5

JAKE STOOD IN the bright moonlight once again, wondering whether to go back into that smelly bog - he didn't want to. The road would be dangerous though, he might be seen... 
          That was when the light washed over him. 
          Jake looked around in panic to see flashing red and blue lights mounted on top of a police car. The car crunched to a stop. He cursed. A door opened, and a foot peeked out. One word formed in his mind: RUN! He ran. As he reached the easily see-able marsh, he took a deep breath and jumped in. The cold slapped him as he permeated the water.
          The policeman shouted into the radio, "I found him, Micheal!"
          "Do you have him?" Micheal didn't want this to happen again.
          "No. Damn! I've lost him."
          "Be careful. Can you see Johnathan?"
          "Er... No. Aha!"

          Oblivious to the conversation, Jake's lungs compressed. His mouth was burning. Just as he was about to black out, he rose to the surface and took four rasping breaths. That was when he got temporarily blinded by a strong torch.

         Jake struggled further into the swamp, not bothering to look behind. The now familiar reeds brushed past him as he made his way further into it. His head turned to the left slightly, and he saw a car. There was still someone chasing him, too. It was an ambush. He felt light-headed, he had held his breath all that time for nothing. He felt like he was swimming in jelly. Then, suddenly, his feet hit hard ground. Struggling not to dive into unconsciousness, he worked his legs further into the lit-up forest. No use in stealth now. He saw the blurry image of a man on his left, and could feel and hear another man right behind him.
          "Surrender now," the hazy policeman on the left said, "and you will not be harmed."
          Jake's eyesight was not working very well at all now, and he could feel his legs going to jelly. Maybe... sorry, Mr Sweetman, but I will never get out of this one, he thought. He half collapsed. Then his eyes focused for a moment, and he saw the 'copter, twenty metres in front of him. His legs suddenly put on a burst of speed, and in no time he was up and in to the chopper. Then his legs collapsed below him, and he fell onto one of the hard, springy beds.
          Then everything went black.

click here for chapter 6