It took a few minutes to collect myself. I had to let the pain dwindle a bit before I could think clearly. I would have to bandage my hand and face once I got the bags up. They were both bleeding pretty heavily. In the meantime I took my shirt off and wrapped it around my head as best I could without obscuring my vision.
Close to where I had pulled myself up, I found a small tree with a broken off tree only a few feet in front of it. I tied the rope around the tree and tossed it over the side of the cliff. Five minutes later I saw the rope being tugged to signal me it was time to pull it up.
The bags would definitely be the hardest to get up. Our options were to pull them up one at a time or all three at once. I decided to pull them all up at once, we had dumped most of the water to make it easier. After all, we could just filter more once up top. It took nearly twenty minutes to pull them up. I had to stop a few times, wrapping the rope around the stump when I needed to rest. Finally, I had them up top. I took a minute to properly bandage my hand before I threw the rope back down for Jesse. I would have to wait for Liz to bandage my face. I still had no idea how bad it was.
He had no experience climbing so the obvious move was to send him up next. After that, I could rest and he could help pull Liz. We had gone rock climbing many times together, so it wouldn't be hard to get her up.
Jesse was a different story. He moved very slowly, afraid of slipping. I looped the rope every few feet to ensure he couldn't fall more than a yard at a time, which he did a few times. It wasn't really his fault though, I was an experienced climber and this cliff had almost killed me. It definitely wasn't a great place for a leisurely climb.
Eventually, I was able to help pull him up the last few feet. It was a struggle lifting him with my left arm.
"Holy shit Connor," he said doing a double take when he saw me. "What the hell happened? Are you Ok?"
"Yeah, I think." I replied. "I slipped and hit my head pretty hard, it scraped me up pretty badly."
"Did it rip off your finger when you fell?" He exclaimed looking at my wrapped up hand. "We heard you yell, but couldn't see what happened."
"No, it just tore up my middle finger , I think it ripped the nail completely off. I'll have Liz look at it when she gets up here."
"Ok, well show me how to do this so you can go sit down." He said, eager to get Liz up here. I had a feeling I looked worse than I thought, because he seemed very concerned. So I showed him how to take the slack out of the rope by wrapping it and made sure he knew not to try and hold on if it slipped.
"The rope is strong, it won't break, but it might cut your hands or even break a few bones if you try to stop it." I told him, "She wont fall more than three feet if you wrap it every time."
"Alright, go sit down now." He said, when he was finally comfortable that he wouldn't get Liz killed. It didn't take nearly as long to pull her up because she was able to climb most of the way. In fact it was probably safer for her, because she weighed almost a hundred pounds less than me. She was much less likely to have the rock falter under her weight.
Over all, Jesse did a pretty good job of pulling her up. He only tried to grab the rope once before learning his lesson. They were in much better shape than I was by the time she was at the top.
"Connor!" Liz screeched, the blood draining from her face as she saw me sitting against the tree, covered in blood. She was trying to untie the rope from her waist as she ran over. "What the hell happened?"
"Fall down, go boom," I said trying to crack a smile. "A rock broke away and I fell about ten feet, I used my face to slow the fall."
"You're an asshole" she said trying not to cry, she was extremely worried. I really must have looked like hell. "First you get shot then you fall down a cliff, when are you going to stop trying to kill yourself?"
"Ahh! ow ow!" I exclaimed as she was pulling the shirt off to take a look at my face.
"Jesse, get me some water, I can't see through all this dried blood." She yelled to Jesse who was looking for bandages.
"Yeah and bring me the pain killers when you're done." I added.
"I need one just looking at you" she said as she unwrapped my hand.
"Here" Jesse said handing Liz the water and me the pain killers.
"Thanks sweetie. Ok this is going to hurt." She said as she poured the water down my face.
"I half expected to see a metallic skull when you did that." Jesse said jokingly.
"Well, his head is certainly hard enough." Liz replied.
"I think we should just set up camp here for the night." I said
"Yeah, it's mid afternoon already hun and you look like you're getting tired." Liz said as she finished bandaging my face. "Why don't you walk around a bit, so you don't fall asleep."
"Do you have a concussion?" Jesse asked.
"Hell if I know," I said as I stood up. "I'm not dizzy if that counts for anything, but my head is still throbbing and my hand feels like it got smashed by a sledgehammer."
"Connor," Liz said after a few minutes "Let me take a look at your hand."
"Alright," I said walking back over to the tree where she had the first aid kit. "Well this sock is ruined."
"Jesus," She said as she looked at my hand. "The finger nail is completely ripped off."
"So that's what that feels like." I joked, trying to lighten the mood up.
"We've got to be really careful that you don't get an infection." She said as she cleaned my hand up. "You're going to have to change this every day."
"We'll have to keep the bandages in one of the vacuum seal bags" I said, aware that I could be leaving a trail of blood and filthy dressings behind me now.
"Want me to find a good spot for camp?" Jesse asked
"Yeah sure, I think somewhere by those big rocks near the water would be good." I said glad to be relieved of that duty for at least one night. If anyone was following us, they would be a few days behind now, having to move around the cliff.
