Night was falling. Steve looked at Jesse and thought that he looked exhausted, but he was pretty sure that he didn't look any better himself. He felt awful, although he kept it to himself as he didn't want Jesse to fuss over him or worry. His head was pounding and he wanted nothing more than to lie down in a comfy bed. He blinked a few times and shook his head as if to clear his thinking.
"It's going to be dark soon," he said to Jesse. "I don't like the idea, but we can't possibly make our way in the dark, even with the torch. And we're both pretty tired out. I think we should find a place to rest up until dawn. We'll take it in turns to keep watch."
"Okay," Jesse said, too worn out to think of anything else.
The terrain on this side of the bridge was thick wood again. The two of them found a thick-trunked pine tree and leant against it. Jesse opened a tin and they shared it between them.
"The road we were following is on the other side of the river valley," said Steve, leaning his head back against the tree. "Heaven knows if there's another way back over."
"So what do you want to do?" asked Jesse, scraping the last scraps out of the tin. He still felt ravenous. They had hardly eaten anything that day.
"We could follow the river downstream," Steve suggested. "We know it will lead to lower ground and off the mountain eventually, and if we are following it we know we won't be going around in circles."
"Fantastic idea," murmured Jesse. He felt very sleepy.
Steve smiled to himself. "I'll take first watch," he said. "I'll wake you after a few hours."
Jesse muttered something incomprehensible.
Steve struggled to keep himself awake, despite his anxiety and the constant noises from the surrounding trees. Having nothing to think about only made him more aware of his burnt skin and bruised head. But he still felt guilty for falling asleep on the first night when someone ripped open the tent and attacked Jesse, and was determined not to fall asleep this time. When three hours were up he couldn't keep awake any longer and prodded Jesse. "Your turn."
Jesse sighed heavily, but sat up. "Okay, sleep tight."
Steve drifted off to sleep quickly.
He felt like he'd hardly closed his eyes when he felt Jesse shaking his shoulder. "Aw, give me a bit longer," he moaned.
"No, Steve, you've got to wake up!" Jesse hissed, shaking him harder.
Steve was awake instantly. "What is it?" he whispered.
"I think I can hear something moving around," Jesse whispered back. "Over there."
Steve listened. It was still dark but a glimpse at his watch with its glow in the dark dial showed that it was probably only about an hour from dawn. "I can't hear anything," he said.
"It's stopped now. But there was definitely movement, fairly close and more than a leaf dropping," Jesse said.
Steve strained his eyes against the darkness, but it was no good, he could see nothing. "Are you sure?"
Then, sounding so loud in the relative stillness of the outdoors, a bang rang out and Steve yelled in pain and clutched his leg.
"What is it?" shouted Jesse.
"I've… been shot," said Steve, feeling wetness under his hand. "Quick, get–"
Another bang, and this time Jesse, who had been crouching over Steve, fell back with a cry of pain reaching for his chest.
"Jesse!" Steve called in fear, but then he felt another bullet hit him on the arm and propel him backwards. He struggled to his feet quickly, and felt for where Jesse had fallen. Jesse was also rising, and they clutched at each other blindly, unable to see anything with the darkness. Another bang, and they heard a thud as the bullet hit the tree trunk between their heads.
"We've got to get out of here!" Steve said, trying to ignore the burning pains in his arm and leg.
"I can't see anything, Steve!" Jesse said, his voice filled with panic.
"Come this way," Steve said, pulling Jesse's arm away from the direction of the bullets. "Try and get behind a tree."
They took a few blundering steps, and then two more shots rang out in quick succession. One hit Steve just behind the ear and he went down with a cry, and the world went blank. The other hit Jesse on his right temple. He felt a blinding moment of pain before he too fell.
X X X
A few hours before, a car had driven up to the deserted campsite. Mark opened his car door almost before the car had fully stopped and raced off. Amanda applied the brakes and left the headlights on so that they could see, as it was dark. She got two powerful torches from the trunk and joined Mark, who was looking increasingly worried.
"Amanda! Look at all this metal on the ground. And embedded in the wall of this shelter! What happened?"
"It looks like the remains of the stove," Amanda said slowly.
Mark hurried towards the tent. "There's been a fire," he said. "Look, half of this side of the tent has been burnt away."
"Perhaps they left because there was an accident. There is probably an innocent explanation, don't jump to conclusions." Amanda tried to reassure him, but she didn't believe what she was saying. If so, why hadn't they heard from either of them?
"No, their car's still here, I saw it as we drew up," Mark said, shaking his head. He looked in Steve's bedroom compartment and saw nothing, then he looked into Jesse's. He gasped and took an unsteady step backwards.
"What is it?" asked Amanda, and she stepped forward and shone her torch. In its light she saw Jesse's sleeping bag, drenched in dried blood. She gasped too.
