The woods held an eerie stillness, marred only by the soft susurration of the fog settling on leaves. The crunch of our boots on twigs and the occasional crackle of the radio seemed almost a rude interruption into the dark stillness. The beam of my flashlight burned a stark path through the gloom as I swept it slowly back and forth through the woods. My gun was tight in my right hand, and I found myself being grateful that the weather was rather cool, so that my palms would not be so sweaty. The flashlight was warm, but the gun seemed to have a heat of its own as well. I could see my partner off to my left, his flashlight slashing through the gloom, his gun at the ready. Behind us, the flashing lights from the cruisers caused the shadows to jump and bounce eerily, and more than once I drew down on what was merely a fallen log, or oddly shaped bush.

I began to play over in my head what I would do and say if I found him...Sheriff's department, don't move! I stepped around another spider web, shining my light briefly on the disgustingly huge owner of the web. I'd already walked through a number of webs, though avoiding the spiders. I'd stepped in a fire-ant mound on the edge of the woods, but had fortunately felt the difference in texture of the ground and had shaken off any ants before they'd had a chance to work their way up my boot.

I paused for a moment and held my breath. Off to my left I thought I heard the snap of a twig, but sound was as uncertain as the light. My partner and I worked our way over toward where I'd thought the sound had come from, but after another several minutes of negotiating through damp dank woods he gave a sigh of frustration and aggravation. "It's nothing but swamp further back. Let's work our way back out."

Once clear of the woods, I holstered my firearm and snapped it in, then went to my cruiser and wrote reports while the rest of the deputies waited for the wrecker to tow the car away.