"I wonder if we can catch any fish here?" he said as an afterthought.
"Actually, we probably can," Liz said "A lot of times there will be calm pools near waterfalls, it would probably be easy to catch a fish in them."
"Awesome, can you show me what to look for later?"
"Sure thing, just let me finish patching up Connor."
"Hey, just be sure to tie yourself to a tree." I said groggily, the pain killers were starting to get to me. As I rested against the tree, while Jesse and Liz set up camp, I occupied myself with the GPS trying to find our best route from here. Another climb like that was simply out of the question. I was too beaten up to risk any more injury.
It was shocking how much ground we had actually covered over the last few days. To the south, and past the waterfall, you could see Mt St Helens and her perpetual waft of smoke. To the north and slightly to the west, in the small clearing provided by the abrupt cliff, you could see Mt Rainier. The other side of Rainier was about our halfway mark. At that point we had no choice, but to start crossing the major roads that passed through the Rainier National Park. With that vulnerability also came opportunities to get more food, medical supplies, and more importantly information.
"Hey! Look what I got!" Jesse said running over with a huge fish hanging out of his makeshift net.
"What the hell is that?" I asked
"I have no clue, but it's got to weigh at least twenty pounds." He said, obviously proud of his accomplishment.
"I'll make a fire" I said getting to my feet.
"We already did that, hun" She said, walking over to the camp with me. They had done a great job setting up. It almost felt like an actual room, the way they had run the tarp from the top of one rock to another.
"This is like the Flintstones," I said, still feeling a bit loopy. "All we need now is a Brontosaurus shower."
After only a few minutes I had dozed off, Liz woke me later to eat. I soon fell back asleep, waking around midnight. The pain
was excruciating, I had been sleeping on my right arm. Jesse and Liz were still awake, sitting outside looking over the cliff. I quietly opened the bottle of painkillers and downed a few.
I woke again, sometime after dawn. Quickly getting up, ready to start our day's hike. Jesse just looked at me incredulously.
"Are you really in any shape to be doing that?" He asked.
"I'm fine, we have to get moving soon." I said, irritated that I was being treated like I was incapable of continuing.
"Oh really? Catch." he said throwing the smallest bag at me.
"Ahhh, fucking son of a bitch." I groaned. Sinking to my knees as I caught the bag, the pain was immense. I couldn't even lift my arm without screaming.
"Dude, you aren't ok. You need to rest some more. Just take a day off from being Mr. Badass."
"I'm not trying to be a badass, god damnit." I said furiously, "I'm trying to fucking keep us alive."
"Connor, if anyone was following us, we would have seen their camp fires last night, right?" Liz asked yawning.
"Just take a day, man. If you can move your arm tomorrow we'll keep going." Jesse added.
"We can take care of things while you rest. You got us up here, now let us help you." Liz said sternly.
"Fine, it doesn't fucking matter anyways." I said walking off to wash my face. I wasn't angry with them. Honestly, I wasn't even sure why I was so angry. I tend to react that way when I’m in pain, I guess. I wasn't the kind of guy who could just sit back and relax when I felt threatened.
They were right though, I needed to rely on them a little bit more. Trying to do everything myself was down right stubborn. I felt as if I would break at any minute. I was terrified of what might happen in the coming days and weeks.
"Babe, what's the matter?" Liz asked, walking up behind me.
"Everything is the fucking matter! We have an entire fucking military looking for us, they want to fucking hang my head from a pole. How the hell am I not supposed to be worried about this shit? I didn't fucking ask for any of this!"
"I'm right here with you Connor." She said, trying to calm me down. "We're in this together, we can't just give up or start yelling at each other."
"What the hell do you expect me to do?" I responded, "I have no fucking idea what I’m doing. For all I know, I’m going to get you both killed."
"Maybe so, but we chose to be here with you" She snapped, "So stop being such an asshole, because it isn't helping."
"You know what? You're right I’m sorry" I said getting up and walking off.
"Hey are you ever gonna teach me how to use these guns?" Jesse asked, not knowing what was going on.
"Jesse, not right now"
"It's fine," I said, "Come here, grab the one I’ve been carrying."
"Why can't I use this one?" he said gesturing toward the rifle I had given him earlier.
"Mine has a laser sight on it." I responded calmly. At least this would help take my mind off of my feelings of inadequacy for a while.
"Oh cool!" he said grabbing the gun.
"Ok," I said, setting him up "Use the rock to steady the gun, like you would a tripod."
"Ok, what do you want me to shoot?"
"Nothing."
"But, how-"
"That's what the laser is for." i said, "Ok see that clump of moss on the rock over there? Aim for it."
"Ok, got it"
"Alright, let's see how close you are." I said turning the sight on. "Ha, way off."
"crap"
"Line the sight up."
"How?"
"See that tiny hole right there?" I said showing him, "Line it up with the center of this cross-hair at the end of the gun."
"Ok, got it this time." He said assuredly.
"Closer," I replied after turning the laser on,"About 3 feet to the left."
After about an hour, he was able to consistently sight the target. From there we moved on to retargeting after firing. This was much more difficult to do without actually firing the weapon.
