When twenty year old Grant Mercer took the job as a Search and Rescue officer, he never thought he’d find himself in the situation he got into in Blackreach forest. He found a job that he loved. He was a woodsman his whole life. When he and his family would travel to the White Mountains to visit their grandfathers every summer for two weeks, he and his older brother would spend hours out in the woods. They would build forts, play manhunt, track deer for fun, hop on the rocks in the river and climb trees. His dad was also in the Army for many years and he would teach Grant many things about outdoor survival. Things you can and can’t eat, how to track someone, how to build shelters and make weapons out of sticks, how to build different types of fires, he taught him everything. Grant had heard whispers about Search and Rescue when he got into his mid teens, so he spent his highschool years doing free online search and resume tests to gather knowledge. It wasn’t until he graduated high school that he started going to paid classes and taking tests and finally becoming certified. A week after his twentieth birthday, he went in for the interview, greeting a woman sitting behind the counter on a computer.

“Hi, I’m here to interview for a Search and Rescue job. I had made an appointment over the phone with a man named Liam,” Grant said.   

“Oh yes, have a seat and he’ll call you in soon,” the woman said. 

Grant sat down in the empty seats. He had been the only one there for Search and Rescue. He looked around at everyone hard at work on their computers or doing paperwork, or even answering phone calls. A few moments later, a door opened and two men exited. One of the men walked past Grant, nodding his head with a smile as he passed by, Grant responded with a head nod. The other man stood at his door.

“Sarah, anyone else?” he asked. 

“Liam will see you now,” she said to Grant. 

“One more,” she said loudly to the man as Grant approached him. 

Grant stepped inside of the office and shook hands with the man who introduced himself as Liam Hayes. He was a man who was about six feet tall with short brown hair and beard. He was in good shape too. Liam shut the door and Grant sat down, with Liam sitting in his chair across from Grant. Liam opened up the file that Grant had given him and began flipping through some papers on Grant. He had an impressed look as he flipped through each page. 

“Well, you seem to have all of the qualifications. You have passed all of the written tests, you’re CPR certified and you passed the physical exam,” Liam said. 

“This is the first thing that I’ve found that I'm super passionate about,” Grant said. 

“Good, because to be in search and rescue, you need to give it your all. Now,  you may spend a lot of time away from home. Does your family understand the commitment you would be making?” Liam asked.

“Yes. My girlfriend understands and supports my decision,” Grant said. 

“Excellent. Now, to what extent are you willing to risk your life to save somebody else’s?” 

“Everyday out in the woods is a risk, but I’d make it my goal to lower the risk as much as possible to make sure myself or my team doesn’t get hurt. If we get hurt, then no one is getting saved,” Grant said.

“What’s your goal in the future with Search and Rescue?” Liam asked. 

“To do it as long as I can,” Grant replied. 

“You certainly are making this easy. Most people come in here and dish out a few half assed responses and then mosey along. Most don’t even come with the right qualifications,” he said as he pointed down to Grant’s papers as they both chuckled. 

After a few seconds, the smile slowly faded from Liam’s face, and it was replaced with a serious look. 

“Now, there’s something I have to tell you. Sometimes things…happen out in those woods. The things that happen, sometimes can’t be explained,” Liam said. 

“What do you mean?” Grant asked. 

“We’ve had people disappear and be found in places they shouldn't be found in. We had a man a few years ago go missing. It took the boys days to even get a trace. Even the dogs couldn’t find him. But when they did, they found the man hanging from a tree. Not from a low branch, but from the tip of the tree. The tree was too tall and too impossible to even climb. We couldn’t even climb it, we needed a helicopter to get him down,” Liam explained. 

Grant just looked on with confusion. 

“Another time many years ago, a man went hiking and never came home. We couldn’t find him. We searched for weeks and never even got a trace. No scent, no footprints, no nothing. So we abandon the search, as that’s sometimes what we have to do. Eight months later the man was found in two different trees,” Liam said. 

“What, how?” Grant asked. 

“One half of his body was in one tree and the other half was in another,” Liam said. 

“Inside of the trees?” Grant questioned. 

