Author's Note: Thank you all for sticking with this story and especially to those of you that took the time to review or send me a note with your feedback. To the "GUEST" review, you know a lot about me, who are you?! Lol.
Here's a new chapter for your eyes. Enjoy!
The search team was up before the sun. The storm had died down during the night and Garcia confirmed that they should have fairly mild weather for the next few hours. Unfortunately the low cloud coverage and thick fog meant very little visibility and no possibility to get the chopper back in the air to search ahead of them, but there was no wind, and that was a godsend.
They repacked their night gear into their packs and had a silent breakfast of MRE eggs and granola bars while they waited for the sun to give them enough light to start their trip. The storm had dropped nearly three feet of new snow around the tent while they slept and the first exposure to it when they climbed out to break down the shelter was a harrowing reminder of the day ahead.
Nearly an hour later, they trudged in silence through the knee deep snow, each one trying to conserve energy as much as possible. It was Morgan who finally broke the silence as he fell into step next to Cassi.
"How far to the river?" he said between exerted breaths.
Cassi pulled her glove from her hand with her teeth before reaching into her pocket and removing the device. Without looking at it, she handed it over to him and took the opportunity of the free hand to rub her eyes under her tinted goggles. The sun was nowhere near bright in the thick fog, but the pristine crystals of the snow surrounding them was brutal on the eyes.
"We're making good time," he said, handing it back to her, "we're only about a mile away."
She glanced at the GPS and handed it to Emily, not so she could triple check the distance, but so she could how far they'd already come. It was a morale booster after the disappointment they'd had the day before.
"Any ideas how to get across it?" Emily asked, the conversation from the night before on her mind.
"Have to see it first," Cassi answered, grunting as her foot sunk deeper into the snow on one step. She pulled it free and continued, "I'm hoping it's frozen."
"Do rivers freeze?" Emily asked, "I mean, doesn't the constant movement of the water make that kind of hard to do?"
"Depends on the river. The faster current is under the surface. In cold enough weather the top layers that are slower moving will freeze while the undercurrent keeps flowing normally."
"So we'll literally be walking on thin ice?" Emily frowned.
"I guess we'll see."
They fell back into silence again, pushing their way through the frozen masses of snow and ice for nearly an hour before they finally arrived at the position of the blue line on the GPS. They stopped walking, taking the opportunity to have some water and catch their breaths while Cassi walked ahead and over a small embankment to study the river below.
The light snow had transitioned to a steady fall by the time Morgan and Emily decided to join Cassi at the river's edge where she continued to scan their surroundings in deep thought.
"Want the good news or the bad news?" Cassi said once they'd come to stand at her sides, staring down at the ice covered water below her.
"Both." Morgan answered.
Cassi nodded. "Well, good news is, the rivers frozen. Bad news is it's not very thick. I don't know how much of our weight it'll take if we try to walk across it."
Morgan studied the ice below their feet. It looked solid enough to him, but on closer observation he could see slight movement of the water current moving under the top layer of ice.
"So how do you suggest we cross it?" Emily asked.
Cassi chewed her lip in deep thought as she scanned the surrounding area again. She settled on a thick tree on the other side that she was sure would hold the weight of their heaviest person. It was the obstacle of getting to the tree that worried her. Knowing she had few other options, none of which were any better, she sighed and removed the rope from her shoulder.
"If I tie off from that tree," she pointed behind Morgan to a large pine, "and run it across to that one over there. We can use the rope to run the packs across to take some weight off. If the ice doesn't look like it'll hold you, then you can try to shimmy across to the other side. Rock climbing 101."
"How are we supposed to get it to that tree?" Emily asked suspiciously.
"I'm going to have to cross the ice."
"You think it'll hold you?" Morgan asked, eyeing the ice again. Suddenly it looked even thinner.
"I'm the smallest. If it doesn't hold me we know it's not going to hold you."
She was already tying the rope to around the truck of the tree at shoulder level, chipping away at the wet bark to ensure a sure tight hold.
