The Mountain

Chapter 12

The fall only lasts a few seconds but it feels like minutes. My breath catches in my throat and my stomach twists all the way around. Looking down, I feel terror as I see the twenty foot drop that ends in baby blue. The black of the darkness gives way to brown that grows lighter with each passing millisecond. Bright blue and white light of the sky flashes in my eyes just before I hit water. It feels like falling on hard ground. The cool feeling of water comes after the impact, it doesn't feel much better though. Water floods into my open mouth and I start to choke.

I desperately claw and squirm in the water to get to the surface, but waves and my backpack weigh me down. Somehow, I manage to unstrap the backpack off of my shoulders. The bubbles blind me as I try to figure out a way to get to the surface with my backpack. An idea comes to mind and I hate it, but it's the only turning I can do.

Looking down to the bottom, I can see that it is actually pretty close. I wait for myself to sink down to it. My lungs and throat burn and water threatens to flood through me. I feel my feet touch the bottom, before bending my knees and kicking off the floor with all my strength.

I break the surface and gasp and cough for air. I scramble to get to the bank and toss my backpack onto dry land. As I do, a wave crashes over me and sweeps me away, leaving my backpack sitting on the edge. I cry out just as I duck underneath again. The water forces me to flip, turn, and twist as it rushes around me, carrying me away. I try to regain control of my body to no avail. Every now and then my head comes out of the water and my eyes open just fast enough to see the spray of white water around me, I'm in the rapids. Rocks graze past me, a few even scraping my body. I feel the sharp sting of pain on my back and stars dance in my vision as I am thrusted against a large one.

A strong hand grabs me by my jacket and pulls me out of the rapids. It drags me onto the shore and gently sets me down. My eyes drag up to the owner of the hand and catch the glint of bright blonde hair and meet their frightened brown eyes. Johnathan asks me something but my ears are clogged and my head spins. I roll over onto my side, ignoring the pain in my back, to unclog my ears. I end up coughing up water, too. I roll back around and smile at Johnathan but I'm guessing I look like a mess and it's making it worse.

"Thanks," I manage between sputtering breaths. My voice is hoarse.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

I try sitting up but black dots threaten me, keeping me down. My back screams in pain. I don't have to answer for Johnathan to understand. My breathing halts as I try to keep a scream from ripping out of me. His eyes widen and he kneels down beside me. "Is it your back?" He asks softly.

I nod. "I hit a rock, I think I might've broken a rib or something."

"Do you mind if I look at it?" He asks.

He helps me flip over and I grimace in pain. Gingerly, he pulls up on my shirt to reveal my back. The sharp gasp tells me what I need to know. "There's a large bruise on the one side of your back. I'm guessing you're right. Broken or at least fractured rib."

I nod and he helps me roll over then sit up. The shock of the injury is wearing off and it helps ease the pain. I sit up and eventually stand next to Johnathan. "Well, if you're already up I'm guessing it's just a fracture or a bruise."

I nod happily. "That's good. I'll be able to keep going without too much trouble."

"How did you land here in the first place?" He asks. "Did you take your knowledge test?"

"Yeah," I answer. "And it landed me here. One of the directions said to crawl down this small tunnel and it led out into the river. You can guess what happened."

He laughs. "I just finished mine, too. It directed me to the river and that's how I saw you. I guess you're not much of a swimmer are you?"

I hesitate. "I don't know. Maybe not, but being dumped in the middle of the rapids isn't gonna prove much."

I lead him to where my backpack is on the bank and I gently strap it on, shifting it so it doesn't press against my ribs. "It looks like we're partners now," he says. "They must've landed us in the same spot for a reason."

I nod. "I wonder if James and Eloise were paired together?"

He shrugs. "Maybe."

I grab my radio and play with the switches until I find the original setting I was on. "Hey, James?" I ask. "Are you there?"

It takes a few moments for him to answer. "Yeah, where are you? I finished my test and found myself at the bottom of a canyon."

I exchange a bewildered glance with Johnathan. "We will come find you, oh yeah, Johnathan is with me now. We ran across each other. Have you seen Eloise by chance?"

There's no response for a minute and I start getting nervous until I hear the crackle from the other end. "I- I found her. Her and another guy are here. But, they're dead."