“Yup. Something had hallowed out the inside of these trees and stuffed each half of his body in them. On trees that were almost a hundred feet tall, and each time he was found near the top. No one should be able to climb these trees and hollow the inside of them out. Oh and did I mention that these trees were miles away from each other?” Liam explained.

Grant had no words, he just kind of looked confused. He wondered if this was some sort of hazing thing to scare potential new hires.

“That’s the kind of thing I mean. Weird things happen out there. Things that most of the time can’t be explained,” Liam said.

Not wanting to back out and to show that he was dedicated to the job, Grant reassured Liam that he wanted the job. 

“Life is full of weird and unexplainable things. I guess the trick will be to find missing people as fast as possible, and that’s what I’m here to do,” Grant said. 

“I knew I liked you for a reason, welcome to the world of Search and Rescue,” Liam said as he held his hand out. 

Grant stood up and shook his hand, excited that he had just been accepted. He got back into his car and grabbed his cellphone to call his girlfriend Maria. She answered after just two rings. 

“Hey babe,” she said. 

Maria was a gorgeous girl with black hair that Grant had known since he was in kindergarten. They had grown up together, and had been together forever.  In first grade, Grant had asked Maria to be his girlfriend, simply because that’s what he thought was the cool thing to do. His older brothers had girlfriends, so he thought having a girlfriend was the cool thing to do. Maria said yes due to her first grade brain having a similar mindset, but the two continued through life as a couple. Going all through elementary and into middle school, where they started to truly consider it a relationship. Then by high school, they were taking it very seriously. The two went through everything together. The separation of Grant's parents, deaths and low points mentally. They were made for each other. 

“Hey gorgeous, I just wanted to let you know that they accepted me,” Grant said with a smile on his face. 

“Really? Yay!” Maria said with excitement. 

“Yup, the guy loved me,” Grant said. 

“I’m so proud of you! We have to celebrate!” Maria said. 

“Absolutely. I’ll be home in about a half hour and we can go out to eat,” Grant said. 

“Ok, I’ll get ready!” Maria said. 

Grant hung out and backed out of the parking lot where he drove onto the road and headed home. Things flowed through his mind. He was excited and anxious about his new career that he would be starting. But one thing kept going through his mind. When Liam was telling him about the creepy stuff that had happened in the woods, specifically about that guy that had been found inside of the trees, Liam had used the word “Something” instead of “Someone.” It stuck with Grant the whole ride home, but once he got home and was greeted with a hug and a kiss from Maria, it left his mind. She was dressed in a beautiful outfit. A white shirt, black jacket and jeans with black boots. They got in the car and drove to a restaurant to celebrate. 

About a month later, Grant had been out on two jobs. Nothing serious, in fact it was quite the opposite. One had been some moronic teenagers playing manhunt and one ran too far, getting lost. The other was another dumbass teenager who had brought his girlfriend out for a hike and had gotten them lost. They were both very easily found, with Grant being the one to find them. This had impressed Liam. 

“Wow son, you’re doing great so far,” Liam said. 

“Well, to be fair, we haven't really had anything too difficult, just some idiots who don’t have a sense of direction,” Grant said. 

The two shared a laugh. 

“Very true, but remember, every missing person is just as important, no matter how they got lost,” Liam said.

“Of course,” Grant replied. 

Later, Grant was hanging out with Tommy, his childhood best friend. 

“Hey, how’s that search and rescue thing going?” Tommy asked. 

“It’s going great, it’s fun. You should go in for an interview,” Grant said. 

“You really think I should?” Tommy asked. 

“Hell yeah, I’ll even recommend you,” Grant said. 

Tommy had been just as much of a woodsman his whole life as well. He would sometimes go with Grant and his family on vacation and be out in the woods with Grant and his older brother. He also was also taught a lot about the wilderness by Grant’s dad, and he was always with Grant, and Grant’s dad treated Tommy like he was another son. A few days later, Grant was talking with Liam. 

“Hey, I wanted to ask you something. I was wondering if you had any other open spots for my best friend Tommy?” Grant asked. 

“Tell me about him,” Liam said. 

“He’s very much like me. We grew up together. He has the same knowledge of the wilderness that I have. He just doesn't have the certifications,” Grant said. 

“Have him get those certifications and then have him come in, I’ll get something done,” Liam said. 

