Beauty From Ashes

Chapter 5

Authors note: So to throw you guys for a curve, we're gonna leave Cheyenne and her family alone for a moment.

For now, there is another important character connected to Cheyenne's testimony who, he's been mentioned briefly at the beginning, but we haven't gotten to him yet. So we're gonna find out what else was going on during the events of the previous chapter through HIS POV.

(I'm just imagining the narrator voice from The Walking Dead saying "Previously on Beauty From Ashes")
"I promise you, my flame will never go out," Cheyenne whispered before shutting her lamp off. The look she has in her eyes, is filled with determination.

Meanwhile, as the lamp is turned off in Cheyenne's room, elsewhere in the world, another light is ignited through a GIGANTIC campfire in the middle of an open field in the woods.

"WE DID IT!!"
"WOO!!!"

Surrounding the fire is a very large group of kids, teenagers and young adults.
They call themselves the Divinity Youth Nation- a church group that comes from Bakersfield, California. They're technically a youth group, except they're almost completely separate from the church they spawned out of. What started out as a small bible study club for middle schoolers after school, overtime had slowly transformed into an organized ministry and a local movement.

They've gathered a lot.of success and recognition from their city and even other parts of the state, because not only have they been extremely active throughout multiple regions of their community, organizing holiday dinners for police and fire departmwnts, outreaching to nursery homes, providing donations and buying supplies for elementary schools, etc, but they have also greatly impacted the community by creating a safe and comfortable environment for the youth of all ages- having a MASSIVE congregation with members who range with middle-school all the way to college students. Some of the oldest members of this group were involved when the group began in middle school, and now original students, they serve the group and even help lead the ministry, next to the man who started it all:
Curtis Taylor- once a highly regarded, well reputed school faculty member, now a highly charismatic, passionate youth pastor.

The kids are all cheering as the fire is ignkted. Curits Taylor pats his hands on the back of two young adults, who then stand up and set down their acoustic guitars before they both whistle out to catch their attention. "Hey?!!"

Everyome looks to Curtis as he steps out in the center, and chuckles as he smiles at everyone. "Genesis 1:3, states that God has said, let there be light!"

"And THERE WAS LIGHT!! Woo-hoo!!" Everyone continued.

"Haha, yes. In a world that started out as formless and void, nothing to provide energy nor life. But that all changed, with a voice of power, declaring put for creation to exist. His words roared out like thunder, and the svole world was formed. MAN we serve an awesome God!"

The kids all shout out loud.
"Yes we do!"
"Thank you father!"
"Bless you Jesus! We love you Lord!"

"Yes we do. Oh yes, everyone shut and bow." They all lower their jeads. "Father God, we come before You, standing in your mighty presence. We thank You for giving us this time together and we thank You for watching over us this week, as we live, laugh, love and have our being, and as we lean in closer to hear Your voice and instruction. And Father, as we begin to wrap up, we just ask that You keep us safe, and that these men and women would take what they've heard, and would use them to reveal whatever You desire to reveal to us. We love You Lord and we praise You tonight, and may You continue to bless these kids as some of them return for their schools and campuses next week. You are for us and You are with us. And in Jesus name, we pray?"

"Amen...."

"I. Can't. Hear you! Did you agree?!" Curtis said, teasing them.

"YES AND AMEN!!"

"ALRIGHT!!! So, for this last night, we're gonna do things a little bit differently. You've all been studying on the words and wisdom that I've been sharing with you. But tonight, let's get a little more personal. So I want you all to sit down, maybe sit with your friends and just take some to reflect on what's going on in your life. Really think about it for awhile and I'll come back in about an hour and explain what we're gonna do next. Got it?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright good. As you were!"

Now you might be thinking.......why are we here? Why are we ignoring the fate of our main character who was caught in a car accident in the previous chapter, to be introduced to this random youth group in California?
Well that's because, there are some important characters who are going to be connected to Cheyenne's testimony, one of whom, has been referenced in previous chapters. And now, it's time to meet him.

Curtis turns to the two men who whistled out. "Good job Pastor Tanner. You too, Albert."

The two men begin to sit down on the ground and relax as Curtis stays past them. The younger of the two is a 6'2 man with medium length brown hair, has bright cerulean blue eyes that are covered behind a pair of glasses, he has a shaved face, and is wearing blue slicky Adias pants and a red-black flannel-hoodie. He sits down close to one of the five giant logs that are used for seating, he takes his guitar and lays it down behind him and smiles as he looks around, observing everyone while reflecting on his week.

This is Albert Johnson, one of the worship leaders and main organizers for this youth group. He is 22 years old, has a golden heart that's on fire for Jesus, and this is the guy who's going to be our Secondary Protagomist, our lead guy throughout this story.

Albert's POV:
Tonight, we are about to close the book on another awesome adventure. For the past six days, I have been capping off the end of my summer vacation with a week-long camping trip within the woods of California's King Canyon National Park. No TV, no internet, no video games. Just me, my youth pastor, my best buds, and of course, my church buddies- a large majority of the youth group that I work for. There are at least 160 of us in total.

There's me
Pastor Curtis.
My Three Amigos: Vinnie, Wes and Johnathan.
Me and the other worship team musicians: Phoebe, Mark, Miranda, Mason, Isaac, CJ and Felicia.
Me and my fellow volunteers: Duncan, Patrick, Spencer, Philip, Ryan, Big Ethan, Abby, Kristen, Joseph, Piper, Carly, Peyton, Madelyn, Nat, Jules, Ronnie, Josh, Darcy, Aria, Devon, Chandra and Mallorie.
Me and our frontier-men (members who do the heavy packing/lifting): Drake, Zechariah, Zhane, Brandon, Dana, Jessie, Zeke, Gage, Jordan, Alec, Alexander, Tyler, Brook, Doug, Chance, and Chris.
Me and the evangelical committee: Cindy, Danaica, Emmalyn, Fiona, Sherry, Tess, Skylee, Nathanial, Stacey, Shane, Noah, Tracey, Natasha, Wayne. Juan, Hannah, Lexi, Railee, Kris, and Caleb.
Me and our K9 tots: Harris, Lance, Jimmy, Bridget, Manuel, Elliott, Kendall, Casey, Austin, Alyssa, Clare, Sawyer, Paul, Heidi, Maya, Isabel, and Destiny.
And of course the rest of our members
Timmy, Louis, Lawson, Ashton, Asher, Tyson, Richie, Coy, Leonard, Mike, Gabe, Kian, Molly, Jack, Steven, Lisa, McKenna, Mady, Dustin, Sabrina, Jonah, Eddie, Ravi, Arjun, Anuradha, Joey, Nigel, Kaden, Wanda, Storm, Trevor, Brianna, Breanna, Raquel, Dean, Shonte, Alice, Mary, Jay, Jeannie, Angel, Carson, Alex, Dave, Martha, Kossi, Wendy, Tanner, Flynn, Robby, Kendra, Carol, Jake, Milo, Asa, Anya, Jonathan, Marcus, Emily, Darlene, Max, Sylvia, Reggie, Cory, Goodwin, Dieter, Frank, Aurora and Adam.

Nearly everything I do with the youth is so much fun, but this camping trip especially, was an absolute blast. It's had everything you could ever ask or want out of a camping trip, we've had all kinds of sporting activities and contests, we went on hikes, we did scary stories by the campfires, we kayaked, you name it. And of course, knowing the people I serve alongside and the three best friends of mine who came along, we made up our own wild games.

Most notably, we had a Gender Fluid Brawl, which was basically a water war between all of the boys and all of the girls. We went into the timber within short distance of the cabins and tents, and we set up little traps with ropes wired to coolers of iced water, we hid buckets of water balloons, we hid hoses connected to some of the cars and we stashed spray gums and soaker launcher everywhere. Somehow despite the fact that there were more guys than girls, as well as the fact that my friend Johnathan, the self-procliamed king of Pranks was the one who pitched this idea, the girls kicked our butts!

I sure hope no one was filming that game.

But aside from all of our partying and goofy, shenanigans, this wouldn't be a Divinity Youth Nation event without Pastor Curtis taking the time to minister to us. And for this whole camping trip, he's been giving us advice about, prayer and knowing how to listen to the Spirit of the Lord when it speaks to us. Some of hos words were easy to understand. Some of it.......was not. But that's been the case for awhile with Curtis.

And it's a fitting topic, considering how desperate I've been feeling to hear something out of a sign from God. For as long as I've believed, I've always prayed and asked, and I've never been one to complain when it feels like my prayers go unanswered, when I don't hear anything directly from His voice. I've always been trusting like that.

This past year though......it's been hard. And little does everyone know.......I actually needed this trip. I've been dealing with a lot of conflict and pain as a result of recent events. But I didn't wanna let myself wallow in that self-pity, so I decided to go camping at quite literally the last minute.

It's definitely raised my spirits back up, but with what I've been ministered to throughout the week, it's made me hopeful that......maybe I'll start to hear something.

That maybe, these little words of advice will help me figure out how to turn into the many thay I believe God is calling me to be.

But anyway, it's the last night, and everyone is gathered putaidez scattered amongst the field, surrounding our gigantic bonfire. The campfires have always been the most fun parts of the nights because that's when me and four of my friends- Mark,Isaac, Phillip and Josh would all gather around the fire when we have an hour of sunlight remaining, and we'll all go.wild on our acoustic guitars, and lead everybody in acoustic coffee-house style worship sessions, playing numerous songs before the sky goes dark.

We got through with that, and NOW we've all been relaxing by the fire. Just hanging out talking, reflecting. Other people are watching everyone, laying down and gazing at the stars, roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores, goofing off with last minute games, and a select few of us are snuggling and embracing our hoyfriends and girlfriends.
And.......seeing those instances just make me wanna look away......

Summer's almost over. And by next week, a lot of us have to return to school and college. Obviously we've always managed to make time to come together in fellowship every Wednesday, but it's no question as to why we all love summer the most. Especially when it comes to the time we spend together.
I can hear several comments from people closely, such as:

"I'm not ready to go home tomorrow!"

"Me neither, this has been so much fun."

I sit there chuckling at these remarks.
This trip has been so much fun, and it's been wonderful hanging out with everyone all week, but we DO have to go home to Bakersfield tomorrow. Still being able 4o stand here together with everyone-

Oh Boy, this gives me an idea!

I'm sitting by the Filipino-American best friend Vinnie, who's slightly tan and very short (at least compared to me since I'm 6 feet tall). He has brown eyes, very short black hair and he almost always has a cap or a beanie on, he's wearing a purple shirt, and as we roast marshmallows, I jab my elbow at him for a moment.

"Hey Vinnie, hold my stick for a moment?"

"Oh sure buddy. What, is your arm getting tired?" Vinnie asked, holding into my marshmallow prodden stick.

"Quite the contrary!"
I turn around and pull out my new Martin D-35 and begin strumming C chords.

