“Tim?” I replied and raised my eyebrows.
“The secretary. Back where…at the other crash site.”
“Oh, yeah. Tim.” I lowered my head and watched as each of my steps sank into the snow.
“What happened?”
I sped up a little bit and swallowed. So much had occurred since then that I hadn’t even thought about Tim or the fact that Cynthia had killed the Defense secretary. What did it matter now anyway? We were all just trying to survive for another day.
“He thought I was dead,” I started. “My finger prints are needed for the launch cycle. He was going to cut off my hand so Cynthia shot him.”
“Cynthia?” Craig gasped.
“Yeah, I was shocked too. Doesn’t looked like it affected her at all.” I glanced back to Cynthia. She was laughing and talking with Abraham like this was just a stroll in the park for her. “I expected her to crack from all of this at some point.”
Craig started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Cynthia,” he said again and chuckled. “She’s probably the most dangerous thing out here. Even scarier than you.”
“What?”
“She used to run ops for the CIA. Was the liaison for Blackwater during that whole thing.”
“I thought she was a doctor,” I replied with a stunned face.
“Yeah, that’s the scary part. Anyway, don’t worry about Tim. If she hadn’t killed him I would’ve.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. He dragged me and my team out here and didn’t even plan on letting us onboard. I overheard him and Bill on the plane.”
“What a piece of shit.”
“He was never a trustworthy guy. Guess he got what he deserved.”
I put my head down and started counting my steps. Craig continued to walk with me, but didn’t say anything else. I think we were all drained and just wanted to be done with it all.
We walked for another hour before stopping to let Abraham rest. No one doubted he was a tough guy, but watching him hobble on one foot up steep mountain passages gave me a whole new respect for him.
We stopped in a small clearing and found a downed tree that we used as a bench. Chris grabbed a couple of dead branches and started a fire to keep us warm. The seven of us sat bundled together, shivering as the snow continued to pile up.
I placed my arm around Grayson and hugged him. He leaned into me and I felt him give in a little bit. I kissed him on the forehead and told him I loved him. He mumbled the words back and squeezed my waist. He was starting to come back to me.
I stared into the fire and thought of Toby, of how much I wanted him with me then. I always felt safer around him even though reality was the other way around. I wondered how long the pain I felt when I thought of him would last. Every time I saw his face in my mind it was like someone was stabbing me in my heart.
“I can’t wait to lay my old bones in a real bed,” Abraham announced loudly.
“We’ll get you there old man,” Henry said with a laugh.
“Who you calling old man?” Abraham snapped.
“How much longer do you think?” I turned and asked Craig.
“We can’t be that far. A mile or two maybe.”
I nodded then looked up as something heavy and wet landed on my head. At the same time, I felt a gust of freezing wind and heard the trees ruffle like crumbing paper.
The flakes of snow had turned to thick globs mixed in with tiny pellets of hail. It was coming down fast and hard and I could hear the fire sizzle as the ice burned in the flames.
“We need to go,” I stood and announced.
Craig was already on his feet and Chris started to kick snow over the fire. Henry grabbed Abraham by the arm and helped him up. We all scrambled to get everything together as quickly as we could and get moving.
In just that amount of time then wind had doubled. Broken branches and debris started to take flight. The cold howled through the trees and our relatively calm day turned into a massive blizzard.
“Where to?” Cynthia screamed over the groaning wind.
Shivering, I tried to think. There was no way we could make it to the site before we were overwhelmed by the snow. As it was, I could hardly see in front of my face.
“The caves!” I suddenly shouted. “The caves we passed on the way up. They’re not that far.”
“Let’s go!” Craig replied.
I grabbed Grayson’s hand and pulled him along with me. Like a herd of buffalo, we tore off back down the mountain in the direction we’d come.
The wet, snow wore on my legs like anchors. It was so thick at times I felt like I was sinking. The wind streaked across my face, blinding me with pebbles of ice and snowballs that felt like cement.
I pushed forward with my face down, taking it on faith that my next step would find solid ground. There was nothing in front of me, but a wall of piercing, opaque frost, like a tattered sheet had been thrown in my face. I could barely see the rest of the group. They were fading silhouettes in a white wash of destruction.
The outlines of trees kept me on what I thought was my path. There was no way to be sure and the longer we walked the more disorientated I became. The storm muffled the sounds all around me, the wind baffling in my ears like angry trumpets.
I tightened my grip on Grayson’s hand and plowed forward. Step after step I raced for safety, gasping in the ice-like air full of frozen needles. I questioned if each breath was even worth the accompanying pain.
I stopped at a gap between two trees. Gripping one of the trunks, I pulled Grayson forward and narrowed my eyes.
“It’s just down there,” I screamed, hoping everyone could hear me.
There was a flat ledge that jutted out right above a trail that led down to the caves. It was covered in snow now, but I knew it was down there. The set of thin trees marked the spot like a flag.
The ledge dropped off fifty feet on either side and vanished into a dense forest. The wind was blowing hard enough to blow someone right over the side and the snow made the ground slick and treacherous. We needed to hurry and get out of the blizzard, but we needed to be careful.
