As Ashley and Briar rounded the first curve in the tunnel, they heard the distinctive sound of a gunshot from behind them, followed by the splintering of wood. "Sounds like he found the door," Briar observed, slowing down slightly as Ashley paused, reaching out toward the wall of the tunnel.

      "Yeah, I think you're right," he replied. "Good thing whoever used this tunnel before us was paranoid, too." As he spoke, his hand grasped the edge of a precarious stack of wooden crates, and with a quick tug, he sent them toppling to the floor in an untidy pile. He then swung back around, placing his hand on Briar's back, giving her a gentle nudge forward. "That should hopefully slow him down, so let's get moving."

      Briar resumed a faster pace, with Ashley close behind, and they had nearly reached the second bend in the tunnel when they heard a muffled crash, along with a shout of, "Goddammit! I'm sick of you two fucking things up for me, and when I catch up to you, what I'm going to do to you will make what I did to Keel look like a fucking love tap! I'll rip out your intestines and wrap them around this little shack like Christmas tinsel!"

      They kept moving, making the most of the advantage that their familiarity with the tunnel gave them, stopping momentarily at the next turn to grab a pair of chains that hung from one wall and loop them over hooks on the other side. The dirt and rust crusting the links attested to the length of time they had hung in the dark, musty space, a possible relic of the time when it had been used for transporting illegal goods, but they would still serve to slow their pursuer down, and possibly even cause injury.

      Their flashlights had just revealed the gnarled tree roots that marked the end of the tunnel when the clatter of metal, followed by more muffled cursing, told them that he hadn't spotted the chains before running into them. This galvanized them into a final burst of speed as they sprinted to the ladder, and Briar quickly ascended, unbolting the hatch and forcing it up as Ashley scrambled up behind her.

      He was just over halfway through the opening when gunfire sounded in the cramped space, and he felt clods of dirt spray against his legs. Briar grasped Ashley's hand, intending to help him out, and her eyes widened when, instead of joining her on the leaf-littered forest floor, he turned away from her, looking back into the passageway. But as she heard a splintering crash, she realized what he was doing. He had paused to kick the ladder away from the opening, in an effort to buy more time for their escape. 

      He then turned toward her again, and she used both hands to pull on his arm as he levered himself upward with his legs, causing him to pop out of the hole like a cork from a champagne bottle, landing prone on the ground at her feet before springing back up like a jack-in-the-box. 

      "Log," he gasped, and Briar instantly joined him in grabbing onto the large section of tree that they had placed next to the opening. They flung their weight into the effort, and managed to position the slab of wood over the well-concealed hatch just as they heard the sound of the ladder thudding against the hard-packed dirt below them.

      They sprinted away from the spot, further into the trees, not stopping until they found a patch of tangled shrubbery large enough to conceal both of them from view. Once they had taken a moment to catch their breath, Briar turned to Ashley, her face tight with tension. "What the hell do we do now?" she questioned. "We can't call anybody, and we obviously can't go back to the cabin. Any ideas?"

       He leaned forward, giving her a quick kiss, and replied, "Possibly. You're right, we can't go back there openly, but maybe we can sneak around behind. Hopefully he'll backtrack through the tunnel and come blundering around looking for us here in the woods, and if he does, we might be able to get to the truck and take off, if he didn't fuck with it, too."

      She nodded her agreement with his reasoning, adding, "And if he did, or if there's any sign that he's still there, then we can just skirt around through the trees until we can get to the road, or head down to the lake and see if someone in one of those cabins might have a landline, or if they'll take us to Liz and Carmine's store."

      Taking care to be as quiet as possible, they moved back toward the cabin, hoping to be able to make it to the truck without being seen, and drive away before their stalker could catch up to them. But their hearts sank when the old pickup came into view, because all four tires had been flattened, rendering it useless on the deeply rutted dirt road.

      "Fuck!" Ashley hissed, raking his fingers through his hair in frustration. "The bastard's thought of everything, hasn't he?"

