HUNTED Series

Chapter 6: Fenced In

This time he runs without reason, his focus lost to him, as much an animal as she was in the end. He finds the edge of the trail and hates to use it, but has no choice, instinct forcing him to take the path of least resistance. He must run and run and never, ever stop. Not for anything or anyone. Rest is impossible, brief moments caught in jerking instances of gasping air, barely enough to restore his wind before he is off again, a new sound or flicker of motion chasing him deeper and deeper into the forest.

He only peripherally feels the ground under his feet, the slap of branches against his face when he gets too close to the edge of the trees, usually after he spins to check the trail behind him. Reid can't think or feel or reason. He doesn't have time and can't afford the effort any of them take. He is legs and feet, ragged breath and burning muscle, sheathed in a world of pain and terror driving him onward, ever onward.

He has only a heartbeat to register the barrier before he reaches it, but it is just enough to keep him from hurtling headlong into the chain link fence. He stops all at once, whole body twitching in response, gaping upward, feeling his skin tingle and the hair on his head and body stand on end in answer to the power running through it. The dull metal thrums a steady beat, vibrating its way down into the ground. Reid doesn't need to check or even think about it. He just knows.

There is enough juice running through the fence to kill him.

Reid is so stunned by its appearance and obvious meaning, it takes him a while to react to it. His flight mode has been interrupted and he is so tired and strung out from stress and fear it takes him achingly long moments to register and understand what is going on. When he finally gets it, he wants to fall to his knees and quit. On top of everything else, whoever dumped him here has trapped him as well. The unfairness of it shrivels his soul a little further and he spends a moment rubbing at the gooseflesh raised by the electricity and his own despair. Until he considers the fence again. And a ray of hope shines through.

It has to have a gate. Maybe more than one. If he can find the way out... nothing will keep him from escaping.

Without Lucy? His mind tortures him with the thought.

Of course not. But knowing where the way out is will be a great advantage when he does find her. Reid refuses to think about the alternative. He knows there is a chance she has already met with her fate at the hands of the hunter. Hunters. He shudders again, backing off a bit from the fence. How many are there, then? He was obviously wrong thinking there is only one man. He sees how foolish that assumption was, but only in hindsight. There was no way he could have even for a moment believed there was more than one of those men. It took seeing it to believe it. Now that he has seen two, his mind swells with horrible possibility. There could be dozens. Hundreds. They could have him surrounded right now.

Reid spins and checks the forest around him. As far as he can tell, he is alone. When he returns his attention to the problem of the fence, he has recovered more of himself and the focus he lost in his overwhelmed flight.

There is only one way to find the way out if this idea of his could be his salvation or not. He has to follow the fence. Reid looks back and forth, first one way then the other, trying to decide. On his left the fence curves off into the darkness, barely visible in the thickening trees. But on his right, where the forest is thinner, he can see more of it up ahead. He chooses that way, only because he is tired and the ground seems less treacherous, the cover not so stifling. And while he knows he trades ease of movement with shelter from the hunters, Reid trusts his gut and goes to the right.

West, he corrects himself. I'm going west. That's almost the deal breaker for him. He would rather head toward the dawn and see the sun lighting the sky, leading him into the morning. In fact, he's looking forward to it. And yet, he sticks with his plan and trudges on.

Reid sets out, stepping gingerly over the body of a dead rabbit, barely a day gone, flies humming their ravenous dance over it. He forces his eyes away, not wanting to contemplate what would have happened to him if he hadn't stopped.

It isn't worth thinking about.

He finds it hard to focus on the world on his side of the fence. His eyes scan the other, for a sign, a chance of rescue, anything. Anyone. It's such a thin barrier, really. Such a simple, yet effective, wall between him and freedom. It drives him a bit mad when he focuses on it and he has to look away from time to time or fall back into spiraling despair. He fantasizes about coming across someone, a forest ranger maybe. A logging truck. But there is only the forest, the night and the quiet to keep him company. Those and the constant buzz of the fence.

It annoys him after a short time, even though he longs for it and what it means. Civilization. People. Safety. The very things he treasures, powered by the only thing keeping him from his life.

Despite the brief sleep he caught a few hours ago, Reid is stumbling tired, his legs barely able to keep him upright. So, when he hears a car horn he thinks he is hallucinating. His eyes see the lights in the distance, register the sight, but don't translate what they mean for a long time. When he finally realizes what he is looking at, his heart leaps up and jerks him toward the fence. He is again wide awake.

