We went as far as the car would take us

Chapter 1

We went as far as the car would take us. We stopped at the edge of the anderson abyss. Mark Anderson had disappeared in this abyss two years earlier and any one who went to look for him never came back. Charles and I stepped out of the car. We were fearless, to some extent. Part of the vows that Charles and I exchanged a month ago stated that we would concur the horrors of the Anderson abyss, together. The abyss was hard to see from above, the black fog eliminated almost everything worth seeing.

As Charles and I looked over into the black fog that unfolded below us, Charles older brother, Brody, who now hated me by the way, came up behind me and grabbed my shoulders. He gave me a jerk as if about to throw me over the edge. I turned around a punched him in the stomach. He fell over groaning. Charles walked over to his brother to help him up. He never scolded me though, so he knew that his brother deserved it.

Brody needed someone to blame and hate for everything that he and the ones he loved had screwed up in his life. He chose me! Charles wished that Brody and I could just get along, and I would, it's not like I haven't tried. Brody hates me and I don't think that will change any time soon.

Charles and I walk to the car and started unloading the gear. We had packed multiple ropes, and extra ropes. Lots of food and water. And of course, for good measure, my good friend, Jack Daniels. The car left us in a cloud of dirt.

We discussed the plan of action. After an hour of arguing, we decided to enter the abyss at the east ditch and three days from now exit at the west ditch. We walked to our departure ditch, Charles and I holding hands and Brody sulking behind us like a child that had just been denied candy. I bent down to secure the ropes for our descent and hooked on the karabiners. Charles readied the harnesses and we slipped into them. Charles led and I followed, we got halfway when I noticed that Brody hadn't even clipped into his karabiner. I yelled up to him but he disregarded me. He started fiddling with the ropes. Charles and I hurled towards the ground to be caught by the rope after 6 feet. Brody kept fiddling. We fell another 9 feet to be caught by the rope. More fiddling. Charles and I fell again but this time there was no rope, we fell 11 feet and landed in a heap at the bottom. The rope came down like a whip sending a shot of pain across my face and chest. I heard a muffled groan from underneath of me. I jumped up to see what had cushioned my fall, it was my Charles, sprawled out on the dirt, a stream of blood trickling from his nose. I helped him sit up while I apologized profusely. I could tell that he was in a lot of pain, I didn't need to be a doctor to know that, or to know that he probably had at least two broken ribs and possibly a broken nose.

I looked around for the first time. Everything was dead. Everything from dead trees, to dead animals laying on the dry cracked ground. they weren't even animals anymore, they were empty carcasses, picked clean by the vultures.

I suggested we set up camp there, pointing to a circle of what used to be trees. Charles didn't argue. I helped him limp to our makeshift fire pit, and sat him next to it. I set up our tent and started a fire. I looked at Charles. He was tall and well built. He had blond hair, and eyes bluer than the midday sky. His hair that was usually neatly combed back was now askew, and his blue eyes were red with pain and fatigue. His words slurred together as he spoke. "Doctor me up sweetheart!" His voice was still smooth as honey. I pulled out the first aid kit and the bottle of jack. He took a swig of jack after I peeled his shirt off of his chest. There were many bruises already. I rifled through the kit and fumbled the gauze before I finally had it wrapped securely around Charles' ribs. He leaned over and gave me a kiss. I smiled at him, but laid him on his back instead of returning the kiss. "One sip too many" I whispered into his ear as I pried the bottle of jack out of his hand. I held his hand in mine for the rest of the night, adjusting the fire now and again just to keep us warm.