by Tom Jones
After Jason walked away towards the 4Runner to fill Jackie in on the situation, Arcades began to search through the SUV. From a percusorary search of the front two seats, there did not seem to be any items that looked to be very important. Moreover, there were no items containing addresses or any sort of information that the fox would be able to use to help him figure out who was after him. Arcades knew that he still had much more of the vehicle to search, so he opened the center console to continue his search. The fox dug through some generic items that one would typically find in a center console: sunglasses, microfiber cloths, some unimportant paperwork, but the fox was somewhat surprised to find a Heckler & Koch P2000SK. Arcades held the handgun, dropped the magazine, and he pulled the slide back to clear the pistol. The fox locked the slide back once he removed the magazine, and he took the round that was ejected from the chamber and placed it back into the chamber where it came from. Arcades finally dropped the slide before inserting the magazine back into the pistol.
The fox did not consider taking the handgun with him; he had plenty of weapons that he brought with him. Arcades placed the loaded pistol back into the center console where he got it, and he also returned everything he removed back in the center console as well. Arcades’ search of the center console turned up nothing, so he went to move on to search the glove compartment. When the fox opened the glove compartment, he was met with quite a few pieces of paper which immediately rolled out of the small storage box. Arcades picked up the papers, and he began to look them over. While most of them seemed to be about insurance and registration for the vehicle, Arcades found a sticky note with an address encircled on it. The fox took the sticky note aside, and he continued looking through the glove compartment to see if there was anything else he would be able to recover. After completing his search of the storage box, Arcades looked at all of the papers that were now on the floor of the SUV. He would have to pick them up and put them all back in the vehicle except for the sticky note he found. Before the fox got started, he looked at the two humans lying on the ground, and he was wondering if either of them had any notable information on them. He would have to take great care to avoid getting his hands bloody, but he knew that there was still a decent enough chance that they would be carrying some important information.
The wolf arrived back at the 4Runner, and he found Jackie sitting patiently in the rear seat of the SUV. After tapping on the glass to get the vixen’s attention, Jason opened the rear door and began speaking, “Kurt has… Dealt with those two guys.” Jackie turned her body and viewed the Ford Explorer that was still sitting on the other side of the clearing. When the vixen turned back around, she asked, “What did he do?” Jason shook his head, “I have no idea, but those guys aren’t going to be a problem for us anymore.” Jackie remembered a certain perilous night which had occurred earlier in the week, “Did he kill them?” The wolf looked back to the SUV, but he decided to trust the fox’s word, “He told me he didn’t, and Kurt didn’t have any blood on him, either. I didn’t hear any gunshots. I don’t think he killed them,” The vixen did remember hearing some faint shouting from earlier, but she did not know who it was coming from. Still, Jackie was curious, “Do you know what happened there?” The wolf shrugged, “You’ll have to ask Kurt about that. I didn’t see any of it.”
The vixen looked back at the wolf, “So Kurt’s alright?” Jason nodded, “He sure is. Right now, he’s trying to look for information in that sport ute over there.” Jackie looked back at the SUV, but she was confused by the wolf’s words, “Sport -- ute?” The wolf let out a chuckle, “Oh, heh… Ute is short for the word ‘utility’, and back where I’m from, we’d call vehicles with cargo beds ‘utes’ since they’re utility vehicles. I know it’s not really standard, but I’ve taken up the phrase ‘sport ute’ to refer to what you’d guys call an ‘SUV’. Really, it’s just an abbreviated way to say ‘sport utility vehicle’. Where I’m from, we call those four-by-fours, but over here, you guys call more things four-by-fours than just SUVs. I say sport ute to avoid confusion, and Kurt knows what I mean by that. He’s familiar with my Australianisms.” The vixen did not say anything in response, but Jason could tell that Jackie had been listening to him while he talked. The wolf looked back over to the Ford Explorer one more time, and he spoke to the vixen, “I should go and see what Kurt’s been able to dig up. You can come if ya want, but there are a couple of dead people over there.” Jackie declined Jason’s offer, “I think I’ll stay here and wait for you guys to come back.” The wolf gave a nod, “For sure. If those guys weren’t here, we’d probably be on our way to go sell those parts kits, but I guess things don’t always go according to plan. It’s not like we’ve spent too much of our time out here.” The vixen did not say anything back to Jason, so the wolf began to make his way back to Arcades.
