Chapter 6 #2
“Move down at an angle,” he said. The sixty-degree slope was a nasty one.
He exhaled. Controlled, focused steps. If only his weary legs would abide.
His left foot skidded out from under him, adrenaline flooding his system.
He pressed his weight down into the ground, trying not to teeter.
Please don’t let me fall. Please, don’t let me drop Cassie.
His grip on her gurney slipped, his glove easing down his hand.
Catching himself just before the tipping point, he breathed out a whoosh of relief.
Cassie looked up at him through her snow-and-ice-covered lashes.
He nodded. He had her.
Warm from the adrenaline still coursing through him, he took a steady, slow step down.
“One short step after another,” he said, and the other three holding the gurney moved in unison as he called out each step. The rest of the party followed.
On a pause, he glanced from Jayce at their three to Devon at their six.
“This guy is getting really agitated,” Devon hollered.
What was he missing? It was like they were defending . . . a den. “I bet there’s a den nearby.” Joel scanned his surroundings but couldn’t see beyond the edge of the group. And even they were just shapes in the ever-drowning snow.
“What do we do, man?” Brady asked, fear tracking through his voice.
“We keep for the lodge. We don’t have a choice.”
“And if their den is near it?”
“I pray that’s not the case.” The lodge meant survival—the elements death.
“Slow, deliberate steps,” he repeated.
The group managed their way down a third of the sheer gradient, but exhaustion was taking over. Everyone was hunched for breath or swaying.
He gazed back at the snarling wolves pawing the ground. They needed to move, but any increase in pace could trigger the animals to attack.
He turned his attention back to the lodge. Movement swished twenty yards south of the lodge—a dark shadow silhouetted by white. He squeezed his eyes shut for a breath of a moment. Another wolf.
He must have come from their den—his black coat snowless. He stepped farther out from the tree line, and flakes rapidly covered his fur until he blended in.
Joel swallowed. Risk attack by proceeding forward to the lodge, or die of the elements? There was no choice. They had to reach the lodge.
The black wolf edged to their nine o’clock. He and the one to their three were flanking them.
“We need someone on our nine.”
“Not more,” Amy cried.
“I got it,” Heath said, handing Joel his flashlight. He grabbed his avalanche shovel and headed for the infringing wolf.
“They think we’re attacking their den. Everyone shift north. We’ll go in the back door of the lodge. Maybe that will show them we mean them no harm.”
Everyone did as instructed. The black wolf pawed at the ground near Heath.
Heath held the shovel positioned to swing.
“Don’t make a move unless they do,” Joel said. “They’re just testing us out.”
“Whatever.” Heath sniffed. “I got this.”
Heath was the last person they should have put on the line, far too brash. But it was done now.
Joel swallowed, his throat parched. They were surrounded—one behind, two flanking, and the den somewhere ahead. One, at the least, had to be protecting the den and could come at them anytime—encircling them.
He raised his hand to still everyone. Some took longer than others to comply, but soon they all stood fixed in place, the wolves growling but not advancing—at least not yet.
The large black one shifted forward, and Heath swung at it with the shovel. The wolf yelped as the shovel hit its side, then it lunged forward.
“Run!” Heath panicked, turning his back on the wolf.
“No!” Joel screamed, but it was too late. Everyone, save Jayce and Devon, who still held their shovels, raced for the lodge, Amy and Savannah tumbling down the hill.
The black wolf lunged forward with a guttural howl, the others howled in return—their calls echoing in the canyon the lodge nestled in.
Joel glanced at Cassie—her eyes wide. “Nearly there,” he assured her.
Snow flew in their wake as they walked, slid, and skidded their way down the slope. The front group reached the lodge, and Joel leapt for the back porch.
“Easy now,” Brady said, steadying his grip on the gurney.
“Sorry.” Joel reached for the rear door handles. Padlocked. No!
“Let’s try the side,” Brady suggested.
They followed the porch around to the sound of howling wolves and grunts from Jayce and Devon echoing through the hollow.
Joel shifted his full focus to getting inside rather than the commotion behind them. Once Cassie was safely inside, he’d go back to help.
Reaching the side door, they found no padlock.
Thank you, Lord. He turned the handle. Locked. He lifted his exhausted right leg and kicked in the door. Safety. Shelter. Finally. Now he prayed for much needed supplies, but first, “I need to get back out there to help. Who can stay with Cassie?”
“Iz and I will,” Talbot offered.
He clapped Talbot’s shoulder, the contact paining his half-numb hand. “Thanks.”
“We’ve got her. Go on.”
He headed out as Heath passed him, dodging into the lodge and slamming the door, his face stricken in panic. Heart of a lion, that one.
Joel rushed back to the melee.