Craig dropped to the ground beside me and started to rummage through his bag. He pulled out a climbing rope and tied it around the bottom of the tree trunk. He pulled out another rope and handed it to me.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Keep it in your bag…just in case.”
I nodded and tucked the rope into my side pocket. Craig turned back to the ledge and grabbed the rope with both hands.
“I’ll go down first,” he screamed against the roaring gusts of wind. “Gonna tie the rope off near the rocks.”
I nodded and he started to lower himself down the perilous cliff. It felt like time stopped, waiting as he descended into the white abyss. I shivered as the wind screeched and howled, blowing bands of frozen daggers.
“I can’t see him anymore!” Chris yelled.
I’d lost sight of him as soon as he stepped over the ledge. Blindly, I reached out and grabbed the rope he’d left tied to the tree. I gave it a little tug and felt the slack, meaning he hadn’t found the bottom yet.
“Craig?” I called down to him.
The wind swallowed my words as soon as they left my mouth. I could feel Grayson shivering wildly beside me and pure panic rose in my belly. We had to get out of the snow and waiting any longer wasn’t an option.
I grabbed the rope again and yanked it. This time it snapped tight and I placed Grayson’s hand on it and moved him forward.
“Craig is at the bottom. Just hold the rope while you walk down to balance yourself. Craig will be waiting for you!” I shouted over the hellish wind.
Grayson looked me in the eye. Tears rolled down his face, turning to ice before they could be swept away in the snow. He wrapped his hands around me and buried his face in my shoulder.
“I didn’t mean it,” he cried. “I didn’t mean any of it. I love you, I’m so sorr
y.”
“I know, I know,” I told him and rubbed my hand across his head. “I love you too and everything’s gonna be okay. I promise.”
I placed my hand over his and held the rope. “Now, be careful. I’ll be down right after you.”
Grayson nodded and wiped his face. With a deep breath, he started down the ledge and quickly vanished in the fury of snow.
“Cynthia,” I called. “Then Abraham.”
“Don’t’ worry about me. Get down there with your son,” Cynthia shouted.
I shook my head from side to side as if she could see me. “Get on the fucking rope!” I snapped.
Once Cynthia disappeared off the ledge, Abraham was next. With Henry helping, he grabbed the rope and started to scale the treacherous mountain on one leg.
As he passed one hand over the other his foot caught a rock. He let out a garbled cry for help then slowly tumbled backward. I dove forward and caught him by the sleeve. I grabbed the rope with my other hand and we slammed into the ground.
I shuffled my feet as the snow and loose sand gave way underneath. The rope burned as it slid through my hands and we fell further down the steep edge.
“Grab the rope Abraham!” I yelled to him.
He wrapped his fingers around the rope and dug in with his good leg. Grunting, he slowly started to push himself to a stand. I pulled myself up next to him and steadied his grip.
“You okay?” I shouted.
He nodded his head, shaking snow and ice from his face. I pulled the extra rope from my bag and looped around his waist then mine. I yanked it tight then patted him on his shoulder.
“Keep moving, I’m going to follow you down,” I yelled.
Abraham smiled then started back down the mountain. I followed behind him, carefully checking my step before I set my feet. The wind and hail was relentless and every inch we moved felt like a mile.
Suddenly there was a loud snap and I felt a tug at the rope in my hand. I turned just as a chunk of the tree we’d been using for an anchor came screaming toward us. I could barely make it out through the snow and leaned to the side as it sailed by and smashed into Abraham.
He let out a muted grunt as he disappeared in a cloud of ice, falling off the side of the ledge into the unknown. I gasped in horror then the rope that tied us together yanked me off my feet and I found myself twirling through the air.
Spinning uncontrollably, I couldn’t tell up from down. I felt the harsh, icy touch of death, clawing at my face. The Grim Reapers foul breath, engulfing me like a sea of frozen cadavers. I felt my life fading, I felt alone, then I felt nothing.
CHAPTER 22
ALONE AND AFRAID
I awoke to cold, pain and cold. Everything else had been dulled by the temperature and even as I breathed in a chest full of air, I could feel my life slipping away.
The vivid memory of falling from the ledge cut into me like a spliced 8mm film. Snapshots of my world spinning out of control as I spiraled into a hazy plume of ice crystals.
I should’ve been dead. If the fall didn’t kill me, my time in the snow should have. But here I was, aching and freezing, still alive.
It took a moment for my senses to catch up, but once they did panic seemed to override everything else. Questions without answers swarmed in my mind and fear gripped my heart like the massive hands of a silverback.
I was lying on my side and something hard was pushing against me from below. I wiped a thin layer of snow from my face and tried to sit up.
“Shit!” I screamed in pain.
It felt like someone had drove a spike through my hips. I fell back and groaned, gripping my side and as I did, I felt the rope that tied me to Abraham. It ran from my waist and vanished into the thick snow below me.
“No!” I shrieked.
Grunting, I pushed myself onto my stomach and crawled forward. My bag had come loose and was halfway buried in the icy white powder. I pulled it out and started to dig with my forearms as fast as I could.
