Chapter 18

Steve had been taken totally by surprise when the gunman appeared from behind the car. He cursed himself for being so careless, and for endangering Lisa. Her fear was obvious, but it forced Steve to remain calm. The situation was tense and he knew that he needed to remove Lisa from danger.

As soon as he realized that he was the man's real focus, Steve decided that he'd go with him if Lisa were allowed to leave unharmed. Steve was also certain that if Lisa was hurt in any way, he would find some way to wreak vengeance on the gunman.

As the man secured his hands, Lisa was allowed to slip away. Steve was under no illusions about what was facing him, but with Lisa safe, he would be able to face it without concern for her.

They drove a couple miles with his hands strapped to the car door. Then the gunman turned into a driveway as the garage door opened. He pulled alongside an SUV, shut the motor off, and closed the garage door. Steve's abductor then walked around the front of the car. As he did so, he picked up what appeared to be a rake or shovel handle that was propped against the wall.

The man opened Steve's door quickly and slammed the wooden handle into Steve's head behind his ear. Steve slumped with his hands still bound to the door. The man pulled out a knife and severed the plastic tie that had immobilized Steve. He placed handcuffs on Steve's wrists and dragged him from the car. He hooked a chain through the handcuffs and then went to the wall and pressed a button. Slowly the chain rose and Steve's hands followed it upward.

When Steve was suspended so his toes touched the floor, the man began circling him. Then he would curse Steve in Farsi and slam the handle into Steve's torso. He kept that up until he was too winded to continue. The man then opened a bottle of water and sat down to rest. After half an hour, he stood up and pulled on a pair of leather gloves.

Steve was groggy but conscious for the first few blows. The man laughed as he promised he wouldn't kill Steve, yet. He wanted him softened up for easier transport. He explained to Steve that he was taking him to a place where he had video equipment set up to record Steve's execution. He laughed even harder as he spoke about how he was going to broadcast that event on the internet, much like the 'Lady in Red' dance Steve and Gwen had performed. He continued to hit Steve long after he had lost consciousness.

When Steve woke up, he was unable to open his left eye and his right allowed him little more than a squint at his surroundings. His hands were once again strapped together with another plastic strap binding him to the door of the vehicle. It was daylight and snow was falling heavily. Steve remained still, wanting his captor to believe that he was still out of it. After reading a few road signs, Steve was able to determine that he was in the mountains north of Sparta, not far from a winter ski lodge.

They were driving through six or eight inches of snow with more falling rapidly. The driver appeared to be traveling a bit fast for road conditions. Steve realized that the driver was probably not very experienced in winter driving. They were approaching a curve in the road when Steve made his decision.

Just as they reached the start of the curve, Steve pushed his knee hard against the steering wheel. The driver was confused for a few seconds when he was unable to turn the wheel. Seeing Steve's knee pressing against it, he violently jerked it just as Steve withdrew his knee. The result was a full 360 degree spin, followed by a 180. The ass end of the SUV hit the guard rails.

The vehicle jerked as the safety device greatly reduced the speed it was traveling. Then the rails gave way under the impact and the SUV dropped off the edge of the road and began crashing down a very steep embankment. Desperate, Steve was just barely able to reach the handle to open the car door. It swung open with his hands still attached. Suddenly a large tree sheered the door from the vehicle and Steve was yanked from his seat. The vehicle kept plunging down the embankment as Steve hung suspended from a large pine tree. The limb holding the door snapped and he was dropped to the steeply sloped, snow covered ground, still attached to the car door. It began sliding down the hillside in the wake of the SUV with Steve bouncing along with it.

The vehicle struck a large rock outcropping at the bottom of the slope with tremendous force. Suddenly an explosion shook the earth as a huge fireball spewed from the crumpled SUV. Steve tried desperately to brace his legs to slow his descent and he was partially successful. He slowed the door down somewhat as debris began landing around him. He felt several burning sensations as the door he was bound to began to drift to the right. Too tired and hurt to fight it any longer, Steve allowed himself to be carried along with the door. It finally came to rest about twenty feet from the wreckage.

Steve forced himself to roll over on his back to suffocate the small fires flaring on his back and legs caused by the burning debris that had fallen on him. He hunkered down behind the door to escape the intense heat from the fire and took stock of his situation. Nearby was a piece of the steering wheel with a partial hand still griping it, leading Steve to conclude that his captor had been a victim of the explosion.

Steve knew that cars seldom blew up in accidents of any sort, so it seemed likely that the man was transporting explosives. He was probably hoping to recruit more suicide bombers, or he just liked living on the edge. Regardless, his days of terrorism had ended quite permanently.

