Title: On Deadly Ground
Chapter 3 – Hunted!
Ed's fuzzy mind recalls trying to come out of his drug-induced stupor, his eyes squinting into the dimly lit interior and trying to get his brain to focus on what he thought was Wordy's unmoving frame right beside him. But his revival attempts were short lived as he was quickly held down by two sets of strong arms, his bound wrists kept at bay as the damp cloth was clamped over his gagged lips and nose; rendering him unconscious once more.
But waking up in a desolate, frozen wasteland, wrists tightly bound and missing his winter clothes wasn't Ed's idea of a better predicament; in fact it was worse. Neither he nor Wordy had their phones, guns, not even their watches – they didn't know how much time had passed or if anyone would had started a search or not.
"Is this guy for real?" Wordy groans as he finally stands upright beside Ed, his gaze following Ed's and squinting into the darkness. "What did you he…" is all Wordy manages before a shot is fired in their direction, alerting the other hunters but missing them on purpose.
"Okay we gotta move now!" Ed tries as another shot is fired from the opposite direction.
"Where?" Wordy looks back at the dark figure standing fixed in place with his rifle raised. But before Wordy can react he feels Ed's fingers crudely grab the side of his sweater and give it yank, the two of them turning and darting toward what appears to be a thick hedge of trees; slightly darker than the darkened landscape around them. But with their wrists tightly bound, their survival efforts could be hampered unless they got free.
"We need to get loose," Ed whispers in anger as he tries to twist his wrists free, the harsh ropes chaffing his skin and cutting into the soft flesh, forcing him to stop and curse into the cool night air once more.
"If these guys have night goggles it'll be a short hunt," Wordy whispers as they both drop to their knees on the other side of the thick brush. The two of them watch as four other darkened figures join the lone gunman at the top of the ridge, their bodies seemingly turned in their direction but none of the making a move.
"What the hell are they waiting for?" Ed asks in a hushed tone.
"Us, to show ourselves is my guess. Lockhart…this is his thing."
"Really," Ed states more than questions. Ed's eyes start to scan the area in front of them and then behind, the wind nipping at his skin and forcing his mind to curse the fact that his wrists were bound in front and he couldn't even rub some warmth into his chest or his fingertips; which would be rendered useless from the cold if they weren't cut loose and soon.
"Okay we are covered for now…on your belly and do a crawl that way," Wordy whispers and directs Ed with a silent movement, his warm breath actually adding some comforting heat to his partners cool skin. "Go."
Not wasting any time in questioning his best friend who was also a combat and tactical expert, Ed drops from his knees to his belly and starts to crawl in the opposite direction of the group of Lockhart hunters, hoping and praying he wouldn't make even a peep and give themselves away; although he was sure that both he and Wordy knew they were currently being watched and just given a bit of a head start.
They reach a small hill and both allow themselves to tumble down, landing in a mild jumble of arms and legs but are quick to untangle and then try to get their bearings.
"Do you have your watch?"
"No," Wordy replies with a slight grimace as both of them start to feel the ground for anything they could use to cut themselves free with. "But if it's been even a few hours am sure someone will call. Yours or mine?"
"Mine," Ed replies in haste. "Sophie threatens to call Greg if I'm late picking up a dozen eggs," he slightly smirks at his own verbal exaggeration, picking up a soft nervous chuckle from Wordy on his left. "But we gotta get free or else this is gonna be a very one sided fight."
"Am sure that was the plan," Wordy answers, his lips letting another frustrated curse trail off as he looks away from Ed, Ed looking at Wordy's profile and frowning in the pale moonlight. "Any suggestions?"
"Maybe if I knew where we were. I came to once in the van but it was short lived and then I was drugged again," Ed recalls bitterly. "So maybe we aren't anywhere near the city limits?"
"Game sanctuary?"
"Military land?" Ed tosses into the suggestion pile. "Could be anywhere. Either way…we're both gonna freeze if we don't get moving."