Vinnie grins. "Oh snap! Hey guys! We've got another one over here!"

I can hear my other two best friends speak out. "Another?!"
"Ha, now you're just spoiling us all, AJ."

I chuckle and look around to everyone. "What do you guys think? I know we already finished all of our worship sets for tonight but, do you have enough for one more?" I ask out.

"YESSS!!"

"I believe so!!"

"Come on man!" Vinnie yelled.

"Alright, gather around. Wes, add another log" I watch as my half-black friend throws a fresh log into the fire and the fire grows. I stare into it while I strum. "Hehe. Our Father who reigns in Heaven, our Brother who sits on the throne, may the size of this fire represent all of our hearts as we take this time to send honor and glory and praise unto your many names. We thank you that our worship is not limited to just the church. No. You have created all things and places and creatures, and given them an entire planet to worship on."

I look around at my friends with a smile. "So if that's true......"
🎵Then what could I say?
What could I do?
But offer this heart O' God, completely to you 🎵
"May our hearts be surrendered unto your divinity, Lord. C'mon lemme hear you guys!" I stop singing and continue strumming, listening to my friends around me repeating the lines.

🎵 So I'll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned! In awe
Of the one who gave it all!
I'll stand,
my soul Lord to you surrendered
For all I am, is yours! 🎵

"So I will what?!"

Now we ALL sing along.

"Hey Jennings! Spence, Lay it out!" Vinnie shouted.
Three of our friends, Spencer, and the Jennings' brothers, Duncan and Patrick, stand up and begin marching in circles with heavy stomps as we repeat the lyrics.

"C'mon guys lay it down! Go for it!"

As we sing it again, various people create a circle as ten people dance in a freestyle. I decide to play a solo on this acoustic, however far I can reach with my fingers since this guitar has no cut edges.

At the end of my solo, our youth pastor jogs over to us. "A, ditch the strings!"

I stick the guitar behind me and we all begin to clap and just sing the lyrics. We repeat this a second time, and everyone else starts to cheer and shout out the lyrics, and everyone who is standing stomps down twice and then everyone on the ground claps, and we continue this routine and rhythm for every 4 beats. We end it with a lot of us holding out the last note and letting it ring and echo out until we all need to catch a breath. The youth pastor quickly slaps me with a high five and everyone cheers.

"Oh hallelujah! Yeah, great choice Albert!"

"Thank you, Pastor Curtis!"

Our youth pastor whips his sweaty blonde hair around before jumping on top of a wooden table behind me. He yells out to catch the attention of over a hundred teenagers.

"Alright, listen up everyone! Listen up!! Gather around, hurry!" Everyone looks up to him, and I put my guitar back into its' black case. "Alright now, this is gonna be our last night together before we all head home tomorrow. I know, I'm upset about it too. This last week we've shared out here has been nothing short of a blessing. Away from our phones, our televisions, our laptops! Just all 156 of us out here, in the great outdoors, of these beautiful mountains. Camping, playing games, sleeping outside, spending physical time with each other, and just listening to the Spirit of the Lord with no distractions, as we cherish the wilderness that He has designed for us to explore. Yeah?! Can I get an Amen?!"

"Amen!!" All of us holler out and cheer with joy.

"Yeah!! That's what I love to hear! Heheheh! And tomorrow, we all get to go back home to these things, but more importantly, back to our families. Now come on, they all miss you. Most of them have probably been thankful for the peace and quiet, looking at you John. But as a parent myself, I can assure you there's always a time where you miss having your kid in the house and making sure they're safe and close by. But before we go to bed tonight and pack up for our rides home, let's just enjoy this time that we have together. Let us enjoy this moment with worship, and friendship, and prayer. You know so many times we forget what it's like to have actual friends when you're not twiddling your thumbs on the keyboards of electronics, or when you don't have a camera with you."

"But this? This is special. Two thousand years ago, when the Jews were still struggling with Romans and Jesus was still walking on the Earth, they didn't have any of these things. Zero technology, they all made real, personal friendships, and that's what we've been blessed with this week. We're all fortunate to have these devices, but sometimes they DO have a habit of breaking our connections in real life.

"And so, even after we head back home, I want us to not take these moments for granted. The person to the left and to the right of you, that's your brother, that's your sister. And so on our last night, let us take a few moments to express something that we have all learned this week from this camping trip. I ask that if anyone is dealing with any hardships or struggles, that we would all come around and pray with them together? Because that's what a family does. We look out for each other in our time of need. So c'mon, raise your hands if there's anything you'd like to share. Going once?" A couple dozen hands rise up.

"Yeaahhh!! I love it! Vinnie, toss me the ball!" Vinnie throws him a volleyball. "Now how we're gonna do this, is I'm gonna throw this to somebody random, and they're gonna speak their part, and once they finish, I want you to raise your hands back up, and then we'll throw it back and forth until we get to everyone. You ready?" We holler back again. "Let's see......You! Abbey!" He tosses the ball to a brunette girl with braces. "Alright, what's something you're gonna take away from this experience the most?"

"Thank you, Pastor Curtis! Um, for the past couple of weeks, I've been getting bullied a lot, girls telling me I'm not pretty, that I'm too ugly to ever get married."

I sit there rolling my eyes, before I cover my mouth and yell out 'boo!' and then one by one, all of the other people surrounding her start to boo as well.

"Yes. Thank you. But, it was getting to me a lot to where, I didn't wanna hang out with anyone because I started to believe these things and these claims.
But, hanging out here with all of you has really boosted my confidence, its reminded me that, there are people who care about me, not even in a romantic way, but just, I matter enough that so many of you have wanted to hang out with me this week, so, I'm really thankful for this trip and the interactions I've gotten to have with all of you. And I truly believe that God has been speaking to me through every single one of you. Yeah, that's it. Ready?" The hands shoot up again. "Here you go!"

Abbey passes it to a tall black kid in a backward hat. "So, when we got the notification that we were gonna be doing this camping trip in the national park, I was definitely very skeptical and unsure about it, because, y'all know I'm much more of an introvert, but I also like my time in the studio and I'm posting on our blogs and SM's all the time, so I'm not used to being in the outdoors like this. And it was very last minute when I decided to come out, but, this entire trip has really given me an opportunity to, witness the beauty of the world that God has made, it's given me a lot more appreciation for, what he has created and what he has promised for the planet itself all the way back in Genesis. And, when I get back home, I'm hoping that I'll find more opportunities to do stuff like this. Just play in the dirt, and enjoy the natural world."

"Well said CJ. Yes, nothing like playing in dirt and mud to make you FEEL LIKE A MAN!!" Curtis said with masculinity. Although I hide my face after hearing that comment. "And for sure, I'm hoping that we can start making these trips a regular thing. Okay, who's next?"

As CJ passes the ball to another guy, Vinnie bumps me on the shoulder and whispers for my attention. "Hey, Al? Albert?"

"Hmm? What is it?" I whisper.

"If you're ever gonna bring it up to the others, I think now's a good time to start."

I squint. "Bring WHAT up?"

"You know? Your......situation." My eyebrows widen with fear. "Everyone's here and all of them are listening."

"Are you crazy man?! You want me to do it HERE?!"

"I mean you came out here to clear your head. You might as well receive something spiritual out of it tonight."

"I.......I don't know about that, man. What if a rumor spreads?" I asked in response. "We- We both know who-"

"It won't. Bud, I know you're still processing all of it, I get that, but again you came here to distract yourself from it. So I think it'd be a good thing to share and ask for help on, and receive some advice on where to go next. As Curtis just said, we're all a family too."

"Yeah but, it's still personal. And, with some of these details, I just wouldn't-!"

"Well, you don't need to share everything. You absolutely shouldn't. But just.....keep it brief, and share what you wanted to pray about with us."

"I can't....." I look away nervously, but Vinnie hums to himself curiously.

"Beautiful. God bless you. Alright hands up again!" Vinnie flashes an eyebrow dagger putting up a grin, and then he raises his hand up so the ball gets passed over to him. "Ahh Vinnie, what's your word?" Curtis asked.

"Hey guys, hope you're all doing well tonight. So, I DO have a word that I'd like to share, but first I would like to pass it off. My friend Albert here? He has something that he would like to share, with all of you." My eyes widen and I quickly look over at him embarrassed as everyone suddenly turns to me. Vinnie grins before he speaks out again. "This one has to do with the prayer aspect of the request."

"Surely. What's up, pal?" Curtis asked.

"Uh, Ummm......" I sigh with annoyance. "Well, thanks for putting me on the spot Vincent....." Vinnie throws a thumbs up with a goofy smile and a wink. I only use his full name whenever I'm annoyed by him, and he's not someone to get angry. "Well, I haven't really told anyone about this because, it's rather personal but, it's something I would really appreciate some wisdom for. As some of you know my girlfriend, Liana and I had celebrated our one year anniversary two weeks ago. And-," they all interrupt me with claps.

I raise my hand to get their attention and continue speaking. "Yeah. Yeah you're clapping now. Just wait. This, this was my first like actual relationship. Like I've been on dates before, but this was the first girl I was ever, like steady with and so I was very excited when I realized we were at the one year mark already. But, long story short, we got to the date, and, unfortunately, due to many differences and, private reasons that I'll be respectful not to share, um, Liana and I are no longer boyfriend and girlfriend."

Various people around me begin to glance down and react quietly amongst themselves.
"Yeah. So, that's been very hard for me, and, I'm still not really, over it. But, as a result, I've been thinking a lot lately. For a large portion of my life, I've been waiting in terms of dating I know that there's one woman in this world that I'm eventually going to marry, but, until then, I'm afraid to jump into any relationship if it's not gonna end up being worthwhile. And, I really wanna be ready. I know some of you are looking at me thinking I'm crazy, but think about it, do you want to live your life going through ten different relationships and all of them end in breakups, or would you rather wait until you find that one person who's your match from God?"

A lot of the others look to each other in deep thought and a lot of the guys nod to me. "Waiting is hard, but I believe that patience is rewarding. And, you don't have to do this if you don't want, but, I would appreciate it if you could help pray for me that God would keep my eyes open, so I'll know where to look. Because, after enduring the aftermath of it, I really don't want to go through this same feeling of heartbreak again."

"Absolutely man. Everyone bow your heads?" Curtis comes up to me and lays a hand on me while everyone else lowers their heads. "Father God we come to you in the mighty, most awesome name of Jesus, and right now we pray over Albert and his desire for love, not only in his love for you, but for the love I believe every single person on this planet is longing for, and the love that you have assigned to the lives of every man and woman on this planet. The love that you gifted toward Adam and Eve in the beginning, for with every man, you have a woman destined for their life. And I pray that, when the time comes for Albert to find his Eve, you would open his eyes and show him the signs. We thank you for the passion and the skill that this man possesses, and I believe that someone like him, whoever you have in plan for him is a very lucky lady, for finding a man as patient and faithful and compassionate as him. We pray that you will be with him as he continues to wait and search. And all of the believers said?"

