Chapter 14
Unfortunately, as much as you would love to help out the hitchhiker by giving him a ride, you just don’t have time. So you leave the poor man on the side of the road, with his thumb stuck in the air. Hopefully, someone else will come by soon and take pity on him.
You keep driving on the empty road. Eventually, you hit the base of the mountain and start the treacherous drive upward. Shortly after you begin your ascent, the GPS on your phone cuts out as promised, so all you’ve got are Avery’s directions lying on the seat beside you.
The road up the mountain is dangerously narrow. Even one wrong turn could take you off the edge, plummeting to your death. Or worse, you could wreck Blair’s car. You drive very, very carefully. It’s slow going, but due to the lack of traffic, you’re ahead of schedule. Better to be safe than sorry.
You pull over and turn on the lights in the car. You check the directions in the seat beside you, scanning for a mention of a fork in the road. Naturally, there’s nothing there.
You grab your phone, hoping to call her and clarify, but of course, your cell service is out. It looks like you’re on your own.
You turn out the lights to improve your visibility. You peer out the windshield, trying to make heads or tails of the situation. There are two directions you can go: left or right.
On the left, the path seems to go inward, almost into the mountain. It must be colder on this path, since the road is caked with snow that hasn’t been entirely cleared away. It certainly does not look like a road that has seen many cars recently.
On the right, the road becomes narrower. Almost too narrow for Blair’s car, which is not exactly wide. There’s also a diamond-shaped sign mounted at the right fork, and the red lettering in all caps states: “SHARP TURNS AHEAD.” And then a second sign underneath that says, “PROCEED WITH CAUTION!”
Well, it looks like you have two terrible options. Since Avery’s directions aren’t at all helpful, you have to make a decision.
To go left, turn to Chapter 15 (page 36)
To go right, turn to Chapter 32 (page 78)