CH 80

Barnabas and Daniel were waiting in the arrivals area for Jackie's flight to come in. Daniel had gotten a few roses to give her. His mother said girls liked things like that even if she didn't say so. He was dressed nice and eagerly awaiting for Jackie's plane to come in.

After her arrival time passed and their flight didn't come in, Barnabas went to see why. "Daniel, I'm going to check on the flight, just wait here for a moment."

Watching out the wall sized windows, Daniel said, "I'll tell you if I see it land."

A plane came in. Daniel watched it closely. A small jet landed and moved down the runway, not the dual propeller plane Jackie was riding in on. Anxious to see Jackie, Daniel got up and went over to the windows to watch the runway. A plane lined up on the end, ran down the runway picking up speed. It tipped up and flew away. He watched another one land, and another one take off.

"Daniel," Barnabas said in rough voice from behind him.

Daniel turned. Barnabas looked a little pale, his eyes bore a thousand yard stare. "Daniel, come sit."

"What happened?" Daniel asked. He followed Barnabas back to their seats. Barnabas sat down heavily, almost falling into his seat.

"I am so, so sorry," Barnabas said in a near choke. He swallowed then said, "The plane Jackie was on crashed. There were no survivors."

"What?" Daniel asked. "What do you mean, they crashed?"

"The plane went down in the mountains of Pennsylvania. After the fires were put out, rescue people went in. If anyone did live through the actual crash, the fires from burning fuel killed them. I'm so sorry Daniel."

Daniel stared at nothing. Jackie was dead? No, that couldn't be. "That has to be wrong," Daniel said absently. "Jackie can't die. Not Jackie. She's too tough to die. She ... found a parachute or something."

Barnabas closed his eyes. "IF she lived, the rescue team would have found her. What I was told was the plane lost both engines and ran into a mountainside. Everyone on board was killed instantly. She didn't suffer."

In shock, Daniel just stared. "No … just, no."

"The authorities are informing her next of kin," Barnabas monotoned. "Daniel, she's gone and she's not coming back."

"But … no," Daniel said in a choke.

Barnabas clasped a stunned Daniel's hand. "We're going home."

.

The sheriff came to the house to inform John and Cameron. He sat at the dinning room table with them and the other kids as he explained everything he knew.

"From the communications transcripts, the port, meaning left side engine suddenly lost oil pressure. That cause the engine to explode. Pieces of it were driven into the fuselage. Apparently a piece went all the way through the plane to the other side, and damaged that engine also," he explained. "Besides the other engine, pieces of the left side engine also damaged the wings and cut hydraulic lines. The pilot reported both engines out and he had no control. That was his last transmission. Commercial planes do not have a good glide path, they come down fairly quickly. They hit a mountain side and the plane blew up on impact. From the massive damage to the plane, they are looking for... pieces of the occupants. Things like skulls, burnt pieces of bone they can get DNA from to identify who the remains belong to. Since Jackie was on than plane, I contacted General Watson. He's sending a team to be sure any... parts of Jackie that are found, be separated and brought here."

John swallowed and nodded. gripping Cameron's hands as she gripped his, he said, "Delilah left for Nashville to work with her team. I need to call her."

The sheriff nodded. "Folks, I know it's hard when anyone dies … but to lose a child like this, it's brutal."

"Joan and Allison are at Bob's house," Cameron said blankly, "I'll let them know."

The sheriff nodded. "If you like, I can tell the pastor you are going to need a memorial service."

"Wait ten days," Cameron said in a hollow tone. "Just in case she shows up alive."

"Yes, Ma'am." The sheriff didn't think even a cyborg could survive a hard impact like a plane crash and be consumed by fire. This was their daughter, so he agreed to wait if that would help them deal with it.

.

John called Delilah and gave her the sad news. She immediately came back home. Not to Driftwood, but to the airport to get a copy of that plane's flight path. She would believe Jackie was dead only after she saw the remains.