Grant told Tommy to sign up for the classes, and with some help from Grant, Tommy enrolled. He found the written tests to be the hardest part, but the physical test was favorite part. He wanted to retake it simply for fun. He passed and got the certifications and got CPR certified. He came to Grant’s house one day to show him the certificates. 

“See? I knew you’d do great,” Grant said. 

“Well, the CPR part I wasn’t crazy about. I didn’t love wrapping my lips around a plastic dummy. It tasted like cleaning supplies,” Tommy said. 

“That’s probably preferable to kissing your ex-girlfriend,” Grant said as the two began to laugh. 

Tommy made an appointment to go and interview with Liam. Grant went with him for support, and with some glowing recommendation from Grant,  Liam accepted Tommy. Both of them were excited as it was their dream to work together and they achieved it. They spent the next few years doing search and rescue, becoming stand out officers and two of the most highly skilled ones. It was extremely rare that they didn’t find somebody, it had only happened once and it bothered Grant more than he wanted it too. It was supposed to be simple. A man went out for a jog, he had jogged through these woods for years and never had a single issue, but this time he never came home. His girlfriend called him missing. They searched for days, sometimes even staying out all night and they couldn’t find him. The dogs had a scent but lost it about a mile up the trail on the first day. Both Grant and Tommy were bothered when they called off the search. They sat at Grant’s house in silence, just wondering how they couldn't even get a trail. Then, that conversation with Liam that Grant had popped back into his head. “Something had hallowed out the inside of these trees.” There was that word again, “Something.” It floated in his mind for a while, sometimes even keeping him up at night. Did this so-called “Something” get a hold of this guy while he was out there jogging? Grant could never come to a clear conclusion, and he couldn't let it sit in his mind any longer. He had to move on and hope that eventually, the man would be found safely. 

It had been a little over two years since Grant and Tommy had become Search and Rescue officers. The now twenty two year old began to feel the stress. Being out in the woods, dealing with the mental stress of finding people, and dealing with some unexplainable things began to affect Grant and Tommy’s personalities. They went from joyful to very serious about everything. Everything they experienced out in the woods weighed down on them. 

One day they were out on a job, a kid had wandered off and got separated from his parents while they were out hiking. Liam got in contact with Grant and he took his crew out there, with Tommy by his side. They spoke with the parents, with the mother being too hysterical. She was sobbing and barely even able to catch her breath. She stayed with Liam and the paramedics to try and calm down and collect her thoughts, while Grant spoke with the father. The father described the situation. They were out hiking and while stopping to take a picture, they looked back and saw that their son was missing. Grant asked the man if he remembered the location they were in, so Grant and his group followed the man while Grant had Thunder, one of the canines with him. During the walk, Grant asked the man a few questions. Like how old he was, has the kid ever done things like this before, wandered off at the park or at the mall? Was he very easily distracted? Things like that. The man answered each of the questions, stating that he was eight years old, he had never wandered off before, and he does get distracted by things. They finally arrived at the location. It was a small part of the trail that had a view of a small waterfall. 

“That’s what we were taking a picture of, the waterfall. When we turned around, he was gone,” the man said. 

Grant scanned the area. 

“Ok, Austin, walk back with him. We don’t need anyone else going missing,” Grant said. 

Austin, one of the members of his squad, walked back with the man while the others began to spread out and look for the child. Grant ruled off any area where the kid couldn’t go. He wouldn’t have gone backwards, as they would’ve seen him for sure. He definitely didn’t go over the ledge, they would have heard him fall, and he didn’t go up the trail, cause that would require him to pass by his parents, and once again, they would’ve seen him. So the only possible way he could’ve gone was to the right. into the profusion of trees. So Grant rallied his squad and headed in that direction, trying to find any footprints. As they searched, he and Tommy discussed the situation. 

“I don’t get it, why would a kid just wander off like that?” Tommy asked. 

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“Well, he’s eight. My guess is, he saw something that caught his attention, and he went to investigate. You know how kids are. They’re like damn cats. Always so nosy and curious about everything,” Grant said. 

