The night that Dalton had decided to drag Zach, his best friend, into the woods was a perfect night. The sky was dark but there was a large full moon that was surrounded by thousands of stars.The only light they had to stop them from falling into a hole was their phones and the light that shined off the moon and stars.

“I really don’t wanna be here!”Complained Zach.

Dalton stopped and said, “Stop complaining; we have to have fun before summer ends!” Both of the boys had decided to have the best summer ever because every other year it blows.

“Dalton, when you suggested that you wanted to go exploring, I didn’t think you meant in the middle of the woods!” Zach shouted as he halted to a stop.

As Dalton opened his mouth tosay something they heard a loud noise coming from deep in the woods.“Diiii-did you hear that?” stuttered Zach as he began to shake.

Dalton rolled his eyes and muttered, “You’re such a crybaby.”

They both looked around until Dalton finally vocalized, “Let’s split up.” Before Zach could answer Dalton had already headed in the opposite direction.

As Dalton walked deeper into the woods, he saw a lump on the ground. He pointed his phone towards the lump to see if he could get a better look. At first he thought it was a pile of leaves but as he walked closer he could see a piece of blonde hair sticking out. His heart began to race as he grew closer. When he had finally reached it, he picked up a stick and began to uncover the other half of the Jane Doe’s body. She had wavy blonde hair that appeared red from the dried up blood, and her had become very pale. He couldn't move or scream for Zach because he was in a state of shock. He had  found half of a dead body!

“Dalton? What is that?” Zach questioned as he looked down at the top half of someone’s body. Dalton’s face had turned pale and his eyes were wide.

Zach waved his hand in front of Dalton’s face and shouted, “Dalton?! Can you hear me? Dalton!”

Dalton continued to look down at the girl’s body until he felt a sharp pain move across his face and he exclaimed,“Ooooouuuuucccchhhhh!” He reached up and put his hand on his right cheek.

Zach finally stated, “What is that? Is that a dead body.” Dalton moved his head side to side in response. Zach closed his eyes and shook his head. Dalton looked at the body and muttered,

“We have to call my dad.” Zach reached in his pocket for his phone and began to dial the number for the police station; it rang twice before finally someone answered. “Rosewood police department, how may I help you?”

Zach breathed into the phone as he croaked, “My name is Zach Jenkins and my friend and I discovered half of a body.”

There was a long pause before they finally questioned, “You discovered what?”

Dalton grabbed the phone and slowly fretted, “We found a girl’s body.”

After the operator paused for a long time they finally murmured, “And where is your location?”

Before Dalton could answer the phone went dead. Dalton pulled out his phone and tried to turn it on but a dead battery sign popped up.

“What are we gonna do now?!” Zach yelled as he began to pace back and forth.

Dalton looked at Zach and answered, “We have to go to the nearest building or payphone.” He looked over at Zach who had stopped pacing and waved for him to come on.

They had circled around the same place ten times before they realized that they were lost. “I think we’re lost.” Zach pointed out stating the obvious.

Dalton  shook his head at his best friend and laughed. He knew exactly how to make Dalton laugh in a tough situation.

“You don’t say.” Exclaimed Dalton as he continued to laugh. He stopped laughing when he realized that his best friend started to cry.

He went over to comfort him and asked, “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Zach shook it off and said, “We done crazier things than this but somehow this is where we die.”

He looked over at Dalton and  shook his head as he continued to say,“Remember that time you got stuck down a well and your dad had to call the fire department to rescue you?”

Dalton closed his eyes and murmured, “Yes.”

20 minutes later….

“Boys? Are you out there? Hello?” Yelled a voice that the boys knew but their minds had gone blank. They both stared at each other until the voice grew closer.

“That sounds like your dad.” Zach whispered.

Dalton stood up and  curiously said, “Dad? Dad, is that you?”

Dalton’s dad ran over to the Dalton fast and enveloped him into a tight hug. Dalton wrapped his arms around his dad and let out a long sigh.

“Mr.Lloyd? I mean Jake, how did you find us?” Zach questioned as he stared at Jake.

“As soon as the station got the call from Zach,” Jake said as he looked over at his son, “I called home to make sure you were home and surprise surprise you were here too!”

Zach looked over at Dalton curiously as he asked, “How did you know our location?”

