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Grunting, Nick crawls out from the wreckage of what was his car. He forces himself to go far enough to get off the road, as he can also smell burning and wants to get away from it.
It turns out to be the right move because moments later, the car goes up in a blaze, uncomfortably hot on Nick's face despite the distance.
He blinks, his eyelids are heavy and sticky and wiping his face reveals it's covered in blood. No wonder his head is throbbing.
By the time Nick gathers his wits enough to move again, the fire is close to petering out. The road he's on is a desolate one, so he doesn't have much hope of help coming to him. He has to go and find it.
Through sheer determination he gets up on his wobbly legs and starts limping in the direction he had been heading. It's slow going, though he's thankful he doesn't seem to have broken anything.
Past a bend in the road he comes across a chainlink fence with a hole cut out. Beyond are trees and what seems like a shack in the distance.
There is a sign that says ‘NO TRESPASSING’ in big, bold letters, but Nick figures this is his best bet. It's probably just to deter trouble makers anyway.
Wincing, Nick contorts himself as best he can to pass through the hole in the fence, and emerges on the other with a couple scratches on his skin. He shrugs, a few more won't change much at this point.
He turns to check his surroundings, and spots the shack again. He can see a dim light inside and he sighs in relief.
The relief is short-lived however because as he approaches, he starts as a gunshot resonates in the night air, followed by the baying of excited hounds.
Eyes wild, Nick limps as quickly as he can back to the hole in the fence, but the barking is almost at his heels.