When Jason met the fox again, Arcades had already searched practically the entire interior of the Ford Explorer except for the trunk. The wolf announced his return, “Hey, Kurt.” The fox stopped his current action and gave Jason his attention, “Oh, welcome back, Jason. I’ve been through the interior for the most part. I still have to check the boot.” The wolf noticed the fox’s use of the word he would use to refer to the ‘trunk’ of a vehicle, so he let out a small chuckle, “Hah. What’ve you found so far?” Arcades filled in the wolf on his findings, “I found a lot of unimportant paperwork, a handgun, some restraints they were probably going to use on me if they got that far, and something that’s maybe actually worth looking into.” Jason was intrigued to hear what Arcades had found, “What do you’ve?” Arcades reached into his pocket before removing a yellow sticky note. The fox handed it over to the wolf, and Jason took a look at the note before speaking, “An address? Do you reckon this is where their Foundation facility is?” Arcades shrugged after Jason returned the sticky note to him, “There’s really no way to know. We’ll check it on Google Maps first before we go, but there are other things it could be as well.” The wolf looked back at the two humans still sprawled out on the ground, “Hmm… Do you think it could be the place these guys stayed at?” The fox said, “It’s a possibility, but we likely won’t even know until we actually go for ourselves to check it out.”
The wolf backed up until he was standing at the rear of the vehicle, “You’ve to check the boot next, right?” Arcades nodded as he proceeded to the rear of the vehicle as well, “Yep. That’s the only thing I have not checked yet.” The wolf pointed to the bodies, “What about them? Are you going to check them?” Arcades replied, “I checked whatever had no blood on it. There was nothing interesting to note.” Jason continued to question Arcades while the fox opened the trunk door of the Explorer, “What was that handgun you found?” The fox said, “It was a Heckler & Koch pistol. It was a P2000 if I remember correctly, but it was the smaller version. It was not full-sized.” Jason was expecting the fox to have brought it out to show him, “Where is it?” Arcades began his search of the trunk while he talked, “I didn’t bring it with me.” Jason was also surprised to hear that the fox did not keep the weapon, “Why not?” The fox explained to the wolf while he continued to look through the rear of the vehicle, “Mainly because of the serial number on it. I’m not sure where the Foundation got it from, and they would surely be alarmed if they discovered that someone took their handgun and sold it to a dealer. We don’t want more of those guys coming here. Thankfully, these two guys weren’t that adept at their profession.”
The wolf thought of something else, “Uh, Kurt.” Arcades was now wrapping up his search of the vehicle; he did not find anything interesting, “What’s up?” Jason looked at the bodies, the cracked window, and he also looked to the distance in the general direction that the drone crashed, “Don’t you think there would be more of them coming here now?” Arcades did not initially catch on, “Hm?” The wolf pointed towards the bodies, “These guys are dead, and they’re obviously not going to be checking in whenever they’re supposed to. The Foundation will become suspicious, and they�
�ll send more of them in our direction.” Arcades realized that even though he did not have anything to do with the two men killing each other, the Foundation would not not know that, “Oh… That could be a problem.” The fox turned around, and he looked at the 4Runner and the Mustang sitting on the other side of the clearing, “We should probably move that Mustang then. They’ll obviously see it once they find these two guys.” The wolf nodded, “Agreed. You didn’t kill them, right?” Arcades replied, “I didn’t lay a hand on them. They did all of this to themselves.”