Grant found footprints, while at the same time Thunder got a scent. Grant loosened his grip on the leash and let Thunder out in front while they followed him.Grant still kept his eyes to the ground, looking for footprints. They searched all day for this kid, calling out his name while still following the trail. Grant figured that the kid must’ve been moving away from them still because there is no way the kid could’ve gotten as far as he did in the time it took them to get there. With them hot on a trail, they should’ve found him by now. They were thrown off when the trail ended. No more footprints, no scent, nothing. 

“How does his footprints just stop?” Tommy asked. 

“Unless he grew wings and flew or he’s Danny Torrance and backtracked his steps, I have no idea. And neither of those things happened,” Grant said.

They searched well into the night, which was not common and came up with nothing. They couldn’t find the kid. This frustrated Grant to no end, and having to tell the parents was no better. His heart nearly shattered when he heard the sobs of the mother and saw the tears roll down the fathers cheek. Grant almost quit on the spot. He apologized to the parents and left the site without uttering a single word to Liam, Tommy or the paramedics. He left in silence, and drove home in the same silence. No radio, no open windows, just his racing mind. The sounds of the mothers cries relayed in his mind the whole ride home. They were just as loud and as heartbreaking as they were in his memory. He got home and sat on the edge of the couch, head in his hand, staring at the floor. He became disassociated and wouldn’t even speak to Maria, mainly because he couldn’t hear her at first. Everything was quiet, until he began to hear her muffled voice. Finally she got through to him, asking him what was wrong. He stood up and buried his head into her shoulder beginning to weep. The thought of a deceased child that he couldn’t find, and the thought of the mental anguish those two parents would face proved to be too much for his psyche to handle. He felt responsible as it was his job to find the child, but he failed to do so. Any ray of hope that he brought to the parents upon his arrival had to be stripped away by him as well as he told them they couldn’t find their son. He voiced this to Maria who comforted him. The mental exhaustion brought on by the whole experience, caused him to almost pass out as soon as he laid down. He awoke, fifteen hours later still feeling the weight of the gloomy situation. He spent the next week feeling very mentally exhausted and stressed. Maria began to worry about his well being. 

About a month later, Grant was out with Tommy and his squad searching for some drunk teenager that had gotten lost while trying to play manhunt with his friends while they were hiking. This sort of thing happens all the time. A few asshole teenagers get together to go camping, and they get too drunk and someone always gets lost. Whether the alcohol caused an argument that makes them storm off and get lost, or someone tries to play a prank by hiding and they get lost. Drunk teens and woods do not match, and it got to a point where Grant would begin getting annoyed each time they got one of these calls. Grant arrived with his squad and got all the information he could from the other teens. They traveled into the woods and found their composite, which was less than a mile from the entrance to the woods. Grant found a trail and they all followed it. The trail led to a small rocky river that went underneath a wooden bridge. That’s where they found the teen, near the water. He was ecstatic about being saved and hugged and thanked them, profusely. As they walked back, Grant berated him for being dumb and drinking underage. 

“See? This is the type of shit that happens when you morons come out here to drink underage. Cut that shit out,” Grant said. 

Tommy, who was walking behind Grant and the teen began laughing to himself, as Grant was always like this. When they were teens and Tommy would get drunk, Grant would grill him for six hours about how stupid it was to drink. Grant noticed this when he looked back at Tommy because he heard him snicker. 

“What are you laughing at?” Grant asked with a smile. 

“No nothing. Hey, you should never drink underage,” Tommy said to the teen with a smile. 

“Oh yeah, listen to double A Andy back here. You were drinking at what? Thirteen?” Grant said. 

“No, I was not thirteen. And I didn’t drink that much, come on,” Tommy said. 

“Don’t kid yourself. You could’ve played Nicolas Cage’s role in Leaving Las Vegas,” Grant said. 