The fire quickly began to die since there was very little left to burn. With great effort, Steve dragged the door over to a piece of the axle with some jagged steel attached. It took some time, but he eventually managed to situate the door so he could sever the plastic that was binding him to it.

Steve was concerned with his situation. He had struggled to get the door where he wanted it because his chest hurt with every move he made. His vision was limited to a small area with his right eye. His left eye was swollen completely shut. His back ached and his ass hurt. Running his hands over his backside, he discovered a piece of metal embedded in his upper leg, near his butt. He briefly attempted to remove it, but the pain that created was more than he cared to endure.

It occurred to him that pulling the metal from his body could cause him to bleed a great deal. It didn't appear to be bleeding at all at the moment. That surprised Steve until he concluded that it must have been so hot that it cauterized his flesh as it entered, thus preventing serious bleeding.

It was snowing extremely hard and the wind was beginning to whip the flakes around in all directions. For the first time, Steve realized that it was also very cold. He would need shelter and heat before long or he'd perish. He had often listened to his father and his SEAL friends discuss some of their survival training and what they had endured and what they had learned. The important thing was to never give up!

Waiting in the open by the burned out wreckage seemed foolish. With visibility so low, no one would find the wreck until far too late to do him any good. Looking around, Steve saw a piece of metal with a very sharp ragged edge on one end. He kicked snow over it to be certain that it was no longer hot and then picked it up. Judging from how much that movement hurt, Steve realized that he was in for a bad day or two. Seeing nothing else of interest, he turned and began walking.

It was almost dark when he saw the overhang. He had fallen a few times along the way and had trouble getting back up. He was wracked with pain, his breathing was labored and he was very cold.

Years ago, an old pine tree had collapsed against the rocky ledge that was now in front of him. Moving in close, he was able to see a small cubicle carved into the rocks under the dead tree. Slowly, he crawled under the tree limbs and into the rock cavern. It was void of snow and extremely cold. Steve took the jagged piece of metal and gouged out part of the old tree that was rotting. He managed to gather a couple hands full of small tinder and placed it on a flat rock. He then pulled off tiny pieces of dry wood and bark and placed it by the tinder.

Steve then pulled out his wallet and found a slip of paper with addresses. He tore the paper in very tiny pieces and placed it by the tinder. He looked around and found a flat rock and placed it near the tinder and paper. They he took the jagged piece of metal and began striking it against the rock. Ten minutes later he was still striking the metal against the rock. An occasional spark would fly to land harmlessly near the paper. Knowing he had no options and very little time, Steve kept striking the rock.

Finally a spark landed on the small paper strips. Steve gently blew on it and the paper erupted into flames! Steve quickly added the tinder to the paper and it began burning. Then he placed the small pieces of bark and wood on the tinder. Once that ignited, he began adding larger chunks of the old tree. Gradually, the grotto began to warm up. Steve pulled his shoes off and placed his feet near the flames. Once they were warm, he put his shoes back on. He gathered fuel until he was simply too tired to move. He lay down near the fire and listened to the wind howl.

Steve woke to find the fire almost extinguished. He slowly moved to the old tree and chopped some dead branches of it. He fed these pieces of wood to the fire and nursed it back to a healthy state. Then he gathered more wood and placed it near the fire. Sweating and exhausted, Steve once again curled up by the fire and slept. It became his routine. When he awoke, he'd gather wood until he was too exhausted or sore to continue and then lay back down.

Steve knew he had to have been in his shelter for several days, but was unsure exactly how many. He was beginning to feel cold, regardless of how large the fire was. He was having trouble breathing and he was coughing frequently, which hurt his chest. He knew he had a fever, some very sore ribs, and a bad cold. His back and ass were throbbing constantly and he was finding it difficult to collect any more firewood. He had burned all but the biggest pieces of the tree.

Steve considered trying to find his way back to the road but had no idea what direction he had come from. It had been snowing hard that day and he had not been paying close attention to his wanderings. It was still snowing hard and Steve began to realize that he was trapped in the small grotto until the weather improved, and then he was not likely to have the strength to go very far.

He thought about Gwen and how much she had come to mean to him. He smiled as he remembered her climbing into the shower with him and how well they washed each other. He was saddened that things hadn't turned out better, but eventually decided that what he had been given was far more than he would have dreamed of a year ago. Once again, he fell asleep.

Jason and Brad Hunter had been dropped off near the wreckage of the SUV just as the snow began in earnest. They strapped on their snowshoes as the helicopter raced back to base. Although they were no strangers to snow and cold, they were concerned by the harshness of the elements. They were fully prepared for the weather and still had difficulty moving very well. Visibility was low and the wind was sucking the warmth from their bodies.

