SquidgeWorld Archive

Falling Skies
By Aldaj

"You know, I may be wrong here, but I’m pretty sure you don’t have to complain about every little thing, Ramsey."

"Nobody asked you, Parker!"

Oh yeah, this is fun already. Frank Parker thought to himself. When Talmadge had given Parker the chance to leave Never Never Land for a couple days and get a little change of scenery, Parker had jumped at the chance. However, had he known at the time that Ramsey would be there, he would have quickly declined the generous offer. Parker was able to tune out Ramsey most of the time, but today it couldn’t be avoided. They were on their way to Portland, Oregon, which was almost a three-hour helicopter ride away. Ramsey was going there to deal with a problem in security at a branch office that NNL had, and was not thrilled Parker was going with him.

They were now only 10 minutes into the flight, and Parker was already rethinking his decision. The chopper had been delayed leaving NNL, and Ramsey had seen it fit to complain to everyone he could. Parker wondered why they didn’t just take a plane, which would have been faster, but kept his questions to himself.

Once the chopper finally had taken off, Ramsey had turned his assault on the pilot. Parker had to admit he felt sorry for their pilot, Dave, and had taken the front seat to save him at least the horror of having Ramsey sit right next to him. Parker hoped that Nate would get tired of leaning up and talking to the back of Dave’s head, and just give up his lecture.

Taking off his headset, Parker rested his head on the back of his seat. The loud noise of the chopper blades was much more companionable than Ramsey’s bickering. Giving one last sympathetic shrug to Dave, he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep.

It was almost two hours later that Frank awoke with a start as the machine beneath him lurched violently. Sitting upright, Frank glanced to his left quickly and saw Dave fighting the controls. Throwing on his headset, Frank looked behind him and saw Ramsey gripping the seat and looking out the side window.

"What’s going on?!"

"Engine’s out!" Dave shouted over the sound of the dying helicopter. The chopper lurched violently again and began a faster descent. Reaching over, Parker pulled on Dave’s restraints, making them as tight as he possibly could, since the pilot was busy with the controls. With a nod of thanks, Dave began trying to lift the nose of the chopper up. Parker glanced once again back to Ramsey and saw that he was tightening his own restraints as well. Ramsey looked up and caught eyes with Parker. The security advisor simply nodded to him, and after a seconds hesitation, Parker nodded back.

Shifting in his seat, Parker looked out the front window of the helicopter as the trees got closer and closer. Parker looked in all directions quickly, trying his hardest to memorize the landscape so that he would hopefully know the lay of the land.

The sound of a treetop scraping the bottom of the chopper pulled Parker back to reality and he pulled his own restraints tighter. As the sounds of wood scraping against metal became louder and more frequent, Parker braced himself for what was going to happen. As the ground rushed towards them at an alarming speed, the last thing Parker remembered before he blacked out was that he hadn’t talked to Jimmy in a while.

Deep in a dreamless sleep, Parker felt something sharp in his side and tried to roll over away from it, mentally admonishing it for disturbing the blissful darkness. Hindered in his movements by something beside him, Parker groaned when the action made his right side flare in pain. Squinting his eyes shut more against the pain, Parker smelled burnt metal and fuel around him. Suddenly the events of the last few minutes came rushing back to him, and he was quickly wide-awake.

Parker’s eyes flew open and he looked around him, and saw the wreckage of the helicopter. Moving to sit up, Parker was surprised to find that he was no longer strapped into his seat. Suddenly his head seemed to explode in pain. Bringing a hand to his forehead, he was only mildly surprised to see he brought back bloody fingers. As his side once again burned, Parker pushed the pain aside and quickly looked around him for Ramsey and Dave.

He reached Dave first, and knew without a doubt that the pilot was dead. Checking for a pulse out of nothing but shear hope, Parker felt none. Pushing aside a large piece of metal, he came across Ramsey. He was pulling off his restraints and looked up at Parker. Taking in his condition quickly, Parker was glad that he appeared to have nothing more than a few cuts on his face. Parker helped Ramsey get out of the wreckage, and as they both stood away from the crash, noticed for the first time that Ramsey’s left shoulder was bent at an odd angle. Concern suddenly rushing forward, Parker took a hold of his arm. Ramsey flinched and groaned in pain.

