Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy

Chapter 4

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Staten Island, New York

"Where can we put these cases of bottled water?" asked Kate one of Nell's friends. The group was busy loading supplies into their car to take to survivors and those left homeless by Superstorm Sandy.

"Here, give those to me," came Nell's reply. Taking the cases of water and cramming them into the middle of the backseat. One case she set on the floor behind the driver's seat which was where she normally sat. She really didn't need the room considering she was the smallest out of the four of them. She could just easily just set her feet on top of the case when they drove out anyway. The car was packed to the gills with food, water, toiletries and blankets. Other runners were doing the same thing, packing vehicles with emergency supplies and clothing as well. They would all be fanning out into the affected areas to distribute them. Of course time was of the essence here, the weather was expected to get colder and snow was in the forecast. They all knew the residents of Staten Island needed these supplies and as much help as they can get before Mother Nature put a halt to the cleanup process for a day or so. The plan for the day was to distribute the supplies and help with the cleanup.

Once everyone was ready and the vehicles packed. Nell squeezed into the backseat and after snapping her seatbelt into place placed her backpack on her lap which contained some toiletries to distribute. Driving through the island, they couldn't believe the damage. "It looks like a tornado came through here instead of a hurricane." Nell's friend Matt was saying.

"Or a war zone," replied Nell thinking about the news footage she'd seen of Katrina and other war torn areas where buildings were leveled and debris was everywhere.

"I didn't think a hurricane could do so much damage," spoke up Kate as they drove through the area they were given.

"Yeah," spoke up Nikki from the front passenger seat.

It was a surreal scene everywhere they went that day. Debris everywhere, people digging through the damage finding salvageable belongings and so on. They distributed the supplies at emergency shelters, helped serve food, and of course helped residents pull out waterlogged items from their homes. It was tough work but it made Nell feel a little better knowing that she was doing something to help those in need and it kept her mind off the cancelled marathon. Looking back later Nell realized that cancelling the marathon had been the right call. It also gave the runners a chance to help out the local communities affected by a storm that had caught everyone by surprise.

What she saw that day would stay with her for the rest of her life. Her family would be proud of her for doing this. Her relatives who were in the military had seen some tough spots all over the world and so they would understand why she was doing this. In fact the entire Jones clan would have been out here volunteering for the cleanup no matter what. Nell had grown up working in community projects wherever her father was stationed and so she had a strong sense of wanting to help those in need. She already had a project in mind for Christmas back in Los Angeles so this helping out here on Staten Island was second nature to her.

Working for NCIS had forced her to be creative in doing community projects in LA since their jobs in OSP were so demanding and that everyone was expected to drop everything in a high profile-high crisis case. Hetty expected everyone's mind to be on work and not on their personal lives. But Nell had realized that this couldn't work for everyone so her family, doing community projects, and running marathons kept her moral compass grounded and made her realize that there was more to life than just being an agent.

At the end of the day, she was exhausted and crashed on the bed in her hotel room happy that she was able to do something productive here in New York. On Tuesday, she would be heading back to Los Angeles and would have to begin the process of preparing to run the New York Marathon in 2013.

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