They could tell that Jake had started to get agitated as he answered, “The operator, Janice, told me where y’all were.”

Dalton looked over at his dad and questioned, “How? We never gave her our location.”

Zach looked at Jake and explained, “You followed us here, didn’t you? You knew we were here.”

Jake laughed as he reached for Dalton but Dalton backed away and quivered, “Answer the question dad.”

Jake laughed as he said, “I didn’t want to do this.” He reached behind his back and pulled out a gun.

“Wait! Hold on! Dad calm down.” Dalton cried out as he backed away with Zach.

“Why would you do this? They were innocent!” Zach weeped as he backed away towards a tree.

Jake looked up into the sky and explained, “I honestly don’t know why I did this. I might’ve killed her for fun or maybe I am depressed” When he looked down he noticed that the boys were gone.

“Boys,” he shouted, “you can’t hide from me!” He thought to himself, “This is gonna be fun!”

Dalton and Zach began to run towards the tree and then they spotted a car light and the other side.

“We have to run towards the light!” Zach yelled as he looked over at Dalton

“What if he sees us? What are we gonna do then?” Dalton questioned as he looked behind them.

They were both looking towards the headlights as they heard a voice far behind them say, “Dalton? Zach? Don’t worry boys I won’t hurt you!”

Dalton looked over at Zach and whispered, “He’s behind us we have to make a run for it.”

Zach nodded his head and then they both took off towards the lights. They were close to it when they heard a gunshot. They sped up and before they knew it they were at the truck of a mild aged man.

“Are y’all okay? You boys in trouble?” The man questioned as he rushed towards them.

Before they could answer they heard a gunshot and ran passed the man and into his truck. The man turned around as his mouth hung open, his white shirt had turned dark red.

“Oh my gosh!” They both yelled as the man fell to the ground and Jake came into sight.

Zach moved behind the wheel, closed the door, and started the truck. He put into reverse and backed up then put it into drive and sped off.

Jake shot at the truck and yelled, “I’m gonna get you!” He ran to his car that was parked a a foot away and began to follow the.

“The police station is right up the road,” Dalton yelped as Zach sped up, “that’s the safest place to go.”

Bright headlights peered behind them which made Dalton yell, “Speed up!” Zach hit the gas heard and swerved through cars. The headlights  continued to grow closer until they felt something hit the back of the truck. Zach shouted as he made a sharp turn right; they heard their tires screech as they came to a quick stop. They looked behind them and they didn’t see anything so they hopped out of the truck and towards the entrance of the station.

“Stop right there boys” Jake shouted as he pointed a gun at them.

Two cops ran beside them and asked, “What happend?”

Before anyone could answer a gunshot went off and one of the officers fell down. Zach and Dalton tried to run into the station but Jake yelled, “Oh no! You both are gonna stay right there and officer Michaels here is gonna pass his gun over.”

Officer Michaels began to slowly take out his gun and remove the bullets from the clip.  Jake laughed at his fellow officer as officer Michaels threw his gun over to him. He raised his gun at Michaels and fired a shot; the bullet hit him in the center of the chest. As soon as Dalton opened his mouth to tell his dad to stop a herd of cops came out the station with their guns raised and a bullet proof vest on.

“Jake Lloyd put your weapon down!” Yelled an officer with a stern face. Jake looked at all the policemen lined up and raised the gun. He fired a shot and was about to fire another when all of the police officers started shooting at him. He fell to the ground as blood ran down his chin and covered his shirt. Zach thought that no one got hit but when he looked over at his best friend he discovered that he thought wrong.

“Dalton? Dalton! Oh my gosh! Someone call an ambulance!” Zach cried as he knelt down towards his friend.

“At least I’m gonna die a hero.” Dalton murmured as he held onto his stomach. His blue shirt had started to convert into dark purple from the blood and his hands were covered in blood. He started to close his eyes and drift off to sleep when he heard the sirens of the ambulance. He felt himself began to rise and a mask was placed over his face.

“We have a fifteen year old male that was shot in the stomach. He’s gonna survive; the wound isn’t anywhere fatal.” A voice echoed.

“You’re gonna be okay, but you gotta stay with me.” The voice said but this time it sounded faint to Dalton.

THE END