Word got out fast that Jackie had been in a plane crash and was determined dead by the rescuers since no whole bodies had been found. The Youngs came over to the Connor house, so did Sarah and Martin, Mark and Sonya, JJ and Peggy came home, Bob, Joan and Allison came with his mother. It was an unofficial wake for Jackie. It was also the beginning of an attempt to verify she was dead. Delilah and Cameron refused to believe it, as did Joan.

At the group meeting in the living room, Delilah showed everyone the flight path of that doomed plane. The red line on the map had an 'X' where it went down.

Joan spoke what they all thought. "Jackie would not just sit in a crash position and wait to die if she knew they were going down. I wouldn't. I'd look for the best possible chance at surviving, and take it."

Delilah pointed at the map and said, "The plane crashed into the side of this mountain. Between these two mountains is a lake. If she was able to, she'd get out and try to land in the lake."

Sarah let out a heavy sigh. "Delilah, you're reaching for straws. How was Jackie going to get out? How could she even have enough time to do so? What, punch out a window and crawl through it? By the time she did, then plane would be on the ground burning."

"Watson has a team at the crash site," John said. "He is looking for bits of Jackie. Jackie's bones would not be destroyed by a fuel fire. They will still be there. I say let's see if she is in the wreckage before we run out searching the countryside."

"I agree with John," Sonya stayed. "Not that I don't want to go right now, and I do want to believe Jackie somehow got out of that plane. Let's also face the fact, if she did get out and tried for that lake as Delilah suggested, there is still a slim chance she survived the fall. And if she survived the fall by hitting the water, How was she to get out? She could be drowned at the bottom of the lake."

"We have to find our daughter," Cameron said flatly. Delilah nodded.

"Yes, we do," Sonya agreed. "But we need to know where she could be before we start looking. Otherwise, we'll just be wasting time and energy. Like John said, we let Watson's men search the crash site. If she's not found there, then we look at possible places where she could be."

"The chances of survival from a fall so high up are very slim. Even hitting the water at a high speed will tear one's flesh off," Claire noted. To Cameron and Delilah she said, "I know your hoping that she lived. Knocked out and hurt badly, even if she did hit water, she'd most likely drown before she could get out."

"That is if she did exit the plane before it hit the ground, if she hit the water, and if she had the senses to move after she hit and if the water was shallow enough, or narrow enough that she could walk out. That is a lot of ifs," Sarah added.

"Whether she is alive or not, we still need to find her," John stated. "We are agreed we wait until the wreckage is completely searched?"

Everyone nodded.

Joan winced. "I should call coach Baker and tell him I can't make the game next week."

"You mean, we can't make the game," Bob said.

"No!" Delilah snapped. "This is the most important game of the whole season for you and your team. You are going, as are you, Allison and Bob. We will look for Jackie. You have a responsibility to be in that game!"

Joan gaped at her, "But..."

"No butts!" Delilah said firmly. "Yes, we had a tragedy, yes, it's painful to even think about. There is nothing you three can do right now anyway and your team is counting on you. If we have any news, we'll let you know."

Joan shifted in place. "Mom, Jackie's more important than a football game."

"That's true," Cameron said. "Whatever happened to Jackie, has happened. Nothing will change that. Delilah is right. Waiting for information on Jackie is all you can do. Your team is counting on you to be there. That is your responsibility. If we get any news, we will call. If Jackie wasn't in that plane when it hit, we will find out. Go to that game with your team and win for Jackie."

Joan choked up. "Yes, Mom," she said.

"Yes, we'll win one for Jackie," Allison agreed.

.

Daniel sat on his bed, tears streaming down his cheeks as he looked at his picture of Jackie doing a tail stand out on the water while Kansas played on the CD player.

Dust in the wind

All we are is dust in the wind

Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea.

All we do,

crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see.

Dust in the wind. All we are is dust in the wind...

He hadn't seen Sarah the ghost in a while and now, Jackie was gone. Something inside Daniel died along with her. He felt hollow. He was also angry. How could this happen to Jackie? She was so bright and energetic. She made him want to do his very best at everything. She gave him the will to do better and be better so he was able to show her he could be successful. That will was gone now, drained away from the big empty pit his insides seemed to have turned into.

