Chapter 11

They had been working tirelessly for nearly three hours in the area of the crash but to no avail. Not even a glimmer of hope appeared as they scoured the area for Nate. Eliot could see the frustration and despair on their faces. They started their search near the wreck as the chances of Nate making it too far were not good. Expanding in ever increasing circles around the wreckage they had still not had any luck. Sophie stopped what she was doing and looked over at Eliot. Was what he told her last night was true? Had Nate been thrown from the wreck and they were never going to find his remains? No she told herself. They would find him, they would. She picked up the equipment and started walking in slow circles again. He had to be here.

Eliot started to think along the same lines as Sophie. Nate was gone and they were not even going to get the closure a funeral would bring. Then he stopped and decided to try another track. What if Nate had survived the explosion and the crash, as unlikely as that seemed? What would he do? Well, Eliot decided, the first thing Nate would do was look for shelter. Where would he look? Eliot scanned the area seeing nothing that would even vaguely pass as a place to take shelter from the blizzard that had lashed this area. He walked back to the wreck and clambered in. Making his way to the cockpit he saw something he had missed before. The co-pilots chair had been slashed open and its insides ripped out. The stuffing of the chair lay around the area. Eliot leaned in to get a closer look and froze. He was alive, or at least he had been. The stuffing that lay scattered across the cockpit had not been burned; which logically meant that the damage to the chair had been inflicted after the explosion and fire. The only person who could have done this was Nate. Picking up some of the stuffing and looking closer Eliot noticed red splotches. Blood, there was blood on them. Oh my God he thought. He had no idea how or why but Nate had survived and somehow made it back inside the wreckage after the fire. His forehead knotted into a frown as he wondered why Nate would have destroyed the seat in such a manor. Then a slow smile spread across his face. He had tried to construct snowshoes. Looking at what had been taken from the chair he could easily see how a makeshift pair could have been made. Nate was a genius. So where had he gone…where would he think to look for shelter? Eliot stepped back to the opening and looked out desperately trying to get a clue as to where Nate would have gone.

Parker looked up from where she was working and saw Eliot standing on the wreck staring out at the landscape around them.

"Eliot, what's wrong?" She called out to him interrupting his thoughts.

"Guys stop what you are doing and come over here." He called to all of them.

Sophie stopped her work and looked over at him. She shook her head and refused to believe that Eliot was going to tell them to stop, to give up the search and just accept that Nate was lost to them forever. Still Sophie started to walk towards him mentally noting where she had been busy. Alec and Parker also came over and stood at the opening where Eliot was.

"I believe we need to start looking somewhere else…" Eliot started only to be interrupted by Sophie.

"No Eliot, no he was not thrown out…we talked about this last night."

"I did not mean look for his remains Sophie…" Eliot said to the woman only again to be interrupted by Parker her eyes lighting up as she listened to him.

"You think he is alive. Why. Where do you think he is?" She babbled. Her words immediately causing both Alec and Sophie to stare at Eliot in disbelieve.

"Somebody ripped the co-pilots seat apart AFTER the crash. I think Nate was making himself a pair of snowshoes. I think he is…or at least was, alive after the crash." Eliot said.

"Oh God…where do you think he went?" Sophie said swinging her head in all directions but seeing no obvious course.

"I don't know, but he would have wanted to look for shelter." Eliot said as he too scanned the area again.

"Eliot, what are you standing on?" Alec asked casually. An idea was starting to form in his head.

"What do you mean man Hardison, the plane's wreckage, don't be an idiot." Parker answered for him.

"No Parker," Alec corrected mildly his idea taking root and growing. "Eliot is standing on half a wreckage of an airplane…where is the other half?"

"You're right Hardison. The other half must have broken off during the crash. Of course, Nate would have gone looking for it; it would have been his only chance." Eliot almost shouted.

"How far away do you think it is?" Sophie asked following his eyes in the direction the second wreck should be.

"I don't know Sophie, could be miles or just behind that clump of trees. It depends where the aircraft hit the first trees because it probably snapped in two pieces then." Eliot said jumping of the plane filled with a new sense of energy and purpose.

"Well we will soon enough find out." Parker said turning toward the direction they needed to go. "Come on you guys we have to go get our Nate."

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