He was lost. His eyes searched the dense green forest. Droplets of rain penetrated the treetops running down the sides of his face. Pulling himself into the brown leather coat he had borrowed, Alex grimaced. The smell of stale body odour wafted into his nostrils, which wrinkled in disgust.
His heart was racing. He was lost and his captors would have already realised he was missing. He was squatted behind a bush, surveying the piece of paper with interest.
This was what he had been waiting for. It was the map he had been sent for. But his forehead creased as he realised it had nothing more than a faded phone number on it. He sighed in exhaustion. After all this, and he had achieved nothing! He slumped and rubbed his dirt-streaked face.
He knew he should have kept moving, Hunch and Pierce couldn't be too far away, but the realisation of having run away with a most likely useless phone number had drained him. He closed his eyes. Two days with the crazy madmen were enough. He wanted nothing but to go back home to Jack. All he had to do now was find his way home. He wondered where he was.
"Where is he?" Pierce roared as he slammed the empty chair away-it crashed against a wall, which groaned loudly.
Hunch jumped out of his sleep.
He rubbed his tired eyes and stared wide-eyed as Pierce advanced towards him.
Pierce grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up, slamming him against the headboard. "Where's the boy?" He snarled, his face inches away from the terrified Hunch.
"Boy?" Hunch asked slowly, his voice quavering under Pierce's unflinching gaze.
"Alex Rider!" Pierce roared, hitting Hunch across the face and dropping him like a sack of potatoes.
"He's gone Hunch! And if you don't find him, you'll not only have me to answer to, but Vile as well." Pierce hissed.
Hunch looked terrified. They sat in silence for a while. Pierce was praying for himself. He knew he would have to answer to Vile as well, seeing as he was Hunch's superior. He felt scared for his own life. Growling under his breath, he narrowed his steel grey eyes to Hunch and hissed, "Come on then, what are you waiting for?"
He threw him a dirty look and strode out of the shack and into the rain; Hunch following close behind.
Alex pushed a low branch away and hurried passed. He kept looking over his shoulder. The piece of paper rested in his jean pocket and he had already memorised the number.
An hour later he was in a clearing, the path divided into two and he stood, stock-still not knowing which way to go. Which one would lead him to safety, he wondered. The decision weighed heavily on him, but feeling reckless, he took the left path, hoping wherever he ended up had a phone.
The forest was dark by now, gaps in the treetops showed small slivers of the starlit sky, Alex was slightly comforted by it. He didn't let his mind wonder to what else could be lurking in here beside him.
He'd been wondering around for hours. He was tired, starving and hurt, he couldn't even see properly, he couldn't even walk properly and he had given up hope already. This road was obviously hopeless. He was sure he had passed one tree at least twice.
An owl hooted close by and Alex jumped at the nearness. His heartbeat returning to normal, he searched for somewhere to rest and made his way to the large roots of a towering tree. He didn't know what to expect tomorrow.
He had barely closed his eyes when he heard a twig snap from the path he had come from.
"Hunch, keep it down. He can probably hear you a mile away."
The sound of Pierce's cold and unforgiving voice made Alex snap his head up and scamper behind the nearest shrub. He held his breath, his eyes searching the blackness of the never-ending forest.
He heard footsteps enter the clearing he had just been in. The wind howled, shrubs and bushes shifted.
"He must be here somewhere!" Pierce said gruffly. Hunch winced.
His pale, flabby face had blotches of red in it and his piggy, brown eyes shifted around the area.
"He's not here."
They started moving away, passed the shrub where Alex was hidden, who thought it was safe to let out his sigh of relief-but was proven wrong when the stout Hunch snatched the shrub away and glared down triumphantly into Alex's defeated face.
Alex turned and ran. The only thing he could do. Running blindly through a thick forest, tripping over his own feet. Suddenly he was grabbed around the middle and he and his captor tumbled to the earthy floor.
"Gotcha!"
A/N: Thanks to MzHissyFits and Remussweetie for your reviews- Reviews really motivate you to keep on writing!
I'm just telling you now that I'm making this up as I go along, R&R please and tell me what you think !
