“We don’t have much time, they’ll notice we’re gone” David said as they ducked down in a ditch beside the wall.

“I really hate boats” Arlie said.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, this isn’t a boat, it’s a canoe” David said.

“It doesn’t make me feel better, thanks for the effort” Arlie said sarcastically. David just huffed a quiet chuckle.

“Okay, jump in. It’ll be quicker if we both paddle” David said, passing an oar to Arlie. She looked down at the oar.

“Glad I took that adventure sports course last year” she said.

“I hope it pays off, come on” David said.

Suddenly, sirens began to blare.

“That’s our farewell call. Let’s go” David said. Arlie jumped in and sat in the dugout, towards the front. David pushed off from the riverbank, sitting down. The canoe swaying unsteadily.

“Take it easy, man! If end up in the water, I’ll hold your head under” Arlie said.

David laughed “yeah well, it’s better than ending up back in there. The rest of the team have the rendezvous points. These guys are not playing around”.

“There they are, they’re getting away!” A deep voice called from behind them. Dogs began barking and snarling. This was followed by a series of gunshots.

“Go! Go! Fast as you can!” David ordered. Arlie picked up the pace to match David’s. The water was flowing in the direction they were travelling, so they had that in their favour at least.

“I pray to God that Morgan and Jimmy are down here. There should be a widening of the river down here, then we keep going until we see a shack. That’s where they’ll be waiting” David said. Arlie nodded and continued rowing.

The flashlights and sound of dogs faded into the distance.

“Don’t stop now, they could catch up. Keep going” David said, encouraging Arlie to keep going. She used all the power she could muster up to keep moving the paddle in and out of the water, helping to propel them further down the river.

The night had finally settled in, the riverbanks and river itself were pitch black. They couldn’t see what hazards could be laying just a few feet in front of them, but they still had to keep moving.

“Yo… Dave, Arlie…” voices travelled across the water. They headed towards the source.

“Oh thank god, it’s them” David said. Arlie sighed with relief.

“About time you two caught up, could’ve ran at least another 3 miles in the time it’s took you” Morgan smirked.

“Yeah right, fat chance of that happening. You’d have found a way to die before sunrise without us, probably by eating poison berries or falling down a hole” David said, they all burst out laughing, quietly as to not attract unwanted visitors.

“Let’s get back to HQ and tell them what happened” Arlie said, they all agreed.

“Neither of you happened to stumble onto a map during your travels?” Jimmy asked.

“Look around and you point out where the hell on this river is a map shop” Arlie told him. They all laughed.

“No worries, we can manage by foot from here, just stay close so we don’t get split up again” Morgan said. They agreed. Once they’d taken a moment to catch their breaths and find their feet, the four agents set out through the thick forest hoping to find familiarity before their new ‘friends’ caught up to them.