"It’s dislocated." Parker stated matter-of-factly. It was the first words either had spoken since the wreckage, and it cut through the silence like a knife. "Hurts like hell." Ramsey muttered as Parker looked at the shoulder.

"Alright, look Ramsey," Parker started, knowing Ramsey wouldn’t like this. "I know you don’t trust me, but just for one second, work with me, okay?"

Ramsey noticed the seriousness in Parker’s voice and nodded. Before Ramsey knew what happened, Parker gripped the Security Advisor’s left elbow in one hand his left shoulder in the other. In one swift motion he pulled on the elbow and pushed the shoulder, putting the bone back into place. Ramsey only had time to yell in objection for a split second, then nothing. He moved his shoulder around gently and felt the pain begin to lessen. He looked up at Parker, but the younger man was already turning his attention to other problems. Deciding to save his thanks for later, he went to work.

Ramsey looked back at the remains of the chopper and asked quietly. "He’s dead?"

Parker simply nodded, knowing whom Ramsey was referring to. "Is your arm good enough to left some supplies out of the helicopter?" Parker asked, not wanting to dwell on the topic any longer.

"Yeah. It’s fine." Ramsey stated, working the shoulder a little.

"Good, just gather together anything you think we might need. There should be a first aid kit, and get out all the bags, the pilots and ours. We’ll everything we can get our hands on." Ramsey nodded and went into the wreckage, extremely grateful that Parker was trained for this type of situation. It made the fear in Ramsey’s gut ease somewhat. There were very few times that Ramsey was not in control of his surroundings, but this was the most extreme. He felt panic rising in his stomach, but pushed it away. He would not lose control. It simply couldn’t happen, not now.

Once he had collected everything he could from the back cabin, Ramsey moved into the small cockpit. It was thoroughly crushed, and Ramsey noted how lucky he and Parker were to have survived. It took several minutes for him to navigate through the crumbled metal, and even more time to pull the items he was searching for out from under the debris. With a light laugh, Ramsey wondered how such a small helicopter could have so many parts. Looking over to the pilots seat, and noticed the Dave’s body was gone.

Alarmed, he rushed out of the wreckage and saw the body lying over in the clearing. Parker was next to him, using his bare hands to dig a hole in the ground. It was already fairly large in size, and Ramsey knew that he was digging a temporary grave.

Watching in reverence for several seconds, Ramsey soon went back to the wreckage to finish his own task, which seemed to him, much less meaningful. Burying the body was something that Ramsey was ashamed to admit, he would have never thought of right away.

Back in the cockpit, he pulled the pilots flight bag out from the wreckage and put it in the clearing. Glancing back at Parker, whom was still digging the grave, Ramsey noticed the right side of Parker’s white T-shirt was red with blood. He stopped his work completely as Parker paused and wiped sweat off his brow. Going back to work at the same punishing pace, Ramsey wondered if Parker even knew he was hurt.

Sitting down in front of the pile he had just formed, Ramsey began sorting everything. In the various items he was able to recover in one piece there was a first-aid kit, a few containers of water, and a flashlight. Moving next to the occupant’s personal belongings, he opened first the bag that he had brought with him. Ramsey found very little that they would find useful. Except for a shirt, Ramsey threw his bag behind him, away from the rest. Going through the pilot’s bag next he found a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, which he set aside, as well as a small bag of chips. Rummaging in the larger pocket, he pulled out another shirt. As he came to Parker’s duffel bag, he paused, deciding to let Parker go through it himself.

Standing up, Ramsey walked over to Parker and saw that the grave was already done. Surprised at how fast Parker had worked, he handed one of the bottles of water to Parker.

"Found some water in the back."

Looking up from the hole, the younger man took the bottle and took a small sip.

"Thanks… Help me with him, will ya?" Parker jumped out of the grave and with Ramsey’s help, placed Dave slowly into the grave. Ramsey stood over the body for a few moments, feeling almost sick to his stomach. This was not the way people should die. Parker paused for a few moments as well, then began putting the dirt back into the grave, slowly covering Dave.

Unable to watch any longer, Ramsey went back to where he had been working and took a sip of the water as well. He swished it around in his mouth before swallowing it, letting the coolness seep into his cheeks.