The group, including the teen all roared out in laughter as they walked back to the entrance. As they were walking, there was a moment of silence. Grant stopped everyone as he listened. He looked into the woods and saw someone quickly pull their head back behind a tree. Grant slowly approached the tree and as he turned the corner, he saw a kid cowering behind the tree. But it wasn’t just any kid, it was the kid that went missing about a month ago. Grant called out the kids name and he looked up. Grant helped him up and carried him back to the entrance where the paramedics were. The teens were excited to see their friend back safe and  few paramedics took him to check him while the others took the child. Liam looked over and his eyes nearly shot out of his head. None of them could believe the kid was alive. He had been out there for a month, and he didn’t even look injured or malnourished. They tried to ask the kid what had happened but he was very reluctant to speak, probably because being out in the woods for a month would put anyone in a state of shock. The kids' parents were called and they arrived looking overjoyed, as they should’ve been. They thanked Grant over and over, though he felt they shouldn’t as he still felt he failed them by not finding him the first time. He couldn't imagine to mental torture the were enduring this past month. 

“Thank god you guys found that kid. Thinking of a deceased child makes me depressed,” Liam said. 

“I second that,” Grant said. 

Later on at home, he had a weird feeling. But, seeing the parents happy again removed the cloud of gloom that had been following him, but this was replaced with a sense of confusion. How did this kid survive for so long, without being injured and not being malnourished. Surely he wasn’t hunting and feeding himself at eight years old. He discussed the situation with Maria. 

“It’s weird. The woods, it’s almost like they are another realm. I’m so happy the kid is safe and back home, but I just can’t help but think, how the kid survived, or I can’t stop thinking about what other anomalies can happen out there,” Grant said. 

The job was really stressing Grant out, he became irritable at times and sometimes argumentative. Whenever Maria tried to talk things out, he was always dismissive. This caused a rift between him and Maria and not one that was easily fixed. Maria finally spoke up and wanted Grant to leave search and rescue and go and get a real job, since search and rescue was volunteer work that he didn’t get paid for. 

“We are struggling to pay for the house. You can’t keep doing little side jobs for friends and your uncle, and keep search and rescue as your permanent career. Those little side jobs do little to alleviate our financial woes,” Maria said. 

“I can’t believe this, ever since I first mentioned the idea of search and rescue when we were teenagers, you have supported me. Now when things get a little tough, you’re telling me to abandon my passion?” Grant replied. 

“Your passion doesn’t pay for bills, or for groceries. I don’t make enough money as a waitress and those side jobs you do aren’t enough. You need to take your old job back as a mechanic, they’d love to have you back,” Maria said. 

Back when they were in high school, Grant had an afterschool job as a mechanic at a small mom and pop shop in the city. Working on cars was another passion he had been taught by his dad. It was his first passion in life and something that he was seriously working on to be his main career. He wanted to become ASE certified and own his own shop. This passion became a secondary hobby after Grant discovered Search and Rescue.  

“I can’t just leave my passion Maria, I worked years at this. I’m not gonna let those years go to waste,” Grant said. 

“Then put it aside, take a break for a year and save up some money. You need to, it’s stressing you out. It’s changing you. The stress is eating you alive. You aren’t getting enough sleep and your mind is always scrambled,” Maria said. 

“I’m not leaving search and rescue, and if you can’t accept that, then I guess we have a problem,” Grant said. 

“What are you saying?” Maria asked. 

There was a moment of silence, Grant didn’t respond. More like he couldn’t respond. He didn’t know what to say. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m saying. I gotta go,” Grant said as he grabbed his jacket.

He opened the front door and closed it behind him as Maria called out to him. He ended up staying at Tommy’s for a few days. He walked inside and Tommy handed him a beer. 

“Still having trouble with Maria?” he asked.

“Yeah. She won’t stop man, she wants me to leave search and rescue. But I can’t. I worked too hard to achieve this, I can’t throw it all away,” Grant said. 

“Nah man, I agree with you. She’ll come around. You two always iron out your problems,” Tommy said. 

A few days had gone by with neither of them contacting each other. This was the first time they had gone multiple days after a fight without even texting each other. Grant assumed that it was over. He figured he went too far, and his passion led him too far astray from his personal life. But now, there was no choice. He had lost the love of his life, now all he had left was his passion. They spent a few days doing nothing. Hanging out at the house, playing some video games, having some beers, ordering pizzas, and not worrying about anything. One night, they found themselves at a bar. It was a quiet little bar, one that very rarely had live music, and the music that played over the speakers wasn't too loud. It was never crowded nor was there ever any drama. It was the only bar that Grant would go to. All the other bars were too extreme, similar to clubs. Assholes that are drunk and jumping around, bumping into you, spilling their drinks on you, yelling and screaming. All stuff that Grant hated, so he avoided clubs at all cost. Grant had just racked the pool balls. He lifted the triangle, and let Tommy break. The triangle of balls broke into different directions, with only the maroon seven dropping into the corner pocket. Tommy took another shot, but was unable to hit anything due to his position. 