"Amen."

"And amen. Hey man, there's no shame in admitting this," Curtis says before stepping over and patting me on the back. "I just hope that being here has at least helped you get your mind off of it."

"Yeah, for the most part I have." Curtis smiles and nods. "Thank you, Pastor."

"We appreciate you, man." He smiles at me with understanding. "Okay Vinnie, you said you had your piece?"

"Oh yes! So when I first walked into the doors of this youth group, my biggest goal before anything was that I would......"

"Lord God, wherever this girl is.......I just hope I'll be able to meet her soon. I'm ready, whenever you're ready to send her towards me....." I think to myself.

Twenty minutes later we get through to everyone and Pastor Curtis does our signature call signal. "1, 2, 1 2 3."

"1, 2, 345!"

"Alright everyone, it's THAT time of the night. Let's get into the cabins, tents, and cars and prepare for slumber. Now I want to remind you to start organizing your stuff together as soon as we wake up and finish breakfast because 1 o'clock is when we'll start leaving for home. And remember this also, we have a LOT of people out here so if you came by yourself, don't wander off tomorrow unless you have a friend to watch over you. If any of you wish to leave with me tomorrow or if you need to set up a new ride because your family can't come to pick you up, then please let me know, before I leave the park and contact me if you would be willing to escort anyone who can't fit in my vehicle. Other than that, have a good night, and God bless you all."

"Good night, Pastor Curtis." We all stand up and scatter to go to sleep.

As I'm on my way to my cabin, I hear someone running up behind me. "Hey, wait up!" I turn around to see one of the girls, short, brown hair, tan skin, running with my guitar. "You uh, you forgot this."

"Ah, how silly of me." She hands it over to me. "Thanks, Phoebe."

"Are you- Are you sure you're okay?" she asked. "I- Somehow, I had a feeling something was bothering you. I'm sorry to hear about the breakup."

I smile. "Don't be. Sometimes things are just beyond our control."

"How so? I mean, do you wanna talk about what happened? One on one?"

"Umm, let's just say, Liana was wanting to take a new step forward and, at this moment.........well, it's not a step that I'm ready to take just yet. She didn't waste any time calling it quits after that."

"Dang. That sucks. Well, just keep your chin up or I'll pop it up for you," she said, lifting a fist in front of my face, to which I responded by covering my hands in front of my face, shrieking at a girly pitch. We both laugh and she hugs me. "It's her loss, not yours' Albert. But I promise you, this?" She raises her hand, showing her recent engagement ring. "Another girl is gonna wear one of these things, and it's gonna come from you someday. Don't ever doubt that, okay?"

She keeps her hand up so I give her a side-eye with a grin. "Are you waiting for me to kiss your hand or are you just making an excuse to show that off?"

She chuckles. "C'mon, I love you like a brother, dont make me hurt you!" Ahe teased.

"Hahaha."

"Well, I'll see you Tuesday at rehearsal."

"You too. Hopefully, you've mastered that chorus by then!" I say turning away.

"Ohh, THAT'S how it is?!!" she asked me with bug eyes.

"Yup, and there's no take-backs!" I yell out while jogging towards the cabin.

"Oh ho ho. Albert, you're gonna regret saying that...." she called out in a sing-song voice.

"No, I'm not! Hahaha! Good night!"
I WILL regret it. She's so gonna get me at rehearsal, but she DOES need to work on her high notes in vocals.

I enter my cabin, where most of the other inhabitants are preparing for bed.

Our door slams open, and on the other side is a tall man, 6'2, with long brown hair down to his shoulders, green eyes, and shaved face. This is Johnathan Frymouer, another one of my best friends, and he's one of the oldest out of all of us, and definitely the most mature.

However, he is also one of THE LOUDEST and most mischievous guys I've ever met in my life. And he's aware of this, hence why he proclaims himself as, the King of Pranks.

He yells out, letting the sunshine in all of our faces. "Good morning everyone!!! C'mon little ladies!!!!"

"Ugh....!"
"Not again....!!"

"Seriously.....? Johnathan...!" I groaned out.

"Yeah seriously Albert, it's 45 till noon and none of you are awake!" he responded.

"Okay. But, just because you're joining the army this fall doesn't mean you have to become our drill sergeant!"

"No, but when I come back, you'll get to pay me back when I come back for sleepovers." Oh, believe me, Johnathan, I WILL get you back in the future. "Now come on, let's get up and ready before it's time to leave!"

We reluctantly stand up and get ready for the day.

I'm the last one to get out of the shower. But before I finish, I hear Johnathan's voice again while I'm drying off. "You're covered, right Albert?"

"Yes Johnny!"

Johnathan peeks through the corner and looks to me. "Hey man, you got a moment real quick?"

"What is it?" I responded.

"Well, you see my dad told me that he was gonna pick me up here by around 9 this morning. Right?" I nod. "Well, it's almost noon and he still hasn't shown up, and Wesley's still waiting on his parents too. Do you, know anyone who might have any cellular service so that we can try and give them a call?"

"Umm, I don't know about that man. None of us have gotten a signal all week," I reply. "But, I'll tell you what, if neither of them show up by the time I finish packing my stuff into the car later today, then you and Wesley can just ride along with me. Vinnie's coming along and I've got plenty of extra room in my car for the rest of the Amigos."

"No way, really?"

I shrug with a grin. "Yeah sure. Why not?"

"Well, okay buddy. Thanks! I'll go find Wes and let him know!"

"Now we also gotta help Curtis and the rest of the team wrap up the tasks and everything. That means we're gonna leave until 7 or 8 tonight, so don't be in too much of a rush."

"Okay, got it!"

At the brink of sunset, the four of us are about done packing our bags into my car. More than 3/4 of the youth have already left for home. We, Curtis, the other people who serve as staff for the youth and some small friend circles are the last ones remaining. Before we finish and after I say goodbye to the others, I step away and walk up to Curtis. "Hey, Pastor Curtis."

"Oh hey kid. Have you got everything you brought out?"

"Yeah. And hey? In case you weren't informed, I just wanted to share with you that you don't need to worry about rides for John and Wes. I've got enough room in my car for the both of them so I'm gonna take them back with me."

"Ahh, sounds perfect! Thanks, Albert," he said.

"Mm-hmm. You know me. Always right there for my buds."

"Wouldn't expect nothing less from you. Plus, it's no secret that you'd be able to handle driving them all the back home far better than I would," Curtis said with a grin.

"Heh heh heh! Yup!"

"I love John and Wes SO so much, but, even I am surprised by how you're able to handle them so well."

"It's easier than you think."

He shakes his head, but then he turns to me with a different look on his face. "Hey?" He lays a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear about Liana. But you know, you could've just told me privately. I would've understood if you didn't want to come out here with us after, all of that."

"No no, it's no trouble, Curtis. I- I actually really needed this. Some time with my friends instead of sitting in my room depressed all week."

"Hmm, sure sounds like something you'd do. Do you, wanna tell me how some of it happened?"

I glance down and tap my foot with a grimace. "Well.....It's a little complicated. But I'll say that, our visions for the future didn't really match in the way that I thought she was talking about originally. In the end, she just walked out on me. That's.... That's as far as I can share at the moment."

Curtis whistles and folds his arms with a purse lip. "Dang. Well that's unfortunate."

"Besides, she's actually leaving for college in a few weeks, and knowing her, she wouldn't exactly be into the whole distance thing," I spoke out, as Curtis nodded "Well, what's done is done. If it's not God's will for me to be with her, then so be it."

Curtis lays a hand on my shoulder and sighs. "I know that being Christian is hard in the dating world, and it's not supposed to be. But in the end, all love comes from God and our commitment with Him. And that commitment should NOT be any different than the commitment of our partners. Along with compromise," he said. I nod my head and glance down to the ground. "But, you know........I- I already know what those different......visions of you and her were about."

I squint at him. "You- You do? But, I- I didn't even tell Phoebe the major details last night."

He turns me around and wraps his arm around my shoulder standing beside me. "Well, you didn't need to. Me, her and Mark had already seen a couple, possible hints for something she was preparing. You aren't the only one who's been through something like that." I just stare at him in confusion and shock, but then he scoffs. "Plus, Vincent told me the rest of the story himself, as soon as we left the fire, " he whispered with perked eyebrows.

I scoff and shake my head with a groan. "THAT figures. He always blabs to you guys about stuff like this."

"Yeah, you know I'm not fond of the gossip element. But, if I can be honest, I'm actually glad that he was the one who told me," he confessed softly. "Because if what he told me is true, then this whole situation is DEFINITELY not something you could joke about, so I can only imagine how difficult that was for you, much less how it would've been for you to open up about it yourself. That's messed up. Truly it is."

"I know Curtis....."

He then grins and squeezes my shoulder. "But hey? Overall, you did the right thing. Aside from faithful and committed, you're a man of integrity and patience, through and through. And you don't compromise as easily as other men would."

"It's a privilege, and a curse."

"Perhaps. But in the end, I believe that you WILL be rewarded for that. Your morals are something you're never going to regret. You know that we respect that about you, and other people will do." I finally begin to smile in response. Then he gives off a toothy grin. "Besides, a guy like you, you're definitely going to find someone else in the future. You're a stud who's hard to get, but that won't last forever."

I gently nod my head, finally managing to laugh with him. "Indeed." CLAP! "Well hey, thanks for inviting us out here. I'm gonna go ahead and take off now with my Amigos. So, see you Sunday!"

"Righteous." He pulls me in for a bro hug and pats me on the back. "I'll text you all soon. Have a safe drive!"

"Aww come on, you know ME! I always drive safely!"

Curtis chortles. "Sorry, let me rephrase: Have a safe RIDE back into town. You and your Amigos."

"You too, man. Stay blessed."
I reach my three friends and clap my hands. "Alright Wes! John! C'mon boys, let's finish loading! This sun's gonna set real soon and we've got several hours on the road to look forward to!" I say while they throw the rest of their bags in the trunk.

One of them hollers out.
"I'm on a HIGHWAY TO H-!!"

"DON'T finish that!!" Vinnie yelled out before he, Johnathan and I start laughing.

"Wesley, we all love you buddy, but you might accidentally jinx it to where you DO go down there," I said as I walk up to the trunk with them.

Wesley Campbell is the third member of my best friends circle, who I affectionately refer to as, The Three Amigos, we do almost everything and get in trouble and chaos together, mostly as a result of the shenanigans and pranks we'll sometimes do together. But Wes is half black and half native American, he's shorter than me by a few inches, but he's just as slim and danky, he's got short fuzzy black hair that in the past has grown out into the largest afro you could ever see on a man.

Wes turns around to me and snorts. "Jinx it? I thought we believed in God. Not luck and magic."

"We don't believe in those but, you never know," I said. I turn as Johnathan steps away from the trunk. "Wait, is that it?"

"Yeah. Half of our luggage were items among the singular use category," Johnathan said.