There are cars in the distance. Their tires rumble over asphalt, a steady rush and hum as they pass. Trucks roll by, powered with their distinctive roar. Brightness cuts through the dark, makes paths across the trees, sending shadows bouncing in steady streams only to die and be reborn from the next set of headlights.

The highway vibrates with steady life, not even a mile in the distance. He is elevated, looking down on it, the passing interstate in some kind of shallow valley below him. He can almost smell the gasoline fumes, the heat from the engines. He is sure he hears music echoing in the distance from someone's open window.

He wants to shout, jump up and down and laugh all at once. This is it, what he's been searching for! Until he works out the final part of the situation in his exhausted and fuzzy head. And when he does, he wishes he never saw the fence or the cars or the people going on with their lives while he remains trapped with the monsters.

There is no exit here. The interstate is too far for the moving cars to hear him. He has no way of signaling that he is in trouble. For a moment he has a fresh rush of hope. A fire! He could set a fire. Surely someone would come. But he has nothing to make a fire with, no matches or lighter and is sure he can't do it the old fashioned way. He tried and tried as a child after his father told him native people used to k****e flames from a pair of sticks. All he ever managed to do was give himself splinters.

Reid stands there for a long time, forgetting the hunters and his fear and gives in to his longing. Safety is so close he can smell it, taste it, feel the end of his terror and pain. He is almost desperate enough, tempted by the thought of that highway in the distance, to just risk it and touch the fence. Maybe he will survive? But reason explains to him very gently even if he does, he will only make it to the fence itself and will never manage to get over the top with all that power running through him.

He doesn't want to abandon his only glimmer of hope, but has to face the truth at last. Reid can't just stay there. It's too dangerous. He finally trudges onward, still following the fence, easing his disappointment by trying to convince himself there must be another spot just like this one, closer to the road even. A place he can call for help.

Small consolation. Smaller still as he passes through a line of trees. He hesitates one last moment, absorbing the hint of humanity in the distance before pushing himself onward.

The last of the sound and light from the highway is lost behind him.

He isn't aware he is crying until his vision swims in front of him and he is forced to wipe at his eyes with the filthy cuff of his hoodie. Reid chokes, spitting out precious moisture, his throat so thick and painful he can't bring himself to swallow.

The night seems to last forever. He wonders if it will ever end. It's like he's been dropped into a wilderness of darkness and despair that goes on and on forever.

He keeps the fence in sight and feeling, using it to guide him. It isn't until he stumbles over a loose stone that he realizes the trees are almost gone. Reid slows and looks around. He has left the scant comfort and security of the forest behind and stands on a low cliff face. The fence lines the edge, the rest lost to him. Reid gets as close as he can and peers over the side. He feels his foot slip, the stone crumbling beneath him and for a moment he is sure he is gone. He cries out as his sneaker slides out from under him, throwing himself to the ground. A patter of stones fall, nearly dragging him to his death against the fence. He catches his breath, holding it, listening. It is a long and quiet moment before the stones hit the bottom.

Reid hastily backs off and gives the fence more room. He keeps his distance, watching his step more carefully. The trees return, sparse at first, slowly thickening and embracing him again. Reid tries to stay in sight of the fence, but the terrain is just too dangerous, the trees too thick. Still, he keeps his eyes locked on it.

He knows he is going down before he feels the pain in his leg, but is unable to stop himself. Reid's ankle protests the abuse it's taken, finally giving up on him over the loose stone that sends him to his knees. He breathes hard, massaging his foot, hoping he hasn't done much damage. A tentative try of his weight tells him he's in luck. This time.

With great regret, Reid finally lets the fence go. His heart abandons him, leaving only hurt and horror behind. He can't explain to himself why, but seeing the last glimmer of the chain link and shedding the feeling of its power is like losing his best friend.

He angles deeper into the forest and almost immediately stumbles across a pathway. He pauses at the edge, thinking and listening while his body aches and begs him for rest. Reid briefly considers trying to erect some kind of camouflaged shelter, but discards the idea just as fast. Not like he'd get any rest anyway. His best bet is to keep moving. And, if possible, get to a gate in the fence.

As he sets foot on the path, he looks up and to the right, into the blush of dawn lighting the sky.

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