Disclaimer - I own nothing. This chapter is a little short, but next chapter should hopefully be longer. Enjoy. (PTT, means push-to-talk)
Chapter 3
Scavenger Hunt
The group made their way into the forest, following Tom and Ben who were leading the group as Ben, could easily pick out Pope's footprints with his advanced sight. They walked in silence, in part, not wanted to distract Ben, and also none really having anything else to say. Suddenly, the path that they were taking opened up to a paved road.
"He must've met up with his group. This is where his trail ends." Ben informed them.
"I don't get it." Anne said out loud. It made no sense for Pope to ask Tom to follow him, then make it so that he can't, especially if it is a trap, which they all knew it was.
"Tom!" Maggie called out. The group all turned their heads to a tree that was right at the edge of the road, and Maggie bending down beside it. Maggie looked back at them, stood up, with something in her hands. As she came closer, Tom saw that it was Hal's jacket, and it was wrapped around something. Maggie handed it the Mason father who held it carefully, as though it was a precious object.
Tom unwrapped the old, camo jacket to find a walkie talkie inside. Tom handed the jacket back to Maggie, who put it in her bag, making sure it stayed safe so she could give it back to Hal. Tom pressed down on the PTT button.
"Pope?"
"I was wondering if you'd find that jacket. I thought I might've hid it too well, or that you'd go in the complete opposite direction. That would've made all this much harder." Pope's taunting voice answered.
"Where's Hal?" Tom asked while the rest of the group kept their mouths shut, not wanting to give their presence away.
"Oh, he's here, but he can't come to the phone unfortunately. But maybe, you could find him and talk to him yourself. I believe we're at a grocery store, next town over." With that, the walkie talkie went silent.
"Are we basically going on a scavenger hunt in the hopes that we get there before Pope kills him or you?" Ben asked his Dad as he understood Pope's words.
"It appears so. Let's get moving." Tom replied, and together, they headed off into the night.
FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS
Pope put his walkie talkie in his pocket and headed back into the store. The members of his group were filling up bags with all the non-perishable foods they could find. There wasn't much, as people had probably scavenged the store already, but every little bit counted. Anthony looked up when he heard the doors open, and came over to the leader.
"Almost done. What do you want to do next?" Anthony asked.
"Pack up the car, and find a new base. One that's secure, don't want our guest getting too comfortable." Pope answered, then turned and walked out. Anthony watched, feeling a little bad for Hal, knowing whatever Pope had planned for Tom and his son, wasn't gonna be good. But it was what needed to be done, right?
Pope walked over to the back of the car and opened the trunk. Inside, hands cuffed behind his back, and the bag placed back of his head, was the young Mason. When Hal turned his head a little, Pope knew he was fine, that he hadn't suffocated or anything and he shut the door. They needed to get moving, he wanted to be at a new place by sunrise. Only a few more hours left.
Author's Note - Chapter three complete. Odds are, for writing this story, I'm probably going to write like two pr three chapters at a time, then publish them all at once. So the wait may be longer, but you'll get more out of the deal. Hopefully new chapters will be up soon. Please review, I would love to know your thoughts.