02/19/2019

**Note: This is the longest chapter yet, but hopefully it's worth it. One more cliffie in store for all you, but stick with me. Happy reading!

Ranger moaned and slowly opened his eyes. At least he thought his eyes were open. It was so dark it was hard to tell. He had first awakened after the fall and couldn't remember where he was or what happened. I must have been out for a while, Ranger thought, because the fog seemed to have cleared from his head even though he was left with a monster of a headache. For the first time in several days, he was free of the mind numbing drugs that had kept him sedated and unable to function.

Well this is just great, Ranger thought. Now that my mind is clear, I'm trapped in a hole with no light and no idea how to get out of here. He thought he was in a mine shaft, but the ledge he was sitting on was so small that one wrong move and it would be permanent lights out. So he didn't want to do much exploring.

He tried to stand and sucked in some air as his ribs roared in protest. Cracked ribs hurt like a bitch, he thought. Ranger limped carefully along the ledge, trying to feel for anything – a rope, a ladder, a handhold. Nothing. Where the hell was his team? Surely they would have picked up something by now, right? What he didn't want to think about was that he didn't even pick up on Scrog. So if Ranger didn't have a beat on him, was it possible that the others didn't either?

Ranger had been in a lot of precarious situations. He'd been captured, tortured, and left to die in places that only exist in our nightmares. This one ranked right up there as the worst. Cold, alone, and in totally darkness, Ranger was doing his best to stay in the zone. The-don't panic-zone. The-you will find a way out of this-zone. Ranger closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. And sat down to wait.

Tank, Sylvio, Julie, and I were all on a plane bound for Virginia. We were headed into a small airport in Tazewell County and from there we would meet up with the rest of the task force and discuss the plan. Sylvio had been able to download some information about the terrain, and he was going over everything with Tank. Julie was asleep. I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin I was so anxious. I didn't like the thought of Julie being anywhere near Scrog, but I also didn't like the idea of her being alone and unprotected in Miami. So in the end, we took her with us.

We landed in record time and met up with Hal and the other men who had been boots on ground searching for Ranger. The mining camp was located in a remote area about two hours from the closest town. There was one way in and one way out. Not ideal if you were planning a sneak attack. I suspected that Scrog would have convinced himself that we would never find them. I hoped he wasn't too far away though because I wanted to be there when he took his last breath.

"What's the plan?" I asked. "We're about three hours away from the location of the camp, and we plan to move in tonight," Tank said. "Cutting it close to our 24 hour deadline," I said to him. "Yea," Tank said. "But it's better to go in at night. The mine will be pitch black no matter the time of day. You and Julie will wait here while we go in." "The hell I will!" I yelled. "Ranger will kill us if anything happens to you," Hal said, "especially if it's in exchange for his rescue." "I'm right in the middle of this and we don't even know if the game is over," I said. "Besides, I think it's safer if we all stick together. We know Scrog is capable of most anything. I'm going. End of story." Tank and Hal looked at each other. "Now that that's settled," I said, "when do we leave?"

Ranger was losing it. Sitting in the dark with no sound and nothing but his thoughts to keep him company was driving him over the edge. He kept hearing things – whispers of voices, then laughter, then crying. He swore he felt something brush against his leg. I can't wait much longer, he thought, or I'll be as crazy as Scrog. He closed his eyes and tried to picture Stephanie. Please Babe, he thought, find me before I have to do something desperate.

It was dark and we were on the road. Our car was in the middle of the parade as we made our way into the mining camp. It was close to 1 a.m. Two hours to find Ranger. We parked and everyone got out. "The entrance to the mine should be up and over this hill," Tank said. "There's a cabin close by and we'll first do a sweep to be sure he's not in there. We've got flak vests, flashlights, and night vision goggles for everyone. I'm also giving you a communication earpiece." He handed me a small wired ear bud and a radio. "We are all on the same channel so you'll be able to talk to us and hear everything that's going on," he said. "And Steph." Tank handed me a gun. "Shoot to kill," he said.

Julie was going to stay in the car with some of Ranger's men until we knew the coast was clear. I knelt down and hugged her and told her we would be back soon. "Don't forget the key," she said as she placed it into my palm. The key! I hadn't even thought of it. "Good thinking, Julie," I said. I pocketed the key and made my way over to Tank.

