Tim was truly happy. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. He was working a job he loved as a park ranger. Outdoors, fresh air, a day of hiking, and inspecting the foot trail was ahead of him. Nothing could possibly ruin his good mood.
The pack on his back felt light even with Tim’s usual multi-day load out. He had enough food for three days of hiking. Water would be available in the streams that ran throughout the park, just needing a boil for drinking. A hammock and tarp for shelter is perfect with all the trees of this state park.
Starting at the head of the trail Tim looked back over his shoulder towards the visitors centre. Giving a wave to his partner Sarah standing on the deck, he called out. “Trail’s good so far!”
“Course it’s good ‘so far’. You haven’t left the parking lot yet.” Sarah called back cupping one hand to her mouth.
“Just wanted to get a head start on the annual report. OK I’m gone!”Tim gave a final wave as he started walking.
The morning was just getting started, the trail was long, and Tim was looking forward to every second of it.
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Diesel was not looking forward to a single second of the upcoming heist. The terrorist organization he and his team was working against had finally acquired their own hydrogen bomb. They were transporting it on a truck that was, right now, heading towards an abandoned military air base. The only thing that could possibly improve his mood was that this would allow him to finally be free of the life debt he owed his handler.
The armoured vest Diesel wore felt stiff and heavy. It would probably only stop three bullets as the terrorists were rocking some pretty heavy firepower for this transport. Thankfully he had his trusty pistol. That pistol and the muscle car he was currently in had served him well in all the other battles he’d been in.
“OK everyone check in.” Diesel spoke into the radio. Getting back half a dozen confirmations and snarky replies, He could only chuckle at the camaraderie evident.
“We got one shot at this. Those terrorists are transporting this bomb throughout the city as we speak.” Diesel’s voice became a little strained. “You all have the expected route. We hit them hard and fast. The family don’t let up. The family don’t quit. Punch it everyone!”
A muted roar came from the muscle cars engine as Diesel revved it before dumping the clutch and burning the tires. Screeching out of the parking spot he raced towards the convoy with only one thing on his mind.
Stop that truck.
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It was the start of day 2 on the trail. Tim had stopped by a creek last night to camp and was enjoying the relative peace and quiet of the forest. His small cook fire was boiling drinking water, birds were chirping, and the only thing he had left to do was break camp and hike. The perfect day.
Tim’s last glance at the weather report before he left had shown a storm about three days out, but that was almost certainly not going to hit him while on the trail. No need to rush so might as well work on that report.
Tim’s pencil scratched on the notepad he had brought. The graphite turning into messy handwriting that Sarah always called chicken scratch. Yellow pages noted everything he had observed as important the previous days hike.
It was a fairly simple report for this first third of the trail. Not as much erosion as usual. A log had fallen across the path that he had already removed. No large predator tracks were using the trail, they usually kept much further north. Trail was safe as safe can be it seems.
The notepad was put away in Tim’s pack. The water had finished boiling. Tim decided on a final cup of coffee before pouring the rest of the water into his metal thermos. With this, the only thing keeping him at camp was a reluctance to move. However, that trail wouldn’t inspect itself so he would have to do it.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Time to break camp.
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It was the second hour of the danger fraught chase for Diesel. The vest had shredded. The pistol out of ammo and thrown to good effect long ago. His hearing had a ringing that wasn’t going away due to all the explosions as of late. But worst of all was this last manoeuvre.
The truck was getting away. The air bases bollards had risen. Diesel had to sacrifice his pride and joy, the muscle car. It wouldn’t matter if the car was destroyed if the world ended the next day. So he had kicked out the windshield, gunned it into the bollards, then, using the momentum, flung himself through the air where he landed on the back of the truck.
The wind had been knocked out of diesel. There wasn’t anyone else of his team nearby to help. Radio went with the car. All he could do was cling to the back of the truck in desperation. The few moments of respite he could get were soon broken as the truck angled up.
The truck had been driven up a ramp into a cargo transport plane. Diesel knew that this plane was headed towards the largest city around. If the bomb went off there, no one in the city would survive and the world would descend into chaos. He would have to act quickly.
Diesel groaned as the cargo ramp closed and the planes engines spun up to a deafening roar. He had to steady himself as the plane shifted and ascended into the sky. The only thing that was between the safety of the world and devastation was himself.
Time to break that bomb.
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Tim was feeling the burn. The trail had gotten a little bit rougher, but he wanted to push through. It felt good to exert himself like this. Trying to reach his next planned camp site early was the goal. He’d need a bit longer to make notes about the trail this time.
There was a fallen log too big to move by hand. Tim knew he’d need a chainsaw or axe to cut it into smaller chunks. This might also be a warning sign of general erosion on the hill. There were roots on that log, but no dirt on those roots. So it’d been there at least a month, or at least one good rain storm.
Not much further now. Tim huffed and puffed as he walked at an accelerated pace. Just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. He still had that oatmeal packet, apple cinnamon, as a treat. Should probably save that for breakfast, but what was life if you followed the plan every time.
Tim saw his camp site and reached it a few minutes later. He unlimbered his pack, a little lighter than when he started due to eating, and started setting up camp. Hammock strung up between two thicker trees that had clear ground between them. Tarp over that in case of rain. With that done, only thing left was to gather some fallen sticks and wood for a fire.
Tim walked into the woods a short distance and started picking. Gathering the dry sticks and fallen branches, he soon had an arm full which would make a good fire. The calm day was getting on to late afternoon. He knew that by this time tomorrow he’d be back at the visitors centre.
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Diesel was feeling the burn as one of the terrorists lit up a spray can of something flammable. He’d already fought through twenty others. Thankfully they didn’t use any guns for fear of causing the plane to decompress.
Diesel’s fist rocketed out and smashed the terrorist in their face. The only person left between him and the cockpit was a truly large bastard. They squared up and, surprising to Diesel, the terrorist spoke.
“You’re too late agent Diesel. Once I knew you were on the plane I started the timer.”
Diesel glanced back into the cargo area where the truck was parked. A steely grimace crossed his face.
The terrorist continued. “I know that look. You think there is a chance yet. But the only thing left is your death, and the death of your people!”
Diesel grinned and cracked his knuckles saying. “You’re forgetting one thing. I’ve been hunting you for years now. I know how you fight!” Before rushing his opponent and tackling them to the ground. “And it’s too pretty for what we’re about to do.”
The knowledge of the terrorists fighting style gave Diesel enough strength to get on top of the terrorist. He rained blows down upon them when, with a resounding crack, landed a punch that rocked their head back causing their eyes to roll up, knocking them unconscious.
His final obstacle out of the way. Diesel lurched up to the cockpit, his final bits of strength propelling him up to the door. Pushing it open the pilots were greeted with the hulking blood covered visage of a man who would not take no for an answer.
“Open the cargo bay door.” was all Diesel said as the pilots hastily complied.
Diesel marched back to the truck with it’s ticking hydrogen bomb payload. The open ramp let in a rush of air as well as a beautiful forest view.
Diesel put the truck into neutral. Moved to the front and braced himself. Pushing with every last ounce of strength, the truck slowly inched its way to the open sky. As it moved ever closer to the edge, Diesel had one last moment to think about everything that led to this moment.
“It really was all about family.” Diesel thought as the truck gave way to gravity and sailed out into the sky.
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Tim had finally gotten his fire going.
He stretched his neck and looked up into the sky.
“That’s odd.”