Computerized

Chapter Seventeen: Rock Climbing

The rock cliff was huge. I craned my neck, looking at the top which was three hundred feet high. I sucked in a sharp breath and looked over to Anton, Hannah, and Ty. Anton wore and excited smile unlike the rest of us who were terrified.

"Whoa!" I muttered.

"Come on guys. It will be fun. I've done this a million times. I know it looks high but it's actually an easier climb than some others we have around here. Besides, we've placed ladders where possible along the way," Anton said.

I gave him a look. "What if we fall? We aren't going to survive!"

Anton chuckled. Chuckled! "Relax Reb, you aren't going to fall!"

I raised an eyebrow and turned to face him. "Reb?"

"It's a nickname," Anton answered with a 'duh' tone.

"I know what it is you idiot! I just was wondering why you called me that!"

"Oh, you don't like it?" He asked.

"I think it's cute!" Hannah chirped. "In fact, I'm going to start calling you that. I've always wanted a nickname for you because you call be Ann!" She exclaimed childishly. I rolled my eyes at her but honestly, I liked the nickname. It felt like the first step towards are group becoming closer. And, if it made Hannah happy, she could call me whatever she'd like.

I smiled at them brightly. "I like it!" I answered honestly. They grinned at me but I didn't miss Ty's scowl which he quickly replaced with a forced half-smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Okay! Reb and Ann do you see that shed over there?" Anton pointed to a small wooden shed a couple yards away. Hannah and I nodded in response. "Could you go grab four harnesses please?"

We headed to the shed and pulled open the old door that was held shut by a simple rusted barrel bolt lock. It creaked as it swung open. We entered and realized their was no light, instead we used the dim light from outside.

Hannah headed to the corner of the shed and opened a large plastic blue container. "Found them," she announced. We each took two of the complicated looking black harnesses back to Anton.

"Thanks. Now, put them on like I do." Ty, Hannah, and I followed Anton and pulled the harnesses on. Once we all were secure in the harnesses Anton instructed us on what to do.

"Because I'm most experienced I'm going to be belayer most of the time. One at a time you'll climb up. When you come up to a bolt that has been drilled into the rocks you need to hook your quickdraw to it," Anton instructed while pointing out the small device of two carabiners hooked to each other. "Then you'll thread the rope through the other side of the quickdraw. Clear?"  We nodded in response.

"Good. If you slip or fall you won't fall all the way down because I will catch you as belayer and so will the bolts your hooked to. If you're tired and need a break stop at one of the ledges. When you get to a certain point up the wall I'll tell you to stop. These ropes aren't long enough to go all the way up so we have to do it increments. Have you guys ever rock climbed?"

Hannah and I nodded our heads again. "I've  gone once a few years back on a school field trip but it wasn't near as high as this and we had instructors and professionals help us," I answered.

"I'm part of a group who goes rock climbing every month actually, but the highest we have climbed is 150 feet. We usually climb horizontally along the rocks more than we do upwards. I've never belayed anyone before but our instructor has told us how to," Hannah said.

Hannah is surprisingly a really brave person. You might call her a daredevil. She is fascinated with fashion, make up, and the current gossip on celebrities. This is true. But, in her free time she's also bungee jumped off a bridge, backpacked, skydived and rock climbed.