Chapter 11
Finally! I have been up against the proverbial writer's brick wall, you guys. Finally feel like the story is starting to move again. Thank you all for your kind reviews and follows. It means a lot!
There may be a lot of parts of this chapter that are not scientifically correct, specifically the part having to do with avalanches. I am aware of that! Just taking a little literary liberty with fiction! Thank you for your patience! I can't kill off our favorite characters! Also, not a lot of people took airplane transportation back in that era, because it was super expensive, so I know it's kind of improbable that the paramedic's family would have flown everybody down there on a firefighter's salary, but it's story magic yall! Onward!
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"The rescue squad should be here any minute." Roy spoke encouragingly to the small group, as he was helping Captain Stanley pack up the randomly strewn about belongings that lay in the snow. "Once they get here, then we can get you guys out of this joint. Hey, Junior, you okay?" Roy's glance had fallen on his tired partner whom he could barely make out in the dusky snow, and he paused, one hand resting on his hip.
Johnny nodded and waved a hand toward his partner, a slight slump in his shoulders indicating he was getting tired. He was sitting nearby, watching his friends clean up the site, under the shelter of the trees. His face was a bit paler than when the senior paramedic had first seen him, and the bruising on his face was barely visible against his skin, its color matching that of the darkness surrounding them.
Cap threw the last of the backpacks into a pile and shouldered his own. "You just make sure to let Roy know immediately if you feel any dizziness at all, got it pal?" Cap's voice indicated he meant exactly what he said. His stern gaze sealed his comment and Johnny knew he was not going to get by with underplaying his condition this time. He glanced up at his captain and nodded wryly. "Sure. Got it, Cap."
Johnny blew out a breath and shifted his weight to lean against a tree. "Can't say how glad I was to see you two." His face contorted for a moment into a grimace, and then it faded as he settled into the new position, taking his weight off of his injured shoulder.
Cap glanced at Roy then shook his head. "Man, we were glad to see you both too. We thought you guys were goners, pal."
Johnny rubbed his face, and propped his chin on his knee. "Yeah, I thought we were goners too."
Cap glanced over at Ash, who had been silent this whole time. She was leaning against the stack of backpacks over by the crumpled car, head down, and silent.
Johnny looked at Hank, and jerked his head toward Ash. A tiny grimace flashed across his face at the sudden move, and Roy's eyes narrowed in concern. Roy had moved to stand near the wall of the canyon, leaning his weight on one of the ropes that had carried him and his captain down to the valley floor, his calloused hands easily grasping the rope. He was watching his partner with a gaze that made Johnny uncomfortable. The blue eyes of the senior paramedic missed nothing. Johnny felt like his partner could see every ache and pain that he could feel and he tried his best to mask it all with a classic Johnny smile.
Cap moved away to kneel beside his sister. The snow still fell around them and in the darkness, the flakes could be heard landing softly in little pitter-patters. He set his flashlight in the snow next to them, lighting their little circle with its amber light.
"Hey, there. You doing okay?" His voice was low and kind. He sat back on his heels, one hand on his hip, brow furrowed in thought.
Ashley raised a troubled face to meet his concerned dark eyes. "I totally messed this whole thing up, Hank." Her voice was strangely calm and matter-of-fact, but broken.
He shook his head and reached to adjust the sling her injured arm rested in, then turned off his flashlight and hefted it in his hand. He sat down in the snow next to her and propped his arms on his knees.
"How did you mess this entire thing up? I don't recall it being your fault that the hitchhiker broke out of jail. If you recall, it was my idea to pick him up. I also don't recall it being your fault that he had a gun on him. And it sure isn't your fault that Johnny had a concussion, passed out, and ran you guys off of the road, trapping you in a canyon where we couldn't find you until a little while ago."
Ash sighed and looked away. "But Hank, I didn't take his gun away." She clenched the fist of her good hand. "I had a chance. I had a perfect chance. I could have taken it. But Johnny was passed out and I was scared, and – I just didn't care."
Hank leaned forward and studied her face in the dusky darkness (what little he could see). "Well, that wasn't helpful, I will admit, and very dangerous. It could have been dangerous to fight him over it too, though. I'm not sure what I would have done, given the same situation. Hey, what is this I hear though? You – my peculiar, quiet little sister - taking responsibility for a situation? You're doing well. You wouldn't have done that before – uhm, well a while ago."
"No. No." She shook her head fiercely, angry tears gathering in her eyes. "No, you don't get it. I didn't care what happened in that moment to me – or to Johnny. I just didn't care I didn't care if he lived or died. I was so calloused to the outside world that I – just – didn't –care! What is becoming of me?"
Hank felt his blood run cold and his breath caught in his throat. She had never been this open with him and he didn't quite know which part to respond to first. Should he respond to the I didn't care part, or the calloused to the world part? One wrong word and she would clam up again, and he would lose his chance to break her out of this shell once and for all.