Jason was still astounded by how two humans working together to find the same fox would be able to end up dead without anybody else doing anything to them, “Why don’t you give me the story on the way to the gun store?” Arcades nodded, “I will. After we drop those two parts kits off, do you think we should go move the Mustang or go search that address first?” The wolf scratched the back of his head before speaking, “Ah, I dunno, mate. It all really comes down to how quickly the Foundation would get alerted to those to bogan being out of commission. I’m not sure where they’d go first. However, there’s also no telling how much of a head start we have. I guess it’s up to you from here, Kurt.” The fox closed the open trunk of the Explorer and said, “We don’t really know of a good place we would be able to hide the Mustang for the time being right now. Maybe we can use that tarp to cover up the bullet holes on the roof, and we can park it somewhere.” The wolf began to walk with the fox back towards their two vehicles, “Keep in mind that we’ll also have to watch out for the coppers. If they find those guys here, they’ll probably get suspicious of the Mustang if we leave it out here.” Arcades knew that time was not on their side yet again, “I don’t want to miss our opportunity to get any intel that may be at that address, but at the same time, I don’t want to leave the Foundation clues that’ll help them find us.”
The wolf tried to think of a way to reach a resolution, “Alright, mate. If you want my opinion, I think that we should move the Mustang first. If we’re quick enough we’ll be able to also go to the address as well and see what they’ve in there.” Arcades was starting to agree with Jason, “Perhaps you may be right.” The fox began to think of a solution that would get the most done in the least amount of time possible. By the time the two anthros almost returned back to the 4Runner, Arcades had an idea in mind, “I think I have an idea: I’ll go and drop the two parts kits off at the gun store. Meanwhile, do you think you’ll be able to find a place to keep the car? Maybe you can move it a bit closer to where we’re staying right now. It doesn’t have to be anywhere too secluded. We just need to find a place to keep it so your average guy on the road ain’t gonna get suspicious.” The wolf did not have any ideas in mind, but he was not sure if it was wise to get separated from the fox, “I’d rather not get separated from you, mate. We’d have a harder time trying to find one another if something were to go wrong.”
Arcades gave a slow nod, “Yes, I guess you’re also right in that. It would be best for both of us to stick together.” The two anthros finally arrived back at their vehicle, and Jason was the first to comment on the walk, “I’ve been walking back and forth a few times now.” Arcades smiled and said, “I guess you’re getting some exercise today, aren’t you?” The wolf approached the passenger door of the 4Runner and replied to the fox, “A bit, yeah.” Arcades walked to the other side of the SUV, and he opened the door before getting inside of the vehicle. When Jason saw that the fox had entered the vehicle, he opened the passenger door and let himself in as well. Jackie sat in the rear seat, and she watched as Arcades put on his seatbelt; However, the vixen did not say anything to the fox. The wolf put on his own seatbelt as well, and he continued his conversation with the Arcades, “So, we’re going to go drop off the guns first?” The fox nodded, “Yup. After that, we’ll go and find a new spot to park our Mustang, and then we’ll go and check out the address. I mainly just don’t have any ideas as to where we’d keep the car for now. Keep your eyes open while we’re driving, and we may find a place that’ll be worth it.” The wolf acknowledged the fox’s request, “Aye-aye, Kurt.”
The fox started the 4Runner’s engine, but he noticed that the Mustang had not been covered back up yet. Arcades kept the vehicle in park, but he left the engine running, “Whoops. We should probably cover that up for the time being. Just in case someone comes this way, it won’t look too suspicious.” The wolf immediately detached his seatbelt and opened his door. The fox followed suit, and both anthros exited the vehicle to cover the Mustang back up with the tarp before finally leaving the area. Jackie moved to the small middle seat of the 4Runner, and she watched as the two anthros worked together to move the tarp back and cover up the SUV. The vixen could see that Arcades and Jason were indeed talking to one another, but she could not quite tell what they were saying since the noise of the engine was louder than the noise generated by the two anthros speaking outside of the vehicle. However, it did not take too long for the wolf and the fox to finish their task, and they promptly returned back to the 4Runner once they were done. Arcades spoke to both of his companions, “Alright. Now, this time we’re off for real. Buckle up, everyone.” Within the next minute, the 4Runner left the clearing, and the anthros were now on their way to another gun store.
