The Forest

For audio click here 
This is part five of the postman, for part 1 click here part 2 here part 3 here and part 4 here and part 6 here
But I think it works as a stand alone story too.

The dark trees were silhouetted against the black-blue sky. Karel pulled his collar up and shivered. The empty path stretched into the distance. He’d been walking for about thirty minutes and had no idea where he was. He pricked his ears, trying to listen for clues but the silence enveloped him, scared him; he felt like he was the last man on earth. If he was going in the right direction, he should be close to the border now; maybe he’d even crossed it. Would there be a fence, or deep in the woods would he just be able to walk across it? He wanted to step up the pace, but the shoes he’d been given were pinching his toes and rubbing his heels making it difficult to move quickly. The crack of a twig echoed around the empty sky. He stood still listening to his heart beat before continuing with his long walk to freedom.

Tiredness overwhelmed him, He thought of his bed, his king-size duvet wrapped around him. He had the urge to curl up in a ball and sleep. But there was now duvet out here; he would either freeze to death or get caught, so he had to keep on trucking. He rubbed his eyes, massaged his temples and his neck. The bruise on the top of his spine ached in the cold. The memory of her punching him made him more determined to keep going.

The sky seemed split in half. To the west there was still gothic darkness, but to the east the black was turning blue as the sun contemplated rising. He was heading downhill, a gentle slope. He was still alone in the woods. He wondered what animals were watching him in his lonely trek.

Karel stopped. He heard something. He listened hard in the silence. Yes, there was the sound of a car. He must be close to a road. He started walking again hoping he could flag down a car and get a lift to the nearest town. It was a risk, but he could feel blood in his socks from the blisters. He staggered on and sure enough the path hit a road. It was brighter now, almost dawn. Left or right? It didn’t matter. He chose left. It felt right.

He could have only taken five or so steps before a car came racing towards him. It screeched to a halt before he even had a chance to wave it down. Karel was like a rabbit in the headlights This was not good, not good at all. Karel contemplated running, but his feet were torn to pieces. He had no chance of getting away.

The doors slowly opened and two men the size of mountains unfolded themselves from the car. They held their weapons up ready to fire. Karel knew what was coming next.  

She may have been short, she may have been svelte but she loomed over him like a giant. With that evil smile on her lips, she looked him over obviously amused by his appearance, by the look of disappointment and anger on his face. He wanted to spit in hers. To punch her or kick her. Wipe that smile from her delicious lips. But her henchmen had their guns trained on him and he knew one false move would lead to a bullet in the head.

“Had your fun?” she said, the two men stepped forward and grabbed Karel’s arms and manhandled him into the car.

For part 6 click  here