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“You can do it, Daniel.”
He jumped at the sound of Andy behind him. It was perhaps the first time Andy had spoken to him directly.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll go first.”
They walked closer to the edge, and Chris drew a deep breath before taking the first step down. He soon found himself needing to grab onto sturdy rocks and the occasional tree for balance. His palms got little cuts no matter how careful he was.This was a bad idea.Above him, Trevor and Andy had yet to start their journey down. It was likely for the best since they might have caused rocks to slide down. The bottom was still far enough to make falling an almost certain death.
“How’s it going?” Trevor’s voice echoed.
“Slow!”
“Yeah, I can see that. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. Andy and I are going to take the other track. We’ll meet you at the bottom.”
He looked up and saw them walking away.
Annoyed, Chris stopped to catch his breath. Since he was too far into the track to turn back now, he kept climbing down, aware of how quickly Trevor and Andy were making their way close by. He was maybe sixty feet from reaching the bottom when the track became impassable. A big rock lay in his way. He couldn’t have seen it earlier because it was hidden behind a tree. To pass the rock, he’d need to maneuver around it.
“Come on!” Trevor called. He and Andy had reached the bottom and were coming closer.
With a silent curse, Chris carefully maneuvered himself around the rock. Hundreds of antsmarchedacross the hard surface, and Chris made sure to stay out of their way because he hated bugs. He was almost on the other side of the rock, where the rest of the track seemed much easier, when he lost his grip.
The next seconds were a blur of pain and terror. The side of his leg hit something sharp on his way down, but there was no time to check as he rolled down the hill with nothing to grab onto. He hit the ground hard, the bright, blue sky spinning above him. He moaned as pain rose across his body, feeling that his right leg had gotten the worst of it.
“Shit, you okay?” Trevor and Andy crouched down next to him.
“I fell.” It was a silly thing to say, but it felt worth mentioning if only to make it sound like an accusation.
“Can you move your legs?” Trevor asked.
“Yes, but my right leg really hurts.”
“Blood,” Andy said, his thick glasses dusty.
Chris raised his head and grimaced at the sight of the cut on his thigh. It didn’t seem deep, but the dripping blood got mixed with dirt. His skin looked very pale next to the dark red.
Chris lowered his spinning head, unable to make his heart settle down. Little rocks dug into his bare back, but they were nothing compared to the pain in his leg.
“Can I drink?”
“Sorry, I finished the rest of the water,” Trevor said.
Dammit. The bottle had been almost full earlier.
“Can you maybe call someone?” He wondered if a car could come pick him up, maybe an ambulance.
“There’s no reception here.” Trevor sat next to Chris. “You’ll feel better in a few minutes. We’ll help you get back, don’t worry.”
Was he supposed to say thank you?
Chris pulled off the shirt from around his forehead to tie around the cut, knowing it would have been better to wash it first if there were any water left. The pain in his leg suddenly exploded. Chris shouted, his head shooting up to see what happened. Andy, sitting next to the cut, was holding a stick. The tip of the stick had blood smeared on it.
“Sorry,” Andy said, but his tone implied otherwise. “I think I can make it stop bleeding if I close the cut with the stick.”
Those were more words than Chris had yet to hear from Andy, but that didn’t make them any less ridiculous. “Don’t touch it.”
“What, are you a doctor now?” Trevor placed his muddy palm on Chris’s chest. “Lie still and let him try to help. He knows about these things.”
“How does he know?”
