Frank had turned up missing, as well as the other two who were on the cliff face when the shooting started. At first Joe had been unconcerned, as the hunt for the snipers had gone on; and even later, when they'd discussed what was best to be done, Joe hadn't really been thinking about it. What had happened to his brother and the others?

The door to one of the tents behind him flapped silently up, and another figure joined him before the fire. Joe was lost in his thoughts and didn't seem to notice. Chet sat down and stared intently at the face of one of his best friends. He read the emotions playing acrossed it. Tossing another chunk of wood on the fire, he spoke quietly.

"Joe, don't worry, Frank will get back. He always does."

Joe glanced over at his long time pal slowly, as if coming out of a trance. He stretched his arms and gave a yawn. "I guess you're right. It's just that, well, I still worry, cause I'm not able to do anything." Chet nodded, understanding. "Well, head for bed pal, it's my turn to watch now. Besides, you'll need your head tomorrow to look for the missing threesome." Joe got to his feet and strode over to his and Frank's tent. As he pulled aside the flap, he turned back toward the fire. "Thanks."

Chet waved his hand. "No problem. Good old Chet'll take care of everything."

* * * *

The greatest shock for Frank hadn't been the presence of the rifle that was pointing at him, it was the painfully obvious lack of the gunman. Wordlessly, he glanced around, then took a step towards the floating weapon. It jerked back automatically and remained pointed at his chest. A hollow voice emmanated from the weapon. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Stand up." The last remark was made to TJ and Rebekah, and they promptly obeyed, although TJ winced slightly when he put pressure on his left foot.

"Follow." The gun began to move backwards, into the forest. Seeing no other choice, Frank reluctantly led the other two on the beginning of a long journey. Rebekah followed him, her eyes wide, and TJ fell in last, limping slightly. The invisible gunman seemed to have no trouble with the countless tangles of grass and bushes that were encountered on their way.

Frank turned help Rebekah up after she tripped on one such tangle and saw a flash of movement behind them. Hoping that Joe and the others had come after them, he was disappointed to note that the figure was a woman, and also unknown. The ghost seemed to notice his hesitation. "Hurry it up." Frank pulled Rebekah to her feet and they continued their journey.

After an hour of walking, Frank noticed that TJ seemed to be draging back slightly, the limp now more pronounced. TJ stumbled and fell against a tree for support. The ghost paused and the voice spoke again. "Rest yourselves." Warily, they sat down, watching the gun as it swayed slightly. A breath of wind touched their faces, refreshingly cool after their previous exertions.

Frowning in concentration, Frank didn't notice the slight footsteps approaching. Something in this whole scenario was dreadfully wrong. Then suddenly, the air seemed to grow heavy around him. He tried to lift his head, but his eyes were already closed, and his strength melted away into the darkness that consumed him.

* * * *

Frank awoke to the touch of a hand on his shoulder. For a moment he lay confused, then jerked himself upright into a defensive stance. Then he noticed the lack of light and realized that a female voice was apologizing for startling him. He shook his head and cut her off in mid-sentence. "No, it's alright." He sighed and sat back down.

"Um, I um," came the voice again, "what was your name again?"

"Frank."

"Thank you. Frank, I haven't found the other guy who was with us." Frank noted the last word. Us, must be Rebekah then. Aloud he said, "He's probably in here with us. Do you know where we are?" He could almost envision the girl shaking her head, even though he couldn't make out her form in the darkness. "No, I just woke up about five minutes ago."

Frank thrust a hand into his pocket, coming out with his pen light. He squinted as the light illuminated the room they were in slightly. It was a small room with a rough wooden floor, boasting only one door and window. A low moan drew Frank's attention and he swept his light toward the source of the sound. TJ lay on the floor, coming to. Frank walked over and knelt down beside their companion, while Rebekah looked on over his shoulder.

Reaching for TJ's wrist, Frank was startled when other boy's eyes opened and he rolled away from him. "Hey! It's just us TJ!" The other boy squinted and sat up. "Frank?" Frank nodded, and TJ sighed. "Sorry about that; I thought you were those other two."

Frank was instantly alert. "What other two?" TJ reached down to rub absentmindedly at his ankle as he tried to remember. "Well, we were walking, and I was faking a sprained ankle - at least, mostly." He glanced down at his ankle, and then at the suprise on the other's faces. "Well, I was trying to leave a trail, but I don't think it did any good." Frank nodded. "We stopped to rest, and I thought the air smelled a little funny, so I held my breath for a moment; when I saw you drop off I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't get out of the funny air."

"Anyway, I came to afterward, I guess I didn't inhale as much as you two, and there was this man and woman talking in a low voice. I didn't know they weren't friendly until I rolled over to look at them, they ran over and gave me more of that gas. That's all I know, until you woke me up here." He finished with a sigh. "I wish I could have done something to help."

Frank sat a moment in thought. "Did the woman have auburn hair?" TJ nodded. "That's about the only thing that stood out, besides the fact that under the camo, they wore these really neon yellow shirts." Frank nodded and gestured for Rebekah to sit down. "I've been thinking about. If I'm right, that same woman followed us when we were captured by the 'ghost'." Rebekah sat forward eagerly. "I saw her too, when you were helping me up!"

Frank looked around the dark recesses of the room. "It's a relief to know that our kidnappers are human; although I'd like to know exactly how they pulled that floating gun trick. Let's see if we can get out of this mess." TJ pulled out a mini maglite. "Alright."

* * * *

Chet yawned into the fire as he struggled to stay awake. "Not yet time to wake Biff up yet. I'll just have to walk to stay awake." He muttered to himself as he staggered off the log he'd been sitting on. He began to trot a circuit around campsite, stopping to add a few sticks to the fire as needed. On his fifth lap, he checked his glow in the dark watch. "Ah, Biff old buddy, time to get up and at em'." His chuckle trailed off into a yawn as he headed back toward the tent door. A snapping noise in the forest alerted him, he froze.

"Who's there?"