Shenandoah by Everette Morgan Page A

survived.  They had run hundreds of scans over the area with no luck.  It was like hunting for a needle in a haystack.  Shenandoah National Park was almost two hundred thousand acres. 
    In the process of searching, they had also found a problem that Jocelyn couldn’t identify.  For some reason a large circular area covering over two thousand acres, was being jammed.   All radio signals or any type of transmissions could not penetrate that area.  This prevented Jocelyn from remotely flying the drone into that area.  She had almost lost their best drone figuring this out. 
    Wynd had circled the area numerous times with the drone but never saw anything.  The only footage they had of the area was satellite images.   Wynd had pored over these countless times with no luck. 
    Although previously Kim had tried to talk her out of it, she now realized that Wynd would not be swayed and remained supportive of her and actually offered suggestions from time to time.  Kim knew that eventually, in time, Wynd would come to the realization that he was gone and would finally get on with her life.
    Kim walked over and sat down on the couch next to her. Wynd gave her a half-hearted smile as she sat down.
    “Have you found anything today?” asked Kim.
    “No.  Nothing,” said Wynd.
    Kim started to say something but Wynd started speaking again.
    “Kim, I just can’t get over it and I have tried.  I have tried hard but it always comes back to one thing.  Deep down I know he is alive.  I don’t know why I believe that but I do.  It won’t go away. I just can’t shake it.  I know you think I’m crazy but I’m not.  I know how this looks and I can understand what everyone is thinking about me.  I’m asking you to just trust me if you can.  Please?  Will you please trust me?” asked Wynd.
    “I want him to be alive as much as you do Wynd. But…” said Kim as she started but was interrupted.
    Wynd took hold of Kim’s hands and looked into her eyes.
    “No buts.  Trust me.  Marcus is alive out there somewhere and I’m going to find him,” pleaded Wynd. “Help me please, Kim.  I need someone to help me please.  Will you do it?”
    Despite her feelings, Kim finally relented.  Good or bad, she was going to see this through with Wynd.
    “Okay.  I’ll help you.  What do you need me to do?” asked Kim.
    “I have a drone near the crash site.  Could you look over the crash again and make sure I didn’t miss anything?” asked Wynd.
    “Sure.  Jocelyn, let’s do an up-close scan of the crash site.  I want the drone to scan everything in fifty yards of the crash as close as you can fly that thing,” said Kim.  “I know the area is heavily wooded but as long as the weather doesn’t get too rough and Jocelyn can maintain control, we will look at everything.”
     
     

Chapter 3
    Deep in the forest, a dirty, haggard looking man moved through the deep snow and threw several more pieces of wood through the slight opening in the rocks into the small cave.  He had made several of these trips today.  Tied to his belt were two rabbits that he had managed to snare.  Even with all the dinosaurs that roamed the world, the rabbit population had continued to thrive.  That was a lucky thing for him.  Although he wasn’t eating great, at least he was eating. 
    He finally gathered enough wood to make it through the night.  He slipped into the small cave and began to work on a fire.  He worked and worked and finally got the fire to blazing.  He took some of the larger pieces of wood he had gathered and added them to the fire.  He went back to the little entrance of the cave and completely blocked the entrance with rocks and some pieces of metal he had picked up from that helicopter crash site. After that, he sat down in front of the fire.  Leaning toward the fire, he rubbed his hands briskly and held them close to the fire.  Letting the heat radiate through them, he glanced around the small cave.  It was a