They had formed a plan for searching while in the copter and moved out to follow that plan. Two days later they still had almost half of the area they wanted to search untouched. The snow was well over three feet with drifts eight and ten feet high. They felt a real urgency as they pushed through the snow. It was not likely that anyone would survive for days in this environment without proper equipment. They feared that their window of opportunity for finding Steve alive was rapidly closing.

They were not looking for a body. They searched likely areas where a man in distress would look for shelter during a storm. They looked for caves in the hillside, smoke in the air, tracks in the snow, and deadfalls where downed trees could offer some protection from the elements. By Friday afternoon, they were tired and discouraged, but in agreement that they would not end their search until they found Steve. Neither brother wanted to return home from this mission they had undertaken empty handed. It was far easier to face the weather than the women waiting for, and depending on them.

The storm had finally dissipated and the sun was breaking out when Jason suddenly stopped in his tracks. He sniffed the air and then called to his brother.

"I smell smoke! The wind is coming from the east, so let's head that way, and hurry!"

So it was that the Hunter brothers came upon Steve's little cavern in the rocks. They feared he was dead when they first crawled into the shelter. The fire was nearly gone and Steve was motionless. Brad moved in and felt his neck.

"He's alive! We need to call in a chopper as fast as we can. He's damn close to dying here! I'll check for injuries while you call in our coordinates. We need help here now!"

Less than an hour later, they had Steve boarded on a National Guard helicopter headed for Sparta. There was a better trauma center north, but the weather in that direction dictated that the hospital in Sparta was to be their destination. As they flew, Brad made the call to Gwen.

"Gwen! Steve's alive, but he's in pretty bad shape. We have him in a chopper and we're headed for the Sparta hospital. I promise you that we'll do our best for him! I can't talk now but I'll see you at the hospital.

Ashley and Charlotte gathered Gwen in their arms as she cried uncontrollably. Both women feared the answer to the question that was on everyone's mind, so they simply held her and waited. After about minute, Gwen wiped her eyes and turned to her friends.

"My boyfriend's back!" was all she managed before tears once again raced down her cheeks and sobs wracked her body once again.

Uncertain of her exact meaning, Charlotte and Ashley Summers looked at each other with questioning eyes. "He's alive!" gasped Gwen between sobs.

That was all the two had to hear as huge smiles broke across their faces. The kids sitting near enough to hear Gwen clapped and cheered. Soon the entire room was involved. Cell phones came out and calls were placed, much against the policy of the school.

"I need to get to the hospital! He's in bad shape! He's going to need me. I'm sorry, Ms. Summers, but I'm leaving now," stated Gwen through her tears as she stood up and grabbed her books.

"Tell the principal for us, will you Ms. Summers?" requested Charlotte as she hurried toward the door with her friend. "We don't have time to report to anyone and Gwen's in no condition to drive. Her boyfriend's back!"

As Charlotte drove them to the hospital, Gwen called home. "Mom! Jason and Brad found Steve! He's alive, but in pretty bad shape. I'm on my way to the hospital right now. Tell Lisa and call Amber. I'm too worried to talk to people now. I'll call when I know more."

As Charlotte was approaching the hospital, Gwen was filling in Uncle Joe on the situation. Charlotte suddenly pointed to a helicopter landing in the parking lot. Several men were placing cones and directing any traffic away from the area. By the time Charlotte found a parking space, Steve was being lowered to a waiting gurney. Gwen raced toward the scene only to have Brad intercept her.

"Now is not the time, Gwen! He needs immediate medical attention. Go around to the waiting room and we'll join you there in a few minutes. Trust me. It has to be this way for Steve," insisted Brad as Gwen watched attendants rush Steve to the emergency room entrance.

"He isn't moving! Did he die? Tell me!" yelled Gwen as Brad held her to his chest. "I need to know. Is he dead?"

"No, he isn't dead. He's had a hard time of it and he's in pretty bad condition, but he's alive. Let the doctors take care of him and decide how he's doing. Go to the waiting room, Gwen. We'll all be there in a little while."

By this time Charlotte had caught up to Gwen and heard Brad's last words. "Let's get to the waiting room. We've spent a lot of time there the last few weeks, so a few more hours won't hurt us. Come on, Gwen. Brad's right."

Friends and relatives quickly arrived to join Gwen and Charlotte in the waiting room. Paula and Lisa were among the first to arrive. "How's he doing? Can I talk to him, Gwen? I need to apologize to him."

