Manelli's men had left their campground before light. They needed to make up the time and distance they had lost the day before. They came to the rapids and were trying to determine which way to go. Finally they decided to split up. One team taking the right, the other the left.
Their leader spoke up. "We keep in touch. You find a trail let me know." The men nodded and the two teams went their separate ways.
The first team began to cross the river. They made it to the other side and noticed the footprints. Two sets of footprints in the soft mud leading to the left. The leader smiled. He signaled for the rest of his team to follow him and the footprints. They had been walking for an hour when the other team came over the walkie talkie.
"We found a black bag. It has a bunch of supplies in it. There is also a signs of at least one person further ahead of where we found the bag." The leader smiled. They were separated.
"Follow from your end. We have two sets of prints over here. Report back to me when you find anything."
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Stan and the marshals were making their way to the rapids. They came across the set of tracks left by Manelli's men. He called in the location to the helicopter that was patrolling the areas ahead of them. A second helicopter would be sent out shortly to help in the search. Everyone was aware Manelli's men; Mary, Marshall and Samantha had headed towards the rapids but were unsure which way the groups would head. Stan had been pretty sure Marshall would lead Mary and Samantha away from the natural flow of the rapids. He knew the way Marshall thought.
He smiled as he heard the helicopters overhead. "I need one of you going down the rapids and the other against the rapids. Find my inspectors before their company does." Stan ordered. The pilots confirmed and headed out from their directions.
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Manelli's team was moving further up the bank not paying attention to much more than the footprints in front of them when they made the unfortunate mistake of walking between a mother bear and her cubs. The mother bear attacked the man and they were forced to fire to protect themselves. The leader cursed at the move when he heard the shots echoing through the woods.
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Mary and Marshall's head both snapped up at the retort of the gunfire echoed through the forest. "They're making good time." Marshall mentioned. "We need to buy ourselves more time."
"What do you have in mind?" Mary asked.
Marshall stopped to think for a few minutes. "They're obviously tracking our movements. We've left footprints in some areas as there was no way to avoid it, like by the river. I did walk out of the way before coming back to you so it might be a little bit before they realize that we are not separated anymore. We need to break foliage and leave footprints in several different directions. Rip pieces of clothing and stick them on brush like we accidentally tore it while going past. It might buy us more time put some distance between them and us. Stan has to be looking for us by now. If we can keep them guessing long enough it might give us enough time to be found."
Mary looked at him. "Makes sense." The three set about leaving false trails, making them as confusing as possible.
Marshall waited till they were done before telling her the second part of his plan; the part he knew she wouldn't like. "Now you two keep going forward for a couple of hours and continue in this direction. I'll break off from you and climb up behind the rocks. It will allow me a chance to see what we're up against. Then I'll meet up with you. "
"The plan almost makes sense accept I will be the one that stay while the two of you keep moving forward." Mary's look dared him to suggest otherwise.
Marshall took the dare. "Mary, it is your responsibility to protect Samantha. I should be the one that stays. She is after all, your witness"
"You are also the one who has more injuries and you're less likely to come back. Who knows what else might decide to have you for lunch. I have the better chance of getting back and you know it. We don't have time to argue. Get out of here and I'll meet up with you as soon as I figure out how many of them there are." Mary stared him down until he reluctantly agreed.
Marshall ran through the plan one more time with Mary to make sure she knew it by heart. "Make sure you take the high road back towards us. Be careful for man and animal alike." He cautioned.
Mary looked at Samantha. "Do exactly what he tells you to do. I'll meet up with you in a couple of hours." She watched them walk away and hoped this plan worked.
She climbed up to get to the high ground and found some foliage to hide behind. Marshall had figured the group was about an hour away from them at most. A feral smile formed on her lips as she saw them come into view. There were six of them. Preparing a mental list of the weapons they carried she was about to turn and leave when the apparent leader pulled out a walkie talkie.
"What have you found?" He demanded.