      Briar placed a finger on her lips, indicating that he should be quiet, as she pointed toward the cabin with her other hand. He turned his head, and immediately dropped into a crouch as he saw someone emerge from the cabin and bound off of the front porch, charging into the woods. They waited silently until the sound of footsteps in the leaf-litter faded, then began moving in the opposite direction.

      "This is gonna take longer now," Briar observed. "We could get to the road a lot quicker if we could go the other way, but then we'd probably run right into the fucker!"

      "Then we'll just go with Plan B. We'll head for the lake, and hopefully find some fishermen with a vehicle. Or, at the very least, another cabin we can sneak into and hide out for a bit. With the fires going, there are bound to be firefighters and cops coming around before too long."

      Moving toward Cachuma Lake, they skirted the edges of the clearer areas in an attempt to remain unnoticed until they could reach the more public area, and hopefully find help. Their pace was slowed, however, by heavy undergrowth and numerous fallen branches from the previous week's storm. They plodded along, however, and had nearly reached the lake when their luck changed.

      They reached a point where their path was completely blocked by the massive trunk of a fallen tree, and Briar easily scrambled over the obstacle, but immediately clutched one of the branches as her feet touched the ground. "Be careful when you come over, Ash," she said. "There's still a lot of mud here, and it's pretty slick."

      "Got it, Tink," he replied, as he maneuvered around the foliage still protruding from the downed tree, making his way toward Briar. But as he swung over to the other side and prepared to drop to the ground, the cuff of his jeans snagged on a branch, throwing him off balance, and he lurched forward. Briar surged forward to help him as he desperately flailed his arms in an attempt to regain his balance, but before she could reach him, his upper body hit the ground, while his left leg remained connected to the tree, turned at a rather odd angle. His fingers clawed at the dirt as he muttered, "Oh, fuck, that hurts!" through clenched teeth.

      She dropped to her knees next to him, reaching for his pantleg. "Ash, be still!" she ordered. "I need to get you untangled. It might hurt a little, but it'll be even worse if you thrash around and try to yank it loose." He drew in a deep breath, then nodded, and she carefully began to work the heavy denim fabric off of the splintered piece of wood it was entangled with. When she finally freed him, she placed her hands on his leg, gently pressing with her fingers from the ankle upwards.

      When she reached his knee, his breath whistled between his teeth when her fingers merely skimmed over it, and his hand shot out to grasp her arm. "Please stop, that fucking hurts."

      "Yeah, I'm sure it does, and I'm sorry, but I needed to see if you'd broken anything," she explained. "I don't think you did, but obviously I can't be totally sure. But I'm willing to bet that you've sprained it pretty badly, at the least, if you haven't torn cartilage or a muscle. Come on, let's see if you can stand up."

      Using both Briar and the tree for support, Ashley managed to stand upright, but almost went down again the moment he attempted to place his weight on the injured leg. Briar gripped him around the waist, placing his arm over her shoulders to keep him from falling, and he managed to keep his footing, but just barely. She looked at him, and said, "Okay, just lean on me, and I'll help you the rest of the way down to the lake."

      "There's no way you can do that, Tink! I can barely move, and you sure as hell can't carry me! With all of the rocks and mud, I'll end up taking you down with me at some point, and then we'll both be sitting ducks for the sonofabitch."

      "Well, I'm sure as shit not leaving you here, so what the hell do you suggest, then?" she demanded, her voice beginning to quaver. "Either we both go, or we both stay, and that's final, so don't even think about trying to argue with me!"

      He saw from the set of her jaw that she was completely serious, so he thought for a moment, and offered, "Okay, how about this? I'll go as far as I can, and we'll look for a place where I can stay out of sight. Then I'll hide while you go on for help." She opened her mouth to protest, but he gently placed his finger over her lips and said,  "You can move a lot faster without me holding you back, so this is the only chance we've got. Please, do it for me, okay?"

      She hesitated for a second, then nodded in reluctant agreement, and tightened her grip on him again, preparing to move forward. But before they could take a step, footsteps crunched in the leaves behind them, accompanied by the sound of a gun being cocked, and a familar voice saying, "Oh, how touching. But I'm afraid it's too late for that now."