The rangers form a search party

As the six teens headed back out into the park, they broke off into pairs: Brandon and Kurt, Chloe and Gavin, and Dustin and Victoria. Before they wandered off to start checking the park, Heather shouted to them from the deck.

“Guys! I just spoke to Jennifer. She said head back to the last place anybody saw him and start from there! She also said to put on sneakers or hiking boots and bring some water,” The brunette said as she was joined by Ashley as they joined the group.

“Shouldn’t you stay here?” Victoria asked.

“No, she said leave the door unlocked and one of the volunteers would swing by to wait for him. I put a note on the table for Zack. Told him to call us if he came back,” Heather said. Victoria took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I’m gonna try Zack’s phone while we walk back. Everyone keep your ears open for his ringtone,” Gavin told the group.

“Zack, when you get this message call me ASAP! Everyone’s looking for you!” Gavin left a message.

The group made the trip back to the rental cabin in record time. Gavin kept calling his friend’s phone but there was no answer and no one heard a single note of his ringtone pierce the morning air.

When the eight teenagers got back to the cabin, they saw about two dozen ranger vehicles of all sorts parked in the front. Inside the cabin, there was a flurry of activity. There were maps with search patterns drawn on them scattered over the table.

“Chief Jensen, the other teens just got here,” Jennifer said. The group of eight almost didn’t recognize her and Katelyn in their uniforms.

“Good. Which one of you was the last to see the boy?” he asked.

“I was. We spoke on the deck briefly and then he left. He was pretty upset at me,” Victoria responded.

“Okay, girl, did you happen to see which way he went?”

“Yes, he took the same road we took to get here,” she informed him.

“Okay, so that’s the west shore of the lake. We are going to focus on that side of the lake first. When more resources arrive, we can send them to the eastern shore. White, Trenston: you two take the boat and comb the waters from about thirty yards out. The flyboys from Azure Mountain are inbound with their search and rescue helicopter. They’ll help you search the lake, but it’ll take them a good hour to get here. Malone, Matheson; you two are on mounted patrol, take the horses and get up into the rocks,” Chief Jensen told them.

“Chief, he went back on the road, shouldn’t we start looking for my brother there?” Taylor asked.

“Listen girl, we’ve got a love-struck teenaged boy missing in a very large park. Experience tells me that all the places we expect him to be are nowhere near where we will find him,” the chief told her bluntly.

“He’s got almost a ten hour head-start on us, kids. He could be anywhere by now. We are trying to get through to local PD, but we can’t get their dispatcher on the phone. We’re going to need every set of eyes we can get to help us find Zack,” Jennifer said as she rubbed Taylor’s shoulder.

“Wait! Lisa’s dad is a cop, right?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah! Call him. See if he can get through!” Ashley shouted.

“Okay, good. You? You’re a medic, right?” Jensen asked Shawn.

“EMT, sir!” he responded.

“Close enough. Change into long pants and hiking boots. You’re coming with us. The rest of you, stay here,” the chief ended the briefing.