"And if you fall in?" Morgan asked.
"Then I guess I'm swimming the rest of the way," she shrugged.
He raised an eyebrow at her and she grinned.
"Look, I'm not saying it won't suck. You have no idea how bad it'll suck if I go in, but it wouldn't be the first time and probably won't be the last. Besides, we don't really have any other options. If you see one, I'm open to suggestions."
Morgan scanned the area again and it pained him knowing that she was right. There wasn't any other ways to cross that didn't leave the possibility of at least one of them ending up soaked in the freezing water.
"Ok," he conceded.
"Ok?" she blinked at him amused, "no argument or doubting my decision?"
Emily hid her smirk when Morgan rolled his eyes. It was a small exchange between the two of them and he didn't look angry yet. That was a step forward from the glaring silence and snappy exchanges they'd had the day before.
"Oh there's plenty of doubt," he said, letting her know they still weren't friends, "I just don't see any other options."
"Fair enough."
Cassi pulled her pack from her back and unzipped her jacket before sitting down and unlacing her boots to remove her snowsuit.
"What are you doing?" Emily finally asked when Cassi moved to remove her fleece sweater she wore beneath the thick suit.
"If I go in I'm gonna want that stuff dry when I get out," she answered, ignoring the chill on her newly exposed skin of her arms as she removed the sweater and handed it to Emily.
Now wearing only a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, she bounced on her toes and swung her arms a few times to get her blood pumping before picking up the end of the rope that wasn't tied around the tree. She quickly looped the end around her waist and tied it tightly before taking a deep breath and slowly testing her footing on the embankment. The snow beneath her now bare foot cracked and caved in dropping her down to knee deep powder before she regained her balance and continued to the river's edge. With one last look up to her companions, she blinked against the falling snow and tested the water's edge with one foot. Slowly she transferred more and more of her weight on the frozen surface until she was fully weighted on her foot.
Back up on the embankment, Emily and Morgan watched her slow progress. The ice appeared to be holding her without problem and as she neared the center where they knew it would be the thinnest they held their breaths. Finally after nearly fifteen minutes of shuffling she reached the other side and flashed them a quick thumbs up before climbing the other embankment to the tree.
Cassi's hands and feet were frozen by the time she reached the other side and the tremors wracking through her from the cold made it difficult to maneuver the rope around the slick bark. She put her weight into it, pulling it taught over the river and wrapped it around once more for extra support before struggling with numb fingers to tie it off. Once it was secured, she gave it an experimental tug and was satisfied it would hold before cupping her hands around her mouth and yelling across to the others.
"Send the gear across first," she shouted, "anything you don't want to get wet."
Emily nodded her understanding and turned to Morgan, who had already began stripping off his snowsuit. She quickly followed suit, already shivering at the thought of not having the bulky coat and pants keeping her insulated from the snow falling around them.
"Sooner we do this, the sooner we put it on and get warm again," Morgan encouraged her.
"And sooner we get to our friends," she added.
"Especially that," he smiled.
They carefully made their way down the embankment until they stood at the river's edge and together they clipped the packs to the rope. Once they were all secured Morgan shoved them one by one out across the rope as far as they would go and turned to Emily.
"Ladies first," he grinned at her, and helped her onto her first step on the ice. Slowly she shuffled her feet, gripping the rope tightly in her numb hand like a lifeline. If the ice gave underneath her, she wasn't letting go of that rope. She encouraged herself with the fact that Cassi had made it across easily without the support of the rope to hold onto and though Emily had a couple inches in height on the woman, she was only a few pounds heavier. Then her thoughts went to Morgan who easily had fifty pounds on them at least.
She pushed the thoughts of Morgan's weight aside as she neared the center of the river and shoved the packs along the rope in front of her. She risked a glance down past her feet and watched the water rush along under the ice layer beneath her. She stared at it with morbid fascination for a moment until Morgan yelled out at her to keep moving. She scolded herself for the distraction and moved forward until she reached the other side where Cassi was waiting to take the packs.