"Copy that," Wordy offers the familiar expression, bringing a small smile to Ed's lips. The two of them are slightly able to stand up a bit, but still in a crouched position, continue to make their way in the dark away from their evil hunting party. However, their quiet escape attempt is short lived as Ed's foot get snagged in a shallow rodent hole, forcing his leg to painfully twist, his lips to automatically grunt and the silence broken; his body falling to his knees and bound wrists.
Without missing too much of a beat and hearing the angry voices behind them, Wordy's bound wrists grab Ed's arm as best they can, urgently dragging him away from the voices in the distance behind them. "Hurry," Wordy urges, despite the fact he knows his friend was probably cursing the pain; being caught by Lockhart's men would be even worse – it would mean death.
Ed bites back the pain in his ankle and knee, forcing himself past the growing limp and knowing that their haste would mean life or death as the voices behind them were now drawing closer; forcing panicked adrenaline to start coursing through his entire frame. For a brief millisecond he looks up at the inky night sky, wondering just what time it was and if their absence had already been alerted to. He could only pray that it was.
"Ed…we'll hide in there…hurry!" Wordy's hissed words bring him back to reality. A few meters ahead was thick forest, which hopefully meant more places to hide and something to cut themselves free with. They head toward it not realizing that danger was looming.
XXXXXXXX
"Have you heard from them?" Sophie asks Shelly as she looks at the clock with a frown of concern.
"No. Kevin said he was going to stop and get some bait from a guy he knows but it shouldn't have taken them this long. I know there has been tension at work as of late, so maybe they went for a beer?"
"Maybe, but it's almost midnight," Sophie huffs as she looks at the window again to see if Ed's car had pulled up yet.
"Should we wait a bit longer?"
"Well I know Ed hates when I play the paranoid wife card but last time…" her voice trails off as she gives her head a shake.
"Yeah I'm sure he was glad you did."
"After some coaxing," she replies with a small groan.
"Call Greg…I'm sure he won't mind. Or maybe Spike and get him to do a phone trace?"
"Then I'll really look paranoid but I can't shake this feeling. Not after all Ed has been telling me has been going on this past week."
"Well I know if Kevin is in trouble he'd want us to make that call. You called last time. Let me do it this time. Spike will do it for them. I'll get right back to you."
"Okay thanks."
Shelly hangs up and then looks at her youngest daughter still asleep on the couch waiting for her father to come home so he could see the little fishing gadget she made him to take with him on his trip the next morning. She offers a frown, knowing what a hero Kevin was to the girls and how much he meant to all of them; his tardy absence was out of character and something to worry about. As much as she knows him and Ed like to talk about work and other stuff when together and can lose track of time, it wouldn't have gone on this long, especially since they would be spending the whole day together – just the two of them; plenty of time to talk.
So with a deep breath she picks up the phone and dials. "Mike? This is Shelly Wordsworth…I know it's late and I'm sorry if I woke you up, but do you have a minute? I really need some help."
XXXXXXXX
The two of them run further into the darkness, Ed stumbling once more, his lips cursing the darkness and his leg screaming at him to rest of else he'd be forced to and that would spell certain doom. But Ed pushes past the new painful sensations, commanding his body to keep going or else a slow painful death would be his fate and he wasn't going to allow that to happen. However a few moments later, Wordy stumbles also, forcing Ed to pause, help his friend back up and then continue.
"Wordy…I gotta stop…" Ed lightly pants a few minutes later, as they continue deep into the darkened forest, getting slapped and scraped by twigs, branches, frozen pine needles and the ground when they would stumble and collide.
"Hafta…keep going…" Wordy gasps for another breath as they finally start to slow; Ed's leg now really throbbing especially since the fall a few moments earlier. The two of them stop on the other side of a large tree, lungs heaving, hearts racing and bodies begging for some kind of small restful reprieve.
"Are they coming?"
"They were."
The voices behind them had stopped. A trap? A tactic to get them to talk and flush them out? Or just toying with them? Ed closes his eyes as he rests up against the tree, his throat dry and finding it difficult to swallow. The ground around them was dotted with clumps of frozen snow but to even take some in for a liquid refreshment might cool him from the inside out and he needed to conserve whatever bits of body heat his body could muster. He could feel the scrape on his cheek from a branch starting to sting even more from the cold and winces.
