Descending

Chapter 5

It was long past dark when Marcia, Matthew and Chloe were still driving around, looking for the jail. After the police chief's phone call, it had pretty much been silent for the rest of the ride. While Marcia and Matthew studied the jail's address, Chloe had been lounging in the backseat with her fingers laced behind her head. Though the jail was supposed to be nearby, there were no buildings in sight besides a few rickety old barns that were surrounded by fields of grazing farm animals.

"Are we lost?" Marcia asked.

"No," Matthew rolled his eyes. "I'm just taking a nice long drive through the countryside with a criminal in the backseat because I feel like it."

"I thought so..." muttered Marcia.

Suddenly, an old man with a long gray beard and ragged clothes appeared in the headlights. He was running alongside the road, his face flushed and soaked with sweat.

"Hey," Marcia perked up. "maybe he knows where the jail is."

When the car pulled up beside him, the old man stopped froze. As Marcia rolled down her window, the old man stared at her quizzically.

"Excuse me sir," Marcia said. "do you know where the Fernswood jail is?"

"Police!" the man suddenly exclaimed. "Thank god you're here."

Before Marcia could respond, the man continued.

"I saw them!" the old man rasped. "They're coming!"

"Who?" asked Marcia.

"Spacemen!" the old man exclaimed. "They hopped outta their space ship and ran at me with their laser guns!"

Marcia frowned. "...what?"

The old man ran up to her window and grabbed her shoulders.

"You gotta help me!" the old man begged. "Let me in your car!"

Marcia and the old man jumped as Matthew suddenly slammed on the car horn.

"Don't you fucking touch her!" shouted Matthew.

The old man looked up from Marcia to see Matthew's handgun aimed straight at his forehead.

"Beat it, creep." growled Matthew.

Much more terrified of being shot than any "spacemen" that lurked outside, the old man took a few steps back from the car, and then bolted away into the darkness.

In the backseat, Chloe sat silently watching this scene. She seemed to be amused by all of this. After taking a deep breath, Matthew started driving again as Marcia rolled up the window.

Marcia blinked. "Matthew... do you think you were just a little hard on him?"

"People like that are unpredictable," muttered Matthew. "trust me, I've been a cop longer than you have."

After about thirty more minutes of driving, a sign off to the side of the road flashed in the headlights of their car.

Marcia read the sign and gasped. "7889! That's the address right?"

"Yeah!" Matthew said, pulling over to the side of the road.

When the car stopped, Marcia and Matthew stepped outside and shut the doors behind them. Squinting into the blackness, they tried to spot a jail, but the only building on the property beyond the sign was an old wooden barn.

Matthew glanced down at his notepad with the address, then back at the property. "This is the address... right?"

"I don't think so." Marcia said shaking her head slowly. "Nobody would put a jail here."

Despite what Marcia had just said, Matthew continued to search the dark property.

"Get me a flashlight from the car." Matthew growled.

Marcia rolled her eyes and started toward the police car. Soon after she opened the door and began shuffling through the glove compartment, she heard Matthew cry out from behind her. She whirled around to see Matthew wrestling in the darkness with someone larger than him. Marcia had just started to reach for her gun when a pair of bony arms hugged her chest from behind, immobilizing her.

"Going somewhere?" a cunning female voice purred from behind her ear.

Marcia considered struggling, until she felt the metal tip of a handgun against the back of her head.

"Hey Trish," Marcia's captor called. "Do you have the guy?"

"Yeah," Matthew was surprise to hear a woman's voice come from the hulking figure that trapped him in its muscular arms.

"Take his car keys." The girl holding Marcia said coldly.

Matthew thrashed defiantly until the woman slammed him into a tree with surprising force. He trembled weakly as her hands searched his pockets, and finally retrieved his keys. Helpless, Marcia watched this scene with horror.

"Start the car," the girl ordered, pressing her gun against Marcia's skull even harder than before.

The woman who held Matthew simply tossed him aside like he weighed no more than a wet towel, and started toward the police car. Though Marcia was sure that he had heard the engine start, Matthew lay in the grass, his body limp.

The girl suddenly pulled away from Marcia. Slowly, the girl backed toward the police car, her gun aimed straight at Marcia's forehead. She climbed inside and slammed the car door quickly as the car started to move, then accelerated rapidly.

Meanwhile, Chloe sat confused in the backseat of the police car.

"Sup Chloe?" a familiar voice came from the front seat.

Chloe's face instantly lit up when she identified the two people sitting in front of her.

"Trish?! Melissa?!"

"We took care of those cops." Melissa, a skinny girl with an eye patch and long black hair sitting in the passenger seat smirked.

"How did you guys do it?" Chloe breathed.

"Well, thanks to Trish's awesome deep voice, and me hacking into their communications." Melissa gestured to the muscular black woman beside her. "we managed to trick those bozos into thinking that she was the Police Chief."

"They were even dumb enough to believe me when I told them the city jail was on fire." Trish laughed. "I gave them an address and told them that the only other jail was all the way out here."

"Where no one would see us when we jacked their car." Melissa added, flashing a crooked grin.

Chloe smiled. Only Melissa and Trish could come up with such a dumb, yet effective plan.

Breathing hard, Marcia rushed to Matthew and knelt down beside him.

"Matthew?" Marcia rasped, desperately shaking his shoulder. "Are you ok?"

Matthew groaned and lifted his head warily. "Did they take the car?"

Marcia sighed. "Yeah."

"Fuck." muttered Matthew.

Brushing himself off, Matthew struggled to his feet, and turned to Marcia.

"Use your radio and call someone to pick us up." Matthew said.

"I left it in the car." Marcia frowned. "Can't you use yours?"

"I think that bitch broke it when she slammed me into a tree." Matthew said, staring at his radio's cracked screen.

"Did you try turning it on?" Marcia suggested.

A few seconds after Matthew switched the radio on, he chucked it into the grass as it started to smoke and a few orange sparks flew out.

"Well," grunted Matthew. "we better start walking."

"What?!" gasped Marcia. "Are you kidding?! The city is like three hours away... by car!"

"I don't think we'll be catching a ride anytime soon," Matthew shrugged, starting toward the road.

Marcia sulked, rolled her eyes, and reluctantly followed him.