Once the packs were removed from the line, Cassi helped Emily up onto the embankment and motioned for Morgan to come across.
On the other side, Morgan had watched Emily's progress and eyed the rope. The women had made the crossing look easy and the ice showed no signs of failing on them. He eyed the rope tied to the tree on his end and decided they couldn't leave it behind just so he didn't risk getting wet. The odds were he would be able to cross without problem but they would have to lose the useful rope if he did that. There just wasn't a way to untie it from this side once everyone was on the other side. He quickly made his decision and climbed back up the embankment to the tree.
On the other side Cassi watched Morgan disappear up the embankment while Emily dug her sweater and snowsuit from her pack. Suddenly the rope next to her went slack and dropped down onto the ice. She immediately reached for the radio on her neck and keyed it up.
"Morgan, what are you doing?"
Morgan's breathy reply came a few seconds later, "we might need it again."
"That ice may not hold your weight Derek."
"Well if it doesn't," he tied the end around his waist as Cassi had done the first time, "just pull me out."
Cassi bit her cheek in frustration. He had already started out across the ice, ignoring her warning. She turned to face Emily who stared passed her at her partner on the ice with a frown.
"Stubborn son of a bitch," Cassi swore and picked up the slackened rope, keeping it in her grip while she watched him progress.
Morgan had felt very confident on the ice when he started despite the irritating warning coming over his radio. As he neared the center of the river, his confidence faltered and he felt the surface under his feet shift slightly. He stopped, moving his other foot and testing the sturdiness of the ice before putting all of his weight on it. When it shifted, he tried another spot with the same result.
"Are you ok?" Cassi had noticed he'd stopped moving.
"Yea, I just have to…"
His words were cut off as the surface below his feet gave, dropping him down into the icy clutches of the water below him. His right elbow connected with the edge of the ice as he attempted to catch himself as he fell. He managed to stop his decent before his head went under, which had probably saved him from inhaling a lung full of water as its frigid temperature made him gasp involuntarily. He could feel the swift current below him pulling at his legs making it hard from him to kick his feet. From his feet to his chest were burning like pins and needles as the freezing liquid attacked him. He attempted to push himself back up onto the ice under his arms, but it broke away under his weight and threaten to dump him under completely.
"Morgan!"
Cassi's voice was suddenly close to him, not muffled by the radio, and he'd forgotten there was even anyone with him. He forced his eyes to look up, before blinking in pain. She was on her hands and knees out on the ice ahead of him, pulling at the rope around his waist, but not risking getting too close.
"Morgan, you have to kick your feet!" she shouted at him.
He was kicking his feet, wasn't he? He felt the rope at his waist tug again and with a deep breath he kicked his legs frantically. He was almost up onto the ice when it again snapped under his weight, dumping him under again. This time he was unable to catch himself and his head went under.
The current pulled at him and he tried to swim back to the surface, but when he reached for it his hand connected with solid matter. He'd been sucked under the unbroken ice. He struggled for what seemed like hours until he had no energy left. His lungs screamed at him to breathe, but he knew if he did that, they would only fill with icy water. White dots were beginning to dance at the edges of his vision and he closed his eyes, worried that keeping them open under water would crystalize his retinas.
Suddenly there was a pressure on his waist that moved up to under his arms and tugged him upwards. Just as he took a breath, knowing it would likely be his last, he broke through the surface into air. He gulped it and coughed while his body shook violently with shivers in attempt to warm itself.
"Emily pull!"
Cassi's shout was directly in his ear, and his brain slowly connected that she was in the water with him. The pressure at his waist that he could no longer feel was the rope that Emily was now pulling at and the force under his arms had been Cassi's hands.
"Kick Morgan," Cassi spat from her clenched teeth, "you have to kick your feet."
With one last burst of energy, Morgan kicked for all he was worth. Cassi's head went under as she pushed up at him while Emily pulled from the bank. Finally his arms and chest were out on the ice that held his weight. Cassi resurfaced and pushed at his legs until he rolled onto his back and fully out of the freezing water.