"Ahhhh."

"Good thing we also packed light," Vinnie said.

"Which is ironic for Johnny over here, who's usually packing enough so you can show off," Wes teased.

Johnathan scoffs. "Hey, webFrymoyer's never pack too much for the outdoors."

"Good thinking, considering how often you leave stuff behind," I said. Then I grow nervous as I see Johnathan stretching out. "And, speaking of packed.....you look like you've beefed up even more since the last time I saw you."
This is my first time spending time with him since spring.

"That's what I was talking about. He's packing even more now!" Wes said.

Johnathan turns over his shoulder to gaze at us. "Yeah, well......boot camp turned out to be rougher than I thought. I've gained a lot.....but it was still painful."

Vinnie spits into the distance. "I still can't believe you're going into the military. "

"Me neither. But it took me forever to finish college that some of my original plans aren't compatible anymore. Plus my dad is a proud solider, and he says, quote, 'the experience can finally help you grow up and use responsible force.'"

"Did your mom talk him into saying that?"

Johnathan shrugs. "Eh, I wouldn't doubt it. She's always worrying too much."

Vinnie snickers. "Yeah? Well maybe if you didn't get into a fight with Davis and McCoy before you flew out-"

"Easy, easy boys," I spoke out. "I didn't offer to lend you a ride so we could all fight each other."

"No. Of course not."

Wes sighs. "I'll tell you what though, our parents are gonna proud when we come back."

"How's that Wesley?" I asked.

"Despite everything we were doing, none of us actually got hurt out here," he responded. "And we didn't do anything to inflict an injury on anyone else!"

"Well, Curtis and Mark were stern about that, since nearly half of the other campers go back to school next week," Vinnie said. "He wouldn't bail us out if we caused everyone to go back with casts."

"Yeah. Not after last time," I replied.

John laughs hard at us. "Yeah well, y'all should be lucky that none of us had any, MAJOR injuries as well! Although if we did, I would've been more than happy to provide first aid for my dear friends."

Vinnie scoffs and grins at Johnathan. "YOU John? YOU giving us first aid?!" He shakes his head with a chuckle. "Yeah, I think I'd feel safer with my niece and her first aid play kit."

"Oh Come on, Vince, you know I wouldn't let you get hurt."

"That's what you said back when we gased up the girl's locker room!" Vinnie refuted before the three of them start to laugh.

I just stand by the car, shaking my head at them. I sigh. "Sometimes I don't even know why I'm still friends with you nut jobs."

"Yeah, neither are we."

"Lucky for us though, right?" Wes asked.

I chuckle. "C'mon now." We all finish putting our bags in the car, and I close the trunk. "So, where do I need to drop you two off at?"

"Ahh, my cousin is having a party with Wes's sister and we were asked to meet them there so they'd bring us home. Now I've already texted you the coordinates for their complex on Google Maps," John said. "Once we get out of the canyons I'm sure it'll get to you with proper connection. If it doesn't, just let me know."

"Thanks again for lending us the ride Albert," Wes added.

"It's no problem at all guys. You all know I enjoy your company, again, as much as it drives me nuts." I open my driver side door and look back and forth between each of them before looking out to the forest behind them. "Man. This place sure is majestic as they come."

They all turn around and look out as well. "Yeah, and to think people usually come out to California for a chance of fame and fortune. They never consider the sights of the state such as this one," Vinnie said.

"Yeah but we don't live in this part of the state so, let's go," Johnathan quipped before immediately turning around and walking back to the car.

"Wow, WAY to kill the mood bro!" Wes hollered.

I shake my head. Of course, I know Johnathan wasn't trying to be disrespectful.

"True. I mean as fun as this camping trip was, I'm just eager to fall back into my own bed," I spoke.

"Agreed," they all replied.

"Yeah, rather than sleeping outside with dew and rocks," Vinnie added. "But I liked it. A lot!" Vinnie then turns to us. "And what about your progress? Do you guys think this helped you with hearing and listening for the voice of God?"

"I think so," Wes commented.

"I could hear something. But I'm not fully sure if it was.....THE voice," John added. "Albert?"

"Same, I think I hear something, I just can't tell precisely what it is just yet. But I'm still keeping my ears wide open." I hop inside the car and sit in the driver's seat. "Alright buckle up boys! It's a long drive back to Bakersfield!" I press my feet down.

TOOT!!
As soon as I hear that noise, my smile disappears and my face goes completely blank, as I reach my arm down to the floorboard without even looking. There were whoopee cushions on both of the driver pedals.

I turn over to the passenger seat where Johnathan has taken his seat. and I just give him a side eye as he claps his hands and cackles.
"Really John? You call yourself the King of Pranks, yet you still rely on the oldest trick in the books."

"It just NEVER gets old for me!" Johanthan hollered.

"You did this while I went to talk to Curtis, didn't you?" Johnathan wheezes and chuckles quietly, and I scoff before tossing them out the door. "Well, it's a good thing you're gonna be sitting NEXT to me so I can keep an eye on you bud."

"Okay A, that's because we're all adults, but you and me are the oldest. And B, I'd recommend that you keep your eyes on the road rather than me, my dear secret admirer," he quipped.

"Oh good grief!" Vinnie remarked.
"GAY!!!" Wes shouted.

I blow a raspberry. "Very cute." I stick my hands out the window and slap it on the door. Wes, Vince! C'mon, we're already losing sunlight!"

"Right! Coming!"

"Load up!" Wes yelled out as he and Vinnie hopped into the back, and press on the buttons to close their doors.

"Bakersfield, here we come!" Vinnie shouted out.

"Until next time, Kings Canyon!" I spoke out before turning on the ignition. The engine starts and I drive us out of these parking spots and into the path in these woods, as we begin our road trip back home.

Later that night, when it's around ten until 10:00 PM, we're in the Inyo Canyon, and we'll be coming close to an exit road soon. We've been the beginning of this drive exploring the rest of the forest and then blasting out some of our throwback songs, hollering them out together.
Right now we're just looking around at the views.

"Wes, how do you think we're looking at on time?" I ask.

"Uh, it should be another 2 hours give or take. We've just gotta pass the next intersection and then we're homeward bound!" Wes replied.

"Alright! Then we just might make it back before midnight!" Vinnie yelled out. "Oh and hey, we'll be able to catch the new announcement as soon as we wake up!!"

"OH MY GOSH!!! Oh my gosh, I almost forgot about that! Yeah, Morphicon is supposed to reveal the new cast for their next season by the end of the month!" I replied With excitement.

John chuckles amusedly, almost embarrassed by what he's hearing. "Oh come on now. You guys are STILL into those spandex shows?"

"Ohhhh Johnathan. As usual you don't understand our view of the fine arts," Wes teased.

"Ah yes, of course. Power Rangers. There is truly nothing like a firm and valuable study of the arts then a kids show about superheroes in rainbow spandex fighting rubber-suited monsters, with English dubbing over japanese stock footage," Johnathan vented. "At least with anime, most of the English dubbing fits with the original japanese context."

"Yeah but that's because their writers and directors actually cared about development and characterization, compared to Jonathan Tzachor," Vinnie jabbed.

I snicker. "Thankfully it's gone back to being good since 2014."

"Yeah." Wes then glances at me. "Hey, so uh......John and I heard what Vinnie told Curtis. You know, about you and Liana. Is that really true?"

I gasp. "Vinnie, did you blab that out to the whole youth group?!"

"No. Just with Pastor Taylor, and these two goons," Vinnie said.

Johnathan grimaces. "Yeesh! So it's true?"
I nod my head sadly, not glancing over.

"Wow Albert, first you were hitting it off with bad girls, and now you've got the freaky ones?!" Wes asked before laughing out loudly.

Vinnie and Johnathan both begin to scold him. "Dude. That's NOT funny!"

"He's right," Johnathan added.
"Would you appreciate it if we laughed it off after someone told us that you got-?"

"That's enough," I spoke out. They grow silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry, I just- I wanted to come out here to forget about it, not remember."

"Well the good news is, she moves tonight. Heck, she might be on the road right now."

"I don't see how that's particularly good news," I said.

"It's good because, she won't have another chance to try that again," Johnathan said. "Look, we get that you're down in the dumps about this breakup, but it seems pretty obvious thay she didn't have your right interests at heart. Or God's interests either."

I shrug it off. "I suppose not."

"Besides, your soul girl or, whatever? She's gonna come around. You just gotta hang in there," he added.

"Yeah. Well if......if only I knew how to find her."

"Well, what's your type, Albert? What exactly are you looking for in a girl?" Wes asked.

I struggle to think of anything. Eventually I just groan out in annoyance. "I don't know guys! Ugh! Am I just too picky? Is something wrong with me?"

"No bruh!"
"No way!"

"Nothing's wrong with you bud!" Vinnie encouraged. "C'mon! You're smart, handsome, funny, talented, and you're not willing to compromise who you are!"

I smirk and snicker. "How about we just move on and let me focus on driving? We're gonna be reaching the shortcut on after the next rise."

About 5 minutes later, after one more turn, the exit path is straight up ahead. "Oh hey, there's the turnaround!" Wes shouted out.

"Hmm? Oh yup! I see it!!"

"Wooo!!" Johnathan replied. "And now, the rest is smooth sailing!"

"And we don't have a Peter to embarrass us on the sea here," Vinnie joked.

"Oooooh!!" we all exclaimed.

"Burn," I commented.
Right then, I slow down as I'm coming up to the turning point of the intersection.....and there's a stop sign.

"Seriously who puts a stop sign out here?"

I accidentally lower my window when I press my arm down on the buttons. I turn over and I can hear distant howls and caws.........

"Woo!! Hello Mr. Draft!" Johnthan hollered.

"Albert? Your window!" Vinnie spoke.

I glance over and get spooked by the breeze. "Oh, my bad!" I reach down and start rolling it back up. "Sorry, I didn't even realize-"
It is at THIS moment, before the window rolls up halfway, that the sounds of the wind and the animals, are followed by a distant screeching sound and a honking sound. As well as a distant sound of impact.

All of us briefly turn to the window with confusion.
"What was that?" Wes asked.

"Sounded like another driver," Johnathan said. "Maybe someone honked and hit a deer?"

I squint to myself. "I- I don't know."

I then poke my head out the window to catch a fresh breath of air, along with one last view of the canyon. But then.....I start to hear whispering.
"It has begun, Albert Johnson.... You must turn away from THIS road immediately. Continue driving forward until you reach a Northern cliffside view, and hurry....."

I hear this voice and look out ahead of me, while sitting in my seat completely astounded and astonished. Was.....Was THAT the voice of The Lord that I had heard?
Without any question or hesitation, I turn my steering wheel and start driving straight, passing the other road that leads to an exit.

My friends realize this, and immediately look to each other in confusion. "Wha- What the-?"

"Uh, Albert? My map said that we were supposed to turn over there," Wes brought up.

