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“Hey, I did my fair share of rescuing in the end.” I dodged, blocked, struck, dodged, and blocked again as Jerzy put me on the defensive, finally ducking out of the way as I felt the rock wall at my back.
“After you got kicked out,” he teased me. I didn’t mind, especially because I got a shot in at that moment: a solid punch to the jaw. Jerzy shook his head and laughed, bringing a knee up into my side. We were pulling our blows some, but it still hurt. I laughed, rolling away from him.
“Yeah, and I was back within a week. I’d have that flag by now, too—he’s slow.”
Jerzy danced back at that, glancing up toward the mountain. I didn’t press the advantage; a slight frown crossed his face at my comment, and he lowered his guard a little. “I believe that, actually. Hey, Joaquim!” he called up, cupping one hand around his mouth. “Hurry up! They’re coming!”
I turned to glance over my shoulder at that; Jerzy was on a slightly higher vantage point than I was, and had seen the rest of my team before I did. Joliette was climbing up the way I’d come, Jo not far behind her,
and Jai was making his way toward the mountain while the air around him rippled as Jorensen’s stunner pinged off the force field. Josef waved at me, then boosted Jakon up onto the mountain one-handed, The other hand was holding a struggling, hissing Jenoh aloft by the back of her shirt.
“My team’s here,” I tossed back at Jerzy.
He turned to look at me, that frown still on his face. He opened his mouth—and something exploded.
We both looked up at the same time, as another explosion went off, then another—a series of small pops sounding almost like fireworks, one after the other. There were five or six of them total, but the popping was soon replaced by a rumbling, and it began to rain pebbles and dust.
“What’s—” I started, but I couldn’t even hear myself over the sound of falling rocks. I stared up at the cloud of dust and earth, thoughts going through me as calmly as if it were happening to someone else. Avalanche. There’s nowhere to go, no cover. The mountainside won’t protect us, and we’re too far up to jump. Those rocks are huge—
Jerzy moved first, launching himself toward me and tugging me over to the edge. Jumping was our only option—
The cave. I planted my feet, tugging back on Jerzy’s arm. A boulder the size of my dad’s car slammed into the rock we stood on, splitting it in two. I stumbled sideways, losing my grip on Jerzy. I couldn’t see anything—the dust in the air was so thick now I couldn’t breathe, but I stubbornly forced my eyes open, trying to find him, to pull him toward the cave.
Another rock fell just beside me, clipping my left shoulder on the way down. It hurt like hell, and I stumbled back—just in time, as another one landed where I’d been standing. I just kept backpedaling, instinct taking over as it grew darker; the avalanche was literally blocking out the sun.
Not even able to keep my feet anymore, I scrambled backward until I felt the rocks at my side, felt along them until I found the depression of the cave. I crawled into it, praying I’d find Jerzy already there.
I didn’t. Then a noise almost too loud to comprehend sounded just next to me, the world lurched, and I fell.
I remember hearing voices sometime after that, though I didn’t know whose they were. I remember being aware of total darkness, then it got a little brighter, like a light turning on while your eyes are still closed. I remember feeling wrong, like when you fall asleep in a place you’re not used to and don’t know where you are upon waking up.
I thought I heard crying, and I know I felt a hand grab my wrist. I heard strong, no-nonsense commands from a voice that sounded like my dad, and someone was asking me questions.
I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t see, and I think I was trying to say something but I don’t know if it was coming out right. I had to tell them Jerzy hadn’t made it to the flag. I had to tell them he would have won, if I hadn’t pulled him toward the cave. I had to tell them what I’d seen before the rocks fell, but I wasn’t sure I remembered what it was anymore.
“…crippled,” someone was saying, “but it’s not likely…. Several broken bones, multiple contusions, and thirteen stitches, but stable.”
“This one?”
“Cracked collarbone and dislocated jaw, sprained wrist.”
“This one.” The voice was emotionless and methodical. It didn’t sound like my dad anymore.
“Compound fracture of the radius, three broken fingers, eleven stitches, twisted ankle.”
Footsteps sounded across the room from me, then the voice again. “Him?” The voice sounded muffled, like the person was facing away from me.
“Bruising. Dehydration and exhaustion. He passed out from the energy expended to shield them.”
This place smelled familiar. The air was sharp and tangy but somehow still. It smelled like medicine…. I was in the infirmary.
“This one.”
“Proximal humerus fracture, bruised ribs, dust inhalation. The cave protected him from the worst of it.”
That had to be me. I tried to move, to show I was awake and see how everyone else was, but my body wasn’t responding to the urges of my brain.
“Not an uninjured one in the whole lot, but only one casualty.”