“You messed up by giving me this shot,” Grant said with a smirk. 

Grant lined up his shot, and sank the blue two, meaning that he was solids. Because he hit the white ball at the bottom, it added backspin so as soon as it hit the blue ball, it spun backwards. Grant looked up at Tommy, still with a smirk. The game went on, Grant had just missed a shot. He hit the yellow one, but it missed the corner pocket, so it was Tommy's turn. Tommy was beginning to run the table, sinking striped ball after striped ball. Grant found himself tuning out the game. Everything almost became quiet, as he stared at the floor blankly, holding his pool stick against the floor with both hands.  He was thinking about Maria. Wondering if he had gone too far. Not once did he and Maria ever have a fight this big, because they always found a compromise. But this time, Grant thought was being too stubborn. He snapped out of it when Tommy shook him and called his name. 

“Grant. Are you alright?” Tommy asked. 

“Yeah. Yeah I'm fine,” Grant said. 

“Alright, it's your turn,” Tommy said. 

Grant immediately focused on the game. He lined his shot up, and sank the yellow one in the corner. He turned around, and hit the orange five into the side pocket. 

“Opposite side pocket,” Grant said. 

He lined up the shot, and sank the eight ball into the opposite side pocket. He had won. He and Tommy shared a laugh and sat down to have one more beer. The rest of the night, Grant's mind drifted, thinking about Maria. Tommy noticed his distance, and didn't intervene. 

The next day, Grant got up early and went for a walk. He found himself at Wentworth Park. A big and breathtaking park that was surrounded by hedges, making you feel like you were in another realm as you couldn't see the street when you were in this park. There were small hills around the park, with a long walking path that people would use to walk laps. There were benches placed around the park along the trail, a few cool statues and a small pond with a fountain in the middle. Grant would commonly go here. Whether he had something on his mind or not. It was a common place for all of them to go. It was very stress relieving sitting on the bench and hearing the water fall back into the pond from the fountain. It was therapeutic, and helped him wrangle his thoughts. After being there for about an hour he heard someone call his name. Tommy was walking up. 

“What's going on?” Tommy asked as he sat down. 

“How'd you find me?” Grant asked. 

“When you're missing, there's really only one place I can find you,” Tommy said. 

There was silence for a moment as the two of them stared at the pond. 

“Thinking about Maria?” Tommy asked. 

“I am,” Grant said. 

“Come to a conclusion yet?” Tommy asked. 

“I think I should do what she wants. I think I should give up search and rescue. I mean, I got here, right? I succeeded and put in a few good years with it,” Grant said. “What do you think?” Grant asked. 

“I think you're right. You did what you wanted to do. You got into search and rescue, and you were able to love it for a few years. But nothing is worth jeopardizing your relationship with Maria,” Tommy said. 

“You're right. Alright, I'm gonna do it. I'll call Liam later tonight,” Grant said.

Later that day, he was at Tommy's playing a game. His phone began to ring. He looked down and saw that it was Liam. 

“Hey Liam. I'm actually glad you called. I got something to talk to you about,” Grant said. 

“What is it?” Liam asked. 

“So, I’m sorry to say, but I’m stepping away from search and rescue,” Grant said. 

“No, really?” Liam asked. 

“Yes, I want to thank you for the opportunity, and the respect you’ve given me. You even gave me the position of a squad leader. But, there’s too many things going on in my personal life, I can’t keep my mind focused on search and rescue,” Grant said. 

“I respect you Grant, thank you for all you’ve done for us. You’ve saved countless lives, I wish you luck in the future and remember, You’ll always have a spot here,” Liam said. 

“Thank you Liam, I appreciate everything,” Grant said.

He hung up the phone and looked over at Tommy. 

“So that’s that?” Tommy questioned. 

“That’s that,” Grant said. 

“It’ll be for the best,” Tommy said. 

