“
Hey,” Jake said, “what’s that up ahead?”
I strained my eyes and saw flashes of blue and red. Peering intently, I noticed it was a pitched tent. “Somebody’s camping!”
“
Maybe they can help,” he said in a hopeful voice.
“
I hope they have a cell phone,” I said. When we neared the tent, I called, “Hello?” but nobody answered.
Jake unzipped the weathered tent. “It’s empty.”
I glanced around and saw a rusted canteen and tin cup. “I don’t think anybody has been here for ages. It looks abandoned.”
Jake called my name from inside the tent. “I found something.”
I stuck my head in, and the musty smell made me gag. “What is it?” I opened the flap of the tent and walked in. I tossed the blankets around and went through the backpacks. I saw canteens, maps, a compass, clothes, shoes, and sunscreen.
“
There’s a diary or some kind of journal here,” he said, “but the pages are damp and falling apart.”
I carefully flipped through the book. Some pages were unreadable, but I was able to read enough to know that the man who’d set up camp there was a retired Navy general. I started reading the entries and became more frantic as I flipped each page. The general had been trapped; he’d broken his leg and had been unable to climb out of a giant gorge. “Do you know what this means?” I asked after I read it to Jake.
He nodded grimly. “We’re stuck in the exact same gorge he was.”
I started to slowly spin around, worry flooding my features.
“
We’ll be fine, Ashly,” Jake consoled. “We’ll climb back out, hurt or not.”
“
Don’t you remember how steep it was? We barely got down here without killing ourselves. Every step we took was a mini-avalanche, and we slid down some huge inclines on our butts. We’ll never get out without ropes and proper equipment.”
I watched his eyes shift back and forth and noticed the insecurity starting to show on his face
“
How on Earth did we get ourselves trapped in this hellhole?” he whispered.
I started walking around the gorge and glanced at the towering walls all around us. It was as if we were trapped in a huge pit. “How could we have been so stupid?”
“
Easy. We don’t know the area,” he said, rubbing the sweat from his face with his arm.
I swallowed hard and straightened up, sudden realization shining in my eyes. “What if we can’t get out of here?”
He squeezed his eyes shut. “Not possible,” Jake said, trying to sound certain.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Maybe the general didn’t make it out alive either.”
“
I haven’t seen a body anywhere. Have you?” Jake asked, making a good point. Holding his shoulder, he met my gaze. “Let’s think positive and hope the guy got out. For the time being, I say we get a smoke fire going.” Jake motioned around him. “Let’s start collecting some tinder, twigs, and lots of wood. We’ll make a big, giant, blazing fire.”
I started gathering grass, leaves, twigs, and bark to get our fire started. I wasn’t a Girl Scout or anything, but I’d never missed a season of
Survivor,
and I had something the competitors on the show didn’t have: kerosene and matches in my backpack. I ducked under the tangle of vegetation and looked for wood and logs. In no time, we had a fire going.
We waited for hours, hoping someone would catch sight of the smoke and flames and come to our rescue, but nothing happened.
I stared at the steep wall. “Hmm. I bet I could climb that, now that I’m looking at it.”
“
No, let me try,” Jake said.
“
Your shoulder is messed up. I’m sure I can do it.”
“
I’m fine,” he insisted.
“
Far from it, Macho Man,” I retorted. “Just let me do this.” I lifted my gaze and realized I’d have to climb up a sheer vertical wall that towered hundreds of feet. There was no way either of us could actually accomplish such a climb.
Jake’s gaze swept over the wall. “With the proper equipment, maybe, but without it, it’s a suicide mission. The last time I checked, you weren’t Spiderman.”
“
We’ll just have to find another way.” Just as I was about to turn around, a zigzagged crack snaked its way up the granite rock to the top, and I hoped I might be able to use it to my advantage. “I think I can do this, Jake,” I said, trying to sound brave.
“
No,” he said.
I started climbing and was easily able to make it one-quarter of the way up. At that point, though, the rock became weak and brittle, and there was chalky-colored lichen growing all over it. As I climbed, I began to kick rocks and could hear them crashing to the bottom. Taking a deep breath, I gathered my courage and kept going. I shimmied and squirmed up a couple steep rock steps, trying to locate a ledge with some trees for shelter. I climbed up, hand over hand, then lost my footing and felt myself falling back; it felt like I plummeted three stories. I sucked in a painful breath and collapsed, and pain shot through my side like a spreading bush fire.
“
Ashly!” Jake screamed. “Are you okay?”
“
I know I shouldn’t have tried this, but what other choice do we have? I refuse to die down here like that lonely old general!”
“
We don’t know that he’s dead, Ashly. Maybe he’s sitting at home, watching TV and drinking coffee.”
“
I doubt that,” I said under my breath. “We already know of one dead man on this mountain, there might be another, and we might just be adding two to the body count if we don’t get out of here!” I raged.
“
Look, you gotta calm down, baby.” Jake examined me and ordered me to move and wiggle all my extremities.
I hadn’t broken anything; I’d only twisted my ankle and broken a few ribs. After I screamed through the pain and rested, we started to look for another way out. The other towering walls were even steeper.
“
How are we gonna get the hell out of here?” I asked Jake, and he had no answer for me.