"We have to find them," Mark said urgently.
X X X
Steve was blinking. He opened his eyes and saw the grey light of dawn. He remembered with a jolt what had happened. He was shot in the head, arm and leg! He should be dead. He could feel sharp pains in each of those three places. He rolled over as he was on his front and dead pine needles were sticking into his face. Gingerly he sat up, but he didn't feel much pain. Hardly daring to look, he squinted down at the wound on his leg, and saw a green splodge. Alarmed, he examined his arm. It was blue. In a daze he touched it. Certainly not blood. It looked like… paint?
Hearing a groan from beside him, he glanced over at Jesse who was lying on his back with eyes closed, rubbing his head. Seeing a large purple mark on Jesse's head and similar multi-coloured marks on his chest, Steve burst out with relieved laughter.
Jesse opened startled eyes. He sat up quickly, looking at Steve as if he was mad. Then he noticed the strange colours of Steve's bullet wounds.
"We're okay," Steve reassured him, still laughing softly. "We've been subjected to a paintball attack."
"Huh?" said Jesse, still feeling woozy.
"He must have had night vision goggles," said Steve, thinking back. "Otherwise he'd never have hit us in the dark."
"But it hurt!" protested Jesse, grinning slightly as Steve's amusement was infectious, but still very puzzled.
"They do, especially if hit from close range," Steve said. "He must have been pretty close. We'll have some nasty bruises and aching heads," he said ruefully, "but no real damage."
"I thought you were dead," Jesse said weakly.
Steve pulled a face. "I thought the same about you," he said quietly. He shrugged his shoulders. "We'd best get moving. I don't want to be stuck on this mountain for another night."
"They could have been real bullets," Jesse said thoughtfully, almost to himself.
"I know. But this guy, whoever he is, must have a plan, an end to the game. We've got to get out of here before he reaches his conclusion."
"What do you think he's got in mind?" Jesse asked uneasily.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Jess," Steve said, getting to his feet and looking in the direction of the river. He didn't add that he didn't think that the end would be as harmless as some of these other stunts had been.
The two friends headed off following the river down below them. Steve was extremely glad he hadn't fallen down the valley the evening before. It looked a long way down.
The ground sloped downwards, and the drop down to the river became less. After about a mile they found themselves walking alongside the river rather than above it. The water looked fresh and Jesse and Steve pushed through to the bank at a point where the thick reeds were less deep and scooped water up in their hands to drink. It tasted clear and cool.
Once they had drunk their fill they continued along the river bank. The reeds were thick and the trees began to get closer together and they were forced to move a little away from the water to find a clear and easy path. Suddenly Jesse stopped. "Hey Steve, look over there." He pointed over to the river, which was about a hundred yards over on the right through thick trees. "Can you see that?"
Steve peered through the branches and caught a glimpse of something white on the river. "It looks like a speedboat, tied to the side," he said.
"What a stroke of luck!" Jesse said. "Looks like there's a path down there. Maybe we're near another campsite, and we can use their boat! Come on!"
"Jesse, wait," Steve said, putting a hand on Jesse's shoulder. "I don't trust it. Nothing has worked for us so far. That boat will probably explode as soon as we start the engine."
"We don't need to start it though!" Jesse's eyes had brightened up at the prospect of getting off the mountain. "We can just float down on the river current. It will save walking."
"I still don't like it," said Steve suspiciously.
"Okay, let's just go and have a look," Jesse persisted. "We won't even touch it if you're not happy."
"Well, all right," Steve said grudgingly.
Jesse led the way down to the narrow path he had spotted and headed along it. It allowed a route down to the river through the dense trees and undergrowth that bordered the banks. Jesse pushed aside a tree branch.
"Hey, watch it!" exclaimed Steve, as it swung backwards and caught him unawares.
"Sorry!" said Jesse, pushing aside the next one and holding it until Steve had a hold of it. As he pushed the third branch out of the way, Jesse felt something fall from above. Something moving.
"Hold. Still.," Steve said slowly and quietly.
Jesse could feel things moving through his hair, on his shoulders and over his back. Staying as still as possible, he looked down at his feet where some of the things had fallen to the ground. He let out a shriek. "Tarantulas! Get them off me!" He danced out of the way of the spiders on the ground, towards Steve who look a large step backwards, a look of alarm on his face.
"Help me!" yelled Jesse, terrified.
Steve looked wildly around, and picked up a fallen branch. Jesse was standing rigidly, his face screwed up in terror as one of the tarantulas touched his neck with a hairy leg. Steve gently pushed the spiders off Jesse one by one.
"All gone."
Jesse gave a whoop of relief and ran back down the path several metres, patting furiously as his hair and back to make sure they really were all gone. "I admit, you were right," he panted, as Steve joined him. "The path was booby-trapped. Let's avoid the boat."