The Dessert Part II:

FBI Field Office: LA:

Don, the team, Ian, Lt. Walker, Charlie & co were at the office along with other agents. They were getting ready to head to the Mojave Dessert and start looking for Kali. The helicopter was on standby just in case it was needed and UCLA Medical Center was also on standby, waiting for them to find the missing agent and bring her in. Everyone had a backpack filled with water and all were using there SUV's to make the trip. The search quadrants had been uploaded into all GPS systems in the vehicles and everyone was ready to leave by eight o'clock in the morning.

As everyone headed out, Charlie & co told them that they would be updating the search quadrants every hour and to look for possibly new data on the GPS systems. As the agents headed out, Charlie, Amita and Larry went into the WAR room and watched as Kali's phone came back on the grid and Charlie let Don know that she had turned her cell phone back on. Charlie, Amita and Larry got settled and waited for Don to let them know when they had arrived at the Search Quadrants that had been uploaded into the GPS systems of the SUV's.

Kali:

I had turned off my cell phone during the night knowing that a search wouldn't be initiated until the morning and fallen into a fitful sleep crouched between three rocks. Waking at around eight in the morning, I turned my cell back on and pushed up out of the rocks, moving towards a cactus, where I knew food would be. The cactus fruit is very edible and all cacti have water in them if you can get to them. Opening the backpack to see what Zoran had left me, I noticed a small pocket knife and grabbed it. Using it to cut open a branch on the cactus, I grabbed the empty water bottle and filled it with the water from the cactus. After the water bottle was filled, I moved to the cactus fig. I cut four cactus figs from where they were and opened them up, eating the insides.

As soon as I was done eating, I zipped the backpack up, pocketed the knife and grabbed the water bottle, then headed out, moving towards wherever I thought the road might be. I was in pain but I kept moving. If I kept moving, my team might be able to find me faster. I sipped the water from the bottle, a little at a time, but knew that I would run out way too soon. Cactus water was drinkable, but drink too much and you can dehydrate yourself even worse then you already are*.

[*AN-Don't know if this is true but in this story it is. I don't have internet on my computer, so I can't check to see if it is true or not.]

The figs did wonders on my stomach, but I also knew that I would need more food and soon. The dessert wasn't someone you messed with. I knew how to find water and food, but as the sun climbed higher in the sky, food was sparser to find and most animals stayed in shaded areas as well as holes in the ground. And you shouldn't put your hand into a hole without knowing what is inside first. You never know if you are going to put your hand into a scorpion nest or snake nest. I moved forward, pushing on, listening to the sounds of the dessert. I was listening for anything that was out of the ordinary, like vehicle sounds, which would mean that the FBI was searching the dessert for me.

When I went to take another drink from the bottle, I realized all my water was gone. I stopped and put the bottle back in the backpack, then shoved myself forward. There was no more water and I couldn't find another cactus which meant that there was going to be no more cacti figs. The sun beat down on my shoulders and with no way of protecting myself from the rays; I could feel my skin starting to burn. I kept my arm tight against my abdomen. I had used the sweater I had worn yesterday morning and tied my arm to my body, so as not to injure my arm anymore than it already was. I trudged on.

Trudging on, I heard thunder clouds or what I thought were thunder clouds rolling over the sky. Looking up, I caught a glimpse of a helicopter and stopped. The thunder continued, but kept going past. It didn't stop for me, even though I was kept yelling at it to stop. My hope of rescue diminished as the helicopter kept going and I collapsed next to a shrub that offered a little shade.

The Searchers:

Don and the team were split into different SUV's as were almost every agent. Colby, David and Liz were in one vehicle, Lt. Walker, Ian and Don in another and Nikki and two other agents in yet another vehicle. All were searching the area very thoroughly. Charlie had relayed the new search quadrants to the GPS systems in the SUV's and they had started off in different directions. Don and his group went to the first search quadrants, Nikki and her group went to the second search quadrants and Colby, Liz and David were working on the new search quadrants. Everyone was looking, everyone was searching, nobody was quitting until they found her. They were looking for anything reflective and stopped everytime they thought they saw something.

As Colby, Liz and David drove past a section they were searching, Liz yelled out and pointed. She'd seen something reflective coming from some shrub. David pulled into the section and called Don and the others and Liz and Colby jumped out and ran to the shrub. Colby slid to the ground like he was sliding into first base and turned Kali over so she was lying on her back. Liz put her hand on Kali's neck, checking for a pulse. David could bee seen running to them as well, calling for the helicopter as he fell to his knees next to his co-workers. They had found me, but had they been too late.

Don and the others got to the quadrant about the same time the helicopter did. The medics got out of the helicopter and ran to where Colby, Liz and David were, trying to keep Kali cool, trying to get her to drink water and using a headband pressed on the wound in her shoulder. The medics got her on the backboard and put an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose and headed for the helicopter. Colby and Liz jumped into the helicopter with them and they all headed for UCLA Medical Center.