Another song he related to came on. Mic Jagger wailed out his mournful lyrics to a heavy rock beat.

I see my red door and I want to paint it black

no colors any more, I want them to turn black

I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes

I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of cars and every one is black

with flowers and my love both never to come back ...

Daniel began sobbing again. From what he was told, there wasn't even enough of Jackie let to bury!

I look inside myself and see my heart is black

I see my red door I must have painted it black

maybe I'll just fade away and not have to face the fact

It's not easy facin up when your whole world is black

no more will my green sea turn a deeper blue

I could not foresee this thing happening to you

If I look hard enough into the setting sun

My love will laugh with me before the morning comes...

The CD player turned off. Daniel blinked and noticed the maid was in his room.

Crisply, she said, "Mrs. Collins said these pictures should be stored in the attic. She moved to take down the picture of Jackie holding her Fencing trophy.

"NO!" Daniel screamed. He grabbed her and pulled her away from the wall. "You will NOT touch them!" he yelled as he backed her up by the door.

With a frightened look on her face, the maid fled. He slammed the door shut and locked it. "You DON'T touch my Jackie!" he yelled, then fell to cry on the floor.

.

Bob drove them heading back up to Austin. Joan sat in the middle, Allison on the passenger side, an arm around Joan. For the past few days, Joan was quiet. Eerily quiet. Normally when they went to bed, she was the fist one to get things going. After hearing about the plane crash, Joan didn't do hardly anything. Bob and Allison petted her and kissed her. Joan was responsive, but not active. It was last night that she burst out in tears. Bob and Allison hugged her, comforting her the best they could. Today, Joan had a brooding look on her face. Their drive up to Austin was unusually quiet.

.

At the crash site, pieces of debris were being taken out. When the plane hit the ground, it was determined that it hit nose first, which crushed the plane together. Larger pieces were air lifted away once they were carefully studied. Other pieces of plane were loaded onto 4 wheel drives and driven out. Pieces of people they found, badly burn skulls and bones, some that had charred flesh on them, were put in bags after the best DNA samples they could find were taken. The bag and the DNA samples bore the same letter/number codes so all the pieces of every body could be put back together for whatever services were being arraigned for the victims.

Every piece of metal pulled out of the wreckage was also being scrutinized. If it wasn't aluminum, it was looked at closely to see if it could be a cyborg bone. They had found Jackie Connor's burnt bag, verifying she had been on this flight, but so far no sign of Jackie herself.

.

She hurt. Her face hurt, her back hurt, her arms hurt, her legs hurt. She was just one big throbbing pain. All she could manage was a groan of agony as she came around. Opening her eyes, or rather, left eye, there was a canopy of tree branches over her. She groaned out a weak, "Help." She tried to lift her head, but all she did was make her neck and head hurt more. "Help me," she whispered in another groan.

She wanted to move, to get up, to yell for help. All she did was lay there until the fuzziness in her head over came her and she passed out again.

She came around again, still in pain everywhere. The light though the trees was dim. To move meant pain. Something told her that unless she moved, she would die right here, wherever 'here' was. Lying on her back, she tried to roll over. The pains in her back amplified, forcing out a cry of agony. She dragged her right leg over her left and finally made it to lay on her belly. Her legs felt wet.

Seeing a tree next to her, she pushed at the ground and rolled again to use the tree to sit up against. She blinked a few times but only her left eye was working. By the time she managed to sit up against the tree, she stopped to rest as she panted. That had hurt. Breathing hurt. her face on the right side hurt. It was getting dark. Looking with her one good eye, all she saw around her was trees and a few bushes here and there. Looking down on herself, her shirt was in ruins, there was blood all over her. Her right leg was soaked in it. It was a bit brighter in her infrared vision. It was still bleeding. She put a hand over the rip beside her knee. It hurt doing even that.