He sat down again and watched Parker. He knew that the former SEAL had seen men die before on missions, and wondered if this was where his respect for the dead came from. Ramsey thought back to the source of pride that all SEALs had; never leaving a fallen man behind. He watched as Parker buried Dave with a stone expression on his face. They had no choice this time. The transmitter and the radio had both been destroyed in the crash, and they’re only way out was to hike out of the woods themselves.

Turning his attention back to the supplies, Ramsey placed what they would be needing into two bags. The rest he left alone. Making the weight of the bags even, Ramsey left out the first aid kit, since he knew Parker would be needing it before they set out. A few minutes later, Parker walked over and sat down next to Ramsey, wiping his brow with his shirt collar.

"You okay?" Parker looked over at Ramsey and shrugged.

"It’s never easy." Ramsey nodded, knowing what he was referring, he then glanced at Parker’s wounded side. Seeming not to notice, Parker cleared his throat.

"This is fun already." Parker stated, mirroring what he had thought to himself not 3 hours before. Ramsey snickered, grateful the small diversion.

"We better move out. We need to cover as much distance as we can before nightfall. Did you find a first-aid kit?" Ramsey nodded and pulled out the small kit. Flipping the top open, Parker rummaged through and pulled out a gauze bandage and a small role of tape. Pulling his shirt over his head, Ramsey and Parker both saw the wound for the first time. There was still a small piece of metal sticking out from the skin, which Parker quickly pulled out, as if it caused him no pain.

Taking a corner of his shirt, he poured a small amount of water on the fabric and rubbed it vigorously over the jagged cut, which resulted in it bleeding again. Wiping the blood away with the other corner of his shirt, he then placed the bandage over the wound and secured it with two small pieces of tape in a swift motion. Slipping his shirt back over his head, he looked at Ramsey who was watching him with interest.

"You go through all the stuff?" Ramsey nodded. "Everything except your bag." Parker looked surprised by this, but pushed aside his shock and sorted through his own bag quickly.

"So how far do you think we have to go?" Ramsey asked, looking around him at the woods.

Parker shrugged as he pulled a shirt out of his bag. "I don’t know. It’s probably not that far to a house or cottage. Hopefully, it’ll have a phone we can use. I’d say two, maybe three days." Parker stated calmly as he ripped the shirt into inch wide strips. Ramsey wondered what he was doing, but before he got a chance to ask, Parker kneeled in front of him and looked at him.

"What?" Ramsey asked.

"Let me see your arm." Ramsey slowly extended his left arm towards Parker feeling the shoulder burn, and cautiously watched Parker. The younger man tied the shirt strips together and secured them again at the base of Ramsey’s neck. Looking down after Parker finished his work, Ramsey tested the man-made sling.

"It’s the best I can do right now, but it should help a little." Parker stated. It felt better to Ramsey not to have the arm hanging limply at his side. Slightly impressed, Ramsey looked back up at Parker, but the younger man was already walking away. Concluding that Parker was a hard man to thank, he stood as well.

"You ready?" Parker asked when he came to face Ramsey again. Reaching out, Ramsey took a hold of Parker’s arm and held him still. The two men looked at each other, and then Ramsey spoke quietly. "Thanks… How’s your head?" The gash looked bad to Ramsey, and it was definitely painful.

Parker smiled, and patted him on the back. "It’s fine. Let’s get going." As the two men headed out into the deep woods, they were both wondering to themselves when Ramsey had become so decent.

"Maybe we should have stayed by the plane." Ramsey uttered from behind Parker. It was the first either had said anything in the last three hours, and it almost surprised Parker when he spoke. Shaking his head, Parker continued into the jungle with Ramsey right behind him.

"The plane’ll never be found. The trees are too dense. Our best bet is to keep going and find our own way out." Ramsey nodded and swatted a mosquito away from his face. Looking at the trees above them, he could see through the treetops that they were losing time. It would be dark soon, and yet they pressed on. Again Ramsey felt the fear rise in his stomach, but this time it was a little harder to calm. He just couldn’t help the feeling that they were never going to get out of the woods. Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but trees, with no sign of human life. No coke cans, no trash at all. Not a single shred of evidence that anyone had even walked here before.

After another wordless 30 minutes, Parker finally stopped. Setting his bag down on the forest floor he stretched his arms behind his back.