"Why are we still going forward?" Johnathan asked. I'm nearly frozen, not responding. "Albert?"

I'm silent until Vinnie taps my shoulder. "Hey, dude!"

I flinch and turn around, snapping out of my state of shock and confusion. "Huh? Oh, hey guys. What's up?"

"Dude, just stop the car for a second," Vinnie requested. So that's what I do. I wasn't driving very fast so we stopped very smoothly. "Albert, are you okay? You just drove past the section where we were supposed to turn," Vinnie said pointing his fingers behind his seat.

"I did?" I turn around to see that I HAVE. "Oh, right." Right now, is there any guarantee that they'll believe me if I tell them about the words I just heard?
"Uh....sorry guys. We- We're just not going out that way."

Wes stutters. "W-W-Why? This path leads us further into the canyon, and the exit at the end of this path leads us to the longest way back home."

"I'm pretty sure this party will be over by the time we get back after going down this road. Our houses will definitely be locked up by then too," Johnathan added.

"I know that guys," I said. "I know."

"So why are you trying to go that way?" Johnathan asked. "Why can't we just go that way and be home faster?"

I sigh and turn back to see Wes and Vinnie. Okay, I'm just gonna let it out. The voice also said to hurry so, it'll be best if I don't waste my time parked while playing 20 questions, and continue driving as soon as possible. "Listen, guys? I- I know this is going to sound weird but........I think I just heard God's voice. And, He was telling me to go this way."

One by one, they all glance back and forth, growing confused.
"Wait. What?" Wes asked.

"Oh, so it's the God of my life who wants me to spend more time with my nerdy friends," Johnathan joked. "No offense, you know I love you all, but I didn't come for a longer scenic route, and I might have to work tomorrow morning."

"Hmph. Love you too buddy," I jabbed.

Vinnie stares at me. "Okay. But, why is God telling you to go down THIS road?"

"I don't know. But, He also said that we need to hurry, so it's probably for something important." They are silent, staring at me with confusion. Well, the two in the back anyway. Johnathan is more skeptical about what he's hearing. I sigh and speak out again. "Guys, one of our lessons from this camping trip was about us learning to listen for His voice, and the time that we decide to act upon instructions or tasks that he speaks about. Well now I think I just heard His voice and He said to hurry this way. Am I just supposed to ignore it?"

"Are- Are you even sure it was Him speaking?" Wes asked.

"It definitely wasn't any of you. But.....c'mon, let's not argue about this, okay?" I said while turning around to look at everyone. "If this really is God, we better follow our examples and obey what He just said. Tell you what, if we don't find anything out of the ordinary within the next 15 minutes, I'll drive us out of this canyon at double speed, and TRY to race all of us home before midnight. Does that seem fair?"

They glance at each other and stare at me again. Vinnie smirks and slaps his hands together. "Well, I've never been one to argue with the Creator. Alright, let's see where this goes," he said before laying back in his seat. John and Wes are still silent. "C'mon guys, one little detour before we step back into our modern lives isn't gonna kill us all."

Wes sighs and rests his arms behind his head. "To be fair, we do drag you into a lot of situations ourselves. I say we go forward!" he cheered out. "Come on....that's 3 out of 4 Johnny-Boi...."

Johnathan groans and shakes his head while sitting back and folding his arms. "Okay, go ahead." I nod my head and start the ignition. I continue to drive forward, at regular speed.

As we drive, it gets a lot more quiet. Probably because most of us are keeping an eye out looking for anything out of the ordinary or suspicious. And then there's Johnathan who's brooding over the fact that he's gonna be home later than he had planned.

"Well......just like you said John, at least this road is more scenic and not remotely busy."

"Yeah because who else is gonna be driving through this part of the desert THIS late at night?" Johnathan asked.

"Guys who aren't coming back from vacation like us," Vinnie remarked.

"At least we don't feel the pressure to be rushed, compared to places like New York or L.A.," Wes added.

Six minutes go by and suddenly the car is filled with complete silence, and it's almost halfway through my time offer. Yup, we're all gonna be home so much later than we originally planned, since we still haven't found anything peculiar yet. So I'm wondering what that instruction was about.

John yawns. "Well.....wake me when we get there......."

"Can do my friend," I respond. He hangs his head and starts to nap.
Then another minute later....

"Nothing yet, my friends," Vinnie said searching along the drive.

Then Wes speaks out. "So Albert? How long has it actually been since you started playing guitar, again? I- I don't know why but I've been meaning to ask this for a while and I ALWAYS procrastinate on doing it."

I chuckle. "You wouldn't be the first. But I'm closing in on......6 years. Ever since our sophomore year."

"Nice...! And that acoustic you brought out, is that a new one, or did you just paint it differently?"

"Hmm, yup. I finally broke up with the old Ibanez and handed it over to my cousin. Last month I snuck into my savings and got the Martin." I scoff. "Aww man, let me just tell you, the worst part about being a guitar player with where I'm at in life right now, is just BUYING new guitars! That new acoustic cost me $2,700!"

"Holy smokes!" Wes exclaimed.

"I know right?!"

"Wait," Vinnie said, taking his eyes off of the canyon and jumping into our conversation. "You used part of your savings? But I- I thought you were saving up for the CCC in Fresno."

I sigh in disappointment. "Once again, it didn't work out. The prices had increased again and it jumped where I was currently at in my savings. I came so close to finishing my application though."

"Ugh! Well dang."

"Ohhh boy......"

"I'll just have to keep working, I'm sure I'll find enough money to afford their studies! Their prices can't keep increasing forever."

"Yeah? Hey Albert, do you wanna know what you could do to pay for college in Fresno?" Vinnie asked.

"What? Pick a new job-?"

Then he reaches over and lifts up my sleeve revealing my lion tattoo. "NOT buy stuff like THIS or new expensive Guitars all the time!!"

"Ohh no! No no no! Vinnie, no!" He pulls away from me laughing. "No THIS? This was a good idea!" I responded with snark.

"It IS a very nice design, but even you were weary when you saw how much it was gonna cost! Don't lie," Vinnie teased.

"And also, you DO know that there are other campuses you can apply for, right?" Wes asked.

"Yeah, but those other ones don't have what I'm looking for," I respond.

"And what's that? A sneak peek into a future life with a wife, seven kids, and a penthouse?"

Vinnie then turns over to Wes. "Haha, very cute Wes. But you know that some of us are more serious than others about stepping up for the next generation as leaders," he replied.

"And he would be a DOPE leader at best, our boy has potential for leadership outside of just music. But I'm just saying, there is more to life than wanting to be the cool uncle who works as a youth pastor while sneaking around and doing pranks with us, even pranks during our church services."

"Excuuuusssssseeeeeeee me, but the last time we did that it was YOUR idea to sneak whoopee cushions under every church pew!"

"Wait, so that WAS you?!" I asked giggling.

"Hey, THAT was a test. Remember those seats had been getting more and more worn and uncomfortable. That one Sunday, we didn't have as many complaints, outside of the noises, and then the next Sunday the complaints came back and we finally got to refurbish them. So you're welcome!" Wes exclaimed. "But even you should know that the whoopee cushion idea came from the future soldier over there!"

"It was and I'm proud of it...." Johnathan whispered.

Vinnie snorts and shakes his head. "Of course he would think that farts and the church go together. Didn't he use to believe that a fart in the church was a sign of the Spirit entering the room, back when he first joined our church and youth?"

Wes shrugs. "Yeah but if you think THAT idea was far-fetched, wait until you find out...."

And with that, my two best friends begin a conversation/debate about the sense of humor of our other friend, many of the points just so happen to involve flatulence. I can't help but roll my eyes, shaking my head at this new debate, and I keep my focus on the road while the 5-year-olds in the back play. "Oh Lord save my soul. Hehehehe," I whisper to myself.

Four more minutes fly by and they're still going. The time is almost up. Think I better get ready to stomp on these pedals.
But then, as I make the next right turn, I begin to see smoke behind the rocks. It's not heavy smoke, but it's still there. And then once I drive past those rocks.........
Oh my gosh, the sight of it all......
There's a car thats sitting alone far off the road. And.....it looks badly wrecked.
This......is THIS what the warning/instruction was about....? It MUST be!

I then speak out with my frozen face. "Guys...?" John is still sleeping and Vinnie and Wes can't hear me. They're too busy debating to be able to listen to me. So to get their attention, I slam down on the horn and a LOUD honk rings out. "Guys!! Look over there!!!"

They both shut up and turn forward to see the car. "What in the world....." Wes commented.

Vinnie roles down his window and peeks out. "Holy....... That thing got TRASHED!"

"Why is this-?"
But then I suddenly remember the honk and the screeches I heard earlier. Did they come from THIS car?

"What happened?"

"Ehh......?"

"Did they fall asleep at the wheel or something? The driver?" Wes asked.

"Nah, I- I don't think that it."

"Wait. Is that smoke?" Vinnie asked.

We are just about to drive past the car, but before we do, I immediately stomp down on the breaks, and we stop a little ways ahead.

"Hey. Why are we stopping?" Johnathan groggily asked. His eyes aren't opening.

"It looks like somebody crashed their car out here John." I then turn my head to everyone, and I unbuckle my seatbelt before unlocking all of the doors "C'mon guys, we should probably take a closer look at this."

Vinnie and Wes turn over to each other while Johnathan chuckles, still not opening his eyes and clearly not taking this seriously. "Very funny. C'mon, let's get moving, and you can wake me up at my house."

I turn back to peek at the car after rolling down my window. "I don't know about that.....it doesn't look like this car had been just abandoned. Let's just step out, and see if anyone's still inside."

"Too tired," John yelled out before sliding over to his side of the door. "Nice try..."

"Oh come on John, this isn't a joke!" I yelled out. I start to grow annoyed by this charade of this since he's obviously annoyed by my decision to search for this in the first place.

Vinnie scoffs and shakes his head. "Oh, leave the bear to his hibernation," he joked before pushing his button to open his door and unbuckling his seatbelt. "Let's hurry up and take a look. Wes, are you coming?"

Wes stammers in shock before grabbing his seatbelt too. "Uh yeah yeah! Just- hang on, let me grab my flashlight!"

"I'll grab the fire extinguisher!" Vinnie said before rushing out and opening the trunk to look inside. We had actually won this fire extinguisher during a contest at the camp. Looks like it's gonna come in handy after all.
"THERE it is!"

I hop out the door. "Okay, c'mon guys, let's go! Vinnie, let's get rid of the fire first!"

"I'm on it!" Vinnie replied.

"Move!"
The three of us come out with Wes's flashlight and the fire extinguisher that we grab out of the back, and we all begin to jog towards the crashed car. Vinnie separates from me and Wes as we jog past the front of the car while he rushes over to the back, and sprays away. After 20 seconds, he succeeds in extinguishing the flames.

"Okay! I got it!" he said panting.
As the smoke dissipates, Vinnie inspects the back of the car with a few glances. "The fire's out. Now quickly, see what or who is inside so we can go."

