"Come on, just a little farther!"
"Cass... they're probably already noticing that we're gone. We should go back... before it's too late."
"Oh don't be such a drama queen!"
"Cass! I'm serious. You know what will happen to us if they catch us outside the perimeter."
"Jake, just calm down. We haven't been gone that long. I'm sure they are still patrolling around like they own the place. Besides. We made it. What did I tell ya? Pretty cool huh?"
We've been walking for what seems like thirty minutes now. I look down at my watch and its only been ten. I guess time flies when your scared.
Cass started to lift her hand and wave it dramatically. And as I look to where she is motioning to, I see that she had a good reason to.
As I look over the edge of the cliff we're standing on I am startled. I back up quickly and begin to breathe heavily.
"Aw, what's the matter Jakey? Don't tell me you're scared of a few heights?"
"No. Not at all. I just... I just wasn't expecting it. That's all."
"Sure, we'll go with that."
I glare at her and walk back to the edge showing her that I'm not scared. I look over and realize that it's not a 'cliff' cliff. It's a slanted drop with various trees and bushes all along slope. I couldn't see the bottom from where I was standing. But in the distance I could see that there was a vast forrest as far as I could see. It was beautiful. Cass gets this look in her eye, like she is daring herself to do something dangerous.
"No. No. Don't even think about it."
"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"
"Absolutely not. Are you trying to get us caught?"
"When are you going to start acting like my brother instead of my dad?"
Ouch.
"Okay. Fine. Let's do this. But if we get caught, I'm blaming it on you."
Her eyes widen and she gets overwhelmingly excited. She takes off her backpack and pulls out her grapplin cord as I do the same. We walk to the closest, thickest tree to the edge and tie our cords around them, and then tie them around our bodies. As we walk back to the edge, my heart starts to race, and I get this strange feeling.
"Cass. I don't think we should be doing this. I have this feeling."
She glares at me.
"We'll be fine! Trust me big bro! We got this one! We've done way tougher."
"I know. But this one is different. I don't know why. But something isn't right."
"Come on Jake! Dont wuss out on me!"
"Okay. Maybe I just ate something bad."
"That's the spirit!"
I grab her cord and she gently lowers herself over the edge as I hold her steady. She does it flawlessly. We've been grappling for 3 years now. Ever since I got her a grappling kit for her on her fourteenth birthday. Thinking about it makes me miss it. The easy days when all we had to worry about was food and family. The easy days.
She secures herself on the edge and I let go of her cord. I grab my cord to make sure it's tight, and gently lower myself over the edge until I have a good foothold on the slope. I look over at Cass and she is smiling.
"What are you smiling about?"
"It's just... this makes me happy. I'm just glad you're here with me."
She does her little 'smile and slowly look away while still making eye contact' and I can't help but smile. I reach out and grab her hand.
"You ready?"
"Let's do this."
She lets go of my hand and propells herself down and away from me. Five feet. Ten feet. Twenty feet.
She looks up at me and shouts, "Ya comin?"
I smile, kick hard and in one jump, I'm right beside her in seconds.
"Show off."
We take turns jumping and we are getting a good distance from the slope. I look down and see that the trees are about fifteen feet below us.
I look over at Cass and she is looking right back.
"Okay. We get to the trees and that's far enough for today. We need to be heading back."
"Ugh, okay, okay."
We drop a few more feet and I stop dead in my tracks.
Voices.
I look at Cass and I see the fear in her eyes. She heard them too. From the sounds, they might be a few yards away from the edge above us. I walk across the slope and whisper to Cass.
"There is no way we will make it back up in time. We have to drop into the trees. Come on. Don't panic. You got this."
"Okay."
We drop a few more feet into the trees. We climb down about midway and stop. I look up and see the faces looking over the edge. The heads are rotating back and forth so I dont think they spotted us.
They grab both of our cords and start to pull. I panic and whisper loudly to Cass.
"Unhook! Unhook!"
We quickly unhook our cords right as they yank hard and they fly in the air a few feet and then come back down. I look up at the faces. They shake their heads and turn back over the cliff. Their voices signifying they are leaving.
I look over at Cass and I panic.
She must have been yanked with the cord before she got it off in time. Cass was hanging onto a branch only by her hands.
I start to look for a way over to her tree but the only branch close enough is too small.
I'm going to have to jump.
I stand up carefully on my branch and take a step back. I lower my body and leap as hard as I can. I fly through the air and grab her branch just as she slips off. I let go with one hand and grab her hand just before she falls out of reach.
"Jake don't let go!"
"Hold on!"
I swing her over to the trunk and she clings to it like an ape. I shimmy across the branch to the trunk. I climb down and reassure her that she can do it. We are about ten feet in the air. She's terrified. She slowly climbs down while I'm right above her talking her through it. She makes it to the slope and hangs on the tree to keep from tumbling down. I look down the slope and I still can't see the bottom. I look up and there is a man I've never seen before standing over the edge looking dead at us. He's shaking his head slowly. Yet, he isn't alerting the others. Cass and I panic and turn away and let go of the tree and begin to sprint rapidly to keep from falling.
Sooner rather than later the speed is too much and we begin to tumble. As I fall my vision starts to blur. My insides twist and I look around through the passing brush. Everything is twisting and mushing together. Is that my vision? Or is everything going crazy? We hit solid ground hard and it knocks the breath out me. I look around trying to breathe and I see Cass laying beside me coughing.
Thank god.
I look up the slope and instantly I feel confused. There is a single tree. With our grappling cords still intertwined in the branches.
"What the..."
