Alison woke up early the next morning and made a pot of coffee. She went out to sit on the dock to think, pray, and watch the beautiful sunrise.
After reflecting on everything, Ali went inside to make a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.
The smell of bacon interrupted everyon's sleep and by the time Ali had finished breakfast everyone was up and already packed.
"Good morning boys," Ali greeted the six of them as they sat at the table.
"Morning Ali, it looks good." JC smiled while sniffing appreciativly.
"Thank you, JC." Ali said returning his smile.
"I swear I'm going to be fat by the time we're done with this trip, if you keep feeding me this." Justin teased her.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Ali laughed. "JC, would you please say the blessing this morning?"
"Heavenly Father for what we are about to eat make us truely thankful. Bless the hands that prepared it, bless the food to our bodies, and our bodies to thy service. Thank you for this beautiful day and please give us a safe day, In Jesus Name, Amen."
A round of Amen's sounded before everyone dug in and started eating.
"So what are we doing today?" Joey asked.
Ali held up a finger indicating she'd answer after she'd swallowed. "Well, we'll be walking the rest of the way to camp and then make camp when we get there."
"How far is it from here?" JC asked.
"It's a few good hours depending on how fast or slow we go." Ali answered as she started to clear the dishes.
Half an hour later everyone was rady to go and the cabin was all packed up. Ali loaded up the supply horse with the food they'd need as well as her guitar and the rest of the supplies.
"Come on guys, put on your packs, we're heading out now." Ali caleld to the guys who were talking by the cabin.
"We're goin camping." Chris sang as he clicked his heels once.
"Chris, it's too early for your songs." Ali chided nicely.
Ali and her horse led the way and they're journey for the day had begun. JC had found a Moses style walking stick that everyone was jealous of. They all figured they need a stick to be cool.
"Boys, it's just a stick." Mike rolled his eyes.
"It's not just a stick. It's like a vintage classic. All the way from biblical times." Chris waved him off.
"Okay, it's a vintage classic. So what!" Mike retorted.
"The man has no sense of class." Chris mumbled.
Ali had already put on her headphones and was absorbed in the music and the serenity around her. She was oblivious to the conversation going on behind her--one in which she was the topic of.
"So, JC, what's up with you and Alison?" Lance dared asked the question on everyones mind.
"Nothing." JC answered too quickly.
"Come on, JC, none of us are buying that bull." Joey smacked his arm.
"Okay fine, I like her. SHe's like no other girl I've ever met. she's smart, she's sweet, she's down to earth." JC explained as he did nothing to conceal the emotions on his face.
"She's definatly a goody good." Justin smirked. "She has us praying all the time."
"Justin, she's not a goody good. She's a Christian." JC scowled at his younger friend.
"Whatever, so does she feel the same about you?" Justin asked.
"I'm not sure." JC shrugged.
"I think she does." Lance added.
"Yeah, she was gettin along with you back in Denver. You guys seemed to even be hitting it off then. And with that matter she clung to you yesterday at the cabin." Justin nodded.
"Justin, yesterday she didnt want to drown, thats why she clung to me." JC rolled his eyes.
"Whatever JC, all I'm saying is that I think she returns your feelings." Justin said sincerely.
"Thank you, I sure hope you're right." JC sighed then looked up at the sky. "Man, I hope it doesnt rain, it's gettin cloudy."
"Yeah, that would totally ruin everything." Chris looked up at the sky along with the rest of the guys.
JC thought about what Alison told him yesterday about her fiance getting killed in a thunderstorm. He hoped, no he prayed, that nothing would happen while they were on this trip. Not only for entertainments sake but also for the sake of Ali. He didn't think she could handle something like that happening after everything that had happened to her fiance.
The more Ali watched the sky, the darker it became. They had left the cabin at least two hours ago so it would be pointless to go back if it did start raining as they were only an hour away from they're destination. Her heart was pounding for this was near the spot they'd found his body. "I don't want to join him now." Ali whispered to herself as she urged herself to keep going.
It didn't get any better when a few minutes later, thunder could be heard in the distance and it had started to sprinkle. Alison continued to watch the clouds as they began to circle around. It seemed her fears were coming true, only worse.
~*~
"The National Weather Service has declared a sever thunderstorm warning for Green County and surrounding areas. There has been a tornado spotted on the ground just outside of Green County and seems to be headed North Northeast at 45 miles per hour. Stay tuned for further updates." Marie turned up the radio as her stomach continued to churn.
"This is it Alison. I hope you're prepared." she whispered as she moved over to the window to watch the darkening sky above.
The rain started just after the words left her mouth. She silently cursed the low budget for not allowing radios to be carried on every trip, especially after what had happened to Ryan.
"Lord, please take care of my girl." she whispered after looking out the window one final time.
~*~
"Hey Alison, what do we do if it starts raining? It looks like it's going to start any minute." Chris asked when Ali had stopped to look at the clouds again.
"It's going to get rough, there's a cave just a few minutes ahead. Come on you guys, we gotta hurry." Ali said picking up the pace.
