Chapter 24 – Found

Kadj ran down the hall towards the open bulkhead door. He jumped through the door and to the night outside. He looked around him, searching the growing darkness for the half naked woman. He saw a small pale form stumbling in the darkness off in the distance.

"There!" he yelled to Loz, pointing towards Tifa as she ran for her life. They both sprinted off towards her. He stood at the edge of the plateau where he last saw her and looked down into the black void below. A cold, hard wind blew up the face of the rock below him and knocked him back from the edge.

"Shit," Kadj screamed. He whirled on Loz and shouted at him above the howling wind. "Go back to the house and get some flashlights. We have to find her before she freezes out here!" Loz spun around and ran back to the house. He met Yazoo at the door and pointed to where Kadj stood in the distance.

"She's gone. I have to find some torches. We've got to find her. Go help him." Loz disappeared into the house and Yazoo sprinted towards Kadj.

The three brothers searched the area Tifa was last seen, thrusting their lights into every dark corner. They didn't realize that their frantic search took them further away from Tifa's cave, where she lay in an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

The wind had become colder, much colder. It bit into Cloud's face and froze his hands to the handlebars of the bike. His mind had become as numb as his body. All he could see was Tifa's face before him; the light in her eyes and the curve of her mouth. He was concentrating so hard on his vision of Tifa that he almost missed it when Red suddenly bolted to the left and disappeared into the dark. Cloud skidded the bike to a halt and spun it around, his headlight catching Red's glowing tail disappear over a bump in the road ahead. He revved the bike and hurtled after him with the SUV close behind. He caught up to Red a few seconds later. The animal had stopped running and was standing still, with his nose in the air. Cloud turned off the motor and kicked out the stand. He slowly dismounted, his limbs stiff and sore from the night's ride. He winced in pain as that familiar throb returned to his arm. Ignoring it, he walked up to Red and stood in silence behind him. He heard the SUV doors slam and footsteps approach.

"What is it, Red?" asked Vincent

"I'm not sure. There is another trail . . ." murmured Red. He took a few tentative steps forward toward a cliff wall, his nose in the air trying to catch the scent again.

"Is it Tifa?" asked Cloud.

"No, not Tifa, but it's something else that shouldn't be here," said Red as he dashed off into the darkness. Cloud and the other two raced after him, leaving their vehicles behind.

"What the hell is he doing?" thought Cloud as he and the other two raced after him. Red was running towards the dark cliff face ahead. As they approached, Cloud could see a faint red flicker somewhere in the middle of the cliff. As they got closer, he realized what it was.

"A campfire!" he yelled to the others. He sprinted towards the glow, passing Red.

"Cloud, wait!" yelled Vincent behind him. But he didn't hear. He needed to get to that fire. As he approached he slowed down to a walk. He knelt down and peered at the glowing embers behind the vines. The smoke stung his eyes as he pulled back the leafy curtain.

"Tifa," he whispered. He could see her near naked body curled up under a pile of leaves just beyond the dieing fire. He sat back on his haunches and breathed in a ragged sigh. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks.

He carefully crept into the cave past the fire and reached out to brush the leaves from her face. He looked at her for a long time, rubbing a strand of her hair between his fingers. He gingerly moved the leaves away from her body to expose her belly and gasped when he saw how big she had grown. Tears fell unbidden down his face as he pulled her into his lap, wrapping her up in his arms, and rocked her back and forth.

"You did it, baby. You did it," he whispered in her ear. Her head lay heavy on his shoulder. She was out cold but her breathing was regular and her heart beat strong. He looked down at her belly and saw the glow was still there. He smiled through his tears and ran his hands over her swollen stomach. Her skin was freezing. He had to get her warm.

He kicked out the remnants of the fire and gathered her up in his arms. He pulled her out of the cave, careful not to let her get burned by the dieing embers. He emerged from the cave with Tifa in his arms and struggled to his feet. She was heavier than he remembered her being. Vincent and Barret ran up to him and tried to take her out of his arms but he wouldn't let them touch her.

"She's freezing, Cloud," Barret yelled above the wind. "We have to get her into the SUV and get her warm." They both saw how much Tifa's stomach had grown. "That's impossible," thought Vincent, "not in just 48 hours." Cloud carried her back to the vehicle and gently placed her on the back seat. He scrambled in and pulled her into his arms again. The light inside the truck let him take his first good look at her. Her hands and feet were cut and bleeding. He picked up one of her hands and saw that her knuckles were broken and bloody and the skin covering them torn. He ran his thumb up her arm and felt the tiny hole made by Loz's needle.

"What did they do to you, baby?" he asked her quietly.

Without being asked, Vincent walked towards the bike and mounted it.

Barret rummaged around in the back of the SUV and found a thick blanket he used when he camped out on a job site. He spread the blanket over the unconscious body lying cradled in Cloud's lap and slammed the door shut. Barret jumped in the truck behind the wheel and Red leapt into the seat next to him. He started the engine and turned the heat up to high.

"Lets go," he yelled to Vincent out of the window and gunned the truck back down the path they had come.