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I stood back from the bank, but the terrain was steep and slippery. Keeping my footing was tricky. I looked around for a safer place to stand. The last thing we needed was a repeat of Ben’s accident.
I noticed that there weren’t a lot of trees nearby. No roots to hold down the bank. At the same time that I was thinking about ground stability, I heard a loud rumble.
It wasn’t an animal or a person. The sound was like a dam breaking. Up the slope, twigs and limbs snapped. Rocks and pebbles clattered as they knocked together. The water in the creek, rushing afew feet in front of me, went from crystal clear to brown in an instant.
Then it was more than just sounds. I could feel the ground vibrating under my feet, like an earthquake.
All of it happened in seconds, but each little detail I noticed made the moment stretch.
Mudslide.
I pivoted as soon as I realized what was happening, running away from the creek. My reaction time was good. But I was already too late.
I made it about ten feet before the ground felt like it was slipping out from under me. The sound behind and above me was deafening now, a roar filled with thuds and snaps. I stumbled but managed to stay upright. I didn’t look back.
All I knew was that I needed to move perpendicular to the flow, and it was gaining on me. Everything was a blur as I ran.
The only way I was making it out in one piece was if I could keep from getting overtaken by the slide, keep from being buried. That thought propelled me forward. But then I quickly realized it might not be the mud that would get me. It was the huge rocks and rolling logs that were caught up in it, tumbling downhill at high speed.
Without being able to see much around me, I pushed my body harder, trying to get clear of the slide. If I was close enough to the edge, I might beable to escape it. I had no way of knowing how wide the thing was.
Everything happened in slow motion. I tripped on something. My knee came down on hard soil, and I planted it, glancing over my shoulder finally. The mudslide was a few yards away. I ended up on all fours, panting from all the sprinting, thinking I was out of danger. But I was still too close. Even solid ground wasn’t safe.
My right arm was suddenly knocked out from under me. Probably by a tree branch, although I didn’t see it coming. I managed to roll left before collapsing onto my back, hoping I was out of the path of any more debris.
Excruciating pain shot from my shoulder to my fingers. I knew I couldn’t get up again. I groaned as my breath heaved, my eyes shut tight against the sky. Then I turned my head and looked down.
My arm was useless. It hung limp and broken at my side. But I was fucking alive.
The sound of flowing mud and rocks and tree limbs quieted. Movement stilled and came to a halt.
Almost as quickly as it had started, it was over.
I looked up at the sky and breathed. Jolts of pain accompanied every pull of air, every tiny movement I made.
Shit. Were the others okay?
It took some concentration to ignore the pain and focus on the bond. When I felt my pack, I wasoverwhelmed with relief. Griff and Ben were there. Worried as hell, but fine. Which meant Tracy was okay too. The guys could tell I was injured. They would find me, I had no doubt.
Which was good, because I didn’t think I could sit up without passing out.
Another sound met my ears. It was an engine. Some kind of tractor? It reminded me of heavy machinery. If I had to guess, it was the park crew Tracy had been sure would come to check on us.
Good fucking timing.
It was Griff and Ben who finally emerged from the tree line about an hour later, leading another man who wore familiar search and rescue gear. Between them, they carried a bright orange stretcher and a duffle bag.
Griff knelt down next to me. He took in the state of my arm, heaved a long breath, and gave me a tight smile. Ben stood off to the side, looking a little pale as he glanced toward the creek.
I hadn’t actually gotten that far from the slide. Maybe three yards away, the ground was a hardening mess of mud and branches. The trees that were still standing in the path of the flow were twisted and bent in odddirections.
“Shit, you’re lucky.” Ben shook his head. I noticed he avoided looking at my arm.
The other guy introduced himself as Antonio. He gently examined my injury and asked me to state my name and birthday and who the president was. After he confirmed I wasn’t concussed, he started to bind my arm in a splint. It hurt like hell.
Griff gave me a fake smile. “Good thing you’re so scrawny. Carrying you out of here isn’t going to be easy.”
It was a half-hearted effort to distract me from the pain. My arm was a mess, and we both knew it.
