Chasing Anne

Run

Ryan Normand normally wasn't afraid of anything. As a pilot for the U.S Air Force, he'd seen and been through a lot more than most people had even imagined. But nothing from the war had scared him as bad as he was now. He hadn't seen Jadon Tobias in over twenty years. How had his old lieutenant wound up with his son, and furthermore, his son's sweetheart? It made no sense. Last he had heard, Jadon had been in Colorado working with the CIA. Why was he now in Wisconsin? True, Mr. Cravensburry, his old Captain, lived in Wisconsin, but why would Jadon be visiting him, and why now?

Ryan tapped a few keys on the control pad of the aircraft he was using to carry him to Wisconsin, and then hit autopilot, walking towards the back of the plane. It was deathly quiet around him and he didn't like it. He was only forty miles off from the coordinates Jadon had texted to him, but something kept nagging him at the back of his head. He tried to shake off the nagging feeling, but it persisted and began to make him tremble. Ryan sat down in the cockpit of the plane again and ran a hand through his hair. What was wrong with him? He hadn't felt like this since his last mission in the Air Force. It had been right before his plane had been shot down. It was the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.

He groaned and hit another key on the glass control-board in front of him. If he was in any immediate danger, the 360 sound wave signal he was about to send out would find it. He tapped a few more keys on the keyboard and then sat back and waited as the aircraft began its search for danger. For a moment, all was silent and the waves he'd sent out found nothing. But then a red dot appeared on the screen before him, flickering a moment before stabilizing. Ryan huffed and swiped his finger across the screen, zooming in on whatever object was below him. As the image slowly cleared, he rolled his eyes and double tapped the red dot, making it disappear. His signals had found a deer, nothing more than that. Not yet any way. He sighed and closed his eyes. What was he doing? This was all a result of paranoia and PTSD. He was overthinking himself again. He reached his hand to tap the button to stop the search, but just as his fingers reached the cancel button, another dot appeared on the screen, and then another, and then another. Ryan froze as over ten red dots appeared in a large mass on the screen.

"What in the-?" he began, as the dots stabilized. He zoomed in on the group of red dots, and then waited for the image to clear before seeing what had caused the commotion. His eyes widened as they looked over the group of over fifteen men all heavily armed marching forward towards the woods. Five had motorcycles. He scratched his chin and then tried to lower his plane slightly so that he could get a better view. The image on the glass dashboard cleared slightly, but it only confirmed the dread that had built up in Ryan's chest. A large number of armed soldiers were all gathering around the exact coordinate spot he was supposed to meet his son, Jadon, and Anne. But why? What could they have that armed soldiers wanted? Ryan tried to put together in his mind what any of those he was going to help could have done to anger authorities, but nothing came to his mind. He took the controls back in his hands and then switched off autopilot. Sighing deeply, he gently pushed the sidestick forward, asking for more speed from the aircraft. The plane growled in protest, but complied. Ryan could only hope that the prototype would hold long enough to get his son, Jadon, Anne, and whoever else was with them, to safety. The plane shot forward in the sky, making good time and leaving the group of attackers behind it. But as Ryan began preparations to land the aircraft, he looked downward and immediately realized that there was no landing field for the plane. Trees dominated the coordinate spot, making it impossible to touch down. Ryan's heart fell and again, he glanced at the oncoming assault squad. There was simply not enough time. With a frustrated grunt, he pulled the plane out of its hovering position. Somehow he had to contact Jadon and tell him to move to an easier landing spot, but how could he with the squadron of killers at his heels? He rolled his eyes and let his plane hover above the clouds where it couldn't be seen.