"William, calm down!" Tom struggled to push William behind a bush.
"No, I have to get back there, I have to save him," William moaned, trying to charge back where they came from.
"We'll save everyone, but we have to get away first." Tom leaned his entire weight on William and finally floored him. Jerry quickly joined them.
For a few moments, they stood in silence, listening. The only sound was the rustling of a small breeze through the leaves. They waited another few minutes, then Tom raised his head to look over the bush. He ducked back instantly, his heart pounding. A couple of Snitch Gravel's men were heading towards them holding rifles.
"We can't search every damn bush of this forest. We just can't!" one of them was saying desperately.
"We have no choice. If the boss finds out she escaped, it's our heads," his companion answered.
The two hurried past the bush in which Tom, Jerry and William hid and disappeared out of sight. Tom listened carefully, but he didn't believe they were in any immediate danger. The guards weren't looking for them, but for the agent. A wave of joy swept through him and he felt like fist pumping the air and doing a little victory dance.
After a few moments, Jerry stood and stepped out of the bush. "This is strange. How come they're not looking for us?"
"Because the agent escaped. They were looking for her!" Tom said joining him. "At last, some good news." He stopped and robbed his chin. They were in a little predicament. Should they search for the agent or bust the others out?
"What are we going to do?" Jerry said quietly.
"I think..." Tom looked to William. "Who did you want to save?"
William only stared back blankly. After a few seconds, he raised a hand and pointed somewhere behind Tom.
"What is it?" Jerry asked excited.
"It's a tree," William answered flatly.
"Yes, we see it's a tree. What about it?" Tom asked having a bad feeling.
"It's a nice tree," William answered.
Tom felt a burning desire to kick William, but turned away instead. "Okay, now that's done, let's see where we stand. We're completely lost and clueless..."
"We're not lost," William said from somewhere above them.
Tom whipped around and stared up the tree to which William had pointed.
"Where are we, then?" Jerry asked looking up the tree, too.
"We're half-a-day away from the labs," William answered, climbing down from the tree with startling ease. His boots clanked and he hit the soft ground.
"Great. Let's go save the others," Jerry said excitedly.
"Oh, they're not at the lab," William said smartly, brushing leaves of his shirt.
"Then where are they?" Pause. "William?" Tom asked worried.
"I'm a little teapot, short and stout..." William started singing and dancing joyfully.
"Oh, great, he's dumb again!" Tom said pissed off and once again felt the urge to kick William. "I'll go see what's going on."
He jumped, grabbed on to the lowest branch and scurried up the tree as high as he could. After pushing a few branches aside, he could see the labs and they were indeed much closer than he'd expected. Another set of buildings stretched to his left and he guessed that was where the others were.
The only bad part was they could get lost on the way. All the bloody forest looked the same and there weren't many climbable trees. He searched inside his backpack and pulled out a compass. The compound was in a general north-western direction, but going that way didn't mean they'd necessarily find it. He wished he had a map.
Sighing, Tom scrambled down the tree and landed with a thump in front of Jerry. His brother looked at him expectantly, his eyebrows raised.
"Look, the way I see it, we'll have to capture one of Snitch Gravel's men and force him to be our guide," Tom said after a few minutes of silence. "There's another compound somewhere in that direction..." He waved his hand. "But I doubt we can reach it on our own, and we don't have time to spare. You stay here with William and I'll go and try to find someone."
Jerry frowned. "It's dangerous to go out there on your own. We should all go."
"And have William blow our cover?"
"What if you don't find anyone?" Jerry asked instead.
"I'll find someone. They're looking for the escaped agent and they're not expecting to get attacked while at it. And in case you haven't noticed, we don't really have a choice. Our main luggage was with Jim and all we have are these little backpacks which contain neither food nor crappy, contaminated water."
"Why do these things have to happen all the time? Darn luck!" Jerry turned with his back to Tom and stomped his foot in anger.
Tom let out a humorless laugh. "I can't believe you're not used to that already. But we also always find a way."
"It's as if you're the older brother. I should be taking care of you," Jerry answered, smiling weakly. "Don't worry, I'll take care of William until you get back."
