I Would Take A Bullet For You

4. 'Leap of Faith'

As the little fruit cart drew steadily closer, oblivious to Zak, crouched and cramped behind a bush, a second outline came into view. "Damn." Muttered Zak, under his breath. With two people, it would be a lot harder to hijack or hide on the vehicle. He was running out of time to think - he had to act soon, or his only hope, his only chance, might be lost.

Mind made up, Zak waited until the cart (now evidently driven by two weathered old souls, obviously harmless and not threatening in the slightest - though oddly muscled) had barely just passed his hiding place, and then jumped, literally, into action. Once aboard, and using one of the fruit tarpaulins to shield himself from view, he carefully started to clamber - rather ungracefully, it must be said - through the glass-less rear windscreen and into the back seat of the cart.

WHAM! A blast of rotting, reeking odours hit Zak in the face. The smell of chemicals, gone-off fish and and car exhaust combined wafted towards his nose, threatening to make him violently sick. If it weren't for the task ahead of him, he probably would have. It was unbearable, not for the life of him could he imagine where such a foul stench could have come from - however, after driving for another couple of minutes, his question was soon answered, for that much was obvious.

As they rounded a sharp corner, a sleek, dark car came into sight. Now that it was daylight, Zak could see that the expensive Mercedes was the fateful tinted-windowed power machine that had so cunningly outwitted him, not to mention it being the vehicle inside of which Kat was taken prisoner. 

Determined to not get distracted, Zak turned his focus to the buildings behind it - dozens of factories, ribbons of smoke emerging from the great stone chimneys, and soot-covered workers slaving away behind the impeccably tall, metal fence. His gaze was met with learning sneers from those inside, and he quickly, almost guiltily, looked away. More importantly, they had spotted him. His cover - if you could even call it that - was blown, and he had minutes before he was noticed by somebody else: the men were already leaving the cart and walking towards... the Mercedes? 

Furious for underestimating these men, Zak watched in horror as they pulled of the silicone masks disguising the faces beneath, and turned to scrutinise the area. Zak, shaking with anticipation and half-holding his breath, tried to listen to the hushed whispers. "Girl.. ship.. any minute now.. yes, in there." Were the only brief phrases he caught. Almost in hysterics with fear, Zak silently wondered whether they could actually track down where we was lying, just by the defeaning and resounding best of his heart. A weird, clouded vision of large, suited half-dog creatures sniffing the ground, newly-grown taila, wagging happily - following a scent, swam before his eyes. As much fun as imagining this new threat as a ridiculous looking hound was, he was now having hallucinations. He needed to calm down, to not panic, if he was going to fix this.

The cart driver's gaze suddenly swung around and fixed Zak's own with an evil, triumphant smirk. 

"Damn." It was the Australian guy.