Back To The Future, Part II

There was a burst of static from Marty’s walkie-talkie.

Marty yanked it from his pocket and turned the radio off. But the damage was done. Biff must have heard that.

Biff walked past the car.

‘Old man,' he called uncertainly, ‘are you still in here?’

Marty glanced up at Biffs retreating backside. There, shoved in Biffs waistband, was the Sports Almanac!

Marty heard laughter outside the garage.

Biff stopped, and then walked quickly out into the driveway.

‘Dammit, you kids!’ Biff yelled out into the darkness. ‘If I see you around here again, I’ll kill you both!’

Marty crouched down again as Biff stomped heavily back into the garage and got behind the wheel. Marty lifted himself up enough to see that Biff had put the Almanac down on the dashboard.

Now, if there was just some way he could reach it -

He ducked down quickly as Biff threw the car into reverse and gunned it back out of the driveway.

Somehow, Marty had to get that book. It was up to him now.

But what had happened to Doc?

Well, it had taken him a little while, and he had had to swerve at the last minute to avoid getting hit by that hot-rodding teenager, but he was here at last.

Doc wheeled the bike he’d bought a few hours ago into the driveway of 2311 Mason Street. That was the address Marty had given him? Yes, it definitely checked with what Doc had written down in his notebook. But then why was the garage door - the door Marty was supposed to be trapped behind - now sitting open?

Doc supposed this had something to do with how long it took him to get here. Well, it had taken him a little while to buy the bike, after he had figured out that was the best thing to do with what 1955 money he had left. Why, he hadn’t even taken the price tag off the bike, he had been in such a hurry. But then, of course, he needed to buy this hat he was wearing, for disguise purposes of course. Well, it wasn’t much of a disguise, just a hat, but then, Doc hadn’t had much time to buy it.

Even then, though, he would have gotten here earlier if he had been able to take a more direct route. He sighed. That was one of the problems with time travelling. A couple of the roads he had expected to take to get here hadn’t been built yet. And then his muscles had started to complain. That was another trouble with all this time travel - when you sat in a DeLorean all day long, you ended up neglecting much-needed exercise!

So he was a little late. He hoped Marty would understand. That is, if the lad was still here.

Doc pedalled right into the garage. There didn’t seem to be anybody around.

‘Marty?’he called.‘Marty?’

Doc realised then that Biff’s car was gone, too. Marty must have gotten out of here somehow - maybe he had hidden in the back of Biff’s car or something - and was once again on the trail of the Sports Almanac.

But that meant Marty could be anywhere in Hill Valley! Doc decided to try the walkie-talkie. He pulled the box from his pocket and pushed the ‘speak’ button.

‘Marty come in?’

There was no response. He tried it again. Still nothing.

‘Damn!’ What could have happened to the boy? Could he be out of walkie-talkie range? Could something be wrong with his two-way radio?

Doc decided it was useless to conjecture when he had insufficient information. Instead, he decided he would broadcast a message anyway, just in case Marty could hear him but couldn’t reply.

‘Marty,’ he said into the walkie-talkie, ‘if you receive this message, I’m at the garage, but I’ve obviously missed you. Therefore, I am returning to the DeLorean! Contact me when you can! Over and out!’

There was still no reply, and nothing else he could do. Doc turned the bike around, and started the long ride back across town.

Could Marty risk it?

Once Biff had gotten out of his driveway, he had turned the radio up, loud, and then floored it, so that the car was really moving. Marty decided he had to try. Between the radio and the air rushing by the open convertible top, Biff shouldn’t be able to hear anything going on in the back seat at all. Should he?