"All right then." Tom gave Jerry a reassuring smile and started off in the general direction of the compound.
A few trees later, he stopped to make a sign that would actually help him get back to Jerry. He made multiple signs as he went, always checking the compass and trying not to think.
Because Jerry was right. They always had bad luck and it was starting to become annoying. It wasn't the fact that almost everyone got captured or the fact that Ron turned out to be a traitor. It was being lost in this forest more than anything.
Tom stopped and leaned against a tree, his eyes shut tightly, trying to fight the gloom and doom pouring out of him. He knew it was the blasted water, knew he should fight it and stay himself, but his burning throat and aching head weren't helping.
Pull yourself together. You're much stronger than this. You've been through worse...much worse. This was just a stupid forest. He could handle it.
Taking a big breath, Tom detached himself from the tree and looked up. He could climb it and check his position. As soon as he reached the top, he noticed the labs were further away but, the jail house a little closer. Looking in the opposite direction, and he could spot the big tree under which he'd left Jerry and William. He'd covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time.
Invigorated by his progress, Tom climbed down and wanted to jump of the final branch, but the roar of an engine stopped him. He crouched and looked to his left. Three sand-colored pickups appeared out of the forest. The first in line was going at incredible speed, and it seemed like the other two were struggling to keep up.
The proverbial light bulb turned on in Tom's head. If he could get inside the first pickup, he would have a faster means of transportation and could pull information out of the driver. Not to mention... Tom squinted and almost yelped with joy. The pickup's carrier was filled with what he thought and hoped were water barrels. Clean water barrels.
He crouched lower. The car was heading straight for him, would most likely race right under him and he had to time his jump perfectly. Three, two, one...
Tom jumped and landed in the carrier, but he'd misjudged the speed. He fell off his feet with a loud thump and tumbled over the barrels. Cursing his lungs out, Tom got to his knees and glanced over his shoulder. The other two pickups were approaching.
With an almighty lurch, Tom shot back into the iron stopped as his driver accelerated. A couple of barrels tumbled over him. How they hadn't flown out yet was a mystery. His bones aching, Tom crawled back towards the cabin. A sudden break made his trip much faster. He rammed head-first into the cabin. His mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood.
Before he could check if his teeth were still intact, the driver accelerated again. Out of reflex, Tom grabbed to the iron bars protecting the back window, a terrifying thought crossing his mind. He knows I'm here. He's trying to shake me off.
Another break and more acceleration sent the barrels of water crashing against him. Annoyed beyond belief, Tom decided the other two pickups could go screw themselves, so he grabbed the bars tightly and pulled himself on the roof.
As his feet left the carrier, another bolt of speed sent two out of the three barrels spinning madly into the forest. One of the pursuing pickups swerved madly to avoid them and crashed into a tree.
Tom was wondering if he'd remember where the barrels had crashed to come pick them up, when his pickup braked violently, almost sending him flying off the roof. The car jerked to the right, barely missing a tree, and sped off again. Tom tightened his hold on the edges of the roof and glanced back. The remaining pursuer hadn't avoided the tree and stood scrunched against it. It then came to Tom's mind that his crazy driver had almost crashed the car at full speed into the same tree.
He reached his hand inside through the open window, but his eyes widened. They were coming out of the forest and heading towards the edge of a cliff.
Completely terrified, he reached his hand deeper inside. The driver braked again, sending Tom flying on the hood. His fingers latched desperately to the edge of the hood. The car accelerated, thrusting Tom headfirst into the windshield. His mouth filled with blood again, but he didn't care anymore. He looked behind him at the ever approaching drop off the cliff. The crazy driver didn't show signs of stopping.
He had to jump off the car. Let the mental driver commit suicide. Before he could try to get his body to roll in the right direction, the car braked again. Tom's fingers slid off the hood and he slid over. His fingers tightened on the radiator shield and he was left dangling over the edge of the cliff.
The damn car finally stopped. The door opened and someone stepped out. The driver came over to the edge, looking towards the horizon, probably not expecting Tom to still be alive and hanging. Tom looked back at his executioner, murder on his mind, but his brain seemed to freeze. The driver was a girl. A beautiful girl with rich dark hair caught in a ponytail, wearing boots, army-print shorts and a green t-shirt.