"Great," Chris whispered when it started pouring.
"Here it is guys, lets go." Ali yelled over the rain.
Once inside the cave they set they're packs down and surveyed the area.
"Sure is dark in here." JC commented as they walked around.
"Just give me a minute to make a fire." Ali said as she gathered dry leaves that were near the back of the cave.
Within minutes Ali had a fire going and all the guys save for Lance, had taken off they're shirts and hung them to dry.
"Lance, you haven't stripped yet, can you please help me go out and gather firewood?" Ali asked.
"But all the wood is going to be soaked." Lance looked at her confused.
"By the time the rest of that is burned," Ali pointed to they're small pile of wood, "it'll be dry. Let's go."
"Fine." Lance sighed in defeat.
"Do you really think you should go out in this?" JC questioned with concern.
"It'll be fine." Ali answered more for her own state of mine rather then JC's.
A roll of thunder followed her answer causing Ali to jump, ignorning it she looked to Lance who was waiting for her. "Let's go Lance."
"Ali, don't go." JC made one final attempt to stop her.
Alison walked out into the pouring rain and started walking back towards the trail. She knew where she could find firewood where they wouldn't have to cut it off any tree's. It was where they'd always stored it for camp. She fought the rain and the wind as she and Lance ran towards the big pile.
"This is it, grab as much as you can." Ali yelled over the storm.
She was terrified. The storm was getting worse, it was getting hard to see as the rain came down harder and the clouds were making it dark.
"Come on!" Lance shouted when the thunder was closer.
They dashed towards the cave, but soon realized that they weren't reaching it. Ali stopped and looked around her, everything looked the same.
"Does any of this look familiar to you?" Lance asked her.
"No. I think we got off the path. Come on lets go back that way." Ali said pointing to the way they'd come.
They walked as fast as they could for several minutes when still no cave appeared.
"Oh please God, no." Ali shouted as tears poured down her face.
"Come on, it's getting worse, we need to find some shelter." Lance grabbed her arm and ran.
They found some rocks to crawl between that cut off the rain. Ali knew it was dangerous because at any moment the lightening could strike the rocks and they would be trapped. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Now was the time to think about how to get back.
Just then they heard a very loud noise, almost as if a freight train had come rushing by. They watched as trees were ripped away and up into a giant twister.
"Oh please dear God protect us. Protect us. Protect the guys." Ali cried.
"We're going to be okay, Alison. God is here protecting us. Just remember Psalm 91." Lance said trying to comfort her.
"You know Psalm 91?" Ali looked at Lance surprised.
"Yeah, it always gives me comfort." Lance smiled weakly and shrugged.
Both of them started saying it out loud, praying for protection over them, and over they're friends. After all Psalm 91 was a promis of protection.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD , "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart
. You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
Ali thought about JC and the rest of the guys as they continued to say the Psalm, sending up a plee and a prayer for them as well. Little did they know back in the cave, the same thing was being said.
JC thought about Alison and one of his best friends being caught out in the storm. He and the others had his and Ali's bible out and we're reading Psalm 91. A promise of protection. He couldn't lose them. He wouldn't.
If you make the Most High your dwelling-
even the LORD , who is my refuge-
then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
Ali could feel a peace come over her as she and Lance continued to say the Psalm. The Holy Spirit, the comforter, was with them, angels were around them. They were going to be alright.
"Because he loves me," says the LORD , "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
When JC and the boys finished reading the Psalm, each one of them could feel a peace in the cave. It was like nothing any one of them had ever felt before. They all had tears in they're eyes as they swore the room had gotten brighter.
JC grabbed Ali's guitar and sat down beside the fire. He started playing a song he hadn't heard in years. A song that had just came to him.
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
The rest of the guys including Mike joined in as they got the lyrics down. They all felt tears coursing down they're cheeks as they continued to sing. Justin lifted his hands to the sky and started singing loudly as he stood up. The rest of the guys joined him and the storm was forgotten about as they continued to worship.
"Lance, God is watching over us and our friends." Ali said as she lifted her eyes to the rock above her.
"I know, I can feel it too." Lance answered as he felt his eyes well up with tears.
The two of them stayed huddled up and eventually fell asleep as the storm continued to rage on outside.
They woke up a few hours later to see that the storm had ceased, but it was now pitch dark out.
"I don't suppose you brought those matches with you." Lance said as he shivered.
"Yeah, lets go out there though, it's not safe to light it in here." Ali said as she crawled out of their shelter.
"But it's soaking wet out here." Lance commented as the ground softened beneath his foot.
"I know, but we'll have to wait for morning to go find the others," Ali said as she grabbed some leaves and twigs that were under the rock they were under.
"Why can't we just make the fire outside but stay under the rock." Lance whined.
"Because there isn't proper ventilation, if the smoke blows in our direction and we're under there, we could suffocate. And I don't know about you, but I just survived a tornado, I'd rather not die by smoke from my own fire." Ali said as she got the fire started.
