Shenandoah Read Free

had seen in the area. 
    As they scanned around the southwest corner of the clearing Kim noticed something on the side of one of the larger oak trees.  There was a large clump of snow on the side of the tree.  It looked like an odd shaped knot but she wasn’t sure.
    “Jocelyn, bring the drone in closer to the trunk of that large oak and zoom in,” ordered Kim.
    Slowly the drone moved in closer to the trunk.  When it was just a few feet away, the camera zoomed in on a lower portion of the tree.
    “Not that low, Jocelyn.  Do you see that clump of snow on the side?” asked Kim.
    “Affirmative,” said Jocelyn.
    “Center your camera on that snow and zoom in,” said Kim.
    The camera slowly zoomed in on the area.  Kim got up and walked over to the screen.  She squinted to try and see it better.
    “What is that?” she said quietly to herself.
    Still squinting, all of the sudden her eyes opened wide. 
    “It’s a camera!  A game camera!” exclaimed Kim.
    Wynd jumped up and moved in beside her. 
    “What are you talking about?” asked Wynd.
    “It’s a game camera. Hunters use those in the woods to track game.  It starts filming anytime there is movement,” said Kim as she looked even closer. “Jocelyn, can you identify this camera?”
    “Yes.  The camouflage camera you are looking at is the BPS Solar Force Game Cam 7000 with audio.  It is the satellite connected model.  The pictures and videos it takes are uploaded to the internet and stored on a server.  Once movement is detected, the camera will roll for the next thirty minutes.  The owner can view the video on the internet without ever traveling back to the camera,” said Jocelyn.
    Kim was jumping with excitement. 
    “Is it active?” asked Kim eagerly.
    “Affirmative,” said Jocelyn.
    “Could you…” Kim started to ask a question but was interrupted by Jocelyn.
    “I’m already working on it,” said Jocelyn.  “Hold on…  I have gone back to the time stamp indexed at the time of the crash.  Prepare yourself.  The video is disturbing.  Are you ready for me to proceed?”
    Kim and Wynd looked at each other for a moment and then they both agreed to proceed.
     

Chapter 6
    The video started and they could tell that something was happening.  The tree the camera was attached to was moving.  Jocelyn had the video rolling at half the normal speed.  They wanted to be sure that they didn’t miss anything.  In slow motion, debris started falling from the sky.  It was small limbs at first then it was larger limbs and chunks of wood falling. Then there was a blinding flash and you could see parts of the helicopter falling.
    It increased with intensity as the debris started cluttering the whole screen.  The noise on the video was deafening.  Then the helicopter came into view.  The tail boom broke off and flew across the camera.  The crumpled cockpit, along with sheared off landing skids, tree limbs, and large pieces of wood struck the ground in a horrifying crash.  The cockpit was upside down. Some slight smoke started drifting up from the helicopter.  It took several minutes for everything to settle down. 
    Kim looked at Wynd with a worried look. Although it was only a matter of minutes, they waited for what seemed an eternity.  The time stamp showed that it had been fifteen minutes.  There was still no more movement. Wynd was biting her lip and Kim was wringing her hands. While they were waiting, Virg, Danielle, David, Lauren, Bob, and Deanna had slipped in behind them. Bob and Deanna were the two individuals they had rescued with David. No one said anything.  They just watched with the same intensity as Kim and Wynd.
    All at once Danielle screamed, “It moved!”
    Then the others started jumping and saying, “It is moving!”
    Kim and Wynd still held their composure because they both remembered the blood.  The cockpit was moving.  They couldn’t see inside of it but it was obvious that something was going on inside.