Colin woke to the sounds of a million magpies and several kookaburras. It had never occurred to him how loud nature was until that moment. Drew was still sleeping and Colin was tempted to poke him awake with a stick, but decided not to and instead gingerly got to his feet.

The fire they’d made before dawn had died and was now a pathetic mass of ash. It was already getting warm, too, and Colin guessed they should make a move before it got too hot.

He waited a short while, and when Drew still hadn’t even moved, he grabbed his walking stick and poked him. Drew wriggled about a bit, mumbled a few inaudible words and then opened his eyes.

“Where am I?” Drew yawned.

“Middle of nowhere,” Colin sighed.

“That’s not what I wanted to hear.”

“Tough, now get up, we’ve gotta get moving.”

“How am I supposed to trek halfway across Australia on an empty stomach?” Drew hissed as he wearily got to his feet.

“Same way I will: when we get to civilization we’ll get some food.”

“I can’t wait that long,” Drew whined.

“Look Drew, I want to be here as much as you do. But we risked our asses to come here and save you, so just shut up and start walking,” Colin snapped.

Drew looked shocked by Colin’s outburst and quickly gathered his things and started walking.

Ryan’s eyes had begun to droop. Chip noticed this and demanded he pull over.

“I’m fine,” Ryan growled.

“No you’re not, you’re tired and tetchy,” Chip scorned.

Ryan narrowed his eyes, then reluctantly pulled over so he could swap seats with Chip.

“So where to now? We’ve passed the abattoir,” Chip asked as he moved the seat forward so he could reach the brake pedal and clutch.

“Well we have a choice,” Greg announced, “we can head toward Mittagong, Nowra, Katoomba or Kurri Kurri”

“Hmm…Katoomba looks like the quickest way into the country,” Wayne announced, snatching the map from Greg.

“Then to Katoomba we shall go,” Chip perked and started the 4×4.

“Katoombaya my Lord…Katoombaya,” Brad began to sing.

Greg and Wayne gave him strange looks and he quieted down.

As Chip turned into a deserted road, the silence in the car was shattered by an outbreak of loud snoring from Ryan in the passenger seat.

“Someone hold his nose,” Chip mused.

“Plenty of it,” Greg and Brad said together, and then burst into laughter.

“A road! Look a road,” Drew chirped as he waited for Colin to catch up. The two men looked up and down the dusty track; there were fresh tyre marks. “Fresh tire marks, hey, there’s some hope,” Drew said cheerily.

“It’s probably Ritza’s heavies,” Colin stated bluntly.

“Fine, left or right?”

“Left.”

“No way…I say we go right.”

“We clearly need to go left.”

“Right.”

“Left.”

“Right.”

“Left.”

“Right.”

“LEFT.”

“RIGHT.”

“QUICK MARCH,” Colin yelled.

Drew cracked up laughing. “Ok, ok, we go left.”

They’d walked only a short way when they saw dust being kicked up in the distance.

“Crap, it’s a car,” Colin breathed and ushered himself and Drew into the trees.

A black car cruised past. It was Ritza’s heavies.

“Great, now what?” Drew whispered.

“Looks like we’ll have to walk between the trees,” Colin shrugged.

“That’ll kill your leg,” Drew said sympathetically.

“I’m sure I’ll survive.”

“No…maybe…I’ve got an idea,” Drew perked as he heard the sounds of the car coming back.

Drew explained his plan to Colin and then dashed up onto the road in time to force the heavies to swerve. They leapt out of the car, furious, and cocked their guns.

“Come on boys…come and get me,” Drew grinned and began running from side to side. The heavies stormed forward and Colin with all the strength he could muster forced himself from the safety of the trees into the heavies’ black car.

The heavies turned around as they heard the door slam shut and the engine roar into life. Colin sped forward, forcing the heavies to run in separate directions. He did a huge u-turn and stopped for Drew to jump in. He then put his foot down and left the heavies in a wave of dust.

“Oh man…you were so cool,” Drew gasped.

“Hey, I’m not just a pretty face,” Colin mused.

Drew cracked up laughing and began to explore the contents of the car.

Ryan woke up gagging, someone had been holding his nose. Bleary-eyed, he noted his friends’ cackles.

“Welcome to Katoomba, population…8,297, and the most visited place in the Blue Mountains,” Brad announced cheerily.

“It’s still hell,” Greg grumbled.

“Let’s stop and eat,” Wayne pleaded.

“Sounds good to me,” Ryan yawned and attempted to stretch.

Chip parked the 4×4 and they all piled into the nearest restaurant. The staff eagerly found them a table and handed out menus. It was cooked breakfasts and coffee all round. About half way through the meal, Wayne, who facing the window, hushed everybody and pointed. There walking past was Ritza Crispin. She sported dark glasses and was yelling into her phone.

“Follow her,” Ryan announced, “someone follow her.”

“I will,” Brad swallowed and got up from the table. He waited until Ritza had turned the corner before he walked out of the restaurant.

“There goes a brave man,” Greg sighed.

“Don’t suppose you’ve found a map anywhere?” Colin asked, not taking his eyes from the road.

“No. I have however found seven semi-automatic weapons, several large ropes and a hunting knife,” Drew replied.

“Well I hope we don’t have to use them.”

“Hey Col, what’s the worst thing we could possibly find in this car?”

“Gee I don’t know…a corpse?” Colin shrugged and looked at Drew. Drew raised an eyebrow and Colin paled slightly. “No,” Colin said shaking his head”

“Well it would explain the blood leaking onto the back seat from the trunk,” Drew peeped.

Colin slammed on the brakes.