TRIVIA: As I was writing this chapter and Jack's use of his phone's flashlight, I wondered who got the idea to put a flashlight on a phone in the first place? Was it Apple with iPhone? Or was it another smartphone company? I'm not a smartphone expert and have only had minimal different smartphone experience, but it wasn't until the iPhone do I remember this function. I tried looking it up, but I can't seem to find the answer. Maybe it's lost in time, I don't know. But if anyone knows, I'll give you a chapter for the answer!
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"This is where they took her?" Mya complained as the three agents trounced through the snowy woods, trying to find Sue and Tara and their mysterious location.
"Tara did say to be quiet, you know." Jack reminded.
"We're in the middle of nowhere!" She screamed in retaliation.
"Be quiet!" Bobby loudly whispered.
"I sure don't think anyone is here, let alone Mallory." She skeptically replied.
"I did say to be quiet!" Tara yell-whispered as she jogged up to the group. "I heard you from all the way over there!" She said, pointing.
"Where?" Bobby asked, looking in the direction she was pointing, not seeing anything.
"C'mon." She said, waving as she walked, everyone following her. Soon, they could see Sue and the dogs, then the cabin in the distance.
"So I guess I was wrong." Mya said, staring at the cabin. "I guess someone does live in the middle of nowhere."
"What?" Bobby exclaimed a bit too loudly. "Mya Rankin wrong? Send the presses! This is the news story of the decade! No, the century!"
"Alright, alright," Tara replied, trying to diffuse the excitement. "How about we go see if Mallory is in there, and we can talk about Mya's admission later?"
"I have a better idea; how about we find Mallory, then NOT talk about the admission later?" Mya suggested.
She chuckled in reply. "We can do that too."
"Oh no you don't!" Bobby replied. We're talking about it. Definitely."
"Greeaat." She monotonously replied, staring off at nothing in particular.
"Alright, we ready to check it out?" Jack asked, trying to get everyone back on track. When everyone silently nodded, he did as well. "Good. Sue, you stay back with the dogs. Tara and Bobby, you take the back. Me and Mya will take the front.
"Sounds good." He replied, the two of them already walking to take the long road around the cabin. Since they didn't have time to be equipped with mics, they all stayed within visual distance and used ASL to communicate.
"YOU-TWO READY YOU?" Jack signed when it seemed like Bobby and Tara stopped their careful path.
"YES." Tara replied.
"OK. READY? 1, 2, 3!" He signed, then the two groups stealthily got into place around the cabin, guns at the ready.
"I'll take a peek through the window." Mya whispered, she and Jack leaned up against the front wall. Seeing him nod, she did what she said she would, popping her head to look through the window, then popping it back again.
"Anything?" He whispered.
She shook her head. "Looks empty and dark, at least in the main room. I saw a couple closed doors.
"OK," Jack replied, nodding. "How about we silently go in, see what we can find?"
Nodding, she set her gun up as he turned the front doorknob, which easily turned. Looking at him, she anticipatedly waited to see what would be waiting for them on the other side of the door.
Holding their breaths, they slowly walked inside the dark cabin, waving their guns around, but not seeing anything dangerous. Clearing the main room and the kitchen, all that was left was the two rooms, which both of the doors were closed and no light was coming from underneath.
"TRY THAT?" She asked, pointing to the doors.
Jack nodded and they proceeded to walk to walk towards the nearest door. When Mya was stationed on the hinge side of the wall and Jack was on the knob side, the two nodded to each other, then he opened the door.
Looking around the dark bedroom, the two processed the room, but didn't find anything. "NEXT ROOM." Jack signed, and they repeated the process with the same results.
"Well, she's not here." Mya announced as she holstered her gun as the two looked around the dark bedroom. "In fact, it looks like no one has been for a while."
"It looks like." Jack replied, kneeling down to look at the dust on the floor, his phone serving as his flashlight. "But it also looks like someone has been here recently, they just didn't dust the cabin off. Look." He said, pointing. "That's not my footprint, and that's definitely not yours."
"Hey, yeah," she replied, getting down to his level to see the footprint in the light. "So if someone was here and they kept Mallory here, where is she now?"
He shrugged, not knowing the answer.
As they were sitting there deep in thought, a noise was heard.
"What was that?" Mya asked, frowning.
He shrugged as he took his gun out again. "Someone in the cabin?" He whispered.
"But we cleared the building!" She loudly whispered.
Jack looked at her. "Did we?"