Branch after branch snapped against Kelly’s face as they scrambled through the thick undergrowth. It was a nightmare scenario: a frail old man with no memory out in freezing rain, completely alone. If he fell or knocked his head, hypothermia would set in within minutes. They searched for twenty grueling minutes, getting deeper into the wilderness than any resident had ever gone.
Just when Kelly’s hope began to fade into pure panic, a sound pierced through the roar of the storm. It wasn’t a whimper. It was a scream. “Help! Someone help! Please!” Kelly and Marcus exchanged a look of pure terror. The voice sounded raw, desperate, and filled with an agonizing, primal panic. “He’s hurt!” Marcus yelled, picking up his pace and sprinting through the thick mud. “Follow the voice!”
They assumed the worst—that the old man had tripped, broken a bone, or was laying out in the cold. They couldn’t lose him. They had to get to him in time.