Tom's brain seemed to jam. No. Can't be. He reached out and grabbed her ankle. She jumped back, pulled a pistol out and pointed it at his head. He fought a mad desire to laugh.
"Tom?" Angie asked shocked. She put the gun away, grabbed his hand and yanked him up.
Tom stared at her refusing to process this, to realize what it meant because he knew it was stupid, stressful and he didn't want it to be true. He was going to kill Herrison.
Angie pulled him into a hug, snapping him out of his fantasy of skinning Herrison alive. "Thank God it's you," she mumbled into his shoulder.
"You're the agent, aren't you?" Tom asked weakly.
"Yeah, it's me."
Heat surged through him and he wrapped his arms around her, pressing her tightly against him. She smelled of dirt and the forest, but somewhere underneath was the fruity smell he'd come to associate with her. And it was that more than anything that convinced him she wasn't a figment of his imagination.
For the first time in what seemed like years, the burning in his throat disappeared, the heaviness pressing against his shoulders lifted and he was happy. He'd forgotten how that even felt. But as fast as it came, the dream morphed into a gruesome nightmare. Because this was wrong, she wasn't supposed to be here.
He pushed her at arm's length, squeezing her shoulders. "How could you not tell me? How could Herrison not tell me? Oh, that's it, I'm going to kill him!" He let her go and stomped towards the car. "I can't believe this!"
"Tom, please, calm down. I'm sorry I popped out here, but I couldn't tell you..." Angie started, her voice shaky.
"Couldn't tell me?" He wheeled around, his fists clenched. Oh, how he wanted to punch something. Preferably Herrison's face. "Was it so hard to phone and say so?"
"You don't understand. My mission was top secret." She hesitated for a few seconds, biting her lower lip.
Tom watched her, feeling the burning desire to chew on her lip, too. He shook his head and looked away. Stop it with the inappropriate thoughts. You're mad at her, remember?
"I made a deal with the Agency," she finally said.
"Oh, sure, you made a deal. You could've been killed, for Christ's sake! Do you have any ideas how many nightmares I've had since I came here? Nightmares in which they execute you before we manage to save you?" It was stupid to yell in case more of Snitch Gravel's guards were around, but he couldn't help it.
"You knew it was me?" she asked, her green eyes widening.
"No, but I felt as if it were. I've been going out of my mind and you felt like making deals."
"It was the only way to make sure I move to Chicago."
The simple sentence knocked all the anger out of Tom. He stared at her, trying to process what she'd just said. She'd put herself in mortal danger just so she could move to Chicago, be with him.
Angie smiled weakly. "Way to make everything about you. As usual."
And that felt like a slap in the face. Tom marched to her and hugged her. "I'm so sorry, babe. I just hate to think you're in danger. And you kinda almost killed me."
Angie laughed. "I'm really sorry about that. I thought you were one of Snitch Gravel's men."
"I crushed my face against your windshield!"
"I was too busy trying not to drive off the cliff." Her grin suddenly faded, replaced by a panicked look. "Why are you alone?"
"Relax, I'm not alone. My brothers and Billy are with me. Also, some delightful new characters." Tom opened the car's door and got inside. Angie followed him reluctantly. "We're going to go find Jerry and William and then think of a plan to bust Sam and the others out."
"Who's William?" Angie asked confused. "And what happened to Sam and the others?"
"Oh, I'll tell you all about it when we reach Jerry. If I manage to find him again," Tom mumbled, trying to start the car, but it kept backfiring. "What's wrong with this thing?"
"You have to press the clutch."
"The what? Oh, shit, there's an extra pedal here."
"Yes, it's called the clutch. Don't tell me you've never driven stick-shift before," Angie said exasperated.
"No, I haven't." Ouch. "But I'll learn."
"Until you learn, I think you should let me drive."
"Yeah, okay, I guess, though I'm not very sure about your driving. Maniac," Tom muttered, moving to the passenger's seat and letting Angie take over.
"Where is Jerry?"
"Under some huge tree. I carved the way, so if we could find the last tree..."
"No need. I know exactly where he is." Angie smiled and started the engine.