It didn’t take long. Abraham’s body was barely concealed under a few inches of fresh powder. His eyes were closed and icicles hung from his lashes. I hoped he’d died quickly and didn’t suffer, but the look on his face said otherwise.
I mumbled a shallow prayer under my breath. Abraham was a good man and he was a survivor. He didn’t deserve to die that way.
I stared at his frozen face for some time, reflecting on all that I’d been through. I wanted to feel something for him, anything, but I was empty. I wasn’t sad, I wasn’t angry, I was nothing. I was tired of being in the middle of death, I was so drained I couldn’t even care anymore.
Groaning, I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the sky. Thin, white clouds streaked through the soft, blue background. Blistering rays from the sun reached out to the heavens and somewhere in the back of my mind I wished I was dead.
The blizzard was over and I wasn’t sure how long I’d been out, but I was so tired of fighting what felt like the inevitable. I wasn’t sure how much I had left in me. It was so easy to just lay there, so easy to close my eyes and fade away.
I could see the edge of the cliff we’d fallen off and the rocky trail thirty feet above. It might as well have been the far side of the moon. There was no way back up there and I didn’t have the energy even if there was.
The guide rope swung back and forth in the breeze and I wondered if Henry or Chris had made it. Abraham’s body had broken my fall and as injured as I was, if I hadn’t landed on him I would’ve been dead. Maybe I owed it to him to keep moving.
“Come on MJ. Fight,” I grumbled.
I thought about Grayson and how scared he must be. For all he knew he’d just lost both of his parents and was all alone in this dying world. I had to survive for him, I had to make it back to him.
Clenching my jaw, I tried to sit up again. The pain was almost blinding, but I managed to force myself to stand. I steadied my wobbly knees then looked around for a sign of anyone else. In every direction, all I could see was snow.
I sighed and looked back up the mountain. There was no way to the ledge from where I was, but that was where I needed to be. Ignoring the blistering pain in my back, I started trudging forward through the snow.
I thanked God for the beaming sun above me. It was probably the only reason I was still alive. With my arms wrapped together, I pulled my jacket tight and focused on moving one foot at a time.
I was heading toward the Mayflower site. My only hope, was that they’d headed back up the ridge after the blizzard passed. The only way down to me without jumping was where the trails converged and that was where I would find Grayson.
A million things passed through my head as I hobbled through the white slush. Toby was never far from my thoughts. It would’ve been different if he was still alive. He would’ve stayed with Grayson, he would’ve made sure that Grayson was safe. Toby always kept him safe, I was the wildcard.
I spent so much of my life away from both of them. I justified it by telling myself my work was important, my work kept the world safe and some sacrifices needed to be made. Now it all seemed pointless. I would’ve given anything for that time back.
I couldn’t count the losses that I’d sustained. Everywhere I went someone else died. Someone else’s life was irreversibly changed just by being around me. Maybe I wasn’t part of the problem, maybe I was the problem.
In some places, the snow was hard. I found good footing and the pain in my back was barely noticeable. In other places, it was like walking through white, quick sand. My feet sank deep into the snow and I had to struggle to free them. It made my back hurt so much that a few times I had to stop all together and just sit.
Hours passed without a change in the landscape. I started to question if I was even going the right way, or maybe I’d just walked into the wild and the snow would claim me. It was that fear that made me walk faster.
Going on my third hour of walking I noticed something black moving up ahead. My heart leapt and I almost cried with joy.
I’d found them.
“Over here!” I shouted as loudly as I could.
I waved my hands and screamed again then fell back into the snow and sat down. Tears started to roll down my cheeks as I heaved in exhaustion. My legs shook wildly and my head throbbed. It was like my body knew that I was safe and it didn’t need to fight any longer.
“Over here!” I called out again in a scratchy voice.
I could tell they’d hear me. The dark mass was making its way across the snow, coming right toward me.
“You made it,” I said to myself with a smile.
I stared up ahead, trying to pick the individuals out from the group. They all looked like one dark blob from the distance. I was just happy to see them.
Squinting my eyes, I watched as they grew closer and closer. The image became sharper and I figured they were running. They were moving, too fast. Faster than humans could move.
“Oh shit!”
I tried to scramble to my feet, but between the pain and the snow that had turned to goo from my body heat, I couldn’t get traction. I scuttled backward like a crab, horror seizing my body as the image materialized into a massive, black wolf.
Before I could think, it was on me. Its teeth clamped down on my arm and shook me from side to side like a baby rattle. I let out a shriek of pain and beat my fist into the animal’s head over and over with no effect.
I fell onto my back as the wolf bored forward. It snapped again, grabbing a better hold then continued its silent assault.
In panic, I jammed my thumb into the creature’s eye and it let out a yelp then momentarily backed away. I pushed myself up and kicked it with all my might. I didn’t wait to see what damage I’d done. Spinning on my heels, I took off in the other direction.
I hadn’t gone more than a few steps when I could hear the wolf behind me. I tensed up, expecting to feel those greedy spears of ivory tear into me again.
My legs cramped and I felt a burn shoot up my spine like I was being electrocuted. As my body seized and I fell forward all I could think of was Grayson.
Flight Plan: Deconstruction Book Three (A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller) Page 16