by Kelvin Teo
Oh god, no!
The rope on the far side looked like it was beginning to unravel and as it did, the lower rope moved lower and lower, causing a larger gap to the upper rope.
"Danny! What’s go ..."
Before she could finish the sentence, the lower rope fell away, leaving Lizzie hanging by her fingertips.
"Danny!" she screamed.
Before he could come up with any kind of plan to help her, she lost her grip and fell.
"No!" he screamed, as he watched in horror at her falling toward the rocks.
9
Through some miracle, she missed every rock and landed in a deep section of the water. He saw her come back up and was gasping for air, but then he realized the danger was not over for her.
She began to be swept down the river, clawing and clutching at any rock she came close to, trying to haul herself out of the water. But, every time she tried, she found the rocks were covered with moss and she just slid right past them.
She kept screaming for Danny and at one point looked back and couldn’t see him near the end of the ruined bridge. Then, she saw him racing down a path along the river, trying to catch up to her.
She turned her attention back to trying to stay above water and also trying to slow her speed down the river. She was able to get herself aimed right at a small boulder and she hit it with her feet. That stopped her for a second, but the force of the river washed her up and onto the boulder and then off the other side.
Danny kept racing along the path, trying to spot the best place for him to get to her, but then he heard something he couldn’t figure out for a moment. The sound of the rushing water changed.
As he came around a bend in the river, he saw it. A waterfall about thirty feet high was crashing onto the rocks below.
She might have gotten lucky when she fell, but she won’t be lucky if she goes over that.
Looking quickly at the river just before it went over the falls, he could see it narrowed slightly and there were some boulders in the water just before the edge.
Looking upriver, he could see her bobbing up and down, still trying to grab onto anything, but having no luck with that.
Jumping down to the edge of the river, he yelled at her, telling her to start swimming toward his side. He saw her starting to swim and he prayed she would make it to the side before she got to the falls.
Come on, baby. You can do it.
He waded out into the water, up to his knees and tried to get himself situated to grab her when she got close.
He watched as she continued to flail at the water, trying to battle the current and get to the calmer water along the edge.
When she was about twenty feet from safety, she hit a rock with her head and immediately went underwater.
"No!" screamed Danny.
He started pushing his way toward the rock, thinking she was being pinned against it, but something caught his eye. Looking toward the deeper water, he saw her floating face down and heading for the falls.
Diving into the cold water, he swam toward the middle of the river and was able to catch her arm as she was going past. Reaching down with his feet, he realized he couldn’t touch the bottom and he was being swept along with her toward the falls.
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her in close and swung himself around so he could see what was coming and it would come at him feet first.
He searched for the nearest boulder and did everything he could to steer the two of them toward it. He could tell he was only going to get one shot at staying above the falls, so he got himself prepared for the impact.
When he hit the rock, he found out the same thing Lizzie could have told him. Just below the waterline, the rock was coated with a fine layer of moss and it was as slippery as ice.
His feet slipped right off the side of the rock and he had no chance to grab hold of it and also keep hold on Lizzie at the same time.
He pulled her in close and closed his eyes.
We go together, sweetie.
He felt the edge of the river come and then found himself falling. He kept his eyes closed because he didn’t want to see the rocks coming up at them.
Then, he felt the impact.
With the water below.
Just as had happened to Lizzie when she fell, they missed all the rocks and plunged into a deep pool of water at the base of the falls.
When he surfaced, he realized he didn’t have her in his arms anymore and she was not on top of the water.
"Lizzie!"
He looked all around and knew there was only one place she could be.
Diving deep and fast, he searched the murky water for her, but couldn’t find her. With his lungs bursting, he surfaced again to refill his lungs with air. Then he dived again.
On the third dive, he found her floating near the bottom of the river. Grabbing hold of her arm, he hauled the two of them back to the surface and pulled her up, getting her face out of the water.
The force of the river was quite a bit lighter at this point and he was able to move them to the side. The undergrowth along the bank of the river stood like a barbed wire fence, trying to keep him from getting out of the water.
He was having none of it.
He got Lizzie up on his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and pushed his way out of the river and to a spot of flat ground.
When he laid her down and looked, he wanted to cry. She was blue in the face and there was a large, gash on her forehead from the rock. And she wasn’t breathing.
Okay, you know what to do. You can do this!
He turned her on her side and began letting the water drain from her lungs. After a few seconds, he rolled her onto her back and began to breathe for her. Holding her nose closed, he pressed his mouth to hers and blew. Looking to the side, he could see her chest rise and fall with each breath he gave her.
After a couple of breaths, he checked for a heartbeat and couldn’t find one. So, he balled up his hands and began to push sharply on her sternum three times.
