Blackout • NH

Chapter 12

Day 42: Thursday, June 21st: 6:57pm

We have been on the move for about 11 days now. We left our campsite and kept heading east towards the Grand Canyon. We finally began to see the landscape become rugged and declining in elevation. It was harder to climb down the hill with steep rocks making up most of it. We were close.

We didn't come across any groups. Which I found quite odd. Usually we'd see someone by now. Something was wrong. I had a feeling that when we get to the Appalachian Mountains, we are going to have a rude awakening.

I don't tell anyone in the group however. I don't want to scare or put anyone on edge. We didn't need any stress on the group since tensions are high. I decided to keep quiet about it.

"Okay guys you can see the Colorado River about a half mile from here! We made it. So now all we have to do is follow the river and it should take us to Glen Canyon in Utah! I estimate that this journey along the river will take about 5 days." Liam said.

"Thank fucking God." Elliot shouted.

Ever since Elliot and Niall made up, Elliot has backed off a bit on making choices for us. They haven't talked much though. Niall seems a bit unsure about him.

Niall has known Elliot a little longer than I have so maybe Niall knew something that nobody else did. It seemed like something about Elliot bothered Niall.

"Okay guys be careful coming down this hill. The terrain has gotten even steeper." Liam warned us. He pulled out a rope from his backpack and told us to hold onto it. Just in case one of us were to fall, the rest of the group could be able to help lift them back up.

As we continued to descend, the sound of water began to emerge. We were coming upon a curve in the river. We continued climbing down slowly until the ground became soft with sand and particles that the river had eroded over the millions of years.

"You know the layers you see in these rocks are all different layers of sediment." Niall says randomly beside me.

"That's interesting." I say, smiling.

"You know there are some old caves around here as well? I bet they're full of cave paintings and artifacts. Hey Liam, see if we can find a cool cave to spend the night in. I want to see what kinds of artifacts may have been left behind hundreds of years ago!" He said in an excited tone.

"Only you'd chose to be a nerd at this time Niall." Liam said while laughing.

"You didn't complain when you cheated off of my archaeology test Liam." Niall said while laughing.

I being to smile. This wasn't a normal smile. This was a genuine smile. It's been a while since I've heard anyone laugh. Things have been tough,move almost forgotten how beautiful the sound is, especially coming from Niall.

Did I just say that? No. I mean yes. His laugh honestly relieves so much stress I have because of this situation. If only Niall laughed and smiled more. He has, but it's like he's sad and tries to hide it.

I don't know what happened to Niall since the start of the blackout but telling by how he carries himself, he's had a rough start.

We begin to make our way along the river, following Liam's map and compass. I find a stick in a tumbleweed and begin to drag it next to me, watching the line form in the red sand as we walked. Ellen was climbing on the rocks with Elliot.

Niall however, he was picking up cool rocks along the way and putting them in a little bag hanging from his backpack.

"Hey Jodie, check this out!" Niall said quite shocked and impressed.

"What is it?" I ask, curious to see what Niall is excited about.

"Look!" He said, showing me a giant grey rock in the shape of an almost perfect sphere with dirt stuck on it. It was the size of a softball.

"Uh, that's a cool rock Niall." I say, trying to laugh at his ecstatic energy over a filthy rock.

"No, you didn't look at it properly." He said.

"I just saw it." I begin laughing. Him and that rock.

"No, seriously Jodie. Look at this." He said, sounding serious but also laughing because I was laughing. He rolls it over, revealing a hole about 3 inches in diameter. I look in the hole and I am taken back by what I see. I see light blue crystals inside.

They're as blue as Niall's eyes. Maybe a bit darker. They were glimmering in the light as Niall moved it around in his hand. I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life. It was by far the coolest thing I have ever seen.

"Isn't it sick?" Niall said, smiling at it.

"What is it? It's not an ordinary rock." I say, quite interested.

"It's a geode." He stated. Almost as if he's excited to teach me something about something related to geology.

"A what?" I ask confused.

"There's tons of these. You find them in caves and gem mines. They grow in there over millions of years. Usually under extremely high pressure and temperatures. They come in all sorts of colors, however the color depends on the pressure and temperature and the type of sediment around it when it began to form." He explained.

"There's purple amethyst geodes, clear quarts geodes, citrine geodes, smoky quarts geodes, rose quarts geodes, you name it. Amethyst and clear quarts are the most common geodes that you would find here in the United States." He began.

"However I've never seen a geode with blue crystals. Unless they formed in a cave with pressure and heat that were just right throughout the years. There is a cave, I believe it's somewhere in Mexico, they have salt crystals that are longer than houses and tall buildings. I watched a documentary on it on National Geographic." He said.

He continues, "There has to be an undiscovered cave nearby. Ive learned about all of the types of gemstones and rocks on this planet that have been discovered, but never have I learned about this. This is undiscovered." His eyes then light up.

"Liam! Stop for a second!" Niall shouts while running up to him.

"What is it mate? You know we have to keep moving and find shelter before the sun sets." Liam says.

"I know, but I think there's a cave nearby we can spend the night in." Niall says, so sure about himself.

"Well, okay then. You lead the way to this cave and we'll follow. We've walked a good few miles today." Liam said, yawning a bit.

Niall begins to head up a slope and started to climb the rocks. We weren't sure whether to question him or go along with him so we just went with him. We followed him up the rocks. He begins to inspect smaller rocks laying on the bigger ones.

"We're close." He said. We continue climbing until there's a mixture of some soul and rock. The climb was very steep and we were about 50 feet up.

Niall begins to dig at the soil that's scattered along the rock walls and picks up a few shines pieces. He looks around a bit and then looks at his shoes for a few seconds. Like he's listening for something. He then begins to climb down.

We give each other strange looks before following him. We took the same route back down, however Niall makes a sharp right and climbs up. We were on a balcony of rocks before.

Now we were under this balcony. If it were to rain, you'd be dry. Suddenly we all stop. The river is right in front of us. Niall begins to hold onto the rock wall and starts to walk in the shallow parts of the river to get to what looked like a right turn and more sand.

We follow his every move.

I begin to hear the sound of rushing water and I see mist everywhere. When I turn the corner, I run right into Niall who is standing there staring in front of him. I look at what he's staring at to see a giant waterfall. About 400 feet high.

Niall begins to follow the shallow parts of the river, clinging to the wall and starts to go to the waterfall.

"Niall what the fuck are you doing?" Elliot screams.

"Just trust me!" He yells back. He takes a few more steps towards the water fall and disappears.