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Then and Now Chapter 32 Ryan led the Kevin, Nina and Ang through the forest. Jenn and D were hiking along another trail with a map and compass in case they had stumbled onto the other path and were somewhere there, while Aimee stayed back at the cabin with a radio in case they suddenly appeared home. Kevin walked through the brush and looked around, trying to spot anything that seemed to be out of place. Nina walked near Ang as they scanned the trees and anything that looked like a shelter. "Ang!" Nina called, seeing a branch laying a good twenty feet away from its tree. Ang came running over. "What?" Nina pointed to the branch. "That look a little out of place." "Nina, haven't you noticed that we're in a forest? Branches usually are in a forest." Nina smirked. "Always a comic, but seriously look...that doesn't look out of place to you?" Ang took another look. "No not really." "Maybe I'm imagining things then. Lets get moving then." Nina tightened the strap on her backpack and the two women headed deeper into the forest.Aimee walked around the cabin, the search party had been gone for almost three hours by then and she could see the storm off in the distance, well not the storm per say but a big bank of rather black clouds. She leaned on the railing and picked up the radio as it sizzled. Han watched as Brian and AJ dismantled the tent as Nick walked around mumbling under his breath. Lis got up from her spot and headed over. "Hey Nicky." Nick glanced over at her. "Hey." "You upset?" she asked matching his pace. He sighed. "Nah, not really." "Oh..." she said softly, pulling her hair through the back of her baseball hat. "Why?" his blue eyes took her in. Lis stopped and sat down, "Its just you know I thought maybe we'd get some time alone and now here we have," she motioned to the group, "four other people with us and then we go back to the cabin and everything. I mean soon I'll be back in New York." Nick sighed and sat next to her. "I know what you mean. Maybe when we get back to Florida you and me can do something special." Lis smiled. "That would be nice." "That would?" he asked slightly surprised. She nodded and looked out at the trees. "I know I haven't been much fun the last little while...actually the whole summer, but I guess I was still expecting the nine year old Nicky Carter," she glanced shyly at him, "and your not him anymore and I was kinda shocked and the whole Boyd thing and everything..." Nick wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "And I was still expecting the little 9 year old Lissy, and you've definitely grown up." he said looking her up and down. Lis poked him in the ribs. "Carter!" "I'm playing, you know that." he flashed her his famous grin and pulled her closer. Kevin shook his head as they all met back up and crouched down looking over the map. "Shouldn't we have found something?" Ryan looked around. "They had to wander way off course, because we should have seen them by now." "Well AJ was leading them." Nina stated. "They could be anywhere." Ang said shaking her head as she looked out into the trees. Kevin rubbed his neck. "How much longer do you think we have?" Ryan stared up at the sky for awhile. "A couple hours, then we're gonna have to high tail it to the cabin. According to reports this is gonna be one hell of a storm." Brian made his way over to where Lis and Nick were huddled together talking. "Okay you two, lets get going." Nick nodded. "Now Bri you do know the way back right? I don't want AJ trying to give us directions." "Funny Carter, very funny!" AJ yelled. Nick helped Lis up. "Who knew Bone's hearing was that good?" She laughed. "Not me." Within minutes everyone had their packs on and they began heading back to the cabin. Aimee listened to the rangers converse back and forth over the radio as she sat on the deck. The dark clouds were approaching the cabin at a faster pace then she liked. She picked up the walkie talkie. "Ryan?" Ryan stopped searching with Ang as he heard his walkie talkie sizzle. "Yeah?" "Its Aimee, this storm is like getting close to the cabin." "Whats it doing?" he asked, spotting a set of footprints. "Well its just clouds right now but the wind is starting to pick up. You guys heading back soon?" "In about an hour, listen grab a bunch of candles and set them in the kitchen you could lose power. Do all the normal storm precautions. I'll radio you back in fifteen and see how your doing." "All right." Aimee turned her walkie talkie down and headed inside to gather everything. Ang looked at Ryan. "Storm hit yet?" He shook his head. "Close though. We'll search for another half hour or so then get back to your cabin. Wouldn't want to be caught out here during a storm." Ang nodded and followed. "You looked like you saw something." "I thought I saw some footprints..." he knelt down and looked at the ground, "And I was right." Next: Chapter 33 |