She had no idea where she was, or how she got here. "Help!" she moaned out a little louder than before. "Help me!" she forced out louder, and looked to see if anyone was around to hear her. The constant pain was getting to her. She cried and called out for help again. It didn't take long to figure out no one was coming to help her. Moving her right leg was painful and she had to grip her torn pants to pull her leg up. Stabs of agony shot up her leg. She cried out but kept jerking until she could reach the remains of her lower pant leg. She tore off the strips and used them to wrap up the flesh hanging off the outside of her leg to stop the blood oozing out. Tears of pain streamed down her cheeks, but she got the makeshift bandage on.

She then had to rest again. Just turning over, sitting up and putting a bandage on had drained her strength. She passed out again, sitting up against a tree.

It was light when she came around again. The light was gray and weak, but somewhere, the sun was up. Hearing a rustling nearby, she looked to see a squirrel on the ground dig a nut out and quickly knaw it down.

Hungry. Yes, she was hungry too. In the light, she saw herself. Her clothes were rages. Most of the right side of her shirt was gone. Her arm was bloody, but it was old, clotted blood. Her light blue bra was now mostly a clotty brown. It looked dripped down on. Reaching up, she touched the side of her face, and it stung. Her face felt raw, and her eye didn't work. There was more blood on her hand.

She needed help. There was no one to help her. Could she stand up? Struggling, she turned to face the tree grabbing the bark with her left hand, she wanted badly to pull herself up. She felt something in her fingers. Looking, she saw the ends of her fingers had turned into claws. She gazed at this in amazement. Gripping the tree, the ends of her fingers sank in. She pulled and tried to get her right leg to lift. It didn't move by itself. with a grunt of effort and teeth clenched against the pain, she whined and pulled. He left leg at least moved. she got it under her and pulling and pushing with her good leg, she stood. She also felt dizzy. She also noted she was missing her right shoe.

Holding tight to the tree, she leaned against it and panted until her head cleared. OK, she was upright. Now what? She tried to put weight on her right leg. It folded. If it wasn't for her grip on the tree, she would have fallen.

"What am I doing here?" she cried to no one. WHY was she on the middle of the woods? Even standing up, that was all she could see. How did get in the middle of this forest? She had no clue. All she knew was she had to get out and find help. She needed help just to walk.

Sobbing over her dilemma, she looked around for something to help her walk. Blonde hairs drifted in her face from a light breeze. Her left hand in the tree and her left leg under her was holding her up. She used her right hand to brush the hair from her face. She looked, but didn't see anything she could use for a crutch. There were sticks on the ground, but nothing of any thickness. She pulled her left claw-hand out of the tree and grabbed the tree around the side, then hopped with her leg. Maybe something was on the other side of the tree.

She made a full circle around the tree, and there was nothing nearby she could use. On the side hill ahead, she saw a couple thicker branches. How was she going to get to them? She'd have to crawl. Getting a lowed grip with her claw-hand, she lowered herself down onto her hands and knees. Her right leg wouldn't even kneel.

Lean forward and drag her left leg up under her, move her hands in front, then do it again. It seemed to take forever but she got to one of the long branches on the ground. Crawling up to it, she gripped the branch, then tried to figure out how to break off a piece of the long branch. She sat back on her butt and looked at her claw-hand. She had wanted to grip the tree and her hand formed a claw. She stared at the branch and wanted to cut through it.

Feeling something in her hand, she watched it turn into a small saw. She didn't know how it did that, but she was happy it did. Sliding over a bit, she cut the branch then cut the length she wanted loose. sliding on her butt farther back and bringing her cut branch with her, she cut another length of branch. She wanted just a hand again, she watched her hand take it's proper shape. Getting up was still hard, but now with a branch in each hand, she was able to pull her self up. She hobbled along on two branches and one leg.

Hobbling through the woods, she tripped a couple times but got up and kept going. Coming to a break where there were no trees, she saw at the bottom of the downhill slope there was a lake. Water, she was dying of thirst. She took a few hobbling steps towards it and paused. Lakes had alligators. It was dangerous to get near the shore. She frowned a bit. How did she know that? Seeing how she was in such bad shape already, she didn't want to risk getting bitten. She hobbled into the trees on the other side and kept going the way she had been. Right after she was in the trees, a canoe passed by on the lake. She didn't see it.

