“Get back here!” The voice of their pursuer was closer than Raymundo would have liked. The trees were getting closer together with roots more pronounced along the ground. Every step threatened to twist his ankle, but the rustling of bushes and the shouts of people kept him running even through twinges of pain. His heavy breathing wasn’t matched by Lucky and Skylar, the back of his mind wondering what exactly they were doing to make it so they could endlessly run without breathing, and without their muscles screaming in exertion.
Lucky’s one arm was raised above their head, holding their device, a tiny little antenna spinning around on top. Raymundo had one very important question, as well as many other not as important questions, but without the breath to ask them, he just stared at the device.
“Almost!” Skylar gasped, answering his very important question. He nodded and let his feet slide across a smoother patch of ground.
“Good luck!” He yelled and then reached down. Fingers digging into the soft ground he gripped a clump of dirt. He launched it at the first person to burst through the underbrush. “Catch me if you can!” He started running again, perpendicular to the path Lucky and Skylar had been heading. He risked a glance back, his shoulder glancing off a tree trunk to confirm the agents were following him now.
Relying a bit on his car knowledge and the lectures Lucky had given him during training, Raymundo tried to focus every thought not in charge of fleeing for his life on what it might take to make staying ahead of the bad guys easier.
Bigger lungs, faster blood, legs that were slightly longer, feet that were slightly wider, seeing the shadows of tree trunks further in the distance.
Raymundo felt a little better. He was better equipped for the twists and turns, and this time, when he had to look away from his path to see the brief flash of light arching from the sky to pick up the Qwortarians, he didn’t hit anything.
And in the moment the agents were distracted, Raymundo flung himself forward. As he fell towards the protruding roots and overgrown grass he changed his focus again. Fur sprouted, his body shrunk, and a bushy tail popped out of his tailbone. He hit the ground on his four paws. Then he shot up the nearest tree, claws scraping the bark.
Little heart pounding, he bunched himself up on a branch, curling his tail around himself. His eyes looked down on his pursuers. The group walked closer, glancing around, looking at each other. One glanced up, but there was no reaction if they saw squirrel Raymundo.
His squirrel ears picked up plenty more people searching, so Raymundo hunkered down in a tighter ball to wait it out.
Word count: 469
