In The Dark

5 - June 12th

The two groups of musicians climbed out of their van at the scene of the accident just after 5am. No one looked as though they had gotten any sleep as they slowly made their way over to the search and rescue station where Officer Shaw was standing. He had a coffee cup in hand and was talking to one of the organizers at the table. He lifted his hand to greet the musicians as they approached.

"We're just about to send the divers out," Officer Shaw announced. "We've got eight, so we can have two divers in each of the rivers upstream from the falls. I also have a small group of volunteers that will be dropped off at the base of the falls to scan the edge of the river."

The musicians all nodded, looking devastated. They had all hoped some progress had been made over night.

"Have the dogs found anything yet?" Geri asked hopefully.

"The search crews all camped out last night once it got too dark to keep searching," Officer Shaw explained. "They're just packing up now and should be getting back to the search within the hour."

"Can I go out with the search crew?" Kevin asked.

"I'm sure I can arrange for one or two of you to take the helicopter over there," Officer Shaw replied. "Let me see what I can do."

"Thanks," said Kevin.

"I'll come too," said Nick. Officer Shaw nodded and walked over to his squad car to radio the helicopter. He looked over at the guys and gave them a thumbs up once he had the 'ok' from the air team.

"Will you girls be ok?" Kevin asked, looking back at the girls. Victoria had her arm wrapped around Emma's waist and was holding Geri's hand. Mel had her arms crossed and was looking over at the news crews that seemed to have doubled in size since the accident first happened. She looked back at Kevin and nodded.

"We'll be fine," she replied.

"Are you ok staying back with the girls?" Kevin asked, turning to Howie. Howie nodded and interlaced his fingers with Emma's. Emma was shaking and staring off into space. Victoria had called Emma's mum, and she and Melanie's family were scheduled to arrive the following day.

Once everything was organized, Kevin and Nick were taken along with the search crew in the helicopter and dropped off at the base of the falls. The others spent the day wandering aimlessly around the search camp, waiting with baited breath for any news from the search teams. Simon and Sam were constantly on their phones, filling in family members, head office, and press with the information they had.

The search dogs continued making their way down river, following one of the scents they'd picked up on. Overhead, the helicopter scanned the riverbank in hopes of spotting AJ, Brian, and Melanie.

At the camp, the paparazzi and news casters were at a standstill, having nothing new to report on. Any time one of the Spice Girls or Backstreet Boys would emerge from their trailer, the press would begin shouting and calling to them in hopes of getting something they could use for their viewers.

Victoria and Howie stepped out of the trailer to get some fresh air and to check up on the progress of the search teams. After grabbing coffee from one of the snack tables, they made their way over to the GPS van and greeted Carl.

"Nothing yet, I'm afraid," said Carl as he leaned back and stretched in his chair. He sat back up and pointed to the screen with the map of the area. "The main search team is in this area right now. The dogs still seem to have a scent and are taking the team down river. Nothing has turned up at the base of the falls where Nick, Kevin, and the rest of the team are stationed, so that's a good sign. We've also got divers making their way up river from the base of the falls."

"No one's found any footprints or anything?" Howie asked.

"Not yet," Carl replied.

Carl's radio crackled to life and the distorted voice of one of the search and rescue group leaders could be heard explaining that one of the dogs had picked up another scent and was leading the team back to the other side of the river. The other dog, however, was still following the trail they had been following. Carl picked up the receiver and thanked the team member before looking over at Howie and Victoria and smiling.

"That's good news," he stated. "That means we have at least two of them. They're going to split up. The second team is heading back this way." He pointed at the map, showing the search team's path back over the river.

"They could be on any of those rivers," Howie sighed. "That's a lot of area to cover."

The radio crackled once more, making Victoria jump and spill her coffee. She quickly apologized and grabbed a tissue from the box next to Carl's keyboard.

"I've got sight of something at the edge of the river," the helicopter pilot announced over the radio. "No movement, but I've got a heat signal. Louis, you're not far. Stick to the right side. You're only about a quarter mile behind."

Louis could be heard responding to the pilot. Everyone froze in tense silence as they waited for Louis to reach what the pilot had seen. Victoria stopped what she was doing and stood next to Howie, squeezing his hand tightly as she stared at the radio, not realizing she was holding her breath.

The next few minutes seemed to drag on as they waited for the radio to come back to life. Victoria cupped her hand over her mouth, tears pricking to her eyes at the prospect of finding their friends. A wave of emotions hit both Victoria and Howie. Someone had been found. Who was it? Were they alive? Were they close to finding the lot of them?

After what felt like an eternity, Louis's muffled voice could be heard over the radio. "I've got a visual," he announced. "Request for air retrieval."