"This place looks good for tonight." Wiping sweat off his brow, Parker ran a hand through his hair, and looked over his shoulder at Ramsey.

"How’s your shoulder?" Ramsey reflexively moved his left arm, which was still in the sling.

"Still hurts, but its not bad."

Parker nodded as if satisfied, and looked around them. "I’m going to get some wood for a fire. Be right back." And with that, he ran into the woods.

Shaking his head and wondering how the man had the strength to run after the long day they’d just had, Ramsey sat on a fallen stump. Pulling his bag off of his back, he pulled out a bottle of water. After swallowing a few sips, he poured a little into his hand and ran it over his face.

Looking up, Ramsey saw that there was a small hole in the tree cover, and he could see the sky peeking through the evergreens. Watching the stars for a few moments, Ramsey wondered what everyone at NNL was thinking. They no doubt knew by now that their helicopter had gone down. It felt odd to realize that people might think that Ramsey and Parker were dead. Shaking his head, he looked down again as Parker came out of the woods carrying a small bundle of sticks and some dry pine needles. After putting down the small stack, he sat down across from Ramsey.

"Don’t suppose you got a match on you? It’s been a while since boy-scouts." Ramsey laughed, and was about to shake his head when he remembered the cigarettes and lighter.

"No match, but how about a lighter?" Parker looked at him in confusion, then when Ramsey pulled the two items out of his bag, a smile lit up his face.

"Perfect. I didn’t know you smoked, Ramsey."

Ramsey shrugged. "I don’t. After this though, I just might start."

The hours seemed to go by excruciatingly slow, considering that neither man said anything. After eating a feeble dinner of a rabbit that Parker had managed to catch and cook, they sat around the fire, both occupied with their own thoughts.

As more time passed, and the blackness around them seemed to get impossibly darker, Ramsey felt as if they would never get out of the woods. As his thoughts got more and more negative, Parker surprised him by clearing his throat.

"We will get out of here, you know." It was not a question, it was a statement that was delivered with extreme confidence. His voice was quiet and he kept his head down low, still looking at the blazing fire before him. Getting tired of hiding his fear, Ramsey sighed.

"Maybe."

Parker looked up at him, tearing his gaze away from the fire. "No, we will. This is not as bad as it could be."

Ramsey surprised himself and his companion by snickering. "How do you figure? I say this is as freakin’ bad as it gets."

Parker shook his head and returned his eyes to the fire. "I’ve been through worse. Trust me. We’ll make it through this okay."

Ramsey studied Parker’s face. The flicker of flames danced over his face as the reflection made his eyes almost appear red. At that moment, he was overcome with curiosity. It almost surprised him. The only thing he had ever found remotely interesting about Parker was the fact that the military put up with his attitude. Now though, a hundred questions popped into his head.

For the longest time he had regarded Parker as simply a loose cannon. Now though, it was obvious that he had seen his little piece of hell. Being that he had come though them all, Ramsey deduced that maybe he was right. Still the questions came that he wanted to ask. He resisted asking, and tried to concentrate on other things.

"I’m going to try and get some sleep."

"Good idea." Parker replied.

Getting as comfortable as he could on the hard forest floor, Ramsey closed his eyes, and without realizing how tired he was, was asleep in a matter of minutes.

Parker sat for another hour, just staring out around him. It the silence, he was able to gather his thoughts that had been running rampant all day. He knew that there was a small road within a few miles of them, he had spotted it as the chopper was going down. Now though, Parker couldn’t remember which direction it was. His head was throbbing, and the pain in his side had increased with each step. Even his vision had become blurred in the last few hours. He knew that he was more than likely developing an infection, but at the same time knew that he could not allow it to slow them down. There was something else, a sharp pain in his stomach that wouldn’t go away.

As he watched the hot flames lick at the wood in the fire, his thoughts drifted back to more familiar things. Alone with his thoughts in the still night air, Parker thought about Jimmy. Sad that he had not seen his son in weeks, Parker made a mental note to see his son much more often. Patricia was right, it wasn’t fair that Parker never could spend time with his son for more than a few minutes. Their marriage had been a rocky one, and Parker admitted, only to himself, that he was most of the problem. However, that didn’t take away from the fact that he loved her still. She had come into his life when he desperately needed her. She had saved him right before he went over the edge, giving him the family he had wanted and needed all of his life. No one could ever take that away from him.

