded to the brim with red necks armed with firearms without even slowing down. Watching it go up the street it slows at the intersection up ahead near the northern edge of the field then turns onto the road we will have to cross to continue.

Well shit. I hate being right sometimes. As they get out of the truck and start spreading out in the field just north of the one we are in Ashley takes out the compass and the map. I watch as she finds out our rough location based off of spotting those square lakes we passed and the small dot that kinda looks like the grove we took a rest in. Ashley looks at me then taps the map, looks like we can take a slight detour and avoid them for the moment while still keeping the rough direction we have to go. As soon as they finished scattering and the one left at the truck isn't looking in our direction, we stand and cross over the two lane service road to head east for a short while before heading north again. By the time we pass another grassy field and a couple of thin strips of woodland that border them, the sun has risen enough cease casting dawns golden glow.

In the normal morning early light we stumble upon a narrow dirt road with trees lining the opposite side of the road we are standing on. To the east of us is a two story barn, to the west the dirt road ends by connecting to a paved two lane road. Most likely a cross street to the northbound road we crossed earlier. Ahead of us though is a multi story farm house of some vintage I can't recognize. Ashley checks the compass, the house is directly in the path we need to take. We look at each other before cautiously crossing the road, staying in the shadow of the trees. As we watch the house and its well manicured lawn I take the opportunity to lean on a tree rather than Ashley to give her a break. Once satisfied no one is watching us from the windows I lean against Ashley again and we walk over to keep against the front of the house before cautiously turning the corner to the side wall. Any windows on this side are too high to see us so we more casually walk to the corner to the back of the house.

One of us is going to have to take a peek around the corner to see if there is anyone in the backyard. Pointing to my eyes I then point to the corner, Ashley seems to get the hint. I would not be able to pull her back quick enough if there is trouble, but she can pull me. So using the wall as support I hobble over to the corner and grab onto the siding before slowly peeking my head around the corner muzzle first. The backyard is devoid of people, but it has a nice looking large porch. Tall enough to have car shaped tarp covered objects under it. Out in the middle of the back yard is a sprinkler raining down water over a large swath of said yard. Pulling myself back around the corner I say 'empty' to Ashley who nods and moves to support my injured side.

We round the corner but still stay against the wall. Kinda wonder if they actually have running water all the way out here or if it is some house only system. Guess we'll never know. Still it can be of use to us, just have to find where the faucet is. We head on over to the underside of the porch just in case anyone gets the bright idea of looking outside. Once under it I spot where the hose connects to the house.