The two of them stand behind the tree, pressed together and hoping their hunters would at least pause or hold in place even longer or better yet wait until it was light and they would have a real head start and maybe some way of identifying where they were and then finding a place to seek shelter and then call for help.
Ed peers around his side of the tree squinting into the unfriendly area before him, but pulling his head back in anger; the forest was thick and wasn't providing him anything in the way of a tactical advantage over their pursuers. However, he could be thankful for the same cover it was providing Lockhart's men it was providing them.
"Do we move?" Ed leans in and whispers to Wordy.
"How's your leg?"
"I'll be okay until we are free and outta here," Ed insists as he takes a deep breath and then rests back against the tree for a few moments. But the moment is short lived as they hear some crunching nearing, prepare to leave but are hindered as Ed feels a strong hand clamp down on his forearm and yanks him away from Wordy. With his wrists bound, fighting back was given to the job of his legs as he quickly pulls his own feet out from under him in the hopes of allowing Wordy to tackle their would be captor. The rouse works.
Wordy's fists instantly ball and land on Ed's attackers back, forcing him to the ground but on top of Ed's trapped frame.
"Andy?" Another gruff voice calls out and both Wordy and Ed know they have to act fast. With his wrists pinned on his chest from the weight of the attacker, Ed brings his legs forward and keeps his attacker, Andy, on top of him while Wordy's quick reaction delivers a blow to the head, sending Andy back down onto Ed and then once more, dazing him.
"ANDY!" The other gruff voice shouts as Ed quickly covers their attackers mouth and holds him while Wordy's bound wrists come over his neck and put him into a sleeper hold, only a few angry grunts escaping until there was silence once more.
"Lie still," Wordy instructs Ed as he takes off their attacker's night vision goggles and holds them up to his face, watching the glowing green figure in the distance coming toward them and then pushing their attacker's legs behind the large tree a bit more to keep him and Ed hidden from view.
"Damn bastard where the hell are you!" The other voice angrily demands as Wordy holds his breath. Thankfully the voice doesn't come closer. Wordy dares to peek his head out from behind the tree, breathing a small sigh of relief as the glowing figure heads in the opposite direction.
"You okay?" Wordy asks Ed in a hushed tone.
"Yeah. Despite the fact he's making me warm, get him off me," Ed grunts as his bound wrists hinder his escape. When Ed is finally free, both of them start to feel their attacker for anything they could use. "Damn no phone."
"But I do feel…a knife! Ed I found a knife," Wordy exclaims as his fingers grasp onto the small single folded blade and then carefully pulls it out, not wanting to drop it as he knows it might be their only means of freedom. "Anything else we can use?"
"Besides this rifle?" Ed whispers in return as his fingers latch onto the weapon and holds it, not realizing that it wouldn't offer them much in the way of protection past the single shot. "No…I'll bet these guys were specifically told to carry nothing extra or that we could use in case they were caught or whatever. What about the jacket?"
"Not much here but anything will help. We'll take turns when we're free," Wordy huffs as he starts to tug the thick woolen item that was more shirt like than jacket like off the body of their unconscious attacker. "No food either. No matches…nothing. Just the rifle and knife and a few plastic zip-ties. Not even a phone."
"They were probably told to check in at a certain time and place," Ed ponders as he slowly stands up and then squints into the darkness before them. "Which way?"
"If we go back we don't know what's waiting?"
"But if we go forward we don't know how much further in this forest we have and where help could be," Ed replies with a heavy frown. "We need shelter."
"I say we keep going. You okay with that leg?"
"Yeah it'll hold. Damn this guy."
"Which one?"
"Lockhart…" Ed grunts as finishes up with the few plastic zip ties and then stands back up beside Wordy.
"You knew he wouldn't give up right?"
"I know," Ed nods as he takes in a deep breath, his lungs instantly regretting it and his lips offering a small cough as cold starts to slowly seep down into his chest. "I do hate the cold."
