The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner

Author:Lisa Gardner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780553897661
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2004-08-23T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

4:25 P.M.

Temperature: 99 degrees

“THE SEARCH AREA HAS BEEN DIVIDED into ten different sections. Each team of two should analyze their section on the map, then work it in the standard grid pattern. In the good news department, since the hiker has been missing for only twenty-four hours, she shouldn’t have wandered beyond a thirty-mile radius, giving us a fairly contained target for search. In the bad news department, this thirty-mile radius contains some of the harshest, steepest terrain in the entire park. Here’s what you need to know:

“One, lost hikers inevitably head down. They’re tired, they’re fatigued and once they lose their sense of direction, they’ll head down the mountain even when help lies just twenty feet away over the next hill. Two, hikers will also gravitate toward the sound of running water. Everyone knows how important water is, especially someone who is disoriented. If there is water in your section of the grid, check the areas around the streams carefully and follow them for as long as you can. Three, once off the groomed hiking trails, this is rough country. The underbrush is thick, the footing treacherous. Be on the lookout for upturned rocks, broken branches, and trampled underbrush. If this woman is still on the trails, chances are someone would’ve seen her by now. So most likely she’s in the wild and we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”

Kathy Levine paused for a moment, gazing out somberly over the group of twenty search-and-rescue volunteers now gathered at Big Meadows Lodge. “It’s hot out, people. Yeah, no kidding, you’re thinking. But I mean it. In this kind of heat index, dehydration is a constant threat. The rule of thumb is that two quarts of water a day keeps dehydration away. Unfortunately, in these conditions your body can easily lose a quart of water per hour through your lungs and pores, so two quarts isn’t going to cut it. Frankly, each person should carry two gallons of water, but since that weight would be prohibitive, we’re requiring each rescue team to carry either water tablets or a water purification system. Then you can refill your water supply at the various streams you encounter along the way. Don’t drink untreated stream water. Sure, the water looks clear and pretty up here, but most of it is contaminated by Giardia lamblia—a parasite which is guaranteed to give you a bad case of the seven-day trots. Drink often, but drink smart.

“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.

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