The Escape from Spy Camp.

Writing Exercise  4.

The journey to the forest is uneventful. The four spies are tired from weeks of assignments, one on top of another. Sean is driving the van with Brandy navigating with the GPS. Alex and Rebecca are catching up on lost sleep in the reclining seats.
    It takes four hours to reach the destination. Sean unloads and sets up camp; he quickly erects the tents saving time for later so they can chill out. There is no need to pay anyone for using the land as the area was abandoned by landowners years ago after the first rebellion.
    Alex is the first to wake when Sean puts the coffee on. A campfire is already blazing, and he has laid out everyone’s plates and cutlery ready for their holiday meal. The girls begin stirring when the faux bacon starts cooking. Eggs are on the boil and beans are bubbling.

    After the meal, Rebecca says she’s tired and wants to go to bed. Sean goes with her to their tent, leaving Alex and Brandy beside the campfire.
    “It’s been a lovely evening,” says Brandy, cuddling up to Alex.
    “This is just what we need, I hadn’t realised how burnt out we all are,” Alex says, kissing her hair.
    “We must thank Sarah when we get back,” Brandy says.
    “We’ll take her for a meal or something. Let’s not think of work now. It’s so nice to sit and listen to the sounds of the night.”
    The peace is suddenly interrupted by the sound of chainsaws.
    “It’s a bit dumb cutting down trees at night,” says Alex.
    Suddenly, a piercing scream fills the air. A shiver runs down Brandy’s spine, and she quickly checks her leg status. It has enough charge for about three hours of use. She begins to panic.

Sean and Rebecca get out of their tent and come over to the campfire.

   “Was that a scream?” Rebecca asks.
    “It sounded like a woman,” Alex says.
    Sean goes into the camper van and gets his rucksack. He hauls it out and dumps it on the ground near the others.
    “What have you brought with you?” Alex asks.
    “Not enough,” Sean says, pulling out the equipment.
    A pile of assorted weapons and gadgets lie in front of them. They divide it up, and Sean locks the van.
    Brandy checks her leg once more before they all set off in the direction of the scream.
    When they reach the top of a hill, they can see the situation below. A man and woman are hanging upside down by their feet, suspended from a tree. A group of ten men dressed in hoodies are taking it in turns to scare their captives by placing a running chainsaw as near as they can to the couple without cutting them.

Exercise: Continue the episode.

The episode title is called The Escape From Spy Camp. So some or all four operatives could be captured and taken back to their camp; the hooded men are not campers, they could be a car or motorbike gang similar to the one in the film Mad Max {rated (15) - May 2015}. If the Spies split up and go their separate ways, then it would be good to show how each operative is fairing, one after the other; title each scene as follows – Sean, Brandy, Alex, Rebecca. In Mad Max (15), Jessie is being pursued through a wood by the biker gang. Also, think of the films First Blood (15), Deliverance (18) and Southern Comfort (15).

Notes.

* Brandy’s leg is discharging, so she may suddenly become incapacitated.

* Sean and Alex are both expert fighters, although I do frequently put them in situations where they cannot shine!

* Rebecca was raised in wooded surroundings and is an expert in botany, so she could use her skills to make a toxin (a non-lethal sleep inducer?) to use with a blowpipe.

I hope you enjoy completing this writing exercise. I enjoyed writing it and left it at a place where you can easily carry on. Look out for my Don Brandenberg Twine IF/Game - I have got some good ideas for this one, which I shall be implementing very soon, I hope to have a completed IF/game finished by September.

Keep honing your English writing skills, believe in yourself and keep safe. Antony R James.