Missing by Darrell Maloney Page A

search site.
         And none of them were looking forward to it. They envisioned the worst. A wide area littered with twisted and torn pieces of helicopter. And twisted and torn pieces of humans.
         But Colonel Weiss had a surprise for them.
         “Sergeant, instruct the drivers to leave thirty yards between the first and second buses, and to have the men form up in the space between them. I’ll brief them quickly, then spend a few minutes with Captain Martin and his lieutenants, and we’ll head back.”
         “Yes, sir.”
         Ten minutes later Smith pulled his car off the dirt road into a clearing that was more or less level and would more or less give him enough room to turn around while the colonel was doing his thing.
         The first driver stopped his bus in the center of the road, and the second driver, as instructed, parked thirty yards farther back.
         Weiss watched as the men formed into four ranks between the buses.
         After they were in formation and put at parade rest, he exited the vehicle and approached them.
         Captain Martin called the men to attention and saluted the colonel. He said, “Good morning, sir.”
         Weiss returned the salute and said, “Good morning, John. Thank you for joining us. Please put your men at ease.”
         “Yes, sir.”
         Weiss turned to face the troops.
         “Good morning, gentlemen. Your mission today is to find a young woman who went to pick flowers in the forest yesterday about ten hundred hours and never returned home.
         “Her name is Sarah. She is thirty two years old, brown hair, brown eyes. Five feet seven inches and one hundred and five pounds.
         “At this time, we don’t know if she is injured or sick. However, she spent the night in these woods in light clothing without aid of food, water, or fire. So as a minimum she is cold, hungry, thirsty and probably scared.
         “Let’s find her and get her back to her loved ones as quickly as possible.”
         The volunteers were still in formation and therefore not allowed to speak. But they collectively breathed a sigh of relief. None of them were looking forward to happening upon chunks of torn flesh that had once been part of a human body.
         This was definitely good news, and meant that they would perform their mission with gusto. Instead of dreading the possibility of being the one to find human remains, each man now hoped that he would be the one to find the missing woman and bring her back safely.
         These men were no different than any other men.
         All men, at heart, enjoy playing the hero role.
         Even if the woman they’re dashing in to save is someone they’ve never met, and would likely never see again.
         Weiss gave Captain Martin an area elevation map, marked with the location Sarah was last seen, as well as the areas she usually went to pick her flowers. He also emplasized that Martin’s men were to remain in their designated search area.
         That was at Frank’s request. Frank didn’t want any of the soldiers to come across the walls of the compound and wonder what might be behind them.
         That done, Weiss left Martin and his team to do their thing and had Sergeant Smith return him to the compound and his operations center.
         The trip back was marked by complete silence, until they arrived back at the compound.
         Weiss emerged from the staff car, sighed, and said, “I suspect we’ve got a very long day ahead of us.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 21
     
         In the center of the main building the compound’s residents lovingly referred to as “the big house,” life had taken on a frantic pace
         Oh, everyone tried to pretend it was normal. But it was anything but.
         The children still went to classes after breakfast, and were told to avoid the main