Chapter 5: 1 State Down

Izzie had found a small river that seemed to be in the middle of the woods. "You're such a good girl, Izzie! Here, I'll give you some water and food." Rachel squatted and set her duffel bag on the floor. She rummaged through and took out the 2 bowls and a bottle of water. Rachel leaned over gingerly and filled one bowl with water. She set it down and Izzie lapped it up greedily. "Now where is that dog food?" Rachel mumbled.

Then she remembered! In her rush to get away from the police, she forget to get it from the kitchen! "I'm so sorry, Izzie! I forgot your dog food! I have some sandwiches, though." Rachel said.

"It's fine! Before I got adopted by you and your family, I hunted for my meals." Izzie said, proud. 

"Ooh, can I watch you hunt?" Rachel was fascinated.

Izzie, her silky brown floppy ears touching the ground, her wet black nose trailing the grass, her black tail high up in the air, was beautiful. Izzie was a brown, white, and black beagle. She had brown ears, a big white spot in the middle of her back, and the brown outlined it. She had a completely white underside and inside of her legs. 

Rachel followed stealthily through the woods, as if she were a ghost, and moved completely silently through the dry leaves on the floor, and the pines. With Rachel's clothes, she was almost invisible. Suddenly, Izzie raised her head, alarmed."Quick, hide! Men are coming with guns, our way."

Rachel and Izzie backtracked through the evergreen trees. They didn't dare sprint, for fear that they would make sounds and the police men would shoot blindly in the trees. "Let's try and run, but be quiet." Rachel whispered. They both started to sprint. Izzie with fast, small steps, Rachel with quick, long strides. "What exactly do you know?" Rachel panted.

"At least 5 men, in a crescent shape, like a thin moon coming towards us. The men had rifles, and at least 2 big german shepherd dogs." Izzie growled. 

"You think we would be better off if we splashed in the creek, so they can't follow our scents?" Rachel pondered aloud as the ran.

"Yep, they, could, let their, dogs, off, leash." Izzie struggled to keep running as she talked between pants.

Rachel and Izzie reached the creek. Rachel briskly packed up the duffel bag and swung it over her shoulder. She nodded to her faithful, loving companion and they splashed into the creek. It was freezing cold, and the rocks, she could tell, were super sharp. Rachel was glad she had put on her hiking boots and socks, and that her bag was water proof. Behind Rachel, Izzie whined as if in pain. Rachel stopped halfway down the hill where she had first set down the duffel bag. The pine forest still stretched a long way.

"Izzie, come over here." Rachel crawled onto land and started taking off her boots, then socks. The dog scrambled up the bank and sat down next to Rachel and Rachel shivered. A cold breeze had blown through the woods. Rachel quickly took out her sweater and put it on. "Let me look at your paws." Rachel took Izzie's paws one by one and inspected them. All 4 of them were bloodied and had pebbles in the wounds, plus they were stone cold. She took her socks and decided that this sacrifice was worth it for Izzie. Rachel would use the rest of the green energy. 

"Turn these socks into booties to keep Izzie warm, because caring for her is my norm!" Rachel said as she pointed her whole hand at the sock. The socks instantly changed into 4 booties that resembled brown ugs. "Here." Rachel put them on Izzie's paws. "Let us continue." Rachel said, though her eyelids were drooping and she was half asleep.

Finally, Izzie and Rachel were at the state border. There was a sign that said, WELCOME TO PENNSYLVANIA, SPRUCE FOREST! just ahead of them both. Rachel and Izzie were a sad sight to behold. Rachel was so wet that she felt like her clothes were a thousand pounds heavier. Even her normally silky soft hair was soggy. Clumps of grass and mud were stuck to her clothes and hair. Rachel's right boot's toe was missing. Izzie was missing her left and back leg booty, and had a limp on that foot as well. Izzie had grass that clung to seemingly everywhere on her body. 

All of this bad stuff had happened because one if the police men had split off from the group, and was with his dog when they had met him. The man had tackled Rachel to the ground and pushed her head in the creek to drown her. Rachel started flailing and first hit the name tag that said, Officer Charlie Miller. The second kick, on a lucky shot, had struck him with her right boot's sharp heel on the kneecap, shattering it. Rachel was able to breath once again, but the man had pulled on the right boot to keep her from getting away, though even a blind man could see that his knee and leg was in blazing pain. The toe ripped away so suddenly, that Rachel rolled down the hill in mud and grass.

Rachel climbed back up to get her duffel bag and Izzie, when she saw Izzie entertaining the german shepherd. They both growled and lunged at each other at the same time.

"Izzie, no!" Rachel had screamed. Izzie got a few good hits in on the dog's flank and bit his tail by jumping, the dog was so big and tall. When the shepherd rushed at Izzie, Izzie just ducked and bit at its soft belly. The shepherd next attacked so quickly at Izzie's neck, but she saved herself by dodging. The dog still bit Izzie's left leg, but then ran back up the hill to save its master. Izzie growled and snarled and drool dribbled down the corners of her mouth as she almost ran up after the dog. Rachel whistled, and Izzie ran to her side. Rachel picked up her duffel bag that had rolled down the hill and kept running down in the creek.

Now that they were at the border, Rachel felt relief, joy, and satisfaction run through her. "Are you ready, Iz? When we cross this border, we will automatically be runaways and outlaws, if we aren't already. But, we will be one state closer to Viridi Forest!"

"Yea, but my leg is really hurting, and we're both tired. Can we pitstop in Pennsylvania, please Rachel?" Izzie asked.

"Sure. We should try to avoid the city though. Let's go through the forest as much as we can, then go to the outskirts." Rachel said.

Izzie nodded towards Rachel, and they took the step that could've been a mile, the importance of it all. They kept walking, and Rachel looked back. She saw WELCOME TO NEW JERSEY, SPRUCE FOREST!

"HEY! Come back here!" A man yelled. It was a police man that had just skidded to a stop when he saw them, and the rest of the police force was behind him. Rachel and Izzie limped through the forest as fast as they could, the branches scratching them as they stumbled through. The men raced after them, closing the distance between the 2 groups.