"Yeah yeah yeah." Wes walks past vinnie and circles around to meet me at the shotgun door.

Wes and I look closely at the passenger side of the car. Most of the windows are cracked but not shattered, minus a small cracked hole in the windshield. The hood is off and, the roof is nearly caved in, and three out of four tires are gone. Someone obviously built this thing with sturdy mirrors and windows. They also paid a lot of lonely for it, since it has these new black window shields that are made to protect the windows from getting broken into. Everything else though, all of the doors are crushed and smashed.

"Sheesh. This thing looks even worse up close."

Wes turns to me and gazes for a moment. "Hey? Was this what blew that horn noise that we heard earlier?"

"It could be. Well, that's one mystery solved, maybe...." I replied. I then turn over. "Any idea on what caused that fire, Vinnie?"

"Uhhhh......I don't know. But it looked freshly lit. So whatever started it, it was only a couple minutes ago."

"What do you mean you don't know? You're the one who has a family of engineers," Wes spoke out.

"It could be something with the engine, but I can't check inside it that easily." Then we can hear gears running. "Well, sounds like she's still running. But it sounds in bad shape. Best that we turn turn it off."

"Okay, olay..." Wes hastily said before he tries to open the door. He looks down. "What the heck?"

"What is it?" I asked.

"This handles all.....jammed or something, I can't open it."

"Must've gotten damaged from the wreck."

"But how did it get damaged enough to where the locks could get jammed from a collision."

"Do you SEE all the dents?" I asked. "I don't think this was an off-course hit with a rock or something. It wouldn't crush this many places."

"Hey? I said look inside and turn it off." Vinnie said.

"Hey, give us a minute!" I spoke out, raising my hand. I stare closely at the window shield. Then when I squint at it, the window behind it is cracked, but the shield is crooked. It's loose. Then my eye widens and I turn to tap Wes on the shoulder."Wes, hand me your flashlight and see if you can take the shield cover off," I suggested.

"Uh....okay? But I can already tell you, this is a ba-"
Wes immediately stops talking when he dislodged the cover from its position. He easily skips it off and lies it down, which surprises us considering how hard these things are to pull off.

As he lays it on the ground. I step closer and shine his flashlight at the window so I can peek inside. In the car.........I can see that there is a woman, unconscious in the front seat.
My eyes widen, and bring my head closer so I can look closer.

The girl is caucasian and young with dark hair. She's wearing a pinkish-red leather jacket, and her outfit underneath the jacket is full of holes and her jeans look like they're skinny, Her legs look crushed under the dash, and..... her nose looks broken, and she DEFINITELY hit her forehead very hard because her head is laying against the wheel and......it looks like there's blood all over her face.

"Wes. I'm gonna shine this upfront so you can see this," I said before walking over to the front.

"See what?" Wes stands back up as I shine the light through the cracked windshield, and Wes looks inside, seeing the girl in the light. "Jeeeesus....."

"What is it?" Vinnie asked.

"There's a girl in the front seat," I said.

"Yeah, she seems around our age. And she........she doesn't look too good....." Wes spoke dreadfully.

"Well, what are you waiting for? A camera cue and a microphone? Open the doors and let's get her out of there!" Vinnie yelled out. "And turn the engine off, hurry."

"We tried but we can't. This door is jammed," Wes said.

"What?" Vinnie steps closer to Wes, and tried to open the back door from his side, but he can't. "Can you try opening it on the driver side?"

I step around and pulls on a stump. "Nope! The handles are even worse back here. But, I'm not gonna open this door?"

"Why not?"
"Why?"

"I think her arm is caught on something sharp. We might cut her open if that's the case," I added. I shine the light inside again. "See?"

Wes and Vinnie peek inside. "Whoa. Something is sticking out," Wes said.
"But what...?"

"Wait, Is that blood on her face?" Vinnie asked. "Is she even alive and breathing?"

Wes tries to shine the light on her again. The way she's hunched flatly is making it difficult to see her chest moving. "Uh, I don't know. I- I can't tell."
Then her right arm twitches slightly. "Wait! Yeah, her body just twitched, and her chest is rising," Wes said.

"She's alive?" Vinnie asked. "With her csr this badly wrecked?"

I sigh. "Thank you Jesus," I replied.

"O.....Okay but.....but- but how are we gonna get her out?" Vinnie asked, trying to pull the doors open again. "And....how did these doors get crushed so bad that even the locks-?"

Suddenly, we hear someone else driving higher above us, and when it drives by, Vinnie can hear something creaking.

Vinnie looks above. "Hold that thought." He slowly walks back behind the car.

I take the flashlight and shine into the back. Wes looks in the direction of the light. "Huh. Well....whoever she is, she's packed up a lot more than us. Look at all this stuff back here."

Her back seats are loaded with boxes, suitcases, DVD's, and other large bags.
Before we can really examine the focus on one of them....

"Hey? Hey guys?"
We turn around, where we see Vinnie is scurrying to climb back down from the hillside.

"Rock climbing at a time like this?" Wes asked.

"Mevermjmd that. Look up there!" He said, pointing up.

We look up st the hill. "What for?"

Vinnie steps back to the car. "There's a road that we passed earlier, and......there's something dangling off to the side. Plus, there was a tire next to one of the rocks."

"What do you mean?"

"Wait....." I squint. "Yeah! There's a broken rail up at the top!

We all lookup, snd there it is. It's at least 150 feet above us, and between this spot and the top of that hill with the rail, are a LOT of large rocks.

"You don't- really think she crashed from up there, do you?"

"Looks like it, especially with all of that glass and metal up there plus that hood and the tires. If she is alive though, then praise God for the miracle," Vinnie said. He climbs back down and steps on something. "What the......hey? Hey! I think I found a phone! Ah! Oh? Umm.....well, I would say let's see if it's hers, but-" Vinnie said before lifting up a smashed iPhone. The screen is nearly completely cracked, and furthermore, half of the whole phone literally falls off as he lifts it.

"Whoa....."

"Hmm. Well, THAT option's out the window. Literally!" Wes jabbed.

"Wes? Not now!" I yell out as Wes snickers. "I know it's your personality, but look at what's happened here, do you really think this is a time for those jokes?"

"I had to man!" I scold him, and he raises his arms, shaking his head. "Okay okay. I'm sorry."

"So what should we do? We can't just leave her inside but we also can't open these doors on our own, and we shouldn't risk her arm on the other door."

"Good question." Vinnie searches around before stepping on a rock. "Hey. Both of you, look around for rocks. Maybe we can use those."

"Arreee you sure about that Vinnie?" I asked very hesitantly.

"Yeah. This thing is trashed so it doesn't look like this car will be important any time soon. Just break a window open and I'll see if we can call someone to tow it tomorrow. C'mon!"

"Ugh okay. Umm? Oh yeah, there's some good ones right here." I pick up a thick stone a few steps behind me and Wes.

However, Wes starts to sniff around. "Hold on a moment." We both look at him. "Do you guys smell that?"

I sniff and catch a whiff of something. It's like rotten eggs and sewage. "Bleh! Yeah, what is that?"

Wes then turns to Vinnie with worry in his eyes. "I think it's......gas?"

"What?" Vinnie rushes over to the back of the car. The smoke has come back. But then he jumps back, panicked when he sees something leaking out. "Oh crap! Guys?! There's a gas leak!!"

"What?!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, this thing's spewing out like a burst pipe!" The smoke starts up again and then the two of us notice a puddle on the ground. "Crud! We've gotta get back to the van before this thing blows!"

"Oh, crap!! Not just yet! Uh....?!" I look down, pick up a large thick stone, and give it to Wes. "Wes, hurry up and break the window!"

"Dude, are you crazy?!"

"It's either bust our way in NOW like he said or we leave her inside to get fried!" Wes looks down and I shake him. "COME ON!!"

"Wes, just do it!" Vinnie yelled.

Wes looks at the stone I've placed in his hand, and he grips onto it tightly. "Okay. Okay!" Wes takes the rock and takes a few steps backwards, before he runs straight back to the door and heavily chucks it through the cracked windows, smashing it.

They can't see past the blood covering her right eye, but they are slightly open, and she groans weakly.

Wes sticks his arm through the window, unlocks the door, and pulls it open. "Okay!! Albert, get in there! Hurry!"

"Right!" I quickly crawl inside. "It- It's okay, I'm gonna get you outta here!" I grab her shoulders, but then I notice that her jacket sleeve is slightly ripped but also that her arm is caught in some sort of busted metal prod, it's basically stabbed into the arm. Luckily they're not poking out the other side, but I need to think of something. "Oh crap.....Guys?! You remember how I said I saw some-?!"

Before I can warn them about it, I smell the smoke growing back again, and the fire's coming back! "Oh no no no!! No stop, STOP!!" Vinnie once again tries to blow it out, but it's a lot stronger this time. "Guys, it's NOT going out this time!!"

"Albert, come on! Hurry up and get her out!!" Wes screamed.

I look to the back and to the girl nervously, nearly shaking. She's groaning so weakly and quietly, so I know she's still alive. I glance down at my shaking hands.....
Aww, to hell with it!! I think before clenching my hands into fists. I grab tightly onto her shoulder and left arm. "If you can hear me, I'm sorry!! AAAHHHHH!!!"

I just begin to pull, and soon enough I yank her arm out, not only shredding her jacket even further, but it rips open the cut on her arm, spilling blood all over my pants.

"Mmmmmm!!!!"
She jerks fiercely, and groans loudly before shuddering from the pain of that.

Wes calls out for me. "What was that?!"

"Nevermind that, Wes. Just wait a moment for me! I've gotta make some room!"

I then unbuckle her from the seat, and I sneak my hand down to the side to lower the front seat back to lay somewhat flat, that way I can slide her out and get her legs out easier. I turn around to the back to check the fire, and yeah, there's a lot of stuff in the backseats, including some money that's fallen out of some bags. I drop my foot and accidentally step on a DVD case, but I don't have time to check on it, as it's starting to grow larger back there.

"Wes, get in and put that seat down!" Wes flips the other side and I begin to turn her sideways. Her legs are even more crushed than I thought but I'm gonna push them out first. "Okay now Wes? I'm gonna need you to grab her feet or her legs and pull her out! I'll hold onto her head and arms!"

"Okay, I'm on it!" Wes grabs a hold of her shoes, heels. "Got her!"

"Now pull!!" Wes takes a tight grip and begins to pull her out. "Are you good?"

"Yeah, yeah!"
Her body is halfway out of the car.
"Well, she's not very heavy. You and I should be able to carry her away just fine!" Wes answered.

"Okay great, just stay careful!" We pull her out together, and he keeps holding onto her legs before they hit the ground, as I jump out and quickly grab the upper half. We begin to carry her away from the doors, towards the front of the car. "THERE!!! Vince, we've got her out!!!"

