Here is the next chapter,it's part one of a two part chapter. Enjoy and review please. Sorry for the wait.
Chapter Fourteen: Acceptance And Searching (Part 1)
"Who are you?!"someone yelled bringing me out of the darkness. I opened my eyes to see Lee and Barney standing in front of me facing that guy, trying to talk to him. I noticed I was leaning against the truck tire on the ground, I stood up and our client flashed me a grin; making Lee turn to me.
He looked relieved, "Hey, you feeling alright? you gave us quite a scare."he said. "Yeah, fine."I said as Barney said, "For the last time who are you?"he shook his head. "Save your breath Barney, he's deaf. He only uses sign language."I informed him.
"You know him I take it?"Barney asked me, I nodded "I haven't seen him in years figured he was dead."I said, "Explains your fainting spell."Lee put in. "Alright, so who is he?"said Barney. "Dylan Mathews."I replied and walked over to him, "Hi, how are you?"I said in sign language.
"Hello Melanie, I'm alright. Never thought you'd faint at the sight of me, how do you feel?"he responded looking concerned. I laughed thinking about it was true, "Alright, I didn't think so either but I thought you were dead. It's been so long, why do you need me and my team?"I signed back.
"A lot has happened over the years but we'll talk about that later. I need you and your team to find my son; Brady.
He's been missing in action for three days and his unit has given up declared him dead but I know he's out there. Will you help me?"he told me. I widened my eyes surprised, he nodded in confirmation and I motioned for Lee and Barney to join us.
"What's up?"asked Barney,"He wants us to find his son Brady who's been MIA for three days. Everyone thinks he's dead but Dylan believe's he is still alive and wants us to find him."I explained hoping they would agree to help. Barney took some time to think on it, while Lee asked, "Where would we be looking for him?"I looked to Dylan and relayed the question.
"He last mission was in Brazil,I don't know what it was about. If something was wrong and he left them for good reason. He'd hide in the jungle or a forest, his survival skills are strongest in that element."he replied. I told them what he said, "The jungle or forest of Brazil? just great nobody would have a hope in hell of finding him."Lee said rather angerily.
I turned to Barney, "Please Barney, he's a young soldier who's been abandoned by everyone except his father who I know won't stop until he sees a body or his son alive. We're the best chance Brady has."I told him voicing my opinion on the matter. He let out a heavy sigh, "Alright we'll take the job but there is a chance we may not find him. He can pay us if we deliver."
I signed quickly to Dylan the answer, he hugged me and smiled at Barney and Lee. "Thank you, I have faith in you all."he said after releasing me. "You're welcome, and so do I."I told him. "We'd better get going Mel, time's a wasting."said Barney, "Alright."I said. "We have to get going, good bye Dylan."I signed to him. He handed me a paper, "That's the name and number of a friend I'm staying with, contact us when you find anything. Goodbye Melanie, have a safe trip."he said.I nodded, and we went our separate ways.
On the way to the hanger to get the guys Lee told me, "I'm sorry Mel but this mission is crazy. We have a pretty slim chance at finding Brady and Dylan well he's stubborn and he might not want to accept the fact that his son could be dead."I glared at him full of anger.
'How could he say such a thing?'I thought, "I can't believe you said that. If you were in Dylan's position you would do the same thing, so the only reason you think it's crazy is because Dylan is different from you, isn't it?"I said my voice betraying the anger I felt towards him right then. "No, that's not true. I would do exactly what Dylan's doing and still think it's crazy but I'd go to any lengths for my family. But everyone believes Brady is dead, why not Dylan?"he countered an edge in his voice like he was close to breaking out in anger too.
I took a breath thinking for a minute, "Call it instinct, a gut feeling, or whatever you like but Dylan just knows he's alive and I do too."I said calming down some. Lee nodded content as we pulled into the hanger behind Barney's truck.
We grabbed our gear boarded the plane and I explained the mission to the guys as Barney and Lee prepared the plane. "We're going to the jungles of Brazil to find Brady Mathews who's been missing in action for three days. His father Dylan has asked us to find him."I told them. They looked uneasy and Hale spoke up, "He might be dead, you realize that right?"
"Yes, but Dylan doesn't believe that and neither do I. I can feel it that he's alive."I responded, "Strap in back there."said Barney. We did so, soon we were climbing and flying in the open skies.
