Still alive here. But could have done without the 0 degrees. Pretty bad when my freezer is warmer than the outside temp.
Steve had barely enough time to regret his emotional outbreak and simmer his temper as they turned the first curve on their chosen two-track, only to be met by a blockade.
An old wooden gate held upright by a couple of sawhorses that had seen their better days greeted them, along with a rusty sign reading "NO ENTRY".
Slowing the Galaxy down until the grill nearly touched the white panel used as a barrier, Steve drew in a deep breath, keeping his eyes on the road ahead, and quickly noticing the reason for the blockade.
A few hundred feet farther down, a large crater served as a stoic reminder of a mudslide that had washed out the road, jeopardizing its structural integrity and obliterating one half of the already questionable two-track.
"Well, that leaves us with two possibilities. That is…unless they two-wheeled it across that hole."
Mike's voice had returned to its calm cadence, serving as an unspoken peace offering to diffuse their earlier tension, an olive branch, Steve was eager to grab.
Unable to stop a faint chuckle from escaping his lips, the young Inspector shook his head and reached for the gear shaft, about to move it to reverse, when the roaring of a nearby engine disrupted their conversation.
Instinctively freezing in his spot, Steve glanced over at his partner just to see Mike turn around in the bench seat of the Galaxy, eyes fixated on what little he could see of the intersection from their angle.
With his heart racing, he reached across his chest for the .38, woefully realizing their disadvantage in case of a shootout, his active mind envisioning a fire exchange in the woods, uncomfortably far away from civilization, and backup for that matter, should either one of them get hurt.
Stuck deeply in his brooding, Steve jerked awake when Mike's warm hand appeared on his forearm, squeezing it tightly once he realized he'd startled his partner.
"I see tail lights way back by the intersection. I'm pretty sure he's going the opposite way. Let's back up and follow him, I think our choices just got narrowed down to one."