Following the curve of the mountain, she also missed the lodge that was at one end of the lake. In the afternoon, she did find a trail angling downhill. By the time it was getting dark again, the land around her flattened out. She also came to a fork on the trail. She paused for a moment, not knowing which way to go. The left fork was pretty much the way she had been going, so she went that way. It was dark and she was getting tired. Hearing water, she hobbled down a bank to find a stream. Water! Easing herself down, she knelt and scooped up a few handfuls of water. It was cold and refreshing. Being tired, she found a place to lie down and passed out.

.

Four days after they had been notified Jackie's plane crashed, John got a call.

"Connor."

"Mr. Connor, this is Lt. Anderson, we have been digging through the remains of the airplane your daughter was in. We have the remains of others out, and we have not found anything indicating your daughter was on board when it in impacted. Every skull and fragment we've found is human bone. No metallic materials we found appear to be part of a cyborg. Either she was not here, or somehow, got up and walked away from the ruins, which I find highly doubtful. We are initiating a search of the area to see if we can find her. Jackie is 5 foot 4 inches tall, blonde hair, slim to medium build, correct?"

"Yes, where can we go to help with this search?" John asked.

"Mr. Connor, this area has few roads, it's mostly goat paths. Unless your familiar with the area, it's easy to get lost or pass right by the area you want to see. The nearest town is Haneyville, and that is one building with a post office, bar, restaurant and motel, and another building that is the gas station, diner and tourist center. That and a few houses is all there is. If you sneezed going past, you could miss the whole town. Please, we don't want to be having to search for you also when you get lost in the woods. We got dogs to track IF we find she'd still alive. We're going to follow the path of the plane back from where it crashed for two miles. That's up over the mountain across from the lake. If we find something, we'll call."

.

The roaring sound of an engine woke her up. It was fading away as she sat up. She didn't hurt as much, but she was thirsty and terribly hungry. She crawled to the stream and got a few more handfuls of water. Then she stared at her waving reflection in the water. The right side of her face, eye, cheek and the side of her head looked like clotted over hamburger. gaping at herself she touched, and found the reflection was accurate. She had no right ear, either. much of her hair had been torn out also. She jerked back. What could have done that to her? She sobbed at the though she looked so ugly. Looking down on herself, she was a bloody mess and had her clothes were only rags. The only piece of clothing she had on that was whole was her left pant leg. She needed to find help!

Getting her branches, she struggled to her foot and climbed up the back to the path. Something had gone down that path. If she stayed on it, someone was sure to come past eventually. Going uphill was tough. Jump a bit, reposition her branches, then take another jump. Her right leg was still limp, but now she had shooting pains down it. That didn't help her walk at all. She wanted to sit down and just wait for someone to come by. She had only heard one vehicle in the last, she guessed, four days. It could be four more before someone came by. She had to keep going.

.

"Lt. Anderson, come look at this!" one of his men called from uphill. They were following the path the plane had taken. Halfway up the mountainside, he and his men had been searching for anything they could find. As he walked up to the man, his man held out a shoe.

"Looks like Cinderella lost her slipper," he said. "Look at the side of it here, this shoe was cut by something rough."

Taking the shoe, Anderson had to agreed. "No blood on it," he noted.

"No, and by the rip, it started from the top edge down. I'm thinking it was pulled off a foot," the man stated. "Look up at the tree tops here," he added pointing up.

The Lt. did.

"See the top branches there broken off? those are fresh breaks, the leaves on them are still green and full. Now, look at that next one. Same thing, only lower, That's a good sized branch hanging down. Again, down there farther, the top was knocked off. again, straight down hill."

Lt. Anderson eyed the breaks and said, "They are in a straight line."

"Almost like something fell from the sky to break them on it's way down."

Lt. Anderson looked at the shoe, then the breaks on the trees. "No one could have lived through that," he stated.

"I think we'll find her body if we follow the broken trees, right down this way." the man told him.