Even with Olga now in his life, there was a part of Parker that would always live just for Patricia. Thinking of Olga, shook his head in utter confusion. That subject was getting very complicated. Every time she would express even a hint of interest, something would happen to chase all of it away.

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Parker threw another stick into the dwindling fire. Lying back, he rested his head on his backpack and closed his eyes.

"Any word yet?" Olga Vukovitch practically ran into Talmadge’s office. Never Never Land had learned that Ramsey and Parker had never made it to Portland. No sign of the plane had since been spotted, and the predications were getting worse with each passing hour. Between NNL and Portland, there was desert, cities, but mostly dense forest. If the plane had crashed into them, searching for the wreckage would be extremely difficult.

"No, nothing yet. Search teams are still looking." Talmadge looked up from his paperwork at Olga. She was pacing back and forth, a hand by her mouth, and was chewing on her thumbnail nervously. She suddenly stopped and stared at Talmadge.

"Do you think they’re alright?" Talmadge put down the pen he was writing with and leaned forward in his chair.

"I don’t know, Olga. I hope so."

She began her pacing again, and Talmadge studied her face for a few moments. "We will find them, Olga." She nodded slightly, then walked out of his office as quickly as she had come in. Talmadge watched her walk down the hall, and even when she was out of sight he continued to look in the direction of where she had gone.

He had seen her behave similarly when Parker had been sent back to Hansen Island. This time was different, though. This time no one knew if Ramsey and Parker were even alive, and as much as Talmadge hated to admit it, he was doubtful that they were.

"Ramsey, wait." Surprised by the urgency in his voice, Ramsey stopped walking and looked back at Parker. He was leaning against a tree, with sweat pouring off his face. It was a mild day, with a cool breeze, but yet the young man looked as though he was in the middle of the desert at 12 noon. Walking the short distance to Parker, Ramsey put his bag down.

"You okay, Parker?" he asked, concerned. He was pale and looked weak. Parker simply nodded yes.

"Let’s just rest for a minute." With that, Parker sat on the ground began to catch his breath. Grateful for the rest himself, Ramsey did the same and took his water out of his bag. It was when he titled his head back to drink that he noticed Parker’s side. His shirt was covered in fresh blood, and Parker held a hand over the wound to stop the bleeding.

"You okay?" Ramsey asked, suddenly more concerned. Parker’s right pant leg was almost completely red with blood. The younger man nodded slightly. He closed his eyes for a few moments, then opened them and stood.

"Let’s get going." Ramsey was immediately on his feet.

"Woah, Parker. That wound is looking worse. Maybe we should stay put for a while."

"No." he stated quickly. "The faster we get out of here, the better," and with that, Parker headed in the direction they were going, taking the lead once again. Shaking his head in bereavement, Ramsey followed silently. To his surprise, Parker kept up the same punishing pace he had in the very beginning.

Almost 4 hours later, the pair had once again stopped for the night. This time it was Ramsey that retrieved firewood as Parker lay asleep back by their bags. The younger man’s condition was deteriorating quickly, and Ramsey was shocked Parker had not passed out. Ramsey had convinced him to stop earlier tonight, saying that he was tired, but he wanted Parker to rest.

A few hours later, Parker awoke to the roaring fire that Ramsey had somehow managed to start. After swallowing some water, he sat up and looked at Ramsey.

"How long did I sleep?" he asked quietly, his eyes squinted in confusion.

Ramsey shrugged. "Not long, a couple of hours."

The security agent watched as Parker pulled the last shirt from his bag. Echoing the process he had at the crash site, he ripped the shirt into strips, and tied them together. This time he secured them around his torso, applying pressure to his side. The bleeding had stopped temporarily, but Parker was still weak. Ramsey could see in his eyes that the man was fighting consciousness. A simple gash wouldn’t cause these symptoms, Ramsey knew. There must be something more seriously wrong.

As if reading his thoughts, Parker spoke again. "Ramsey, there’s a road about 4 miles to the south of here. You have to reach it and follow it. There’s bound to be a house or something along it. There you can call for help."