"There's definitely one missing from the original group. We have seen signs of the others heading away from the rapids. We are trying to pick up the trail now." The voice came through.
"Report back to me as soon as you know." He then hooked the walkie talkie on his belt and they began to move out. Mary quietly retreated back from where she was. It was while she was making her way through the trees to meet up with Marshall and Samantha that she heard the sounds of a helicopter. Instinct made her want to flag it down but she knew it would give her location away. Cursing under her breath she hoped they would see Marshall and Samantha.
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Marshall and Samantha had moved further into the cover of the trees. It provided them better protection. He was sweating so bad his hair was plastered to his face. Noticing Samantha had been perspiring but nothing like he was he grew concerned about his ability to protect her if Mary didn't make it back. His stomach was nauseous and he felt like hell. Deciding it was better to say nothing, he didn't want to worry Samantha; he continued moving. Samantha kept taking side glances at him but also said nothing. He was grateful for that at least.
Marshall heard the blades of a helicopter flying over them and cursed himself for moving them into the trees when he saw the USMS emblem on the back. Even though there was no way to get uncovered in time to flag it down before it was gone they at least had to try.
Marshall looked at Samantha. "Can you run? We need to see if we can get out of cover enough for them to see us." She nodded and they ran as fast as they could toward a clear path in the trees. The efforts were to no avail and the helicopter continued moving forward and out of sight.
Marshall signaled for Samantha to stop. The helicopter had not turned around to give a secondary look at the area they were in. Eventually it would fly back over but for now it was scanning ahead. Marshall felt his stomach turn over and moved behind a tree and heaved. Grabbing some of the local terrain he covered up his stomach contents and moved back towards Samantha.
"What's wrong Marshall?" She knew there was something amiss, and this time didn't stop herself from asking.
Marshall heard the concern in her voice but refused to tell her anything was wrong. It was a worry she didn't need. "Stomach was just a little upset from the run. It is nothing major." He smiled to reassure her. The look on her face told him she didn't quite believe him but she let the issue drop.
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Manelli's men had thought they had seen something by the tree line and had wandered out of the coverage to check. They had thought the helicopter had moved on, but they were wrong. There were three of them by the forest line when the helicopter flew over them.
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"McQueen come in." The helicopter pilot needed to report the men he saw.
Stan grabbed his walkie talkie right away. "This is McQueen."
"I spotted three men armed to the teeth and dressed in black." He gave him the location. "No sign of your people but they are probably hiding in the cover of the trees."
Stan knew that it was more than likely. The location of their 'company' was the first clue that they had for the location of his inspectors. Stan acknowledged the location just before another call came in from the other helicopter informing him there were more men heading in the other direction.
When the pilot mentioned the direction the men were headed he knew that their best bet was to follow the men at the first location. The men were headed down hill, and that would be without a doubt the direction that Marshall would have put them in.
"We push as long as we have to. Those two are magnets for trouble and it's headed in their direction." Stan noticed the other marshals agreed right away, not waiting for Stan's orders they continued following the trail of the first group of men.
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Mary was making her way to rendezvous with Marshall and Samantha. The time limit was getting close; she could be off some but knew Marshall would stick to the time limit they had come up with. She had been making considerable progress when she heard something snap. Freezing in place she began to scan the area with her eyes. Another snap and she pulled her weapon out. Aiming off to her left where the sounds were coming from she was getting ready to pull the trigger when the elk passed through the area. Waiting a few more minutes just to be sure she calmed her breath and holstered her weapon before moving forward. Evading threats was easier in the city she decided. The woods had too many extra mammals in it.
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Marshall and Samantha stayed hidden while they waited for Mary to rejoin them. Marshall's weapon was drawn in case they had company and she was tucked in behind him and away from the path they had been following. Samantha heard a noise and saw Marshall's body tense suddenly. She made her body as small as possible behind him as he instructed. They waited for the cause of the noise to appear.