She reached back and found her backpacks and bedroll were still tied to the mule roll bar. With some effort she was able to untie the bedroll and put it on the seat next to her. She thought for a moment and tied it to the grab bar between the seats so it would not roll off. If anything fell out of her reach she would not be able to retrieve it. She must be very careful to not allow anything to get beyond that small area. She freed the one back pack and moved it to the seat, then looped the seat belt through the straps. She was in pain and sweating when she was done. With any movement of her upper body she could feel the ends of the bones in her upper leg grind. The pain was intense. She knew her femurs were broken just above the knees. After a few minutes of rest she was able to reach the other backpack and get it buckled to the seat next to her. She opened the dash compartment and took an inventory. It held a flashlight, two spare sets of D batteries, a .22 pistol with a clip, two extra clips of ammunition, two rolls of duct tape, two disposable ponchos, a pair of pliers, a screwdriver and a first aid kit. She took out the flashlight, checked it then put it back for later use.

She opened the one backpack and took inventory. She had put a six pack of bottled water in one just before they left. She checked the bottles, they were all intact. She returned them to the backpack. She had put in a pack of a dozen food bars and six packs of snack crackers. There were two sweaters, two pairs of socks, a couple of pull over shirts, a pull over hat, two pairs of slacks and a plastic bag with a half dozen Kotex. Her dad told her once that they could be used for wound dressings and held in place with duct tape. She zipped it shut and checked the other backpack.

It had three bottles of water and a six pack of Root Beer – her favorite she noted, a couple of waterproof ponchos, a small blanket, two bags of potato chips, seven magazines, a cell phone, two portable two way radios, three sets of spare batteries for the radios, two bottles of mosquito repellent, some medications including packs of Tylenol, Benadryl and a nearly a half bottle of Advil. She carefully put each item back in the pack as she checked it. On the plus side she would easily have enough food and water for a couple of days. She put on some of the mosquito repellent, carefully closed it and put it in the backpack. Her dad had always insisted they take these two packs when they used the mule, they could add things they wanted but they both went along.

She looked at the sun. In a few hours it would get hot and although in scattered trees she was exposed most of the time. She checked, there was no sun block in the bags. Someone must have used it and not replaced it. She realized that someone was probably her. With her light skin she would burn and be very uncomfortable. In addition, showers were predicted for the late afternoon and evening. If she was not found before then getting wet would leave her wet and cold for the night. She remembered that an injured person was to be kept warm. It seemed funny thinking of herself in a detached way as “an injured person”.

She got out one roll of duct tape, pulled off several strips, stuck them on the dash and returned the roll to the compartment. It took longer to put everything away but she must not allow any of her resources to get out of her reach. She might need it later and if it were beyond her reach it might as well be on the back side of the moon. She took out one poncho and attached it from the dash to the roll bar with a couple pieces of tape, making a tent over herself. She was able to connect it but the movement created serious pain in her legs. She toyed with taking some Advil but declined for now. The pain was telling her to not do something that she probably shouldn’t and the Advil may be need later. She did not know how long she would be here.

She did not expect the others for another day and she may not be found immediately. She noticed some minor swelling in her leg just above the place it was trapped under the dash. Broken legs should be splinted, immobilized. She pulled out several of the magazines, worked one under her left leg and pulled it up around both sides. Then she put another one over the leg. She pulled one large strip of duct tape and pulled it around the magazines to hold them in place. The pain was reduced slightly but it would not hold the bones rigid so she still had the grinding and pain when she moved. She needed something that she could pull tight. The mule had several web straps on the roll bar. Sandra found the first aid kit and pulled out the scissors. She cut the straps and got them free with the buckles. One by one she wrapped them around the magazines and pulled them as tight as she could stand. The pain in her left leg was reduced. She did the same thing with her right leg except she didn’t use any of the tape.

It didn’t seem to have any value and she didn’t want to waste it. Her legs still hurt but she was far more comfortable. With her legs hurting less she completed the tent to protect her from sun and rain. When she finished the tent she took out the pliers and used them to tighten the straps on the improvised splints on her legs. It helped so she pulled them tighter until the pain eased.

By the time she was finished with this she was thirsty. She took one bottle of water, opened it and took two drinks, closed it and put it in the holder on the mule. She needed water but she also needed to carefully use her resources. With that done she pulled out the cell phone and turned it on. There was no signal as she had expected, the reason she had not tried the phone sooner. She turned it off. It may have some value later. She took the portable charger out of the case and plugged it into the outlet on the dash. It lit. The battery on the mule was still good. She checked the switches to make sure all of the accessories were off. She did not want to have that battery go dead. She next checked the portable radio and turned it on.

She remembered that if she let it on receive a set of batteries would last for more than a day. If she transmitted five minutes it took over an hour of receive battery time. She had three sets of batteries in addition to the ones in the radio that still indicated full. If she listened and only transmitted when there was a signal she could stretch the batteries. They would be of the most value to help them find her once someone realized she was missing or if they started calling for her.