At that moment, a distant rumbling sound above them caught their attention. The darkness shielded the oncoming terror with its snowy curtain from the eyes of the travelers, but the sound was unmistakable…and bone-shaking. "Ashley!" Hank leaped to his feet and shrugged off his backpack, his voice tense. "Quick! Ash, get that backpack off and follow my lead. John, Roy! Grab the ropes and HANG ON! Sounds like an avalanche!"
Johnny had already been pulled quickly to his feet by his partner. "Johnny, grab this rope and hang on!" Roy tied the rope around his partner, and around his own waist then turned away from the younger paramedic and strained his eyes through the darkness to find his friends. Why couldn't it be a full moon tonight? "Cap, you need help?"
Hank grabbed Ash's free hand and rushed toward the wall of the valley. "I've got Ash, Roy! Hang onto those ropes and whatever happens, do not let go. We are headed your direction. When I reach you, grab Ashley. There are some trees below us. Grab them if you get swept down there, but be careful. Don't get your head bashed in. Johnny, are you-"
A thundering white cloud swept past them, cutting off Hank's command. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as Roy shouted his captain's name, but to no avail. Johnny leaped as if to dive into the snow to rescue his friends, but Roy grabbed his jacket and yanked him back, wrapping his arms around the smaller paramedic. His hands clung to his friend as if his life depended on it, for indeed it did, for both of them. All around them, the thundering was deafening in their ears. Snow swept down the canyon valley, wiping the valley clean of everything in its path. Roy and Johnny were in the shelter of the canyon wall, well out of reach of the avalanche, but buffeted by the stinging wind that the monster created. Blinding snow flew through the air, creating a stinging whirlwind that slammed them against the rocks. Some stalwart evergreen trees below them in the wooded ridge bravely held their ground, the roots winding deep into the bedrock. But a few, however, were ripped violently from the valley floor and tossed about in the flood of snow like little matchsticks in a river. The hungry monster raced on into the deep valley, leaving only a deafening silence in its wake.
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"Marco, we have no recent news, but the last we heard they were alive and in good spirits. No word on injuries yet." The police chief informed Marco. Marco had left his companions at a hotel in Aspen. He had convinced the women to stay, and that he would let them know when the group arrived at the hospital so they could come see their husbands. When the plane had landed, the good news had reached them that the friends had been found, and Marco was supposed to head out there and help bring them to safety. The relief he had felt at the news had lifted his heart and the worry he had been under on the trip over had melted away. The chief had kindly met them at the hotel and they were almost to the site when a dispatch came over the radio.
"Cap, youre not going to believe this. We have a – um – confirmed powder avalanche at sight of the valley rescue. We have no contact with any of the victims at this time. Rescue team still one hour out."
Marco's heart dropped. "Mi palabra! I can't believe this."
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Ashley slowly opened her eyes. Her head hurt and she could not focus on the snow in front of her face. She tried to rub a hand over her face, trying to stop the stinging from the icy snow, but found she was unable to move. "What the-" She lifted her chin a little and could barely make out the snow bank she was nearly buried in. "Great. How did that happen?" She shook her head a bit to clear the cobwebs that seemed to have overtaken her and immediately regretted the move. A sharp pain in her temple blocked out all other thoughts for a moment and it was with even greater confusion that she focused on the voice that crept into her brain.
Find Hank.
Who is Hank.
Roy.
Johnny.
Who were they?
She tried to heave herself up to a sitting position and immediately fell backwards, her head spinning. The grit and determination that she usually felt when faced with fears and past memories was draining away, leaving her injured, confused, and worried about people she could not remember.
"Ashley?"
She heard her name through the intense brain fog and tried to squint into the darkness. A dark shadow loomed over her and her brain whirled again. "Who-are -who are you-"
She couldn't get the words out.
Blackness engulfed her and she was gone.
"Ashley?"
Hank gazed down at her, cradling her previously broken arm in his hand. "Ashley, honey, come on please wake up."
Snow clung to his tanned face and his eyelashes as he dug stubbornly though the snow to free his sister, a grimace of pain and effort twisting his normally placid features. He had received a few scrapes and bumps in the tumble down the mountain, and he was pretty sure he had badly sprained his left wrist, but the greatest pain was wondering what had become of his boys. He could only hope they had not been swept down the mountain as well and buried in the hardening drifts.
The darkness was so thick that he could barely see his hand in front of his face. Grumbling at the blasted snow that had ruined a perfectly executed rescue effort, he felt for the flashlight that hung at his belt. It was still there. With a sigh of relief, he unhooked it from his belt and tried to turn it on. It flickered and then its small glow went out. A snarl of rage escaped his lips and he slammed it across the snow. It flickered and then miraculously came to life, lighting up a very small area. He ran a bruised finger across his sister's neck, feeling for a pulse, like he had seen Roy and Johnny do so many times. Satisfied that she was alive, he leaned back for a moment to catch his breath and collect his thoughts. All around them snow fell in a continually moving curtain, drowning out the calls of the rescuers farther up the valley.