A pair of squawking birds flew into the trees. As they did, I noticed a pair of feet sticking out from under a nearby bush. As I approached, the smell of death and rot lingered in the breeze. Nausea churned in the pit of my stomach, and I clutched my heart. As I walked closer, I saw him, a dead man, in his sixties, with a strong physique and a U.S. Navy baseball cap lying next to his decaying head. “He’s never made it back to his TV and his coffee, Jake,” I said. Then I froze, as if my mind refused to grasp the terrifying thought. My eyes widened, and my pulse raced out of control. “If a Navy general couldn’t even make it out, how are we gonna—”
Jake pulled me into a comforting embrace, then slowly pushed back and looked at me. “I’m going to check his ID, just to be sure it’s him. His family deserves closure.”
I nodded and looked away. I felt so bad for the man.
After a few minutes, Jake came back over, and there was a terrified look on his face that betrayed the truth he so desperately wanted to hide.
I let out a trembling breath. “Well? Is it him?”
“
Yup. General Travis McDonald.”
“
Like I said, Jake, if a retired general couldn’t make it out, how will we? He had military experience, maps, and a compass. He
knew
what he was doing, and he still died down here. We’re just two idiots on a hiking trip!”
He put his arm around me. “If we’re gonna get through this, we’ve gotta stay strong…and sane, Ashly.”
I walked into the thick brush and began collecting wildflowers. Jake helped me gather a beautiful, fragrant bouquet, and we gently laid them across the man’s chest and all around him. We said a few words and prayed for him. It was the best we could do in the situation we were in, but we couldn’t just leave him there without paying our respects. It just wouldn’t have been proper.
After the makeshift memorial service for a fallen hero, I panicked even more. “We can’t just sit here and wait. Obviously no one ever comes down here, or someone woulda found him. Jake, we’ve gotta get out of here, or the same thing’s gonna happen to us.”
Jake swayed and swung out his arm for balance, then leaned up against a huge boulder. His hair was slick with sweat, and droplets dripped down his face. He wore a brave, composed face and I admired that, but I knew he was getting weaker by the minute.
“
Rest,” I ordered, seeing how pale he was. “I’ve got this.”
“
I’m fine.”
I wanted to believe, but I knew the reality was that he’d lost too much blood and was running a fever. Gasping deeply, I bit my lip hard.
Lowering his gaze, he grasped my hand, giving it a nervous squeeze.
“Are you okay?”
“
My foot hurts, and my ribs ache when I move or twist my body, or if I breathe too deeply, but I’m fine,” I said.
Jake’s clothes were drenched in sweat, and I knew his fever was getting worse. He wiped sweat from his face and squinted, as if trying to correct blurry vision. Fresh blood started to seep from his shoulder wound. I was no nurse or doctor, but I knew Jake was in no condition to help.
“
You need to rest,” I said. “You’re bleeding.”
“
No, I have to help you,” he insisted. His brows knitted together as he looked at me. He was determined, and he would not give up until I gave in. When I refused to give my blessing, he took matters into his hands. He started to stand, then crashed to the ground in a heap.
“
Jake!” I felt for a pulse and was relieved to discover that it was strong. A shudder tore through my body, and sadness, depression, and guilt tore at me. I collapsed to my knees, tears blinding my vision. All I could feel was a deep, unrelenting pain, one I hadn’t felt since the last time he’d left me, only this time, he wasn’t leaving me on purpose. “No!” I shouted. “No!” I stared up at the sky, refusing to accept what fate had dealt me. “I refuse to believe this!” I screamed. “I’m gonna stop this! Do you hear me? Somehow, I’m gonna stop this from happening. I won’t let him go!” I yelled at the universe.
Just then, I heard a choppy rumble in the distance. Listening intently, I tried to identify the buzzing sound. “Helicopter!” I said. My eyes widened, stunned beyond belief. I knew if I could get their attention, we might just have a chance. The whirring of the blades echoed in my ear. I craned my neck and squinted across the horizon. I could see the low-flying, black and white helicopter way off in the distance.
“
We need another smoke fire!” I yelled. I grabbed dry grass and dead plants, then placed more tinder on top of the pile of kindling. I used the lighter and the kerosene and quickly ignited it without a second thought.
A soft groan carried from my right “Ashly…”
I turned to face Jake. “I hear a chopper. Stay put. I’m gonna try and wave it down.”
His face was solemn as sweat poured from it. “Make the fire as big as you can.”
My breath quickened. “I’m trying.”
His eyes fluttered closed, and I continued to build the signal fire. I grabbed more wood, sticks, and dry logs. I worked through the pain, until I had a roaring fire. It suddenly dawned on me, though, that our smoke signal would do no good unless a helicopter was right on top of us, and I worried that it wouldn’t pass our way.
I stared down at the matches in my hands.
No! I’m not gonna be another fatality, even if I have to light this whole damn mountain on fire. Damn it, I’m gonna get someone’s attention, one way or another!
I drew in choked breaths and peered around me, a sense of dread settling in the pit of my stomach. I refused to die. For me and for Jake, I had to fight.
I took a step back. “Let’s take it up a notch!” I screamed like some insane, crazed pyromaniac. I grabbed the kerosene and made a trail to the pile of dry, dead, rotting logs. The fire hungrily followed the path and burst into a blazing inferno at the end, and I squirted the entire bottle all over the surrounding trees. I swayed as a wave of dizziness washed over me. Holding my abdomen, I fell down next to Jake as great pain tore through me.
“
Wh-what are you doing?” he whispered. “You’re burning the whole forest down!”