Then he went back to breathing for her.
He kept repeating the process, calling out to her each time he tried to get her heart started, begging her to come back. He could feel the tears running down his face as he continued to work.
He didn’t know how long he could keep it up, but he told himself he’d do it until he died.
At about the five minute mark, he was breathing into her mouth when she coughed up a ton of water and gasped for air.
"Breathe Lizzie!" he yelled as he rolled her onto her side so she could cough out the rest of the water.
Every time she tried to take a breath, it was cut short by more water working its way out of her lungs and he began to fear she might not be able to clear her body.
As he thought about it, he jumped up and pulled her hips up, so her head was below her chest. She struggled against him, but he held her firm and he could see the water draining from her mouth. He reached around her midsection and hugged her body with his strong arms, forcing the air and water from her lungs.
She continued to fight against him, but he told her it was to get the water out of her lungs.
Finally, she was able to squeak out, "You’re going to kill me!"
He relaxed his hold and heard her draw in a deep breath. It still sounded raspy and wet, but she was able to fill her lungs with the cool, life-giving air. She raised herself to her hands and knees and began coughing up the last of the water. And the entire contents of her stomach.
Danny sank down to the ground, sitting back against a tree and just watched her. He was drained from the effort to bring her back and also from the thought of how close he came to losing her.
When she finally was able to take a breath without coughing up a lung, she sat back on her heels and breathed slowly. She looked over at him and cocked her head.
"Are you crying?"
"Oh no, that’s just water from the river," he said as he wiped his face and eyes.
She crawled over to
him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He could feel her shivering and knew they couldn’t stay there for very long. They were both going to freeze to death if they didn’t get back to the pack and get some dry clothes on.
She was running a hand over his wet chest.
"I don’t believe you," she said.
"What?"
"I think you were crying."
He almost laughed and then ran his hand over her head.
"I thought I had lost you."
She sat up and looked at him.
"Thanks for fighting to bring me back. I could see a bright light, like they say you will after you die, but I could also hear you calling to me."
He smiled and said, "So, you decided to live instead of going into the light right now."
She smiled at him and then winced in pain. She reached and felt the gash on her forehead. When she pulled her hand away, her fingertips were covered with some half dried blood.
"Oh," she said as she looked at it.
"Yeah, I guess your hard head wasn’t as hard as that rock you hit in the river."
Danny stood up and held out his hand, helping her up. When she was on her feet, she felt a bit dizzy and leaned up against him. He held her close until she could get her strength back in her legs.
"When you’re ready, we need to get back to the pack and get some dry clothes on," he said. "and see if we can clean up your pretty face."
She looked up at him and then stretched up and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tight, as they both sank into the kiss.
After a few seconds, he pulled back when he felt her shiver some more.
"Let’s go, sweetie. I can tell you’re starting to get cold."
They turned and started back up the path and it took about ten minutes for them to reach the broken bridge. His backpack was right where he had left it and he began pulling clothes out. When he handed some dry clothes to her, he pointed toward a bunch of bushes and said she could change behind them.
She looked at the bushes and then shook her head.
"I don’t want to be out of sight of you right now."
He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Okay, I promise not to look."
He turned and faced the river, starting to shed his own wet clothes. Once he was naked, he used a towel to dry off and realized he hadn’t given her anything to dry off with.
He held the towel out behind him and asked, "Need to use this?"
"Uh huh," she said softly.
He expected her to take the towel and when she didn’t, he glanced over his shoulder and saw her standing there. Naked. Staring right at him.
He could tell by the look in her eyes, she was thinking of one thing. Turning around he walked over to her and wrapped the towel around her.
"Sweetie, if we weren’t in a fight for our lives right now ..."
He stopped and looked at her, shaking his head slightly.
She nodded as she dropped her head.
"You’re right," she said softly. "I don’t know what I was thinking."
Turning back around, he reached down and picked up a pair of shorts and pulled them on.
"You’re probably just overcome with the sight of this much man," he said, grinning at her.
"Oh yeah! That’s it," she laughed as she dried herself off.
He found himself in the same predicament she was in, as he watched her dry her beautiful body. She looked up at him.
"What’s the matter? Too much woman for you to ignore?"
He laughed and reached down and picked up his pants and slipped them on. After putting on his shirt, he sat down on a log and began putting on some dry socks. Picking up his boots, he realized they were still quite soaked, so he stuck them upside down on a couple of branch stumps on the log to let them dry for a little bit.
He watched as Lizzie finished putting some clothes on, just marveling at how beautiful she was. Even with the stringy wet hair and the bump on her head, she was still beautiful in his eyes.