"That's because you're getting old," Wordy smirks as he looks at Ed's darkened silhouette. "We hafta keep moving."
"You're shivering bad," he notes the chatter in Wordy's tone. "Are you sure you can…"
"And you're not?" Wordy retorts before Ed can add something about his current physical condition to that.
"I wasn't meaning to get you defensive."
"I took my meds today okay?"
"Okay…okay," Ed groans as he looks at Wordy with a frown. "I didn't mean anything by it."
"Let's go."
"Right."
The two of them leave the Lockhart attacker, bound and unconscious on the ground and head away from the forest opening, going deeper into the darkened forest, where about twenty minutes in, visual sight more than a few feet head was next to impossible.
"Ed…" Wordy stops to catch his breath a bit more; his hands warm from the jacket he was carrying. "We seriously can't see out here and another trip on that leg and you're done for."
"We can't stop."
"They have no flashlights and these goggles aren't that good. Besides you sound cold."
"I hafta keep talking…keeps my teeth from chat…fine I'm cold. But we can't stop."
"We find a place to huddle together for a bit, let me try to cut us loose and then get some heat into us."
"Heat and rest. Okay can you see any place we can do that through those things?" Ed asks as he takes the jacket, thankful for some warmth coming back to his fingertips.
"Hold on."
Wordy holds up the night goggles once more, the thick forest before them not offering much in the way of shelter of any kind. "Not much…seriously Ed not much at all."
"Okay where is that knife? Let's get loose and then we'll make a new plan," Ed instructs, the frustration in his tone coming to the fore.
"I can…"
"Wordy give me the knife," Ed lightly demands.
"Why? I found it."
"I'm…"
"Team leader? Nice try. Now hold…"
"Wordy give me the damn knife. You have the goggles and…just stop arguing already," Ed utters with a huff as Wordy takes the jacket.
"Fine. Maybe I'll just leave you like that when it's my turn," Wordy snickers as he carefully pushes the open blade into Ed's waiting fingers. "And for the record I did find it first."
"Just hold sti…" Ed starts and then stops. "Wordy I'm so…"
"Stop apologizing, my hands are shivering and I'm blaming the cold. But I can feel yours shaking also and I doubt you have the same excuse as me."
"Damn it," Ed gently curses as he continues the arduous task of trying to cut loose his best friend. "Well…by now we should be missed."
"Yeah let's just hope either Shelly or Sophie called your team and not mine," Wordy grimaces. "If there is an insider then who knows what lies they'd tell them."
XXXXXXXX
"Spike…buddy do you know what time it is?"
"Yeah Sam…sorry…I um…" Spike's voice trails off in a whisper.
"Everything okay?"
"I got a call from Shelly Wordsworth and she said Wordy and Ed were out and haven't made it back yet and that its been a few hours. I traced their cells and found them at the same place."
"Maybe they're just…"
"The auto wrecking yard."
"Huh?"
"I'm going to go and check it out…you know just to see if everything's okay. I just didn't want to call the boss yet in case there was nothing to worry about. But if there was something to worry about…"
"You want backup. Okay I can be ready when you get here."
XXXXXXXX
Wordy feels the ropes around his wrists starting to loosen; his brain reminding him not to tell Ed that he did feel the tip of the blade pierce his skin a few times, not knowing whether to completely blame the cold or his damned affliction. For now he was gonna blame the cold. Even in the dark he can hear Ed's grunts of frustration growing shallower and knows that the cold was starting to take over and adrenaline starting to lessen.
"Okay almost there," Wordy coaches as he feels his wrists finally having some room to move, biting back a painful wince as he tries to twist them free and the cold harsh ropes chafe the already roughed up skin. He feels Ed pause and then both stop to listen to the stillness around them.
"Wordy…get the…"
"I'm almost free just hurry."
Without saying another word, Ed pushes his full weight into the small blade, furiously sawing at the frozen ropes until Wordy's wrists finally break free. Wordy grabs the goggles and then turns behind, sure enough seeing two green glowing figures in the distance. "Damn it, here they come," he hisses as he snatches the knife from Ed's cold fingers.