"Yes, that's Good!!"
As we turn around to him, the new fire doubles in size. Vinnie leaps back as the fire begins to blow on the ground. It's about to fall near the puddles! He looks to us frozen in worry, and all he can say is this:
"THAT'S NOT!! RUNNN!!!!!!!"

Wes wraps his arms under her thighs while I hold onto her back and fold her bloody arm over my shoulder. We start to run while we both carry her.

"Guys c'mon, hurry!"
We're spritning as fast and as carefully as we can. We're about halfway from where my car is.

KA-BOOM!!!!
The leaked gas lights on fire and the car explodes! And it's a BIG ONE!!

And the sound of the explosion actually 'woke up' Johnathan. "Huh?! What the-?!"

The explosion actually flips the car upside down from the left side, and the busted driver's seat door is blown off and it falls to the ground just a few feet behind us.

Wes and I fall over when it lands behind us. We drop the girl on the ground but we fall with her. "Ooohf!!!"
"Aahhh!!!"

Vinnie skids and nearly trips as he's turning around to see us. He rushes toward us with worry. "Albert!!! Wesley!!!"

Johnathan looks over the driver's seat to see the fire. His eyes open wide and bug out as the breath escapes his mouth. Then he turns to find us lying on the ground. "Oh my god....." He rushes to grab his seatbelt.

Vinnie kneels down beside me and I look over to him as he's panting. "Albert?! Are- Are you alright?"

I nod my head gasping. "Yeah. Yeah, we're fine."

The three of us turn around to see the smashed door, literally two feet from our last footprints, and then we look ahead to see that the crashed car is now upside down, and up in flames. Sleeves from clothes and bill-sized pieces of papers begin to rain down falling as burning debris.

We are panting so heavily. "Wow....That was WAY too close...." I gasped out.

"Yeah.......So much for your tow truck plan," Wes said panting.

I then hear a door slamming shut and we turn around to see Johnathan rushing toward us.
"Guys, are you alright?! What just happened??!!!"

"Awake now?! You slept through Independence Day!" Wes joked.

"Not now, bruh!" Vinnie shouted.

Johnathan stops behind me and he looks down to see the girl. "Whoa......Who's she?"

"The crashed driver," I responded.

Vinnie stands beside him and points to the flaming car. "And that is the car he was talking about. It had a gas leak and it just blew up. But, we got her out just in time."

Wes looks down. "Dang..... She's even worse than I thought. You definitely weren't kidding about that miracle, V."

"Wha.....what kind of an accident did she go through to look like THAT.....?" Johnathan replied. "Is she..........dead?"

"No, she was moving and breathing earlier. And she STILL is," I said.

"Are you sure?" Wes said. "That cut on her head is one thing but.....that's a lot of blood on her neck. And her chest...?

Johnathan i look closer at her neck. "Dude? She's wearing a scarf."

"And what about that red stuff on her skin around the chest?"

I squint at it for a moment, until I start shaking my head. "No no, that's not blood. This-This looks like tattoo ink."
I sit on my knees and shake her gently. "Hello, miss? Can you hear us? Hello?!"

She starts twitching again and groaning weakly, clearly in a lot of pain. Her legs are completely broken, and the broken glass cut through her other arm.

"H......Huh.....?"

She's attempting to scream out, but is too crushed and injured that she's only able to weakly gasp it out. The others jump back when she speaks. She can BARELY open her eyes, but she can see us.

"W- Who are....?"

"Holy-!" John uttered. Then he turns over to the car, then his eyes widen when he looks up and notices the rail and the rocks. "What the h-? Wait, did she come from up THERE?!!!" The other two nod. "HOW is she even still alive?! Especially with that arm, it looks like a spear was poked into it!"

"Well.....THAT was my fault," I said with a grimace. "She- She was caught on something and I had to pull her out."

Vinnie leaps back in shock. "You WHAT?!!"

"Are you nuts?!" Wes asked.

"What else was I supposed-?!!"

The girl suddenly grabs onto my wrist. I gasp and Vinnie and Wes shout out in fear leaping back.

"Geez!" Johanthan steps back pressing his hand on his heart. "This is NOT what I needed for tonight."

"Quiet!" I interrupted. I lift her up slightly, and hold her in my arms. I tuck my arm into my jacket sleeve and start to wipe some of the blood off of her eyes so she can see better. "There. Don't- Don't worry, it's okay. You're safe now."

Her eyes are still barely open but I think it's clear that she can see us. But after I say that, she begins fidgeting softly. Twitching. She seems almost.....afraid, looking around with so much fear. Which is normal, but her quiet gasps and shudders are slowly making me more uneasy.

Right then, she looks back into my eyes, and whispers weakly. "P.....Please........! Please don't leave me here.....!"

I quickly shake my head. "We won't." I hold onto her bloody hand. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. We're gonna get you out of here."

"Wait what? We're just gonna take this stranger with us?!" Johnathan asked.

Wes rises up and slaps his shoulder and stretches his hand down to the girl. "Do you SEE the wounds?!"

Vinnie looks up. "Johnathan, it's fine. We still have the extra seats in the back. We just have to move our backpacks into the trunk and that'll give her room," Vinnie replied.

"That's right. Uh, miss? Can- Can you tell us your name?"

She instantly grows weaker. "My......my name............." Her eyes close and she instantly faints and her head rolls to the side.

"Hello? Hello?!!"
She's unconscious again. We have to leave now. Fortunately, I have an idea. "Okay guys, listen to me! You remember my cousin Jillian?" They all nod. "I think- i think i know where we are, and she works at a hospital about 30 minutes from here! We're gonna have to make a stop there on the way back home! Okay?!"

Wes and Vinnie look at each other and nod. "Yeah!"

"Alright and- I'm just gonna spend the weekend at her house since one- One of us should stick with her until she's conscious. When she wakes up I'll swing back at one of your houses to get the car back after you guys drive back home!" I look up to Johnathan. "Are you okay with that, John?"

Johnathan has a look on his face, as if he finally realizes what's happening after he looks up and sees the burning car that he thought we were joking about. He looks back to me and nods his head. "Yeah okay, okay. But, who even is she? Do any of you know her name or anything?"

"Johnathan I literally just asked for her name," I replied cynically. "I don't know, but hopefully she'll give it out when she recovers."

"You also didn't see it but a lot of stuff from her backseats is now in flames. Boxes and packages," Wes said.

"Is there anything in her pockets? Like a wallet with cards or a cell phone?" John asked. Wes pats his hands on her pants pockets, and shakes his head with a frown.

"Her phone was destroyed, and nope, nothing is in her clothes," Vinnie said. He then looks back at her face. "Although......she actually looks kind of familiar. But I- I'm not sure why. Albert?"

Albert looks down at her face with great focus. "No.... I- I don't recognize her but that doesn't matter right now!"

"Wait, she's still bleeding," Wes said. "How do we know if she'll even make it to the hospital?"

"Shoot, that's right. Even if we call an ambulance to meet us halfway, 15 to 30 minutes might be too long to leave her untreated," Vinnie added.

This makes me worriedstunt..
But then I remember something, and look back up. "Johnathan, were you SERIOUS when you said you knew first aid?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. Yeah, I've been taking classes to be a field medic for the past year in college," Johnathan explained. "Of course, my mom was the one who requested that I-"

"Nevermind that! Just check her out and let us know- do you have anything that can help is treat her during the drive?" I asked.

Johnathan nervously pats his ankles. "Uh......? Here, lemme take a look." I step away from the girl as Johnathan leans down to examine her injuries and feel for her pulse. "Yeah.... Yeah I-I- I've got enough training to deal with some of these injuries. Her arm? I- I might not be able to fully stop the bleeding, but if I grab the right supplies out of my kit in the trunk, I MIGHT be able to cauterize it enough before we get there."

"W- Wait a second. Your kit? You mean you ACTUALLY brought medical supplies with you?!" Vinnie asked.

"Yeah, there's a first-aid kit in my suitcase! I brought it out just in case I needed it to help you guys!"

Wow, so Johnathan really wasn't just joking earlier.

Vinnie's eyes widen. "Oh. Well, uh....I'm, sorry for doubting you earlier."

"Albert? Do you have any reception out here?"

I pull out my phone and check. "Yeah. Yeah I've got bars!"

"If you're gonna call cousin Jill, we better let them know we're coming ASAP. I don't think we can risk driving at full speed, plus I have to focus," Johnathan explained. "I......I've never trained on a living person hefore..."

At that, I immediately look to everyone.
"Okay listen up! We'll just move our bags out and you can get yourself into the back seat with her. Wes, you'll sit in the middle, listen to whatever instructions he gives. Vinnie, you're coming upfront with me, and I'll have you call Jillian while I drive. Tell her to get ready for us and ask if they can meet us halfway. Everybody got that?"

"Got it!"
"Good."
"Let's roll man!"

"Alright, good!" I look at all of them and they're ready to move, and then we hear growls in the distance. We all look at each other briefly spooked.

"I....think that's our cue to leave, c'mon!" Wes said before him and I rush over to the car.

When I look back, Vinnie has pulled out his phone to record a video of him and Johnathan, showing the car and the girl.

Wes begins to rush back when he sees him filming. "Vince, what are you doing?!"

"Making a prayer log for the boys back home! This girl's gonna need every prayer she can get!" Vinnie said before running over.

Wes rushes over to pick up the girl with Johnathan after clearing some space for the middle and back seats, bringing bags into the trunk behind. "Ready, Johnathan?"

"Just give me a second," he said before looking back down at her. "Okay, let me just...." Johnathan quickly lifts her body up to remove her pink jacket. Once he gets it off, he rips off one of the sleeves.

"Hey HEY! What do you think you're doing man?!" Wes asked.

"It's ruined altogether, but this side is more intact so I might as well use it. I'm going to need something spare to wrap around this wound if I wanna deal with the bleeding," he responded before laying the rest of her jacket on the ground.

"Okay! Let's just hurry up and get inside!"

"Right!" John grabs under her shoulders and with his strength he lifts her off of the ground. "Be careful with her legs Wes, she's probably gonna go into a coma on her own, so make sure she doesn't hit her head on anything!" Johnathan waits for Wes to gently grab onto her legs and they slowly lead her body inside the car. "Careful. Careful. A little more! Moooore! Okay, stop. Lift them over the rest. Yeah. Okay now go into the trunk and grab my blue suitcase, I'm sure I don't have to mention what color the kit is," he instructs Wes as he rests the girl's head on his lap, and lays her body sideways in the seat with her broken legs pointed down. Wes pulls out his kit. "Good, now take that white bottle and shake it up for ten-"

Vinnie and I jump into the front seats, very shocked, and still trying to process what's happening. "So what now? You believe that this was God speaking to me now?"

Vinnie chortles at me. "It's a good thing you were listening when you did. I think we're about to save a life. So wait, what items were inside the car before it blew? You mentioned there were boxes."