Cassi bit her lip in concentration and kicked her feet against the undercurrent. She used her grip on Morgan's legs to pull herself up from the watery clutches. Once up, everything in her wanted to plop down next to Morgan and catch her breath but she knew from experience that neither of them could afford such a luxury.
"Keep pulling Emily!" she yelled.
She quickly realized she wasn't loud enough for the other woman to hear her anymore. Instead she settled on motioning toward the bank with her hand, indicating what she hoped was for Emily to pull him across the ice to her. When Morgan began sliding across the slippery wet ice away from her, she knew she'd gotten her point across and dropped her head to enjoy a moment of relief. Much sooner than her aching body would have liked, she was pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, trying to distribute her weight as evenly over the largest area of the weakened ice as possible. After already being in the icy water once, the last thing she wanted was to end up back in it, this time without the rope to assist in her climbing out, she'd never make it out.
She glanced up at Emily, who had Morgan nearly to her at the bank and began crawling up river a few feet. Though it meant she would be out on the ice for a few more minutes, she didn't want to risk following the same path that Morgan's weight had already been across, just in case the ice had been weakened from the break in the middle.
On the bank Emily's hands were aching as she finally pulled Morgan up in front of her. He was awake, but the intense tremors wracking his body made it nearly impossible for him to function. His lips were blue around his chattering teeth as he tried to tell her something. She ignored him and took quick note of Cassi, who was now up river a little ways, but hurrying across what appeared to be solid ice towards them. Satisfied the woman would make it across on her own, Emily left Morgan's side just long enough to rip through his pack for his sleeping bag.
When she returned, Cassi stumbled up beside them and stopped her before she could throw the cover over him.
"You gotta….get his wet…clothes off first," she said through chattering teeth as she tugged her own shirt over her head and tossed it into the snow, "you lose forty…percent more body heat…through wet clothes."
Emily raised an eyebrow at the statistic as an image of Reid flashed through her brain. She shook the thought from her head and pulled Morgan's shirt over his head and tossed it aside. She glanced back up to Cassi who had now stripped off her jeans and had removed the fleece sweater from her pack.
"Pants too?" Emily asked her, tugging at Morgan's belt.
"Come…on Em," Morgan smirked, "no time….to be modest."
She gave him a smile, relieved that he had the energy to joke with her.
"Oh you just know that anything I see now you can blame on cold temperature shrinkage," she teased back.
"Ouch," he replied, "I'll do it myself."
She helped him sit up and dug a shirt, sweatpants and sweatshirt from his pack while he slowly struggled to remove his pants. Once Cassi and Morgan had successfully gotten into dry clothes with Emily's help, Emily moved up the embankment and went to work setting up the tent. Though neither of them admitted it, the cold water exertion had worn them both out. Whether they wanted to or not, she didn't think they would be able to make any more progress toward the cabin in the few hours of daylight they had left. So she set up the tent and helped them inside.
Once they were all settled inside the tent, Cassi and Morgan immediately climbed into their sleeping bags. Though they were in dry clothes and no longer shivering violently, they'd been chilled down to their bones and neither one felt like they'd ever get warm. Emily retrieved a couple of the hand warmers and handed them to her friends.
"Let's not ever do that again okay," she said, sitting down between them.
"I second that," Cassi agreed.
Morgan stayed silent for a moment before turning his head to look around Emily.
"Listen Cassi," he started, "thanks for saving my ass out there."
Cassi blinked at him dumbfounded for a moment. She could easily rub it in his face how he'd again not done what she told him to, ignored her warnings, and this time nearly gotten himself killed. Instead she offered him a small smile. It was an act of peace. A short time treaty in a way.
"You're welcome."
Author's Note: So I know I didn't touch on the rest of the team in this chapter, but I wanted to get an update out to you and the chapter was turning out to be really long if I continued. I apologize for typos that may exist but I really wanted to get this out to you tonight. I hope you all enjoyed it and I look forward to hearing what you think. Clink that review button and let me know!