"Leave it, let's go."
"Ed, I was kidding when I said…"
"Wordy…"
"YOU BOYS OUT HERE?" They hear a gruff voice calling in the darkness before silence ensues once more.
"We go now. Crouch low and try to stay behind the trees."
"Ed I need to cut you loose."
"Later. Go now!" Ed instructs as they pick up cursing behind them in the distance, figuring that the Lockhart hunters must have found their fallen man. The two of them crouch low and then start to head further away from their hunters. A few more meters are covered, Ed and Wordy thinking they are making ground when a shot pierces the air and a painful yelp is heard.
"We got one!" The angry voice behind them shouts.
Ed's body jerks in response to the bullet ripping open a piece of flesh on the top of his shoulder, embedding itself in the soft folds of sweater and skin, forcing him to stumble and fall toward the unforgiving ground. He curses painfully as his wrists find no buffering with the frozen surface, his knees and injured leg taking a further beating.
"Ed!" Wordy half shouts as he watches Ed stumble, putting his bound wrists out in front to help break his fall; Wordy at his side in seconds trying to assess the damage in the dark and keep them moving. "Where?"
"Shoulder…it's…okay. Let's go," Ed grunts as he forces himself back up, instantly blinking his watery eyes and trying not to think about the men closing in behind them. "We need…to hide."
Wordy lets go of Ed's arm and fiddles with the goggles once more, quickly adjusting them and then taking Ed by the arm and leading him toward what looks like a gathering of boulders and knowing they'll find some shelter from the other night goggles behind them. "Stay down," Wordy whispers as they crouch low, Ed trying to control his breathing and his mind cursing the fact that his bound wrists made it impossible for him to apply pressure to the leaking wound.
Wordy watches the two men stop in the distance; the green figures just standing in place and Wordy holding his breath until he watches them start to head to the left; pulling his head back behind the rock just as the men look in his direction but at the last second not seeing anything moving in their line of sight. Ed and Wordy pick up the angry cursing in the air and then silence again.
Knowing that Ed was shot in the shoulder, Wordy's fingers pull out the knife once more, his fingers then fiddling in the darkness around his best friends bound limbs, opening the knife and getting started in haste. Ed feels Wordy's hands slightly shaking and feels his teeth grit when the small blade cuts his skin once more; but blaming the cold or even Parkinson's was moot right now, they were in trouble and he needed to be free.
"Almost," Ed whispers as he finally feels the ropes starting to loosen. "Just a bit more."
"Shoulder?"
"Fine. Just get…" Ed starts and then stops as they hear a branch breaking closer than expected. With his hands still holding Ed's bound wrists, Wordy pauses with the knife in mid-cut; the two of them holding their breath once more. The rifle they had taken was still around Ed's chest, hanging at his side but to attempt to get it over his shoulders and head without giving themselves away wasn't in the agenda – the gun would have to wait. And without knowing exactly how much ammunition it held, shooting blindly in the dark wasn't a viable survival option.
"Ron I thought you said you saw them."
"I did Dave. And I swear I hit one," the other Lockhart would be hunter mentions. But just before they can take another step toward the stone alcove, Ed and Wordy were hiding behind the walkie-talkie cracks to life and one of them is quick to answer. "Yeah we got it. Fine…we're on our way back. Let's go."
Both of them hear heavy footsteps heading away from them; Wordy waiting a few more minutes before he dares to peek out from behind the rocks and see what was going on. Sure enough he watches the two figures fading in the distance before the takes off the goggles and then leans back against the stones, closing his eyes for a few minutes and then quickly opening them again and getting to work on setting Ed completely free.
"They're leaving – for now. Hold still a few more seconds."
"Got it," Ed finally huffs as his wrists break free of the harsh ropes, his cold hands quickly rubbing some life into his limbs after the tight bonds had been cut off. But as soon as his shoulder starts to twinge, his left hand instantly clutches the top of his left shoulder, biting back a curse and wince at the same time.
"Bullet still in?"
"Yeah," Ed grimaces as he looks at Wordy with a heavy frown. "And no you are not taking it out in the dark with a pocket knife."