Lt. Anderson nodded. "She was thrown from the plane then. Let's get looking. Prepare yourself, this could be gross."

They made their way back downhill, following the signs. Freshly broken branches and bits of clothing hanging from a couple. A rock with a blood smear on it, then a spot of disturbed ground beside a tree that had many bloodstains on it. There were also claw marks on the tree.

Lt. Anderson and his men looked at the area.

She was here, but something had her for lunch. "Jake, can you recognize these marks?"

The man frowned. "That's not bear, or Bobcat. Cougar maybe, but I never seen one around. Look, there's another on over here," he stepped around the tree and said, "They go in a circle, bout five feet up. Nothing below or above. This is weird guys."

"We got tracks!" Bill announced. Pointing, he said, "Someone cut sections out of this branch here. They hobbled off this way on them, looks like dragging the right foot."

Lt. Anderson looked up and the path of destruction on the way down. This Jackie Connor had fallen from the sky, battered through at least three decent sized trees, bounced off a rock when she landed, and she was still alive? He shook his head. It didn't seem possible. "Jake, get your dogs, use the shoe for a scent. we have to find that girl."

.

She hobbled along the path and found more bushes and a few small trees growing on the path. this path wasn't being used, but it had to go somewhere. The sun had been high overhead, now it was sinking down again. She licked her dry lips. She should have stayed near that stream, even if she couldn't eat, she desperately wanted more water. She hobbled along and soon, the path was lost.

"Shit," she croaked. ahead was a field, the trail had ran out. She went for the field. It was a field of weeds, but in the distance she could see the peak of a roof. A roof, someone was sure to be there, there was sure to be a real road there! She hobbled along the fastest she could go, hoping to not have to sleep on the ground again. If no one was home, she would break in, drink from the kitchen tap and eat whatever was in the refrigerator!

The field was slow going, weeds tried to trip up her foot and keep her from moving her branches ahead. Every move was a test of keeping her balance. In the distance, she heard dogs barking. It was coming from behind her. Were dogs chasing her? Maybe they were hungry like she was? She move along as fast as she could, and it didn't seem fast enough. Panting from effort and fear, she cried out again when a weed tried to hold her right leg back. Pushing forward she did free her leg, she was also off balance, the branches wouldn't move, her left leg caught on something and she went down.

In a panic, she got her branches free and got back up to keep struggling through the brush and weeds.

.

Jake had to run to keep up with his dogs. They had the scent and were charging ahead, pulling him along. They ran along a trail then diverted to go down a small bank to a stream, sniffed around then went back up the bank and continued on, baying. They still had the scent. Coming to a fork, Jake noted the dogs went left. He got on his radio. "Lt! Jack here, I'm solid on her trail, she took a path that leads to the road, just a mile or so north of Haneyville. For a badly injured girl with one leg, she's moving along pretty good."

"Good work, Just remember when we find her she's hurt and scared, so don't run at her. Let her know we came to help."

"Got it." He went to rearrange the leashes and one slipped from his hand. The hound dog took off running. Buddy was on the trail and he was going to chase down his prey. "SHIT!"

.

She got close enough the see the road and the deep ditch between the field and the road. The house was across the road. Looking at th ditch she was figuring out not to get down the steep side when a baying bark came from behind. Looking back a hound was leaping brush coming at her. She move to re-position her branches, but when she put the right one down, it kept going down. She tipped and fell into the ditch with a scream and a tumble.

Splashing down in the water she'd lost her right side branch. It was under her. The dog was coming. She held her other branch in both hands, cocked back. The dog appeared nd leaped into the ditch. With a scream of defiance she hit the dog square on the head with a loud 'TOK'. The dog folded and rolled to stop on top of her.

Crying and pushing at the now dead dog to get it off her, she struggled to climb up the bank. Once she got the dog down low enough, she kicked it away. Another dog was coming, she could hear it.

"OH MY GOD!" a woman cried.

She looked up to see a woman standing on the road, hands over her mouth, her wide eyes staring at her.

