It must have been around three in the morning when Don gently jostled me awake. "Time to go," he whispered.
Fortunately, I wasn't so out of it I asked out loud where we were going, because that was my first disoriented thought.
I roused, finding myself still in the hole, and remembered our predicament.
The dogs were on their feet, restless, ready to go.
"He got a message on his walkie-talkie about fifteen minutes ago and he took off," Don continued to whisper. "I don't know where everybody went, but they can't be too far away. I didn't hear a car, so he must be on foot."
He gently pulled the tarp back, trying to contain the rustling. We eased out of the hole one at a time. Don handed me my backpack and motioned for the dogs and I to follow him.
We would be walking into the forest wit
