Killing Hour - Lisa Gardner [90]
“Now, assuming that you stay properly hydrated, don’t slip down a steep hillside, or stumble upon a sleeping bear, there are a few final things to keep in mind. For example, rattlesnakes. We have plenty. Every now and then, you’ll come to a clear meadow with a pile of rocks from an old landslide. Looks like a terrific place to sit down. Don’t. The snakes think so, too, and most of those rocks are their homes. Let’s not argue with them. Second, we have hornets. They like to build nests in old hollows in the ground or in rotten logs. If you leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone. If you step into a nest, however . . . might I recommend not running back to your partner. You’ll only drag him into the mess and one of you will need to be able to hike back for help. Finally, we have stinging nettles. If you haven’t ever seen one, they are about thigh-high with broad green leaves. If you boil them, they actually make a pretty good green to go with dinner. Walk into them, however, and welcome to nature’s version of fiberglass. The prickers get immediately under the skin and emit a poison that remains long after the thistles are gone. It takes a good thirty to sixty minutes for the inflammation to subside and by then, you’ll have renounced everything you once held dear.
“This park is beautiful. I’ve walked almost every inch of it in the last five years and I can’t think of a more beautiful spot on earth. But nature also commands respect. We need to be focused. We need to move fast. But in these conditions, I also need each and every one of you to always be using your head. Our goal is to find one person, not lose any more. Any questions?” Levine paused. There were none. “Good,” she said crisply. “Let’s move. We have only four and a half hours of daylight left.”
The group broke up, people finding their search partners and heading out of the lodge. Everyone had received their assignment, and most seemed to understand the drill. Mac and Kimberly were probably the biggest rookies of the bunch and Mac had done his fair share of search-and-rescue work by now. Kimberly, he could tell, was more uncomfortable. She had the gear, she had the fitness. But by her own admission, she’d never spent much time in the woods.
If what Kathy Levine had said was correct, this was going to be quite an adventure.
“What do you think she meant by the hornets?” Kimberly said now as they trudged out of the wonderfully air-conditioned lodge into the searing heat. “If the hornets build their nests in the ground and we’re walking on the ground, how are we supposed to avoid them?”
“Look where you step,” Mac said. He stopped, held up the map they’d been given, and worked on orienting it to their surroundings. They were officially Search Team D, assigned to search the three square miles of, logically enough, Search Area D.
“But if I’m looking at the ground, how am I supposed to look for a lost woman or broken branches or whatever?”
“It’s just like driving. You look ahead ten feet to know what’s coming, then gaze around all you want, then scope out the next ten feet. Look, glance, look, glance, look, glance. Okay, according to the map, we enter the trailhead there.”
“I thought we weren’t on a trail. Levine said we were in the ‘rough country’—whatever the hell that means.”
“We are,” Mac said patiently. “But the first quarter of a mile is on a trail. Then we veer off into the wild underbelly of the beast.”
“How will we know which way to go?”
“We chart and map usin’ compass points. It’ll be slow, but thorough.”
Kimberly barely nodded. She was gazing nervously at the dark forest before them, carpeted in nine shades of green. Mac saw beauty. Kimberly, however, obviously saw something worse.
“Tell me again how often you’ve done this,” she whispered.