There Are Too Many Trees, and It's One Hell of A Big Forest

Chapter 2

     In the distance, off the right side of the road, the FBI agents could see the square shape of a shack-like house materializing from amidst the trees. As the car rolled toward it slowly (not long into their forest expedition, Carter had decided it was hard to SAFELY drive faster than 15 mph on this god-forsaken dirt path, with Alicia’s angry protests and punches supporting this conclusion), they saw something else that made this discovery even better. A rusty old truck with mud splatters up to its windows had been parked sloppily near the shack, and it matched the description of the suspect’s vehicle, right down to the peeling red paint and the “Ford” inscribed on its bumper.

  Without a word, Carter stopped the car a short distance away from the house, making sure it was hidden from view by the trees. Peering out the passenger window, Alicia slipped her gun out.

“Looks like we got lucky.” Carter muttered, his green eyes bright, and they both slid out of the car, drawing their guns. 

 They approached carefully, knowing that the guy they sought was dangerous, probably armed, and not the type to hesitate. All precautions would have to be taken.

The shack was small and square; the walls were made out of bleak concrete and covered in faded graffiti from years past. The rain-rusted roof was crumbling in places, and the agents had to wrestle their way through knee-high weeds to reach the front door, since whatever path had been there had long disappeared. Standing on the stoop, Carter knocked on the door as Alicia stood behind him, gun raised.

“FBI!” Carter called. Silence was the only response, apart from the papery rustle of leaves above. Squaring her shoulders against the side of the house, Alicia watched with alert eyes as her partner quietly nudged open the door.

   They burst into the house, arms taut as they pointed their guns straight in front of them, fingers resting on the triggers tensley.Silence, and no response. The agents stood in the middle of an empty, cell-like room. Light poured feebly from one high window, and Alicia had to blink rapidly to adjust her eyes to the sudden darkness. Letting her arms relax a little, she looked around, feeling dissapointed.

“FBI?” Carter called again, almost hopefully, but it was pointless; the house was only this one room, square, simple and made of grim concrete like the outside, with no furniture apart from a folded up lawn chair in the corner, and duffel bag thrown near it. As they turned on their flashlights to sweep the shadowed corners of the room, Alicia sighed. There was no one there.

As Carter went to inspect the black duffel bag, Alicia rose on her toes to look through the window, and something in the corner of the room caught her eye. She walked cautiously over to the small trap door that almost blended in with the floor, raising her gun slightly. Looking over her shoulder at Carter, who was still occupied with the duffel bag, she called softly to get his attention.

He walked over frowning. “The duffel bag’s empty except for some old food wrappers and a notebook full of scribbles.”

“Scribbles? Maybe it’s a code or something.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. They’re not like complicated math scribbles, just…scribbles. Like kindergarten-kid-with-a pen-in-his hand scribbles. Or guy-having-an-epileptic-seizure scribbles.” He flipped through the marble composition pad to prove his point, smirking.

“I get it. Butt take it anyway, just in case.” Alicia suggested, turning back to her own discovery. “Look.”

Carter squinted, and shined his flashlight in the direction Alicia was pointing to reveal the dark outline of the trap door.  She knelt down, reaching out to grab the handle and pull it up while Carter stood over her, gun poised and ready for any sudden trouble. The door came off easier than she expected; it flew open and she winced at the loud clang of the handle hitting the concrete floor. From inside the hole, she heard the heavy patter of dirt clumps raining down, but couldn’t really see anything, not even within the circle illuminated by her flashlight. The only thing Alicia was able to make out was the dim shape of stairs, extending into more darkness. “I think it’s a tunnel.”

Carter looked doubtfully into the unwelcoming hole, and then smiled sweetly back at Alicia.

“Ladies first. Or finders, keepers. Whichever rule you prefer.”

“Hey, wasn’t the second part of that one “losers, weepers”? In you go, you weeping loser.” Alicia smirked and took a step back, ready to cover Carter's back as he went in. "I hate you," he grumbled darkly, but crouched down anyway.

Carter swung his legs gracefully into the hole before letting the rest of his body follow. His feet came into contact with solid ground fast, and he bent his knees a bit to absorb the shock, landing cat-like. Straightening up as much as he could against the low ceiling, Carter swept the tunnel with his light, before turning around to help Alicia down.

"Thanks," Alicia said as Carter put her down gently. “How far do you think it goes?” She brushed some loose dirt from her hair with an annoyed snort, and in the tight space, she could feel Carter shrug his shoulders to her question.

They slowly made their way along the narrow, cramped tunnel, more than a bit uncomfortable but still focused on their task. As they made their way, Carter felt Alicia shudder and recoil into him a bit from where she had been moving against the tunnel’s dirt wall.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, worried.

Alicia grimaced. “I’m just trying not to think about how many ants and bugs are crawling in this dirt around us.”

Their speed increased substantially after that comment.

After about ten minutes of creeping, shuffling and stumbling, Carter noticed the lightness beginning to bloom in the tunnel, and he pointed it out. “Finally, we’re getting close to the end.”

“Good. Remind me next time not to wear heels when crawling through dirt tunnels. I swear to god, this day is just getting better and better,” came Alicia’s grumbling response, just as she tripped over another rock and had to clutch at Carter’s broad shoulder for support, muttering curses under her breath.

   Finally, to both of their reliefs, a hole of sunlight was gaping above them, providing escape. Carter gracefully hoisted himself out and stretched out the twitching cramp in his back while Alicia crawled out second, plunking down on the grass and grumpily brushing off her pants. Looking down at her, Carter couldn’t prevent the small laugh that escaped him.

“What’s so funny?” His partner demanded.

“You look like you just fell out of a chimney into a mud wrestling competition.” Alicia glared.

“You wear it very well though,” Colby added quickly, shooting her a smile.

“Yeah, well, you don’t look like no Miss America either.” She stood up, looking around at where the tunnel had led them. They were back in the woods, and she could actually see the shack, barely visible through the closely-growing trees. “More importantly, where are we and what the hell was the point of that lovely adventure?”

Carter glanced over his shoulder at the shape of the shack in the distance. “You know, I doubt this tunnel is even relevant to anything. It was probably left over from when that house was built, and our guy probably didn’t even know about it. But you're right, it was a lovely adventure.”

"Very funny, Carter," Alicia grinned, giving him a playful shove.

But suddenly, her smile dissappeared and she froze; a flash of movement and color had caught her eye, and without taking her eyes of the spot, she began to creep toward it.Confused, Carter drew his gun once again and crept through the tall grass after her, trying to see what she had seen.

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Next part, it starts to get fun ;D Alicia's gonna really hate those shoes soon! haha. Oh, and just a question for anyone who has read, I was gonna keep the two of them strictly platonic throughout the story, but i feel like they have chemistry? Should i give this story some romance? Or keep them friends? IDK, i don't usually write romance!!