Vanessa however was already in motion. She couldn’t tell if Joe had been hit, but she knew they had to move quickly, or they were going to die. Pushing Joe off of her, she made it to her feet. With one swift move, she pulled a dazed Joe to his feet. Vanessa watched horrified as Joe began to sway, and crumbled to his knees. "Joe?" Vanessa yelled. There was no sign of blood anywhere on Joe. He hadn’t been shot, but something was obviously wrong with him.

"Joe what’s wrong?" Vanessa asked in a panic.

"I’m alright," Joe said as he struggled to his feet. The sudden movement of Vanessa pulling Joe to his feet had brought on an intense wave of dizziness, reminding Joe that he was not in the best shape at the moment. As another dizzy spell threatened to overwhelm Joe, he threw his backpack over his shoulder, and took Vanessa by the hand leading her into the woods for cover. Joe knew they were as good as dead if they stayed by the stream; but he also knew it would now be almost impossible for Frank and the others to find them. They had only been running for a few minutes, and they were already deep within the Adirondack Forest.

*****

"Are you crazy?" Robert yelled as he dove at Kevin. "You might hit the girl!"

Kevin was quickly becoming fed up with Robert’s theatrics. "Why do you care about what happens to her? You don’t really think you have a chance with her, do you?"

"Of course not," Robert replied as he helped Kevin to his feet. "He’s the only one we need, there’s no reason to hurt the girl, that’s all."

"Just what do you think is going to happen to her after we kill pretty boy, huh?" Kevin asked bluntly. "She wouldn’t stand a chance out here all alone. She will need a big strong man to protect her, and I’m just the man for the job. I’ll take good care of her, and if she plays her cards right she just might live to see tomorrow."

Robert was speechless. For some reason, he felt drawn to the beautiful blond. He no longer cared about what happened to Joe Hardy, jealousy had taken care of any reservations he had about killing him. But, he silently vowed to protect the young girl, no matter what.

When Kevin took aim once again, Robert did the only thing he could do. Pulling his gun from his waistband, he hit Kevin hard in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Robert was relieved when Kevin hit the ground with a thud; he was out cold. Robert looked up just in time to see the young couple run for the woods. He cursed; he wouldn’t have time to tie Kevin up. He had to go after Joe and the girl. It would be dark soon, and if he lost them now, it would ruin everything.

*****

Frank and Callie were intertwined in a passionate kiss; right then his little brother was the farthest thing from Frank’s mind. Suddenly, Callie pulled away from Frank.

"Did you hear that?" Callie asked breathlessly.

"You mean the fireworks going off in my head?" Frank teased.

"I’m flattered, but that’s not what I mean," Callie replied. "I think I just heard a gunshot. Aren’t firearms banned in state parks?"

As if in answer to Callie’s question, another shot could be heard in the distance. Frank grabbed Callie and pulled her to her feet.

"Chet?" Frank called out.

"Over here Frank," Chet answered. "Was that gunfire I just heard?"

"Yeah, I’m afraid so," Frank said coming closer to Chet and Cassidy. "We’ve got to find Joe and Vanessa. I have a bad feeling about this…"

"You don’t think they came after Joe, do you Frank?" asked a now trembling Callie.

"I don’t know, Cal," Frank said worriedly. "But you’re right, firearms aren’t allowed in this area. Right now I would feel a whole lot better if I could lay eyes on Joe and Vanessa."

"What do we do now?" Chet questioned.

Frank looked at Callie and said, "Why don’t you and Cassidy go to the van, and lock all the doors. Chet and I will head up stream to see if Joe and Vanessa are there waiting on us. He promised me he would be; if he’s not, then I’ll know something is wrong."

"No Frank, I’m not leaving you," Callie replied with tears in her eyes.

"Listen Cal, I need you to get yourself and Cassidy to safety. I can’t be worried about the two of you, and concentrate on Joe and Vanessa. Chet is going with me, we’ll be fine. If we don’t find them, we’ll come back to the van, and call for help. I just want to try and find them first. They’re probably right where they’re supposed to be, wondering what’s taking us so long," Frank said with a half-hearted smile.

"Okay, Frank," Callie said. "But please be careful."

"Do you know how to get back to the van, Cal?" Chet asked.

"Yeah, you two go find Joe and Vanessa," Callie said as she put her arm around a terrified Cassidy. "But, if you two aren’t back in an hour, I’m going for help."

*****

Joe wasn’t sure how long or how far he and Vanessa had run; he only knew he couldn’t go much farther. Vanessa could tell Joe was drained, so she stopped and pulled Joe down beside her.

"I’m so sorry, Vanessa," Joe said weakly, "I never should have brought you here…I don’t know what I was thinking. But I promise you, I will die before I let anything happen to you."

"Don’t talk like that Joe. We’re going to be just fine. As long as we’re together, we can make it through anything," Vanessa said as she took Joe’s hand in hers.

"We have to find somewhere to hide. I know you can’t make it much farther right now, and I’m not sure I can either. It will be dark soon, so we don’t have much time. Can you make it a little farther?" Vanessa asked, noting how pale Joe still was.

"Yeah, let’s go…"

Before Joe could finish what he was saying, they heard what sounded like someone approaching them. Without waiting to see who or what it was, the pair took off running once again. But they were totally unprepared for what happened next as they came face to face with a large black bear!

Joe knew they had startled the now angry bear. Quickly remembering what he had learned about bear attacks, he shoved Vanessa to the ground and took off running, praying the bear would chase him, and leave Vanessa alone.

Joe was running for his life, with the bear hot on his heels, but in his weakened condition, Joe knew he didn’t stand a chance. The bear was on him within seconds dragging him to the ground and ripping at his clothes. The bear roared and continued slashing fiercely at Joe who was now helpless.

Joe raised his arms, instinctively trying to protect his face and he felt pain like nothing he’d ever experienced in his life. He cried out in agony, feeling sharp claws slice into his stomach. His chest and arms felt as if they were on fire from the wounds and gashes already inflicted there. He tried to fight the bear off, remembering what Frank had said only hours ago, but it was no use. He was too weak, the bear was too strong and the searing intensity of the pain in his torso left him on the verge of unconsciousness. Unable to defend himself, Joe hoped the end would be mercifully quick.

Vanessa rolled over, and got up just in time to see the bear attack Joe. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, as she helplessly watched her boyfriend being ruthlessly clawed by the enormous animal. She saw Joe raise his arms in a futile effort to ward off the attack. Immediately she heard Joe cry out in pain, and the initial shock quickly wore off. Vanessa began screaming at the top of her lungs.

Her unexpected shrieking startled the bear, who lost all interest in Joe. The angry bear, which only seconds earlier was intent on mauling Joe to death, now turned and ran.

In an instant, Vanessa was at Joe’s side, shocked at what she saw. Joe’s shirt had been ripped completely from his body and was now shredded on the ground around him. His upper body was covered in blood. Vanessa couldn’t tell how deep some of the wounds were, but she knew it was bad. Joe was moaning in pain, barely conscious and he was losing more blood by the second. She knew they were in serious trouble…