After a while the plane was put on auto pilot so Barney and Lee could come back and explain the plan. "The plan is after we land at the airstrip we split up in groups of two and search by square mile with walkie talkies to keep in contact. Yang and Gunnar team one, Toll, Hale and Lee team two and Mel and I will be team 3." he paused Lee giving him a glare, as I shrugged. 'We don't have to be together every time.'I thought.
"Problem Lee?"asked Hale, "No, not at all."Lee replied though is eyes said differently. "We'll take 2-3 hours to search then set up camp somewhere and continue like that until we find him. Understood?"Barney said. We all nodded, "Is Brady deaf too?"this coming from Gunnar. "I don't think so Gunnar, I mean he is or was in the military."I answered.
Barney and Lee returned to the cockpit and I went to my bag for my ipod. "You and Lee alright Melanie?"asked Toll from behind me, I jumped a little. "Sure, why wouldn't we be?"I replied turning around slowly, my red ipod in my hand. "I don't know, but Lee doesn't seem happy the two of you won't be on the same team this time." he said.
"I know, but we don't need to be together every time."I told him. He nodded and walked back to the others; me sitting on the bench end closest to the cockpit while Toll sat next to Hale. I put my ear buds in and turned my music on low so I'd still be able to hear the guys if need be, and thought about the mission and Lee. 'We're going to find Brady and bring him home, I know we will. Lee isn't big on this mission 'cause it looks like a wild goose chase but it's not and it's also about closure for Dylan.'
The plane rocked a little bit making my left ear bud fall out of my ear, "Hold on to something back there, we've hit some turbulance."said Barney loudly. We all buckled up to be safe, as we continued to rock and rattle as we flew, 'Hope this isn't some kind of storm or something.'I thought feeling a little queasy.
About twenty minutes later the turbulance stopped, "Glad that's over."said Gunnar looking a little sick. "Me too."I said laying a hand on my stomach not feeling so good. "We'll be landing in about five minutes guys, relax alright."this coming from Lee. I leaned back against the wall of the plane and closed my eyes for a bit.
We landed with a thud as the landing gear hit the ground, and stopped with some of the runway to spare. We unloaded from the plane with our gear, "We meet back here at 0200 be careful guys."said Barney, Lee gave me a quick hug. "You be extra careful."he whispered before letting me go and we headed off in all different directions.
I fell into step behind Barney as we headed north of the plane towards the jungle hills, our guns resting in their holsters but ready. "Barney, why did you place Lee with Hale and Toll?"I asked after we'd walked for a good while searching for Brady but finding no signs of him. "Simple,to see if he can handle being away from you and stay focused on the mission."he responded moving a plant out of his way.
I nodded it made sense, "Mel, Barney you there?"came through the radio on Barney's belt. "Yeah go ahead Christmas."he said quickly. "We've found a camp site, looks to be about two days old."Lee told him, my heart sped up some, we had hope at least. "Good work, let's keep looking."Barney told him and started moving again, I followed.
A little while later the radio sounded again, "Barney, we found an old camp site too about a day old."said Yin, "Alright, keep looking."Barney said. "This kid is smart, moving camp sites every day or so and in different directions too."he said to me. "He's not a kid Barney, he's a soldier."I corrected.
He turned and looked at me, "Cole, don't go being a smart alec on me. That's Lee's job."he told me, my face fell at that then, "I heard that, keep it up Mel that way Barney will miss having me around."said Lee. We all laughed at that and continued on.
Barney and I reached the base of the jungle hills and took a little rest drinking from our canteens. It felt good, to have something to drink after walking for the better part of an hour and we had roughly an hour and fifteen minutes left before we had to meet up with the others.
I sat on a rock as he observed the hill looking for the best way up. "You take the lead on this one, and I'll follow behind you as we climb up the hill."he said, I nodded standing up and stretching out my limbs.
"Nobody's going anywhere."said a voice from behind us, we both turned around to see Brady standing a few feet away with his gun trained on myself and a cold look to his pale blue eyes.
Alright, that's it for this chapter. Brady doesn't seem too happy does he? lol the second half will be better and will certainly have action in it. Please read and review, and I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can.