"Ok so we'll leave the laser on and I’m going to jerk the gun back to mimic the kick." I told him, "I want you to retarget as quickly as possible."
"This is a helluva lot harder than it looks." He complained after a few minutes.
"Just imagine doing this combined with the sound of the bullet firing," I said laughing.
"Yeah, it would help if I could actually fire it."
"I agree, but it would also help anyone who was looking for us."
After another hour, I was satisfied that he had learned as much as possible without actually firing the weapon. I would have to take him to a firing range, once we got to a safe town.
"You're doing good." I said
"Can you show me how to shank a fool with the bayonet?" he asked, I wasn't sure if he was serious.
"Maybe once my arm I get my arm reattached" I said laughing.
"Is it hurting still?"
"Yeah, I’m gonna go swallow a hand full of pills." I said walking back to our camp. I was starting to feel a little better after eating, but it was still extremely difficult to move my arm.
"Hey, what's this?" Jesse asked, handing me the GPS. "See that faint line right there?"
"Yeah, that's pretty close." I said, "I wonder if it might be a road."
"I think it would be marked if it was." He replied.
"You're probably right, let me see the laptop."
"It isn't getting a very good signal here." He said handing it to me.
"That's fine, it has Earth Maps on it." I said
"Oh, that's cool." He replied, before adding "Wait why is that good?"
"You can zoom in to near ground level with satellite images." I told him, "It's unlikely to have changed since they last time this area was imaged."
"Oh, I get it."
"Where is Liz?" I asked looking around
"She said she was going to go take a bath in that pool." He laughed, "She walked up and told us that, you had a whole conversation."
"Hmm," I said, wondering how that could have slipped me. "Shit, we didn't shut this down completely so the battery is almost dead. Give me those coordinates, it only has about five minutes worth of juice."
The program popped up a picture of the earth, as I input the coordinates it spun and started to zoom until it rested about 10 miles above the spot I had selected. I then zoomed in until the image was set just above the tree line. It was easy enough to spot the line we had been looking for. It looked like an access trail with a small bridge crossing the creek about ten miles up.
"Jackpot!" I said a minute later after following the trail.
"What did we win?" Liz asked, giving me an odd look as she walked up.
"A park ranger station." I said pointing to the cabin I had found about two days hike away.
"You mean we might be able to sleep indoors for once?" She asked happily.
"Looks that way, let's get some rest. I think I’ll be up for it in the morning" I said, determined to go whether I felt better or not. The longer we stayed here the more antsy I became. My nerves were getting worse and worse the longer I sat around doing nothing.
We ate the leftover fish and went to sleep early. Jesse and Liz split up my watch again, over all it was a very uneventful night. Although, Jesse was sure he had seen a bear at some point. Liz told him to give it a pic-a-nic basket before rolling over and going back to sleep. She didn't remember in the morning, but we both had a good laugh about it.
The next morning my arm was still stiff, but was feeling much better. I was even able to pack a bag, which was considerable progress. The best thing about following the water was definitely the ease of covering our camp site with the loose soil and rocks all around. Creeks and streams in this area tend to be either very sandy or covered in rocks. This one happened to be a pleasant mix of the two.
By the time we had finished cleaning up, we could hardly tell where our camp had b
een. It was much cooler than it had been over the last week or so that day. We were making better progress because of it.
"No fucking way," Jesse said as we saw a small wooden bridge in the distance. Somehow, by mid day we had reached the bridge we were looking for.
"About time things go our way," I said. I couldn't help, but smile as we sat down to eat before breaking off from the stream.
"I'm gonna fill up all of the water, just in case." Liz said
We ate quickly and began to follow the trail, weary of any sounds. We kept up our brisk pace, but were ready to break off of the trail at any moment if we thought someone was approaching us. We pressed on until nearly seven before eating.
"Alright, we've got to be close." I said, "But if we're wrong we'll be setting up camp after dark. What do you guys want to do?"
"Let's keep going." Jesse said immediately
"I agree, I’d rather sleep indoors for once." Liz agreed, "We're bound to be there soon."
"Ok, let's go then." I said, leading the way.
Sure enough, within an hour and a half we saw the cabin.
"Guys, be careful," I said "I saw some tire tracks from what looked like a quad earlier. They didn't look more than a few days old. Someone might be here."
"Ok, what should we do?" Liz asked, assuming I had probably thought of a plan.
"We're just going to move up slowly and if no one comes out, I’ll go in first." I replied. I didn't have much of a plan, my head was starting to throb and I was dead tired. I refused to let them see though, they wouldn't have pressed on otherwise.
After a few moments we were at the cabin, no lights were on. It was only a few hundred square feet by the looks of it. We made a loop around and still didn't see anything.
"Ok, wait for me to call you in." I said as I walked in.
I wasn't thinking clearly and had forgot to grab a flashlight. I walked in with my weapon down, squinting for a light switch. My stomach jumped into my throat, I thought I had heard the scuffle of a foot. Suddenly, I felt the cold steel of a shotgun barrel against the side of my head.
Chapter 12