Back at the Ford Explorer, the driver slowly opened his eyes, and it did not take that long before he felt a sharp pain in his forehead, “Ah… Fuck…” The human blinked a few times, and he tried to get himself to stand up; However, his throbbing headache was disorienting him. Other than his bloodied face, he did not have any other significant injuries. When the human finally got to his feet, he looked at the cracked glass on the window of the SUV, but he found that he could not remember what had happened, “Shit. What the fuck happened?” The driver then looked down at his deceased colleague, but he also could not remember what happened to him, “Dammit! Fuck! Who the fuck did this?” The human looked around the ground, and it did not take him long until he found the destroyed UAV controller. The driver picked up the remains of the controller, and he saw that not only there was blood on his own hands, but there was a substantial amount of blood on the controller. Looking down at his own clothes, the human could see that he was covered in blood himself, but he did not know if the blood belonged to him or his dead coworker. The human sat down next to the SUV and his former partner, and he tried to remember what had happened, but the pain in his forehead was overwhelming his thoughts. The human figured that he would have to sit and wait for a little while until he would be able to think clearly about what he remembered. In fact, the human could not even remember what he was supposed to be doing out in this clearing in the first place. The human presumed that maybe he would be able to remember once his head stopped hurting.
Chapter 12
Re-Escalation
Jason examined the check he was holding now that they had finished doing business at the gun store they visited, “I reckon this is a good amount for both of those SCARs. What d'ya think, mate?” Arcades continued driving back to the clearing, but he did comment on the amount of money, “Yeah, it’s a decent bit that’ll hold us for the time being. We’ll cash that in later; Right now, we have to move that Mustang somewhere else.” The wolf looked back out the window and said, “I don’t think I saw any good place on the way there.” Arcades had not seen any potential spot to hide the car either, “Hmmm… Perhaps we just haven’t looked far enough. After all, we need a place that’s not out in the open. We don’t want anybody bugging us.” The wolf was beginning to recognize the surroundings, “Are we getting closer to where we left the car?” The fox nodded and replied, “We sure are. We haven’t been gone for too long, so everything should be exactly the way it was when we left.”
After only a few more minutes of driving, the 4Runner pulled into the clearing, but the fox could not see that the human driver had awoken from being unconscious. The fox parked next to the Mustang, and he spoke to the wolf, “Alright, Jason. We’re gonna have to take the tarp off fi
rst. Let’s get to it.” Jason acknowledged Arcades by exiting the vehicle at the same time the fox did, and both anthros immediately began the process of removing the green tarp from the parked vehicle. When the tarp was just about entirely removed from the vehicle, the wolf noticed a figure in his peripheral vision. Jason looked directly at the figure which he caught a glimpse of, and he immediately alerted the fox of what he saw, “Kurt, it’s the bogan from earlier!” Arcades stopped in the middle of him compacting the tarp, and the fox looked directly at the human with a bloodied forehead. The fox knew that he was currently unarmed, but at the same time, the human did not appear to be hostile.
The human spoke once he was close enough for the two anthros to hear him, “Do you guys know what this place is?” Jason stood up and prepared to say something in response to the human, but Arcades stepped in before the wolf could say anything, “This is Pensacola, Florida.” The human looked genuinely confused, “Really?” The fox nodded, “Yeah. Do you have any idea of where you are right now?” The human looked around at the trees surrounding the clearing, but his response was fairly far from the correct answer, “I want to say somewhere in Georgia.” The fox was trying to understand how the human arrived at the conclusion he told him, but he instead opted to see if the human remembered how he had gotten the gash on his forehead, “What happened to your head?” The human finally stopped walking when he arrived in front of the Mustang, and he placed his hand on his forehead to feel the injury he received when his head collided with the glass of the Ford Explorer he ran into, “I’m not sure. I woke up next to this dead guy and a car.”
