"How do you want to handle this?"
Steve slowed the Galaxy to a complete stop, as the rumbling of the approaching tow truck grew louder. The faint glow he'd seen earlier quickly turned into bright headlights and he noticed Mike reach for his .38. When he tried to mimic the gesture, the Lieutenant put a firm hand on his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
"You just worry about driving. Let him come a little bit closer and see what he does…"
Mike's voice was strained, the hand on his arm shaking as he grasped him tightly, stern blue eyes trained on the vehicle ahead.
Steve nodded obediently, his foot on the brake pedal inching over to the right in preparation for a quick acceleration.
The rumbling ahead grew louder and he could see the tow truck slow down for a moment, assessing the situation. Then, with a deafening roar of the strong diesel engine, the truck sped up, causing his tires to spin and gravel to fly through the air.
"I think we've been made. Hang her left at the last second!", Mike yelled and rolled the window down to shoot.
"What do you mean, hang her left?! You want to play chicken with that guy? What if he turns right?!"
"Just do it!"
Completely ignoring the exasperation in his voice, Mike partially leaned out of the window and fired two closely aimed rounds at the cabin of the tow truck. Steve could hear the bullets ricocheting off the metal chassis, failing to slow him down.
When the truck finally completely emerged from the thick mantle of fog a mere sixty-some feet out, Steve drew in a deep breath, before flooring the gas pedal. The Galaxy spun in place for a brief moment, the exploding gravel below hitting the wheel wells like bullets, before the large sedan jumped forward into the path of the oncoming vehicle.
Next to him, Mike fired once again, this time aiming at the front tires, but missing.
As ordered, with his hands clenching the steering wheel in a death grip, Steve waited until the last second to pull to the left, causing the Galaxy to fishtail for a painstakingly long moment. As the uneven terrain of the grassy shoulder shook both detectives, he narrowly missed his footing on the gas pedal, causing the tan sedan to slow down.
His sigh of relief about avoiding the head-on collision got stuck in his throat, when the tow truck spun around with surprising ease, before charging after them, its chains rattling in a manic frenzy.
Turning back onto the two-track, Steve briefly let go of the gas pedal altogether when the tires began to spin wildly, undermining his control of the large vehicle. The moment's hesitation was enough for the truck to significantly gain on them, its bright headlights blinding him through the rearview mirror.
"There's the five-way…", Mike noted as he dug the rest of his bullets out of the belt case, before reloading the .38.
Nodding subconsciously, Steve leaned farther forward, as if it would help him see through the fog.
Blinking against the squalls of white and gray ahead, he waited until he saw the sandy intersection before making a sharp turn east. At their high rate of speed, the rear end of the Galaxy slid halfway across the road, narrowly missing a large pine tree on the other side.
Frantically counteracting the move by turning the wheels the other way, Steve slowed the sedan down again, hoping to regain control on the uneven road, but failing to do so this time.
Noting their predicament and taking advantage of it, the tow truck driver sped up, before hitting the driver's side rear fender at full speed, causing the Galaxy to spin across the intersection. Mike reached up to the door frame, grunting in frustration as he desperately tried to keep his balance. As the headlights of the whirling car turned the world into a manic merry go around, Steve caught sight of the pine tree approaching once again.
Desperately turning the steering wheel the other way and hitting the gas pedal, he was powerless to avoid the inevitable, when the wheels lost traction and began to spin.
"Mike, watch out!", he yelled in time to feel the driver's side grill collide with the large tree trunk, destroying one of their headlights along the way.
The thrust from the collision sent both detectives toward the dash, with Steve being the first one to gather his bearings again as he shifted the Galaxy in reverse, watching the tow truck do a 3-point turn behind them to prepare for another attack.
With the suspension groaning, the young Inspector managed to move the damaged police car back onto the uneven intersection, spinning the front end around and away from the approaching enemy. Through Mike's open window, he could hear the engine of the large truck roar, as it came closer once again.
Torn between keeping his eyes on the road ahead, and watching the headlights approach in the rearview mirror and bracing for impact, Steve overlooked a large rock on the side of the road, causing the Galaxy to jump upward and Mike nearly losing his balance.
His gratitude about not blowing a tire was short-lived, when the tow truck sped up and rammed them at full speed, causing him to lose control of the Galaxy altogether momentarily. Next to him, Mike held onto the dash for support, the other hand keeping his fedora in place.
"Damnit!", the Lieutenant hissed and pointed ahead, where the three roads heading north and northwest branched off, "There's the path we took from the camp ground. See if you can get on that one…"
Steve tried to steer to the road farthest to the left, but the tow truck hit them once again, causing the Galaxy to fishtail and groan in protest. As both detectives were thrown forward, he was powerless to turn the steering wheel in time to make their exit.
Instead, the collision was slowly spinning them sideways, forcing Steve to pick the northernmost path to put some distance between them and the tow truck.
The maneuver seemed to work when the truck slowed down somewhat, the noise of breaking branches against its cab filling the air. With only one working headlight and limited visibility, Steve strained his eyes to follow the winding two-track, an assortment of small wooden signs nailed to a large pine tree giving him hope that they weren't leaving civilization behind altogether by traveling along their alternate route.
"Can you speed it up a little?", Mike asked urgently, his back toward him as he glanced at their follower through the open window.
Biting the inside of his cheek and ignoring the cold sweat dripping off his forehead, Steve accelerated a little bit more, careful to avoid the increasingly deep ruts in the road, along with the occasional mud holes.
The continuous turns and uneven ground ate up what little concentration he had left and Steve found himself blinking away the growing dizziness he knew would overtake him sooner or later. And yet, the bright lights in his rearview mirror were a good motivation to keep on going for now.
Next to him, Mike had switched hands on his .38. Almost completely turned around in his seat, he waited until they passed another curve, before firing several bullets at the truck behind them.
"What the hell are you doing?", Steve yelled in exasperation, trying to keep his eyes on the road despite his growing worry about his partner's dangerous plan, "This isn't some action movie!"
"Just drive.", came the unusually quiet remark, as more bullets sailed through the air.
Except this time, they came from the tow truck.