She finished buttoning up her shirt and looked at him. He was just staring at her.
"What are you looking at, sir?"
He smiled and said, "A vision of beauty."
She looked at him and ran her fingers through her hair and over the wound on her forehead.
"Beauty? Right now?"
He stood up and walked to her and took her face between his hands.
"You have never looked more beautiful to me than you do right now."
Then he leaned down and their lips came together in another epic, movie-style kiss.
When they parted, she looked up at him and said, "Promise me you’ll feel the same way when we get out of here."
He nodded slightly and said, "I promise."
He looked at her head and led her over to the log and had her sit down. Rummaging around in his pack, he came up with a few first aid supplies he had nicked from Peaches’ kit. Pulling open an alcohol wipe, he held it up in front of her.
"This is going to sting a little."
"Hey, I’m the girl that came back from the dead. I think I can handle it."
He grinned and wiped it across the hole in her head. She jumped when the alcohol hit the wound and squealed in pain.
He giggled and said, "You know what they say. If you can feel pain it means you’re still alive."
He pulled out a square bandage and stuck it to the wound and pressed the edges down. She winced again every time he put pressure on the bump.
After cleaning up the scraps of paper, he sat down next to her and put an arm around her. She snuggled up into his chest and let the warmth of his body wash over her.
"What are we going to do now?" she asked.
"We’re walking out of here, calling the sheriff and bringing them back here to deal with the Morgans."
"Do you think we’ll find Ali and Clark?"
"I think we will."
"Alive?"
He didn’t say anything to that. He had no idea what the answer was.
10
It took about two hours for their boots to dry enough to put them on and be able to walk without the threat of blisters. They knew they were about a couple of miles south of the road, so they started heading in that direction. It was their hope they could reach the road and then the convenience store before it got dark.
That didn’t mean anything though, if the store was closed again.
It didn't take long to reach the road and as they walked along the shoulder, they held hands. Lizzie wasn’t going to let his hand go and he felt the same way.
It took them about two hours to make it to the store and just as they feared, it was closed for the day. Not only was it closed, but one of the windows was boarded up with thick, heavy plywood.
"How the hell does this guy make any money being closed all the time?" yelled Danny as he pounded on the door.
"Hey, they don’t get much business up here," she said, "and with the bridge out, they probably don’t get any."
She looked at the window and asked, "Why do you think this board is up here?"
Danny looked down and saw some small pieces of glass right up against the wall, underneath the window.
"Looks to me like the window was broken and they needed to board it up to secure the store. Probably happened in the storm."
He stepped back and took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Then he started looking around on the ground.
"What are you looking for?"
"A rock. I’m taking a page from Clark’s playbook. I’m going to break one of the other windows."
"No you’re not!"
"Lizzie, we need to get the sheriff out here and we need him now!"
"And if you break the window, they will just arrest us for breaking and entering."
"Good! They will arrest us and haul us down the mountain, where we will get a phone call."
She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Please don’t. Let’s just start walking. I rem
ember looking at my phone the other day and we had a signal about five miles from here. We’ll call when we get to that spot again."
He looked into her blue eyes and then nodded.
"Could be a long walk," he said.
"I’ll walk anywhere with you."
He held out his hand and she took it and they started down the road, heading back to civilization.
The sun was just going down and darkness was beginning to fall. The two lonely travelers moved along the side of the road, waiting for her phone to chirp at the first sign of a signal.
They had been talking for the last hour about what they would do when they got to college.
"So, you’re going to live in the dorms?" she asked.
"Yeah, it’s kind of a rule for the freshmen players. I guess it’s so the coaches can keep an eye on us. How about you? Going to try to live with the other cheerleaders?"
"I’m not going out for the squad at college."
"Really? Why not?"
"I think I’m past that. It’s not what I want to do with my life."
"I’m going to miss seeing you in those short skirts."
She bumped up against his shoulder and said, "I can always keep a cheer outfit handy for special occasions."
"Oooo, I’d like that. I’ll even buy one or two for you."
They both laughed and continued walking into the growing darkness.
Then the still of the night was broken by the sound of an engine coming up the road.
"Oh, thank god," said Lizzie.
They could see the glow of the headlights about a mile away, cutting through the trees, coming up the mountain toward them.
Danny stopped and pulled Lizzie back.
"What’s the matter, Danny?"
He held up a couple of fingers to her lips and closed his eyes and listened. Then he grabbed her and started pushing her off the road, toward the trees.
"What’s happening?"
"We need to get off the road and hide, right now!"
She stopped resisting him and they ran about twenty yards off the road. Just before the vehicle got close to where they were, Danny pulled her down behind some brush and whispered to be quiet.