Ramsey listened, and knew that Parker was telling him he wouldn’t be hiking with him tomorrow. Ramsey would have to make the rest of the trip alone.

When Ramsey woke, it was not yet morning. The rays of light that appear before dawn were just now starting to lighten the sky, and the moon still hung low in the starry sky. Trying to figure out what had woken him, Ramsey stood up and looked around him. Nothing seemed out of place.

Glancing over to where Parker had been the night before, Ramsey saw him leaning against a tree, his eyes hollow. He was staring at the ground in front of him, but yet at the same time, not seeing it. His right side had started bleeding again, this time at an alarming rate. Ramsey could see the blood seeping through the red stained hand that was pressed against the wound. Making his way to the younger man, Ramsey watched as Parker’s eyes started to close. This time not from his lack of sleep, but from blood loss. The gash in his head seemed to look more serious every time Ramsey looked at it, and knowing that he had to keep Parker awake, Ramsey began talking to him. Ordinarily with head wounds it was important to keep the person awake from the very start, but before the wound had not appeared very serious, but now things were spiraling downhill.

"Parker…" he spoke, quietly at first. When Parker didn’t respond, Ramsey placed a hand on the operative’s shoulder. Parker’s head slowly tilted up and his eyes locked with Ramsey’s.

"You gotta stay awake, Parker." He nodded, and swallowed hard. Then his eyes began to close slowly again.

"Parker, talk to me. Stay with me." Ramsey’s voice was pleading, and Parker looked at him again.

"Where’d you grow up, Parker?" Ramsey shocked himself at the question, but shoved his uncertainty aside. He had to keep the man talking, no matter what.

Parker’s eyebrows furrowed as if in thought. "Pennsylvania." He finally answered.

"You lived in foster homes, right?"

"Yeah. Orphanage, too."

"You with nuns? Doesn’t sound like a good mix." Ramsey was rewarded with a light laugh from Parker.

"They went through a lot of rulers." This time Ramsey laughed. Parker squinted again, this time against the pain. "Where’d you grow up?"

"North Carolina." The answer came out so quickly that Ramsey didn’t even think about it. Going back to his own questions, Ramsey continued.

"You never knew your parents?" Parker shook his head, then closed his eyes. Ramsey asked another question, this time one that hopefully would get Parker talking.

"What’s your son like?" With that, Parker’s eyes opened with a new intensity. The thought of his son seemed to make Parker a tiny bit stronger.

"Great kid. Pat thinks he’s too much like me, though. Thinks I’m a bad influence" Parker turned and looked Ramsey in the eye. "He’s an A student, you know?" He stated proudly, and grinned a little. Ramsey smiled back.

Parker continued. "He wants to join the military. Pat doesn’t want him to."

"Do you want him to?"

"As long as he doesn’t go into covert-ops, sure."

Ramsey was slightly taken aback by this. "Why not covert-ops?" He had thought that since Parker was in black ops, that he would be proud if his son did the same. Obviously, he had been wrong.

"’Cause." Parker stated, and then was quiet for a few moments. "It’s too dangerous. To much stuff can go wrong," He finished sadly. Almost as if the last part was an afterthought.

Thinking of what he had heard Parker had gone through in Somalia, Ramsey left the topic alone. Deciding that he had to get going, Ramsey cleared his throat.

"I’m going to get going. You have to stay awake though, alright?" "I will." Parker said convincingly.

Studying him for a second, Ramsey stood. "Okay."

"Have fun." Parker said from behind Ramsey. When he turned around, Parker was smiling weakly.

"I will. I’ll be back soon with some help." Before leaving, Ramsey put the last bottle of water next to Parker and then slung his backpack onto his shoulders. With one last nod, Ramsey set off into the woods alone.

As the hours ticked by, Parker became restless. Sleep seemed to be calling him, but he knew that sleep would not do him any good. Looking around him, his blurred vision made it hard to take in his surroundings. The fire was burning itself out, not that it mattered. The day was slowly getting warmer, although Parker could tell it would be another mild day.

With nothing to do but sit there, Parker found himself once again lost in thought. This time they were things of a different nature. Ramsey had asked him if he wanted Jimmy to go into the military. The answer about not covert-ops had just come out, Parker hadn’t even thought about it. Now that he did have a chance to think it over, it made sense. There was no way that he wanted his son to even go through a fraction of the hell that Parker had traversed. Jimmy’s a good kid, Parker told himself. He doesn’t deserve to live that life.

