The dog had been untied and left to find it's way home on it's own. The camp was as clean as we could get it. We had hidden as much as we could but we both knew it wouldn't be good enough to stand a close inspection. It was still obviously the scene of Travis's murder. We left together traveling fast to put as much distance between us and that place as quickly as we could.

We were hopelessly lost. Our only option was to try to get back to the place Jeff had left us to die and try to follow the tire tracks. Hopefully that would lead us  back to some place  we could hitch a ride.

We needed to get to some kind of town. We were out of supplies and hungry, the both of us still sore from our recent ordeals. A room and a shower would be nice too. We had refilled our water bottles from the spring. At least we wouldn't die of thirst. 

It took less time to get back to the place we had been left by that monster Jeff than it had taken me before to get to the spring. I was surprised by how close we were. This time I wasn't carrying Blake and trying to wrestle with two back packs though, so I understand why it seemed like I had carried him  farther than I had.

We spent as little time there as we could.  As we searched for the tire tracks I tried not to think about that night and what had happened here. It couldn't helped, visions of Blake and Jeff,  all the things Jeff had done to me. The beatings, the horror, the pain. All those thoughts kept jumping unwanted into my head. I could see that it was affecting Blake the same way.

It was no problem picking up the tracks the car tires had left. I thanked God it hadn't rained since all this happened. 

We didn't have to walk far before we came to a highway. I looked at Blake and he looked at me and shrugged. I picked a direction at random and started walking again, waiting for a car to happen by and hopefully hitch a ride to the nearest town.

We walked a long time before we heard the sound of an approaching vehicle.  Automatically we both turned, walking backwards and extended our thumbs.

It was an old Ford pickup, a 60's model I think, with an older gentleman behind the wheel and his wife sitting next to him. I was mildly surprised when they stopped for us. The old guy even backed up so that we didn't have to run to catch up. We reached his window as he was rolling it down and he gave us the once over.

"What are two kids your age doing out in the middle of no where hitching rides?" he asked us.

"Now George" the older woman fussed at him, "Thats hardly polite. Look at these kids, they have obviously been through some kind of ordeal or other."

"Martha..." George started to speak.

"George you hush" she interrupted him, then to us she asked "Where are you two headed?"

"The nearest town" I answered, "We ran out of supplies and we are hungry, we want to eat."

The old lady reached down into a brown paper bag at her feet and extracted two sandwiches wrapped in cellophane and handed them to George.

"Hand these out to them George" she told him, "Can't you see how hungry they are?"

George accepted the sandwiches and as he passed them out the window to us he tried again, "Martha, you know I'm ..."  Martha cut him off before he could finish. 

"Climb on in back kids" she called out the window, "We are headed into town our own selves, of course we will give you a ride. Ain't that right George?"

The old man named George sighed with a resigned look on his face. "Yes dear" He answered, "of course. If you had let me finish.." 

"Hush George" she told him, "Let them get in and get moving, can't you see how hungry they are?"

George shrugged, rolled his eyes and pointed his thumb at the back without another word.

We climbed in the back of the old truck, both of us smiling with our sandwiches in our hands. They turned out to be ham and cheese. Not my favorite sandwich but I don't remember ham that ever tasted so good. It wasn't the lunch meat that you get from the store either. It was thick cut and the fat carefully trimmed. Delicious!

It was a short ride to town. George pulled the truck into a 7/11 to get gas and Blake and I scrambled out.

"Thanks so much for the ride" I said to him, "And thank you too" I waved at Martha through the window. "The sandwiches were lovely" I told her, "They really hit the spot. I don't think we can thank the two of you enough."

"You are getting out here?" Martha asked, "We are heading to the grocery after we get some gas, they have a better selection and the prices are lower too."

"Thank you so much" I answered back, "That's so very kind of you, but really this is perfect. We don't need much."

"Alright dear, if you insist" she told me, "It was nice meeting you an good luck to you both. Be safe, you hear?"

"Yes ma'am." I answered, "Thanks again."

We were inside the store shopping around and looking at the potted meats in the canned goods section. We had one of those plastic baskets and were filling it up quick. I've heard you shouldn't go shopping when you are hungry and now I know why.

We had already filled two baskets and Blake went to the front of the store to find a third. I was looking at the Lance Snacks when he came rushing back up the aisle without the basket.

"Chan" he said desperately, "We need to leave, we need to leave now!"

"What are you talking about Blake?" I looked at him annoyed. I wondered if he was okay mentally. If maybe Jeff had unhinged him a little and made him paranoid. He was looking fearfully out the front of the store towards the gas pumps. I followed his gaze and saw right away what had upset him.

A car identical to the one Jeff had been driving was parked at the pumps and a uniformed police officer was walking across the lot towards the store. It took me a few seconds to realize that that police officer was Jeff.

Instinctively I dropped my basket and ducked down below the aisle where Jeff couldn't see me. I pulled Blake down with me.

"What the hell?" I whispered, "Of all the bad luck and all the places we could be right now,  why?"

"I don't know." Blake whispered back, "Do you think he knows we are here? Is he looking for us?" Blake was shaking he was so scared. He was on the edge and losing it.

"God Blake, I hope not." I told him, "We have to get out of here."

Slowly, carefully we made our way towards the back of the store. Then as Jeff stood at the counter passing time with the guy behind the register we made our way towards the double glass doors in front, dragging our back packs behind us as we went. We kept a close eye on the action at the counter in the big round mirror at the back of the store. It was there to help catch shoplifters, but it worked both ways and right now it was helping us keep our eyes on Jeff.

By the time we got to the front of the aisle Jeff had his wallet out to pay for his gas. This was as good a chance as we were going to get. We grabbed our packs and ran for it. Out the door we went as fast as we could go. I heard a shout from Jeff as the door swung shut behind us. He had seen us as we left.

I was following Blake and he was heading around the corner of the store running hard. I caught up with him as he forced his way through the neatly trimmed hedge that bordered the property behind the store and into the woods.  He never even slowed down. Once through the hedge we were crashing our way through tress and brush, jumping roots, holes and ditches. I started to worry that we were running too fast. That eventually one of us was going to trip and fall and get hurt.

Blake  jumped a log and stopped dead in his tracks. I almost ran into him.  He dropped to the ground pulling me after. there was a depression under the log. He pushed me in and climbed in after me pulling leaves, sticks and anything he else he could reach over us.

We lay quietly a while and soon we heard foot steps. Jeff had followed us and was searching. I held my breath. My heart pounded in my ears. It sounded too loud. I didn't know how to quiet it. What if he heard me breathing? I was scared out of my mind. Blake was laying on top of me covered in all the crap he had pulled over the top of us. He was as still as if he was dead. I did my best to imitate him.

We both listened, hardly breathing and not moving as Jeff searched the woods. It seems like we lay there for hours.

"I know you are here," we heard Jeff's voice, "I can smell you. I can smell your fear."

He walked almost directly over us and paused a few steps away. I was afraid that Blake would panic and bolt. If he did we would be caught for sure. But he didn't. Blake was even more still and silent than before, if that was possible.

"You two are supposed to be dead." Jeff was speaking in a normal voice, "It was my mistake. I should of made sure before I left. I don't know how you did it. I don't know how you managed to recover so quick."

Jeff walked away a few steps, then turned around and came back.

"I promise I will find you. You can't hide from me. No matter where you go or what you do, I will track you down and this time when I finish with you, there will be no question that you are dead."

He stood quietly a few more minutes before we heard him wander away still searching. We laid there for what felt like hours waiting, waiting, waiting. It was almost dark again before we felt brave enough to move.