"It.....it looked like she had a box of DVD's and photos or something in the backseat and a couple of suitcases. Sadly if they were important to her, they're all gone. Her phone was busted too so we don't have that. No wallet, no stuffed pockets... No trace of any identification."

"It practically fell in half when I held it. Did you see what the DVD covers looked like?"

"No, I didn't have enough time to check the boxes with the gas leak getting worse." Then I turn around. "Did you notice them, Wes?"

"Uh no. I couldn't get a good look. And they were all over the place," Wes commented while filling up a syringe needle. "Okay, got it!"

"Good job, hand it over." Johnathan finishes applying pressure to the girl's arm wound by wrapping the sleeve tightly around it, as she groans weakly. He holds onto her shoulder and points the syringe close to it. "Now I know this is going to sting but hopefully this will be enough until the hospital." He injects the needle into her shoulder and she jerks back and groans weakly. "Albert, let's move! I won't be able to support her for long!"

We look back. "Oh right! Here Vinnie, the-the contact name is Jillian!" I said handing my phone over to him.

"I- I think we should pray before we go. John?" Vinnie suggested.

"Umm- Okay, but let's definitely make it a quick one!"

"Okay." I close my eyes to pray real quick. "Lord, we ask You to be with this girl. We have responded to your call, now we ask you to protect her spirit, and to guide John with the wisdom he needs to help her and give us the fastest path to save her. Her life is in your hands. In Jesus' name, Amen!"

"Amen!"

"Amen."

"Amen. Okay, I'm looking her up now," Vinnie said. Then we hear a loud crashing sound outside followed by a grunt of anguish and we all turn to the side. "Whoa!"

The sight before our eyes is INSANE!!

GROWL!!!

Three mountain lions, a mother and two smaller ones, are rushing down the hillside hunting after a mule deer buck. It's just as big as the mother but it's antlers are rather small, so this buck is a young one.
From the look of what we're seeing, it was in such a rush to get down the hill in order to escape, that it either tripped or it literally just jumped off a rock. Either way, it had fallen on top of the burning car, breaking its leg in the fall, just BARELY catching its leg on fire! It rolls off of the car and struggles to stand up. As soon as the mother leaps to the bottom, it immediately turns to run again.

The mountain lions rush down the cliffside and can catch up with the limping buck, attempting to claw onto its hide. But the deer pushes her off, and instantly turns around and tries to ram her with its' small rack of antlers. Sadly, its attempt is in vain as the mother quickly dashes to the side and pins it down to the ground after biting onto the jugular.

"WHOA!!!"
"Dang!"

While the mother continues to suffocate her prey, one of the younger cougars turns around and sees us. It then strays from the other two and makes a beeline for the back door......which is open, towards Johnathan and Wes.

My eyes widened. "Guys, WHY is that door still open??!!!"

Vinnie flinches back. "Wes get the door!!" He yelled.

"Shut the door!!" John screamed while clutching onto the girl as Wes tries to hurry over.

Before Wes can rise up and reach for the other side, the young cougar leaps from a few feet away and claws onto the seat while we all scream out. It growls aggressively at all of us. It attempts to reach out and bite onto the girl's ankle!

But before the cat can dig its teeth into her leg, Wes kicks it twice in the head, and with a third kick, he succeeds in knocking it out of the car before he reaches over to slam the door shut. The hungry cat lifts its paws on the windows snarling, and Wes topples back and falls to the floor with a shriek.
Growl!!
"Go, go, go!!"

I stomp down on the gas pedal and we start driving at top speed, leaving a skid mark as we outmaneuver the feline. The young cougar tries to chase after us, but it's instantly made clear that it isn't going to catch up to us.

Wes sticks his head out the window. "Sorry boys, but this girl's not on the menu!"

The mother finishes killing the deer right next to where we carried her into this car, and starts dragging it away after clawing its stomach open. As one of the younglings plays with the jacket that was left behind, the other stray cougar lets out a growl as we leave.

"Are they still behind us?!!" Vinnie yelled out.

Johnathan turns back to peek out the back window. "No. I think we lost them."

I then slow down to the normal speed limit. I'm panting. "Well, THAT was intense!" I spoke out. Johnathan and Wes look at each other, and then start laughing hysterically, loudly. Vinnie and I turn back to them. "Why the heck are you laughing?"

Wes wheezes and looks at me with such a goofy smile. "Pastor Curtis, he HAD to say it last night!"

I turn to Wes. "What?"

"'Cherish the wilderness!' And we just witnessed mother nature at her finest!" They continue to laugh, but now Vinnie and I join them.

"Yeah. Just wait until he hears about that." I turn to the side and see Vinnie grinning. "Well? Vinnie?"

"Oh right! Yeah, I'm on it." He hitsvfc the call button. Vinnie taps the glove box anxiously waiting for someone to pick up. "Come on, come on, come on."

Response. "Hello, this is Jillian Larson from Mercy Grave Hospital, may I ask who's calling?"

"Yes, Jillian? This is Vincent Joen, I'm on my way back home with Albert and two of our other friends from our recent camping trip with the church youth group. We have a bit of an emergency going on!"

"What? Okay, I'm listening."

"We're coming out of the canyon and we found this girl badly injured in a car crash. Busted nose, severe head injury and cuts, broken legs, possibly several broken or bruised bones, crushed right arm, the left arm is cut and losing blood, and she's very faint. One of our friends is giving her first aid now, but we're gonna bring her over to you! She really doesn't look good!"

"What? C- Can you describe the crash?"

"It looked like she drove off an edge of the cliffside and smashed against several rocks and it's flipped over and a gas leak burnt the car up but we managed to pull her out of the wreckage before then!"

"How far are you?"

"Albert says 30 minutes, maybe 45 minutes at the most. And he's asking if he can stay the night at yours while you work with her."

"Oh, yes, of course. Tell him I'll set up an appointment for him now. How deep are the cuts?"

"She had glass shards and metal shoved deep into her arm, we had to yank her out and her left arm is bleeding a lot. Our friend John is working to stop it."

"Good idea. But you're gonna have to hurry! What canyon are you guys in?"

"Inyo Death Valley! We're coming out the long way about 8 miles away from our main road home!"

"Okay, I know where that is. I'm gonna get my co-worker Phillip to ride an ambulance to meet you guys at the entrance! Tell Albert he can ride along with them!"

"Okay okay, good idea! Hurry up!"

"I will. Good luck boys! Doctor!!" She hangs up.

Vinnie turns to me. "Albert! They're calling an ambulance, they'll meet us halfway and you'll go with them!"

"Okay, that's good! You hear that John?!"

"What? Yeah yeah, hopefully, they'll find us soon." The girls' eyes are closed and John grabs another thing to apply pressure on her wounds, but she's still bleeding a lot. "Oh my gosh. Guys, she stopped moving! She's lost a LOT more blood than I thought! I- I think- I think she's going into hypovolemic shock!"

"What? What does that mean?" Wes asked, wiping her legs with one of his dirty shirts.

"It means her organs are losing the proper amount of blood to stay pumping and active! Her weakened condition isn't gonna help either! Wes, pull out one of our blankets, we need to keep her warm! And go ahead and get back to the middle, I'm gonna need to move this chair down so I can lay her flat!"
They quickly tuck in one of the seats and lower her. "Yeah, this should be good. I think you better slow down a bit, Albert."

"Got it."

"Oh wow...." Vinnie said looking back. "I'm gonna go ahead and text Curtis and the others. Like I said, this girl's gonna need all the prayer warriors we can give."

He starts to text some of my contacts, while Johnathan sticks a needle into her shoulder. I then proceed to pray again quietly. "Lord God. Whoever this woman is, whatever she's endured right now, I ask that you will protect her. I speak healing and protection over your child."

About 14 minutes later, we drive past the exit point and in the distance, an ambulance is driving forward at top speed with the lights flashing. "Whoa, hang on! I think that's them!" Vinnie yelled.

"Oh good! We're gonna stop here, John! How's she looking now?" I asked.

"Well, I think her bleeding has finally calmed down. But her pulse still feels faint. Make sure you stop the car SLOWLY," Johnathan responded.

"I'm on it." I stop the car and step outside before they stop 20 feet in front of us. Four people in medical uniforms rush out.

"Are you Jill's cousin!"

"Yeah, yeah! We put her in the back, my friend says she's in hypovelocity or something!" I make it to the car and Wes steps out.

"We'll lower the seats for you guys!"

"Thank you."

Johnathan and Wes help carry the girl out of the car and hand her over to the medics. "Watch the head."

"Did you kids give her these?" one of them asked, referring to the patches on her arm, as well as the sleeve wrapped around the wound.

"Yeah, she was bleeding really badly so I've done everything I can to cauterize her."

"Good job, and did you give her any medication?"

"Um, I only gave her one injection of tranexamic acids, but I didn't know how much to give her so I used a small amount. I'm studying to be a medic but I still don't have precise knowledge on medical dosages yet," Johnathan replied.

"That's perfectly fine, you did well. We should be able to handle her condition from here." They carry her away. "Come on kid, get inside!"

"Okay! Remember to drop the car at my house! I'll keep you guys posted!"

"Good luck bro!"

"You have our prayers!"

Albert jumps into the ambulance as the medics lay her on the stretcher and immediately start hooking her up before one of them shuts the door, and sprints back to his door.

Vinnie grips onto the steering wheel as their sirens blare out. "God be with you brother." Sigh. "Alright, let's head home boys."

"Absolutely....."

Johnathan pants. "Yeah....... Wow, wait until mom hears about this....."

"Yeah right. Okay, let's go." Vinnie starts the car and drives off.

In the ambulance, one of the workers turns to me. "Why don't you sit up front? We'll do our best, I can assure you of that. Go ahead."

"Yes sir." I move up and sit beside the driver.

"Jared, draw an IV. Stuart, Douglas charge her up."

I sit down and process everything before peeking behind once again as they start to work on her with the shock therapy. "Jesus, I'm trusting you tonight."

I see Phillip, the driver smiling at me. "I hope you have just as much trust in us boy."

"Hmm. Of course sir." I buckle up and lay back in my seat. I then pat my pockets. "Huh? Wha-? Aww no-no no, no!! Aww, darn it!!"

"Huh? What's the matter?"

"My lucky guitar pick! It's gone!!" I had one of my picks customized with an engraving that spells out 'Pick 4 Jesus.' It must've fallen out of my pocket when we fell. Dang. Well it's certainly cat food by now.

I can hear the pumps from the back. And then I hear the beeping sounds pulsing.

"We've got a heartbeat! It's faint but it's beating!"

"She isn't waking up though."

"It's okay. I'm sure she will soon."

But she won't.
Cheyennes body, at the moment, it is nothing more than an empty shell.

So now we know how Cheyenne was rescued, and that she managed to survive the crash. However, when we return with the next chapter, you will find the disturbing, horrific story, of what's REALLY happening to Cheyenne Mitchell in this moment.