Grant went back to his place to see Maria. She opened the door with an aggravated look. 

“What do you want?” she asked. 

“To talk to you,” Grant said. 

They walked through the house and onto the deck out back. 

“I quit search and rescue,” Grant said. 

“You did?” Maria asked with a sense of hope in her voice.

“Yes. After a few days at Tommy’s place, I realized that you are more important in my life,” Grant said. “I'm sorry I was putting work before you. I won’t ever do that again, I promise,” Grant continued.

Maria smiled and hugged him, letting go of all of her anger she had towards him, happy to have him back. 

Two months later, Grant had just gotten home from working with his uncle. Maria was out that day so the house was empty. Before he could ever shower and get something to eat, there was a knock at his door. He opened it to see Tommy and Liam. 

“Hey, what’s up guys!” Grant said with excitement. 

He shook both of their hands and stepped outside. They talked for a few minutes, just catching up. Tommy had been promoted to squad leader, taking over for Grant. Jobs were successful and things were going good. 

“Good, I’m glad to hear it,” Grant said. 

“But unfortunately, our good streak has run out,” Liam said. 

“What happened?” Grant asked.

“Something pretty serious has happened,” Liam said. “A family has gone missing, and we need your help urgently,” Liam continued. 

“You know I can’t, I promised. I put that behind me,” Grant said. 

“I understand. But son, a family has gone missing in Blackreach Forest,” Liam said. 

Now he had Grant's attention. 

“And two search groups have already gone missing,” Liam said. 

“Guys, I can’t. Tommy, you know I can’t,” Grant said. 

“I know, and I told Liam that. But he insisted that I come along,” Tommy said.

 “Liam, I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. My personal, is more important than search and rescue right now, I can’t,” Grant said. 

“Fine, I understand. I just figured I’d come by and ask,” Liam said. 

“Good luck guys. I know you’ll find them,” Grant said. 

He shook hands with both of them and he went back inside as they left. Grant sat on his back porch and just stared out into the yard. He knew the stories that came out of Blackreach, and he kept imagining the family lost out there. He would think back to how just two or so months ago, this was his job, to go and find missing people, and now he was turning it away. He almost didn’t feel right about it, but he had to try and justify it to himself. When Maria got home, she found him on the deck, still pondering. She knew that something was wrong. 

“What’s wrong Grant?” she asked. 

“Tommy and Liam came by today,” Grant said. 

The look on Maria’s face almost instantly changed. 

“A family has gone missing in Blackreach forest, and they wanted my help,” Grant said. 

Before Maria could even say anything, Grant spoke up again. 

“But I told them I couldn’t go,” Grant said. 

The angry look left Maria’s face. 

“Well good, they will find the family. It’s their job,” Maria said. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Grant said. 

She kissed him and went back inside to shower and change. Grant stayed on the deck, pondering. After another hour outside, Grant finally came back inside. He and Maria ate supper together before getting ready for bed. The thought of that family was eating Grant alive, keeping him up for hours before finally falling asleep. The next morning, Grant had showered and eaten breakfast. He was on the deck again just thinking. He couldn't get the idea of the lost family out of his head. He looked up, he had made his decision. He walked inside and found Maria. He just looked at her. 

“What’s up?” she asked. 

He didn’t reply, he just stared at her. She stared back at first, confused until finally she realized. HJer eyes widened. 

“No,” she said. 

“I’m going,” Grant said. 

“No, Grant you can’t!” Maria said. 

“I have to Maria! I can’t leave them out there!” Grant said. 

“You left this behind! I thought you said you would never put work before me again!” Maria said. 

“I’m not! I’m not doing this for me or my benefit! I can’t leave that family out there, knowing that I can help find them! If they are found dead, I will never be able to live with myself! And, I can’t leave Tommy out there either!” Grant said. 

“This is ridiculous Grant, when are you gonna grow up and start making the right decisions!” Maria said. 

“That’s what I’m doing. This is the morally correct decision,” Grant said as he walked out the front door. 

He drove away from the house and called Tommy, who told him to meet him at his house. Grant picked him up and they began driving. 

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Tommy said. 

“I can’t leave that family out there. So, let’s do this last job,” Grant said.