58. Blake
BLAKE
Okay, so I think I must have gone the wrong way, because I do not remember a climb this steep. Not on the first day anyway.
By the time I reach the top, I’m breathing like a rhino, my limbs are screaming at me to stop already, and my palms are covered in scratches from having to grab onto branches in order to keep myself upright.
A fine sheen of sweat is coating my skin, and every time a cold breeze whistles between the trees, I can’t help a shiver.
Pausing at the top, I rest my hands on my knees and suck in lungfuls of air.
Despite the fact that I’ve made an error, I’m still feeling okay.
I’ll just find a spot nearby to spend the night, and then I’ll hike out the way I came in when it’s daylight. It’ll be a million times easier when I’m not relying solely on a small beam of light.
A beam that seems to be fading fast .
Shit. Spare batteries. Those would be handy about now. Wriggling the bag off my back, I pull out my water bottle and slug some back. I wonder if I should put the jacket on too. But, as soon as I get moving again, I’ll warm up.
Tightening the jacket around my waist, I stow the bottle away and grip the bag in my fist, sweeping the beam of light around me. It’s barely reaching past the closest trees now, the darkness beyond just a touch unsettling.
Grady would have remembered spare batteries.
I huff at my own stupidity and force myself up straight.
There’s no point standing here feeling sorry for myself.
If I can get out from under these trees, the moonlight can help me along… and I think I see a patch of it up ahead.
Tightening my grip on the bag, I surge forward, determined not to make this night my biggest disaster.
I’ll find my thinking spot.
I’ll think.
And then in the morning, the sun will rise and I’ll return to Wily’s truck, confident and secure in what I’m going to do moving forward.
Are you kidding me? You are gonna have no idea!
Shut up! This will work!
I berate myself, anger firing through as I stomp over tree roots and leave the edge of the trail. I can see a patch of light up ahead, and I’m sure it’s this bright because it’s shining on a slab of rock.
That rock will be my bed for the night .
It’s not like I’m planning on sleeping. I just want to stare up at the night sky and find frickin’ peace. Is that too much to ask?
Moving around a tree trunk, my feeble beam of light highlights what I think is my way forward and I head toward it, totally missing the tree root that trips me up.
I stumble, no doubt looking like a comical cartoon as I lose my balance and try to correct myself. My arms flail, and I plant my foot on what I think is solid ground, but the rock rolls beneath me. I let out this weird squawk when my ankle turns.
And now I’m stumbling to my right, then letting out a feral scream as the ground disappears and I hit nothing but air.
The bag—which I really should have put back on properly—tumbles out of my hand, bouncing away from me, but I’m too busy shouting, “No!” and reaching up to slow my descent to even lament the loss.
“Shit, shit, shit!” I scream again, my body sliding down the rock, then landing with a bone-crunching thud. “Ahhh!” My wail echoes across the black space in front of me.
I reach for my leg. I have no idea what I’ve twisted or broken, but the pain is blinding.
Patting the ground around me, I try to feel for the flashlight, but it’s gone as well.
All I have left now is a pale moonlight that isn’t enough to truly show me where I am.
My chest heaves, breaths punching out of me as I try to think through this haze of pain.
Breathe.
Figure out where you are .
You’ll need to climb back up. The thought is harrowing, my brain sizzling with panic.
Breathe!
I suck in a breath, snapping my eyes shut as I grip my knee, trying to ignore the pulsing pain in my leg.
Breathe.
Think.
“Think, Blake,” I whisper. “Think.”
Sucking in another breath, I force my logical brain into action and take it one step at a time.
First, I need to figure out how precarious my situation really is.
Cautiously feeling around me, I run my hands over the dirt and debris until I reach a ledge.
I gasp, pinging away from what I have to assume is a sudden drop.
Okay, so no leaning to the right, then.
Using my non-aching leg to check my left side, I quickly discover an edge there too.
Holy shit.
I must have landed on a small shelf sticking out from a rock face or something. Scrambling back, my butt hits a wall of rock, and I push into it, needing to reassure myself with the solid surface.
Fear is trying to choke me. My chest starts heaving as the reality of all this really kicks in.
I’m gonna die.
I’m gonna fall off this rock face and plummet to the ground.
Pushing my back into the cold wall behind, I try to control the shaky breaths spurting out of me, but I have no chance in hell .
A panic attack is rounding over me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
This is it.
I thought I’d done the most idiotic things I possibly could, but I was wrong.
No one knows where I am.
I’ve busted my ankle.
And I’m in the most precarious position I’ve ever been in.
There’s no saving me from this.
So the panic may as well just go ahead and eat me whole.