Chapter 6
"Hey!" shouted Morgan over the sound of the rotors. "Go back. I think I saw the jet!"
Emily peered out of the window to where Morgan was pointing. Yes, it could be. The bright sun was reflecting off something.
"Maybe." said Emily, intently peering into the distance.
The pilot brought the chopper down about a hundred yards from the crash site, Morgan was off before it had even touched the ground.
"This way," he shouted, crashing through the undergrowth, Emily right behind him.
They found the jet without too much difficulty. Apprehensively they climbed inside. Emily shone her flashlight round the dim interior. She bent forward and picked up Hotch's laptop. "Morgan!" Her voice was trembling as she held it out to Morgan." Look at this."
The corner of the laptop was covered in blood. Morgan saw skin and dark hair.
"Hotch." He concentrated his flashlight on the blood. "This is not crash damage. This happened before the crash." He started to look around. Emily picked her way up to the front of the plane.
There was a lot of blood on the floor under the first aid locker. "Where the hell are they?" He picked up the bloodied towel. "At least two of them survived the crash," called Morgan. "First aid box is open."
"Gun locker's empty." said Emily, returning to Morgan's side, "and the pilots dead. Strangled."
"So either they have the guns and are out looking for Cross, or….." He did not need to finish the sentence.
"Let's find them then."
The sun was going down, and it was getting dark. They hadn't long before a search would become impossible.
Emily climbed down off the jet and shone her flashlight about her. She bent down and looked at a darker patch of earth. "There's a lot of blood here." She said worriedly.
"Their trail shouldn't be too hard to follow." said Morgan,
He was right. There were no paths, but broken stems and branches led them through the trees. They shone their flashlights into the undergrowth.
"What's that?" Emily bent and picked up a tiny square of plastic. "A sim card. It's been snapped."
"Someone didn't want any calls made." said Morgan.
"Emily, look!" He pointed towards a darker shadow further ahead on the ground. They both ran.
The first thing they saw was Cross. He was on his front, at least three exit wounds on his back. Most of his head was missing.
"Hotch! Reid!" Emily called. "Where are they?"
"Over here!"
Morgan snatched out his mobile, Emily gaped in horror.
Hotch lay on his back, his left leg a mess of blood. His face cut and bruised, a dreadful injury to the side of his head. His whole body wet with blood and sweat.
Beside him lay Spencer Reid. His face was pressed into Hotch's neck, his right arm around his waist. His fingers were gripped tightly onto Hotch's shirt as if he would never let go. His other arm was stretched out behind him. Bent, useless, filthy. Every visible area of his body was torn, his clothes in rags and bloody.
Neither man moved.
Emily knelt down.
"Are they…." Morgan couldn't say the words.
"Hotch is breathing, but he's really hot." She checked Reid's pulse.
"He's dead." she said, her voice without emotion. "Help me!"
She pulled his arm from Hotch, rolled him over onto his back. Quickly she knelt at his head and breathed into his lungs. Morgan sat astride him and began to pump his chest.
"Come on Reid, dammit!" Morgan shouted at the still form. "Breathe!"
Reid's slim body seemed almost too fragile to take the CPR. Morgan had not realized how delicate he was, almost child like. He thought back to all the times he had teased him, poked fun at him. Guilt washed over him.
"Come on, Genius-boy. I need to apologise to you!"
Emily leaned back. "It's ok. You can stop. He's breathing."
Morgan didn't hear. His whole world was this man. Nothing else mattered.
"Come back damn you!" He was shouting at Reid. Emily pulled at Morgan's arm..
"It's ok, Morgan. He's back!" Morgan tried to pull away. Emily pulled his face round to look at her.
"He's back. It's ok."
Morgan sat on the ground, heels of his hands pressed into his eyes.
"Oh God! I thought we'd lost him." His voice was shaky. He made no attempt to hide it.
Emily carefully moved Spencer's arm off the ground and put her jacket under it. Morgan removed his coat and placed it against Hotch's head.
He stood and looked into the clear sky. "Come on!"