The men loaded rope, climbing gear and other various equipment onto their shoulders and we made our way up the hill. We spotted the cabin and Tank and I stayed behind while the other men silently moved in. It was eerily quiet up here and very dark. I looked through the goggles and saw nothing but rock all around us. No Scrog.

We got word that the cabin was clear so we made our way down the hill. We entered the cabin and saw a chair in the corner with a length of discarded chain strewn across the ground. "Think that's where Scrog was keeping Ranger?" I asked. "Yes," one of the men said. "We found another syringe on the floor like the one that was left back in Arlington so it seems he was keeping him drugged." I looked at my watch. 2 a.m. One hour to find Ranger.

We left the cabin and made our way to the entrance to the mine. According to Sylvio's schematics, there were a series of tunnels that wound through 2 miles of earth. We would have to split up into groups of two. One team would go left as many times as they could, while another team would go right. Tank and I would stay straight. We were about to go in when one of the men spotted a device on the wall. "Is that what I think it is?" I asked. Sure enough, there was a bomb strapped to the entrance with a countdown clock. 45 minutes left. 45 minutes to 3 a.m. We synched our watches to the clock so that we'd know how much time we had to get the hell out. My heart was pounding so loud I could hardly hear anything else. "We've go to move now," Tank said, taking my hand and running into the mine. Please be here, I prayed silently.

Ranger had made up his mind. He was going to try and blindly climb up the wall. If he died trying then he died trying. It was better than sitting here waiting to die and going mad in the process. He carefully stood. And put his boot to the wall.

Tank and I made our way through the tunnels, while the other men paired up and split off. We could hear them as they cleared different areas, no one finding anything. "Watch your step," Tank said. "Be sure to only step on solid ground. If you see planks, jump over them." We were racing through the tunnels with most of the turns winding up as dead ends. I looked at my watch. 30 minutes left. We were yelling Ranger's name as we got deeper into the mine. 20 minutes left.

Ranger had one foot off the ground when he thought he heard someone call his name. Probably just hearing things again, he thought. He went to take another step, and he heard it again. He stopped and listened closely. He was sure he heard it this time. Was that Stephanie? "Here!" Ranger yelled. "Down here!"

Tank and I were near the back of the mine and there were two paths left. 15 minutes left. Barely enough time to get out the way we came. "We have to split up, there's not enough time to go though both paths. You go left and I'm going right," I said. As I rounded the corner, I was still calling Ranger's name. I heard a faint sound. As I moved further into the tunnel, the voice became clearer. "Ranger!" I said. "Down here!" Ranger said. I shined my light on a wooden lid and there was the lock I'd been looking for. Thanks to Julie, I produced the key from my pocket, turned the lock, and threw open the lid. There, in all his disheveled glory, was Ranger.

"Tank I found him!" I yelled into the earpiece. Ranger was down about 20 feet. "Babe!" he said. "What took you so long?" "No time," I said. "There's a bomb that's been set to go off in – I looked at my watch – 10 minutes." Tank rounded the corner with the rope he was carrying. He secured one side around a large beam and threw the other side down into the hole. "Do you think you can scale the rope or do I need to pull you out?" Tank asked. Ranger was already climbing the rope before Tank finished speaking. He got to the top in record time and was panting and holding his side, but he was standing. I had never been so happy to see him. I threw my arms around him and he grunted in pain and wrapped his arms around me. Tank radioed the rest of the men to confirm we had Ranger and told them to exit the mine immediately. "We've gotta go – NOW!" Tank said. 8 minutes.

We flat out ran as fast as we could through the tunnels, Tank in the lead, me in the middle, Ranger bringing up the rear. He was limping, but keeping pace with us. I suspected that he was running on pure adrenaline and nothing could stand in his way. "How much time?" Ranger asked. "2 minutes," Tank said.

We came to a section where we had to crawl on hands and knees. I've never crawled so fast in my life. I heard Ranger stop behind me. "What's wrong?" I asked. "My shoe is caught," Ranger said. I turned to Tank. "Go – we are right behind you." I crawled back to Ranger and wiggled at his shoe until it came loose from the rock. 15 seconds.

We scurried out of the tunnel and ran towards the entrance. We were getting closer. 10 seconds. I could see the entrance. 5 seconds. We were almost there. 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second.