"If you try that, he'll be angry with you, Lisa! Men don't want apologies from women for trusting them and relying on them. They want you to thank and appreciate them. But right now, Steve isn't able to see anyone. He's in pretty bad shape according to Brad. We have to wait to find out how bad it is."

As Gwen was speaking to Lisa, she saw Amber O'Leary enter the waiting room and rushed over and hugged her. "Your man and his brother saved my guy! I'll never be able to thank you enough! To think I was ready to fight you the first time we met and now you've practically saved Steve. Thanks so much!"

Kate arrived a short time later with Paula's parents. They were followed by Diane and Stephanie. Amber Stahl approached Gwen a little later. "Can you tell me anything I can report, Gwen? Is there anything you want me to tell our viewers?"

"You should tell them that Brad and Jason Hunter, two of West Point's finest, went into the mountains in a raging storm, searched tirelessly for three days in arctic like conditions and found Steve and brought him back to the hospital. Mention Amber and her dad, the Governor, for not giving up and for sending the helicopter that flew Steve back to the hospital," responded Gwen. "Please don't mention that he's in pretty bad shape and we're really worried about him. We want to emphasize the positive right now. Thanks, Amber, for being a real friend and a great reporter."

Amber left the room to file a report as the rest settled in to wait. After about an hour, Jason and Brad entered the room. They were clean shaven and showered.

"We just had to get cleaned up. Wearing the same clothes you've sweated in for three days is no way to greet ladies," offered Brad as he hugged Amber O'Leary while Lisa found herself in Jason's strong arms.

"You know how much I appreciate what you guys did for Steve, which means you did it for me as well," began Gwen. "What can you tell us about Steve's condition?"

"Do you want me to talk about it in front of everyone," questioned Brad. "I don't know everyone in the room and some of it's not easy to hear."

Gwen looked around the room at those gathered to wait for news about Steve and then turned back to Brad. 'Everyone here loves him and is genuinely concerned so they might as well find out now. It'll save me the trouble of repeating everything."

"What about the reporter?" asked Brad as he gestured toward Amber Stahl. "This is personal and some of it doesn't need to be repeated to millions of people."

"Amber won't report anything she learns this way without asking first. She's a personal friend of ours, as well as a very good reporter. Please let us know what's going on."

"Steve was unconscious when we found him. He had found a small cave type area in a rock ledge. It was shelter and a good place to ride out the storm. He had burned about all the wood he was able to gather, cut, or break off a big dead pine tree that had fallen against the ledge years ago.

"We called for the chopper and gave him some water. He had a high fever and a bad cough. He held his chest and winced when he coughed, so I worried about injuries from that crash and explosion. This is where it gets hard to hear.

"I decided to check out his chest area for any injuries or punctures. His chest, stomach, and back were all covered with horrible long black bruises. It's pretty apparent that the guy must have beaten Steve with some sort of club!"

Cries and moans filled the room at Brad's statement. He waited for the ladies to collect themselves. "He also had shrapnel buried in his back, buttocks, and legs. One large fragment and several smaller ones appeared to be infected. He's quite ill. I have no idea what sort of internal injuries he may have suffered from the beating and the wreck. His face is badly swollen, with one eye totally closed. There you have it as far as I can report. Obviously, the doctors will have much better idea of the extent of his health problems."

No one had expected to hear that Steve had been badly beaten before crashing and then enduring several days in a blizzard. Everyone wore shocked expressions and tears flowed freely. Paula hugged Gwen and cooed into her ear much as she had done when Gwen was a small child. Lisa cried into Jason's chest while Stephanie and Kate held each other with tears streaking their cheeks. Then Steve's uncle stepped through the doorway and took a seat.

"I heard everything, so don't worry about repeating it. It's a hell of a thing, but I'm looking at the bright side. Steve's alive and in good hands. That's a lot better than he was a few hours ago!"

It was almost three hours later that a grim Laura entered the waiting room. She looked at the people gathered and nodded to them. "I guess there's no sense trying to speak to one or two of you, so I'm going to tell all of you how Steve's doing.

"He's in intensive care. We're treating him for pneumonia and a very nasty infection in his buttocks and back. We removed a large piece of metal and numerous smaller ones. Several of those pieces of shrapnel had caused infections. X-rays show several cracked ribs, apparently the result of being bound and then beaten. He has many bruises on his torso and face. He has one eye swollen shut and the other is pretty puffy. He's dehydrated and exhausted.

"All of that said, he's in remarkably good health for what he's been through. His face should heal completely, so his good looks will return. His bruises will eventually heal. We feel that we've got a good start on his treatment for the pneumonia and the infections. If he keeps responding as he has been the last few hours, he'll be out of intensive care within a couple days.