"Help me please!" She begged.

The woman came over and helped pull her up the bank. "What happened to you?" she cried.

"I don't know!" she cried back. "I woke up in the woods, hurt really bad! Dogs are chasing me!"

"Stay still," the woman said and ran back into the house.

Hearing the dog coming closer, she looked for something, anything to defend herself with. Her branches were down in the ditch, in the water. Now she could see a man coming with another dog. The women ran up beside her and racked her shotgun that she pointed at the man. In a strong voice she yelled, "Back off or eat Buckshot!"

The man stopped and held up the hand he wasn't restraining the dog with. "We've been looking for her," he said.

"Yeah, and seeing the horrid shape she's in I don't think you've been too kind to her either. Another step forward and you're gonna have a lot of holes in you and that dog!"

"We didn't do anything to her! She fell out of a plane!" he cried.

"You best explain better than that, mister!" the woman stated.

"Six days ago, a plane crashed up in the hills here. Somehow, she got thrown out of the plane just before it went down. By some ... miracle she hit enough trees on the way down that she survived. Look at her! She need serious medical help!"

"That she does. Don't you move!" the woman barked and let go with one hand, still pointing the shotgun at him. She dug her phone out. "Yeah, it's Rachel, I need a couple agents, police, anyone. I got a very badly hurt young woman here, and a man who was chasing her down with dogs ... yeah, I'll hold him here ... damn near half her face is gone, her clothes are shredded and it looks like she's been whipped pretty bad. Her right leg's twisted and she got a pant leg bandage on a leg wound that looks really bad, she's covered in blood ... yeah, if he tries to flee I will shoot-im!"

The woman then looked down on her. "Can you walk."

She shook her head. "My right leg won't work. It just hurts really bad."

"Don't you worry, help's comin. Just lay there and rest til it gets here."

The woman stood over her keeping her shotgun trained in the man with the dog until a ranger car and a rescue truck showed up from one direction and a cop car, sirens wailing showed up from the other. Once they arrived, the woman lowered her gun and told them what she saw. a A ranger and a cop listened as the other cop and the men from the rescue vehicle, got emergency blankets over the girl, then gently turned her over to wrap her up in one completely. a pair of medics from the rescue truck brought a stretcher over.

"Miss, what's your name?" the cop asked.

She looked at him and frowned a bit. "I .. don't know. The only think i know is waking up in the woods hurt, and trying to find help."

An army Officer came over to kneel by her. "Hi, I am Lt. Anderson. you're Jackie Connor. Can you tell be about the plane crash?"

She shook her head. "You know who I am?"

"I do," he said with a gentle smile. "You fell out of an airplane just before it crashed. That is how you got all those injuries. We've been searching for you for days now."

"She must have a concussion, look at her head," a medic stated. "From that alone, it's a miracle she's alive." To Jackie he said, "We're taking you to the hospital."

"I'll call your folks and let them know we found you," the Officer said, then told the cop, We'll be escorting her to the hospital. There's a few things we need to discuss with the doctor who see her."

The ride in the back of the rescue truck, sirens wailing, was actually nice. She didn't have to move any more. They gave her water, put an IV in her arm and bandaged her head. Not having to move felt great. she slept most of the way there.

.

Barnabas went in Daniel's room to find him sitting on the bed, staring at nothing. He also noticed all the pictures of Jackie he had were gone from the wall. "Where's your pictures?" he asked.

"I hid them," Daniel said heavily. "No one's taking them from me."

"Don't know why they would. You my boy, need to get cleaned up and ready to go. Jackie had been found."

"Really?" Daniel asked warily.

"She's in Jersey Shore hospital, in the middle of Pennsylvania. A bit confusing, the name of that place. From what I understand, somehow, she was tossed out of that plane before it crashed down. She flew down a mountainside and hit a few trees on her way to the ground. Apparently, that saved her life. She is hurt bad, but she is alive, and being taken care of. I though you might want to go see her."

Daniel shot to his feet. "I do!" he announced. Suddenly instead of doing nothing, he was moving quickly.