“It's almost vertical, how will we make it down?" Laurie asked.
Alicia stepped forward and leaned out to get a look over the edge.
“There's a drop and then it's just a slope. A ridiculously steep slope. We should be okay if we go carefully," she said before jumping over the edge without another thought.
After a glance from Laurie that clearly meant 'these people are crazy,' I followed.
The drop was around six foot. I sat on the edge and turned so that I could lower myself over it. My fingers curled around the cold, damp rock and grit slid beneath them. My boots scraped along the rock face and then I was hanging, suspended above the ground wondering at what point I’d lost my motherfucking mind.
But it was too damn late to back out now so I closed my eyes and let go.
The ground was covered with forest debris and I skidded a little before managing to regain my balance. Laurie and Coal dropped down beside me and I gazed out into the valley beneath us. The slope stretched away at a steep decline. Rocks, trees and scrappy bits of undergrowth clung to the unwelcoming landscape and reached up towards the sky like broken fingers. The bottom of the valley was shrouded in mist and it was impossible to tell how far down it went.
A shriek of warning broke out from the treetops and I watched a large bird take flight, heading away from us through the branches.
“I guess we just have to do it,” I muttered.
“The sooner we start, the sooner it’ll be over,” Coal agreed with a grin.
He headed forward with careful steps and I followed, my throat thickening as I placed each foot with care.
We grasped at trees and vines as we passed them to help keep us on our feet over the difficult terrain. As I grabbed for my third handhold, Kaloo leapt from the outcrop behind us and landed on the hill with an excited yelp. She tore off into the undergrowth and started splashing through puddles and kicking up leaves with no fear at all of the deadly drop beneath us.
I glanced around nervously, worried that her noise might attract the Creepers as it echoed out over the valley.
The trees dripped with the wetness of a previous rainfall and everything was saturated, making it harder to keep my balance and my grip on anything I held onto. The mist clung to my exposed skin, and covered me with a layer of moisture that made me shiver.
I took a deep breath and thought of Taylor alone in that hospital bed. That was why we were here. That was why I was risking this. And I’d do all of it and more for him. So I just needed to keep my head and get it done.
I was concentrating so hard on grabbing my next support and not falling on my ass that I didn't notice I'd moved ahead of the others. It was going surprisingly well and I could just make out the bottom of the valley several hundred feet below us.
Water ran down the slope in little rivulets, carrying dead leaves and debris with it.
The ground was littered with vines and other little shrubs which made it difficult to see where we were stepping but I was getting the hang of it, falling into a rhythm. I moved on with a bit less fear and started to use the vines which trailed along the ground for support.
I glanced back up the ridge and was surprised to see how far we’d come already when the vine I was holding onto snapped.
My heart took a nosedive into the pit of my stomach and a scream escaped me, echoing out over the endless ravine as I began to fall.
I spun and flailed for another handhold before hitting the ground hard on my back where I started sliding straight away. I dug my fingers into the soaked earth as panic bled through me but I couldn't get a grip as I picked up speed.
I kicked at the saturated ground in desperation but couldn't gain purchase on anything. Clods of mud flung out in various directions and slapped up into my face. I let out an involuntary scream as a rock loomed up ahead of me, threatening to splatter me all over it.
At the last moment, something hooked a hold of the back of my jacket and I jerked to a stop just inches from the hulking stone. I twisted to see what had caught me and relief spilled through me as I spotted Alicia, hanging onto me with all her might.
She grunted with effort as she smirked down from above me. One of her hands was gripping my jacket firmly while the other was looped around a vine with Coal anchoring the other end of it, further up the hill.
“How the hell did you manage that?" I gasped.
“We realised that it was getting too steep and decided to tie ourselves together. Then we saw you fall and I started running." She grinned. "Can you get your feet to that rock?" She jerked her head to point out which one.
I nodded and swung my feet over to the rock which had been aiming to splatter me. Once I was there, she let go and I regained my balance, then I helped to guide Alicia down next to me. Coal lowered down Laurie using the vine too before tying it off on a tree and following himself.
“Are you alright?" He caught hold of my shoulders and pulled me around so that I was facing him and I fell prey to the darkness his eyes.
“Yeah," I said automatically, though I was trembling from shock.
“You're freezing." He looked at me with a concerned frown and rubbed his hands up and down my arms, trying to warm me. I shivered as I realised that I was cold. Really cold. My slide down the freezing, wet hill had finished the job that the penetrating mis