It was then that Parker found himself wondering why he did it. He was young when he joined the military, and with the ignorance of youth he had thought it would be fun. Sure, he laughed, parts had been at fun. There were also times so horrifying that Parker had spent years of his life trying to wipe from his memory. However, those were the times, ironically, that Parker could recall in vivid detail.

"Thank God!!" Ramsey shouted aloud. The tree line had begun to thin out 10 minutes ago, and now he had reached the road. He never thought he would be so happy to see something so simple, yet at the same time so full of meaning. This road was here for a reason, and by the well-traveled look of it, he knew that someone would be driving on it. Ramsey was bound to meet up with them, then getting help would be simple. Walking on the side of the dirt road, Ramsey savored the easier trek. It was easy walking and his pace increased. The fear that completely filled Ramsey’s gut vanished, almost without a trace.

At first it was the wind whistling through the trees. Then the wind got louder and morphed into the sound of an engine. Turning in the direction of the sound, Ramsey saw a pickup truck coming down the road towards him. He almost screamed. When the driver spotted him, he slowed down, and Ramsey signaled for him to stop. Rolling down the driver’s side window, the middle aged man behind the wheel regarded Ramsey with caution.

"What are you doing way out here?"

"My helicopter crashed in the woods," Ramsey pointed in the direction he had come, "A man’s still back there, I’ve got to get help!" The driver looked at him for a moment, then reached over and unlocked the passenger side door. "Hop in, I’ll give you a ride to town." Ramsey ran with the strength he had left to the other side of the truck and jumped in.

"How bad’s your friend hurt?" The driver asked as he accelerated down the road.

"I don’t know, he’s lost a lot of blood. He’s got pretty bad head injury, too."

"Well, we’re about 10 minutes from town. We’ll get him. How’s your arm?"

Leaning back, Ramsey rested his head on the back of his seat, and closed his eyes. "It’s fine." At first Ramsey couldn’t grasp the concept, it seemed too unreal after all they had been through, but it slowly sunk in; their ordeal was almost over.

As Parker slowly came to, he realized with fear that he had fallen asleep. Before he even opened his eyes, he sensed something was different. It was cool now, and the ground had gotten considerable softer. Slowly opening his eyes, Parker quickly closed them as the brightness hit him like a slap in the face.

Instantly, he registered what he had just briefly seen. Once again he carefully opened his eyes and looked around him. He was no longer in the forest. A sigh of relief flooded through him, and he smiled weakly. From his surroundings, Parker could tell that he was in a hospital. Moving his arm, he found that he was hooked up to an Intravenous line. Trying not to disturb the IV, he kept his arm still and closed his eyes tiredly.

As he was about to drift off to sleep, the door to his right opened, but still he kept his eyes closed. Whoever it was that entered sat down in a chair to the right side of his bed silently. Waiting a few seconds, Parker became curious as to whom his visitor was. Turning his head to the right, Parker opened his eyes. He was greeted with the sight of Olga sitting in a plastic hospital chair, reading a book. He watched her silently for a few moments, knowing that she didn’t know he was awake.

After a few minutes, she looked up at him casually, and a look of pure surprise crossed her face as she saw him staring back at her. She was on her feet in a second by his side. She took his hand gently, and gave it a small squeeze.

"Welcome back." Parker thought he saw tears in her eyes, but dismissed it as just his imagination.

"How do you feel?" She asked, smiling with concern.

He thought about it for a second, "Fine. How’s Ramsey?" he asked, hoping the security agent was okay.

Olga smiled more. "He’s fine. Just the shoulder, but he’ll be okay. So will you."

"What was it, an infection?"

"Yes, but you also had some internal bleeding. Dr. Farrell said it was a miracle you made it as long as you did."

Parker nodded, and felt himself getting tired. He silently berated the doctors. He was no doubt on painkillers, which were making him drowsy. He didn’t want to sleep though, he wanted to stay awake and talk to Olga. He hadn’t known until this very moment how much he had missed her.

"Get some rest, Mr. Parker." She whispered to him as he eyes closed. Pulling back her hand, she was surprised to find that he held onto her tightly, almost a silent request for her to stay. Pulling her chair closer, she sat down again and watched him sleep, not once letting go of his hand.

