I'M BAAAAACK!
After much pushing from Wicked, I came up with something relativley... interesting.
I dedicate this story to my manager, Patrick - thank you, for giving me a second chance. This one's for you.
The occupants of TR2 flinched when they arrived at their destination.
"Leon, are you sure you've got the right place?" Stella looked around.
"Positive. One-one-five Old Tuppal Road, first on the left."
"Leon, this place is a dump." Stella brushed away a fly.
"There's not been anyone here for years." Josh grimaced as a spider crawled its way along the outside of the corrugated iron shed, causing Shannon to squeal. Stella laughed. "So where's the suspect?"
"Suspect was sighted around an hour ago, carrying a shotgun and what appeared to be a hunting knife."
"Very forthcoming with the details," Josh noted, raising his eyebrows. "Any ideas of who it is?"
"Suspect has been confirmed as one Jay Black, female, aged nineteen, approximately five-foot-seven and red hair. She has several tattoos and a distinctive scar on the right side of her face. One prior, driving without a licence in 2009, paid the fine the next day. Apart from that, nothing."
"What did she do again?"
"Suspect was sighted at another property about two hours ago, apparently shooting at cattle. When the farmer approached, Jay took a pot-shot at him and seriously wounded him."
Approximately twenty metres from TR2's current position, a shadowy figure crouched behind an old grain truck. The figure scowled as the right side of her face rippled of its own accord. Jay rubbed the offending patch of skin, absent-mindedly tracing her fingers along the angry red scar the wound down her face. Shaking her mane of red hair and pulling her fingers away, Jay holstered her hunting knife and picked up the shotgun, ensuring it was loaded and ready to fire before moving to the inside of the derelict building.
"We'll do a quick search, then we're out of here." Josh scuffed the toe of his boot on the ground, frowning. "There's no way someone could hide out here."
"Uh-uh, there's no way I'm going. In. There." Shannon shook her head.
"Wuss." Stella laughed, poking Shannon in the arm. "We'll go."
Josh nodded, then allowed his eyes to wander. "Actually, Stel, you go on ahead." The scarred Seargent approached an old Yamaha 200 two-wheeled motorcycle, a smile lighting up his face. "I won't be a minute."
"Fine." Stella unholstered her firearm and entered the building.
Jay heard footsteps from her current hiding spot in the office - an upturned desk - and grinned, anticipating the events to come.
Stella cautiously entered the dairy, taking in the rusted vat, the milk cooling plant - now unusable - and the rotary itself. As she had never been in a dairy before, she took her time to look around, brushing aside rope-like cobwebs as the ingrained stench of cow shit and dead mice hit her nostrils. She took a brief moment to examine a set of milking cups, trying to figure out how they were used, before shrugging it off and continuing her search. Outside, she heard Josh finally starting the motorbike, not paying any attention.
Josh grunted in surprise. "That's strange." He rode around in circles for a few moments, testing out the bike, before quickly coming to a halt and hitting the kill switch.
"What is?"
"Well, this place is supposed to be abandoned, but this bike is in perfect condition, apart from its obvious age." Josh frowned. "Something's not right here."
Stella rounded a slight corner, still wandering around, before the silence was broken by the sound of rushed footsteps behind her. Before the young Senior Constable could turn around, a knife was at her throat, and her arms were being held with unnatural strength. Stella struggled briefly, before a whisper in her ear shocked her.
"Well, what have we here?"