Road Rage

Chapter five

10:00 AM the next morning

Van woke up moaning. Every part of his body hurt. He slowly stretched his legs out and hissed in pain. His right leg felt like it was on fire. He put his hand over his wound and could actually feel the heat radiating off of it. He put his fingers between the ragged torn material and ripped it apart. He sucked in his breath when he saw the deep, infected cut, the edges red and hot. He next looked at the hole in his left arm which also throbbed with a dull pain. It too looked infected.

"Oh great." He said. As if I don't have enough problems.

Deaq had said he was suppose to stay with the car. He looked around; he had no idea what direction the car was in.

"Deaq." He said the name out loud. The name was beginning to sound familiar. The image of a black man flashed in front of him. But the man he saw was arguing with him and was holding a gun. He remembered hearing shots and seeing a blue car. Maybe Deaq wasn't his friend; maybe he was the one who had shot at him. Van squeezed his eyes shut. Why can't I remember? A tear of frustration ran down his face and he angrily wiped it away. He couldn't fall apart, he had to stay strong and find his way out of here…somehow. He tried to stand up but cried out in pain as he put pressure on his leg and hip.

"Oh man." He moaned leaning back. He looked around him hoping to find something to use as a crutch. He finally found an old dried up piece of wood which would have to do. Leaning on it, he managed to pull himself up. He stood still for a few minutes, waiting for the dizzy feeling to subside, and then headed off into the canyon.

Four hours later

Everything looked a like as he slowly hobbled along. Was he getting closer to the car or was he heading in the opposite direction? He had no idea. He tried to take a deep breath but ended up doubled over in pain. He wondered if his ribs were bruised or broken. What did it matter? All he knew was that the pain was paralyzing. He continued walking, then took out his cell phone. He needed company and all he had was the man at the other end of the line. He hit redial.

"Oh thank God Van I was worried." Deaq said relieved to hear from his partner.

"Where are you…I thought you were going to help me?"

Van sounded so lost.

"We will Van, I promise you, we will. The police are searching for your car and once we find that it's only a matter of time before we find you."

Van stopped walking, tears in his eyes as he looked around at the unfamiliar territory.

"Oh God Deaq I'm scared. I hurt so bad and …" His voice cracked.

"We're going to get you out of there buddy. Hang in there. What you need to do is see if you can find the road. If you can make it up to the road someone will see you."

Van looked around again. He had wandered so far off he had no idea where the road was. He stood there, his eyes welling up with tears of frustration.

"Van? Are you there?" Deaq was concerned. He didn't know how badly Van had been injured and knew they had to find him as soon as possible. Van's only lifeline was the phone and once that went dead…

"Yeah, I'm here." Van said as he began to walk slowly. Deaq told Van to hang up but to leave his phone on in order to conserve on the batteries. He'd call him in a little while and see if he managed to find a road.

Forty five minutes later

As Deaq speed dialed Van he tried to think of what to tell him to do. If Van still hadn't found a road then maybe it would be better if he stayed where he was. Once they found the car, the dogs should be able to track him, but if he kept walking, he'd only get further and further away. He had called Billie after he had hung up with Van and all she could tell him was that the police were in the canyon looking for the car. Unfortunately they couldn't use their search helicopters because the winds were too strong and it was too risky to attempt it.

"Van, did you find a road?"

"No."

Deaq could tell that he was getting discouraged.

"Van, listen to me. Maybe you should stay where you are. Since you're not sure where the road is, it's probably better to stay put. We'll come to you."

"Deaq … I just want to go home. I just want to get out of here." Van's voice cracked with emotion. Yeah, I just want to go home, but where was home?

"I know partner, I know." He knew Van was frustrated and scared, and for all he knew he could be traveling in circles. "We're going to get you home partner, I promise you that."

"Hey…" Van looked off in the distance and could see a small trail of smoke. "There's someone camping down there." He said to Deaq.

Deaq sucked in his breath; he didn't know what to tell Van. He knew it could be a family on a camping trip or it could be drug runners who were known to frequent the canyons. If it was drug runners, Van could be in a lot of trouble if he wandered into their camp uninvited.

"Can you make out who it is?"

"Uh…" Van limped closer. "It looks like three guys on motorcycles." Sweat ran down Van's face, both from the heat and the infection in his body. It ran into his eyes and he wiped it away as he squinted at the campsite.

Deaq's heart started pounding. More then likely they were up to no good. He had to stop Van from walking into their camp.

"Don't go into the camp Van, you need to stay away from the camp. Do you understand, stay away from the camp."

Van stopped walking when he heard Deaq's voice. He wasn't sure what to do. Deaq sounded worried, but he wasn't even sure who Deaq was and if he could be trusted. Also he hadn't realized how thirsty he was and up ahead were people who could give him a drink and take him home.

When Van didn't answer Deaq began to worry.

"Did you hear me Van? Don't go into the camp."

"Maybe they can take me home." Van said as he started walking toward the camp. He stuck the phone in his pocket, the line still open.

"Van! Van!...Damn!" Deaq yelled into the phone, he could tell that the line was open and he prayed his partner would answer him. When he didn't, he ran his hand over his face in frustration and worry. Van could be walking into a potentially dangerous situation and there was nothing he could do but listen.

TBC