As she watched him sleep, Olga could think of nothing else. The past 4 days had been awful, and now it seemed too fictitious that everything was falling back into place. Everyone at NNL had begun to think that the two of them had been killed. Then the call had come in, Ramsey was at a gas station somewhere in Oregon. He told them what had happened, and that they were going to a hospital. A collective sigh of relief had gone up over the compound.

Olga heard all the details from Dr. Mentnor, who told her exactly what Ramsey had told him when they had first spoke after the accident. Olga recalled what she had heard about Parker burying the pilot, and helping Ramsey with his shoulder. None of it surprised her. He was that kind of man, she knew. Nothing if not resourceful.

For Olga, the hardest part over the entire ordeal was not the not-knowing, but of the call she had had to make. Everyone knew that Patricia and Jimmy should be told of what happened, but no one wanted to make the call. Olga had volunteered.

Upon reflection now, she was not sure why she was surprised when Patricia had cried. Maybe she had thought that the woman no longer cared for Parker. Maybe she had thought that his ex-wife should be used to hearing bad news of her former husband. She wasn’t sure, but whatever it was, Olga knew now that was not the case.

The next conversation had been a million times better, and Olga had been pleased to give Patricia the good news. She even asked Olga to have Frank call her as soon as he could, and Olga agreed. The sound of Jimmy in the background almost broke her heart, as if it told her again that they were Frank’s family, not Olga. She knew she was jealous, perhaps even bitter, acting like a teenager but she couldn’t help it. There was just something about him that seemed to draw her close to him.

Epilogue

Walking down the hall to Parker’s office, Donovan was somewhat surprised that he wasn’t there. Thinking of where else he might be, Donovan walked downstairs, and sure enough there was Parker, in the gym benching a set.

Approaching him, Donovan peered down at his friend. He almost felt like reprimanding Frank for disobeying his doctor’s orders to take it easy, but he knew it would do no good. Frank had never listened to doctors, and he wasn’t about to start now.

"How’s it goin’, Donovan." The captain simply shook his head.

"Good, Frank. You okay?"

"Fine. That office was getting way too small and cramped."

"You know you’re gonna rip your stitches?"

Parker laughed lightly as he continued to bench press the set of weights.

"Well, then I have to get stitched up again. That’s what doc’s are for right?"

Donovan grabbed the bar with both hands and pulled it up, placing it on the guide bars. Parker sat up and looked at his friend in confusion.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

Donovan thought of what he wanted to say to him, but couldn’t figure out how to put it into words. Instead, he changed topics in his mind.

"You call Pat yet?"

Parker rolled his eyes. "I will. I was just getting around to that."

"You don’t think she’s worried?"

"Look Donovan, I’ll call her alright? Gimme a break here, man."

Donovan nodded, knowing that Parker would as soon as he got up the courage. To Parker, facing terrorists was a piece of cake. Face his ex-wife: he’d rather be shot.

As Donovan turned to leave, he glanced at the weights on the bar.

"Only 70 pounds? You’re getting weak, Parker." With that he walked away, and felt a towel hit him square in the back. He listened with a smile as metal hit metal and more weights were added to the bar.

What are they, playing musical doors? Parker thought to himself as Olga entered the gym. Spotting him by the heavy bag, he pretended not to see her until she was standing right next to him.

"What are you doing, Mr. Parker?" Her voice was low and Parker could tell she was angry.

"I’m uh, working out?" He replied, like a child who answers a question as if asking if the answer is correct.

"You’re supposed to stay out of the gym."

He stopped his assault on the bag and faced her, wiping his sweaty brow with his shirt. "Olga, I’m fine."

She stared back at him for a few moments, as if convincing herself that he was indeed alright.

Seeing that she wasn’t going to say anything, Parker smiled and stepped closer to her, and opened his arms, his body covered in sweat.

"Come on Olga, gimme a hug!!" Making a disgusted face, Olga turned on her heel and walked out of the gym, muttering to herself. As Parker directed his attention back to the heavy bag, Olga stopped on her ascent up the stairs. Looking down at him, she smiled.

"Welcome back, Mr. Parker." She spoke quietly, and smiling, left the room.

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