Jimmy Stickman

Chapter 30: In the Forest

The ship's legs deployed. It's thrusters weakened. It began to descend vertically. It was landing just outside of the edge of the forest right beside the river in an open plain to prevent them from losing it in the midst of the trees. Yet, to still keep it hidden, it was placed within a large cluster of bushes. Squirps also made certain that they did not need to cross the water by foot, so he parked on the mansion's side of the creek. It was now pitch-dark.

Jimmy and Squirps re-equipped their gear and climbed out of the ship in direct succession of each other. They started-off alongside the banks of the creek on their way towards the president's mansion.

"Remain hidden and quiet; once we have arrived at the mansion, we can rest easy." Squirps explained to Jimmy.

"Got it." Jimmy muttered under his breath.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The duo crept between the trees, slowly crunching the soil beneath their feet. They both rotated their heads as they walked, adequetly-surveying the radius around them each time. Whenever they heard a rustle, no matter how intense, in the general vicinity of their path, they froze completely and controlled their breathing until they confirmed that they were in no immediate danger.

Despite the small area of the forest, the stealth-based nature of their current mission elongated the journey. The only sound was generated by the creek, their feet coming into contact with the soil, and the occasional insect buzzing or frog croaking.

There was a sudden splash in the creek, "What the hell was that!?" Jimmy yelled out.

"I dunno." Squirps looked behind, then in-front, and finally to the sides. Nothing.

"If only it wasn't so damn dark!"

"Alright," Squirps pulled his gun out, "we cannot go searching for the source now; we will likely never find any trace of it unless we did so in daylight. Be wary and only attack if necessary."

"So keep moving?"

"Yes, but keep your eyes and ears peeled for anything suspicious."

Squirps hypothesized that when they spotted the artificial glow of porch-lights, they would be getting close. However, there was absolutely nothing so far.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jimmy kept pushing himself through all of the woody vegetation; he hoped to God that they were getting close to the house. All he wanted was to stop travelling such long distances on foot, but all of it was ultimately for the best.

What he had also wished was that he did not accidentally become spun-around by the sheer continuity of the forest in the darkness, but this was a definite possibility as long as the lights of the president's mansion could not be seen.

A sudden rustling in the trees behind the couple was heard by Squirps, initiating him to spin-around quickly.

"What bothers you?" Jimmy interrogated.

"We're being followed!" Squirps moved in towards the source, holding his laser pistol out straight. Nothing. "I am sure of it."

A twig then snapped in the bushes right beside Jimmy, causing him to jerk his head towards the area of disturbance. He stared into the openings in-between the trees. "It must be right..." he loudly whispered to Squirps directly prior to being grappled and thrown into a build-up of small pine trees.