She held her hands over the flames thanking the Lord for the heat.
"That feels good." Lance said as he shrugged out of the cold wet t-shirt he was wearing.
"I imagine it does." Ali chuckled looking at him.
It was really turning out to be a beautiful night. The stars were shining brightly and it was almost a full moon. After the storm, it had warmed up again, taking the chill out of the air.
"I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to take this shirt off and let it dry." Ali said as she unbuttoned the uniform shirt.
"Ahem, thats fine." Lance said as he looked away.
"Don't worry Lance, I have a beater under this." Ali smiled at his squirming.
"It's not funny." Lance glared still feeling a little uncomfortable.
"Okay, Lance." Ali said as she worked her fingers through her ratted hair. "Oh what I wouldn't give for a brush."
"You look fine, besides, who do you have to impress out here?" Lance asked looking around.
"I don't know, besides, you never know who might come walkin up." Ali said trying to justify herself.
"Yeah, like, JC." Lance through the comment in nonchalantly.
"They better stay in the cave." Alison said as she tried to hide her emotions at the mention of his name.
"You like him don't you." Lance looked into her eyes.
"No." Ali denied.
"You're not a very good liar." Lance chuckled.
"Okay, I like him. But I can't. He's just going to leave here and never come back and I'll just get hurt." Ali said throwing a stick into the fire.
"Alison that's not true."
"Sure it is, he could have any other girl he wanted. Why would he chose a nobody like me." Ali sighed.
"You aren't a nobody. You're one of the nicest, sweetest people I've met." Lance said putting his arm around her. "And I know that JC feels the same way about you."
"You don't know that Lance." Ali sighed again.
"Sure I do."
~*~
"Do you think we should go looking for them now?" JC asked as he stared out into the darkness.
"No, we should wait til morning." Mike said as the leader of the group.
"But what if they're hurt." JC rubbed his jaw worried about his friends.
"We wait." Mike said stopping the idea.
"Is that a fire I see?" JC said looking between the trees.
"Why, I think it is. Let's go check it out. Everybody grab your stuff, and grab the horse along with Lance's and Alison's pack." Mike said taking charge once again.
~*~
"Come on, we've got a long day tomorrow, let's try to get some shut eye." Lance suggested as he lay on the ground next to Ali.
"Sure did get chilly out here." Alison said shivering.
"Here, if we stay together we'll get warm." Lance said putting his arm around her as she rest her head in the crook of his arm. "Good night Al,"
"Good night Lance," Ali said as she lay looking into the fire.
Ali heard a rustling in the trees on the other side of the fire, but chose to ignore it and continued to watch the fire. When she heard it again she held her breath, hoping that whatever animal it was would leave them alone and they could live another day. "Guys, it is them." JC said running towards the fire. He stopped abruptly with what he saw, Lance had his arm around Ali as she lay against him and appeared to be comfortable there.
"Guys, what are you doing here? I thought you would have stayed." Ali said jumping to her feet.
"We saw the fire and came to find you." JC explained as he looked between Lance who was without a shirt, to Ali who was wearing a wife beater and shorts. He felt his world crash, she like Lance.
"Thank God you guys are okay, we were so worried." Ali said hugging him tightly then moved to hug the others.
JC glared at Lance who just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "You guys brought the horse?" Ali asked when she saw the horse standing there.
"Yeah." Mike shrugged. "We brought everything."
"Well lets go ahead and set up the tent." Ali said taking charge.
"But it's dark out." Chris pointed out.
"Come on, I've put this thing up so many times, I could do it in myself, besides, it basically just unfolds." Ali told him as she unpacked the tent.
Just as Ali said, it only took about 10 minutes before the tent was up and beds were made. It was a mess in the tent as everything was just thrown about. The sleeping bags were all lined up after arguing as to who would sleep where. Joey was on the left end then it was Justin, Mike, Lance, Chris, JC, and Alison was on the right end--away from the boys.
"Guys theres something I need to tell you," Ali said as they sat around the fire. "I'm not really sure if I know where we are."
"You-you mean we're lost?" Chris asked, eyes wide.
"At this point I'd say yes. I won't know until morning, but at this point in time, I'd say theres a pretty good chance that we are lost. But don't worry, I will get us out of here." Ali assured him.
"It's all right Ali, we trust you." Justin smiled at her.
"Thanks Justin." Ali sighed and wrapped her arms around herself trying to tell herself it was going to be all right.
"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired." JC said standing up to stretch.
"Yeah, I think we should hit the sack." Ali agreed. "We'll have a long day tomorrow."
Ali changed into her pajama's as everyone else did they're business outside. When they'd finished, they all went to bed when it sounded like an episode of the Walton's with they're goodnights.
In the middle of the night, JC woke to the sound of someone shivering. Confused he looked over to Ali who was huddled in a ball close to the wall, shivering strong. He fought the urge to draw her close as she'd made it obvious tonight that she didn't want him. He could keep his distance. He would.
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