"Wasn't gonna attempt it. But at least use this jacket to keep warm. I'll take it next."
As much as he didn't want to, his shoulder literally was screaming for some leniency, prompting Ed to eagerly take the jacket and put it on his damp sweaty back; his mind instantly grateful. "Let's just…find someplace to seek shelter and try to get a bit warmed up," he concludes by shoving the rifle to his back and pushing his freezing hands into his armpits to get them a bit warm. "Lead the way."
Giving his head a shake and knowing better than to argue with Ed right now, Wordy nods as both of them head a bit further into the forest for about ten more minutes before stopping. "Wordy look," Ed points at what appears to be a clearing with the outline of a small shack not far past the darkened tree line. "Just go carefully."
With his body rapidly losing heat, his fingers shoved into his jeans pocket to get some warmth back into them before they come back out and clutch the rifle, his eyes constantly darting around them; Wordy still using the goggles and both of them on alert.
"Think they'll know we're missing yet?" Wordy asks in a soft tone, his hands trying to rub under his sweater to get some heat to his slightly throbbing chest and then snaking up to his armpits to get some warmth back into his shaking fingers.
"If not…we've done something wrong," Ed smirks as they near the edge of the thick forest and both stop, Wordy quickly surveying the landscape for any signs of moving baddies. "Anything?"
"Nope," Wordy twists his head and squints ahead to the outline of what appears to be a hunting hide. "Looks like a hunting hide."
"It's shelter. Is it safe?"
"Not sure. Could be," Wordy replies fatefully as Ed readies the rifle just in case.
"Let's go."
"But I can't tell from here if it's safe or not."
"I'm freezing your freezing…we just need…can you see movement of any kind?"
"No."
"They went in the opposite direction. I say we try to chance it," Ed insists, his shoulder throbbing starting to increase. "Just go slowly."
"Okay. Ready?"
"Yeah," Ed nods as they both take a step forward, his mind praying that his wife or Shelly had called their team and they were on the hunt as well and not realizing the stakes on their lives would soon be upped a very high notch.
XXXXXXXX
"It's not like them right?" Spike asks as he and Sam near the auto wrecking yard, it being well after midnight already.
"To be gone this long? No way. They both have family's and stuff," Sam answers in truth. "Something's up. Hey Spike…up there," Sam gestures to the front entrance to the wrecking yard. "Here?"
"In the yard I guess."
"Is there a dog in there?" Sam asks as he looks at the No Trespassing and Beware of Guard Dog signs.
"I uh…oh," Spike looks at the signs and then frowns as he looks over at Sam. "Did you bring a milk bone?"
"Funny," Sam deadpans as Spike stops the SRU SUV just outside the front gate. "Try calling them again."
Spike presses the speaker button and first dials Ed's cell and then Wordy's, both of them listening to empty rings and then voice mail in return.
"Damn, still nothing," Sam growls as he looks at Spike and both of them slowly get out of the darkened SUV and head for the main gate. Sam whistles loudly to see if a dog comes running and sure enough they hear a few whimpers in the distance but nothing coming toward them.
"A guard dog not on guard?" Spike looks at Sam in wonder. "Security signs and no one coming to greet us?"
"Something's really off here," Sam peeks through the gate and spies Wordy's mini-van. "I see the van but I don't see anyone in it. I don't see a dog or a light on in the office."
"Well they hafta be here," Spike states as he dials Ed's number and watches a blue glow starting to flash up in the front seat of the van. "Ed's phone is still there and active."
"ED! WORDY!" Sam calls out loudly before he looks back at Spike in concern. "Okay we gotta get in that yard and if they aren't there we gotta find out where they were…well before this. Who goes over first?"
"Shall we rock, scissors, paper for it?" Spike mildly jokes to whish Sam just shakes his head.
"Okay I'm going in first; something's definitely wrong. Coming?"
"Lead the way."
A/N: Okay so what danger do you think is waiting for Ed and Wordy? And what will Sam and Spike find out? Lots ahead so I hope you all like this update and please do review before you go and thanks so much!