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“No, but I imagine by the time we get out of here, I’ll even be willing to eat one of those.”

“Funny, I was thinking if we were gonna be here too long you could make soup from roots or something.”

“Well, after a few days of that I might even be convinced to eat pizza.”

“We could do vegetarian on half.”

“You’re on and I’m buying.”

“It’s a date.” Cat grinned, thinking that this was the most absurd way she had ever been asked out. “It is a date isn’t it?”

“You bet it is.”

Dylan handed the solar blanket to the doctor to give to Horace to keep him warm. “He needs this worse than we do.” She didn’t know how, but the bigoted

old bastard was still alive, though deeply unconscious and gray as ashes. “You ready?”

“Guess so.”

“Let’s go.”

With Norton, powerful flashlight in hand, taking point and Dylan and Cat carrying Johnson’s stretcher between them, the small group began to make its

way away from the plane’s wreckage and, hopefully, toward some indication of civilization.

The rain had slackened some, but the night was still dark and moonless. The scent of evergreen, damp and sharp, filled their otherwise dulled senses. They

followed a game trail that sloped steadily downward at a gentle grade.

Dylan’s knee felt like it had been filled with broken glass, shooting bright spikes of pain through her body with every limping step she took. Every time she

was almost ready to call a halt, however, she would look down at Johnson’s gray and pain wracked face and push on, figuring that while she could worry

about her knee later, Johnson simply didn’t have that kind of time.

They continued in this vein for almost an hour before Kelly Norton held them up with an upraised hand.

“What is it?” Cat asked. “Why are we stopping?”

“I’m not sure,” the doc replied, voice slightly muffled. “I can’t see much, but there’s something about this that I don’t like.”

As if by providence, the moon chose that moment to sail out from behind the rapidly dwindling clouds. By the moon’s eerie, ghostly light, they were all able

to see that Norton’s instincts had undoubtedly saved their lives.

“Holy Jesus,” Cat breathed, looking down an almost sheer cliff face that dropped off below them not more than five steps away. “I guess I wasn’t kidding

when I said I was afraid we’d wander off a mountain, was I.”

Dylan slowly lowered her end of the stretcher, prompting Cat to do the same. Once Johnson was safely on the ground, Dylan came around his prone body

and walked almost to the edge of the cliff. “Long drop,” she remarked softly.

“You’re not kidding,” Norton replied eyeing the almost bottomless well yawing before them.

“What do we do now?” Cat asked.

A low scud of clouds crossed the moon, painting the world black again.

“I think it’s best if we stop for the night,” Dylan said, her voice discouraged. “I know it won’t help Horace any, but we can’t risk walking any more in the

dark. It’s just too dangerous, now that we know what we’re up against. We can start out again at dawn.”

Cat nodded and touched Dylan lightly on the back, knowing how much it had cost her coach to make that decision.

“I’ll have to agree,” Norton said, turning away from the chasm. “Let’s move back to that little clearing we passed through and pray that no one walks in

their sleep.”

While Kelly Norton took care of settling Johnson and tending to his needs as best she could, Dylan and Cat took care of gathering as much fallen wood as

they could. Many of the branches had been sheltered from the worst of the storm by the trees towering above them, and they both soon returned with

armfuls of kindling with which to start a fire. Norton leant them her Zippo and soon a warm fire was blazing in a good sized clearing in the woods.

“With any luck,” Dylan remarked, “any rescue passing overhead will see this and know where we are.”

“I hope so,” Cat replied rubbing her arms with her hands as her teeth chattered. “God, I’m freezing!” Then she doubled over with a coughing fit that left her

cheeks an alarming shade of plum. “S-sorry b-bout that,” she said when she could finally straighten.

Dylan moved to her smaller friend, expression deeply concerned, and opened her arms. “Come here.”

Cat moved to her and they settled down together next to a downed tree and near fire. They booth looked at Norton, who gave them a grim thumbs up.

“He’ll freak if he come to and sees this,” Cat remarked between the shivers, as Dylan drew a coat over them.

“Ask me if I give a flying fuck at the moment.” Dylan felt her knee really starting to stiffen and visions of more surgery flashed through her mind. “Are you

getting warmer?”

“Yes, thank you. You’re a great hot water bottle.”

“Well, sharing body heat is about the only way we’re going to ward off hypothermia, so feel free to cuddle all you like.”

“You know you didn’t have to order a plane crash to get me to put my arms around you.”

Dylan chuckled and kissed the top of Cat’s head. “Well, you know me, when I do something I do it big.”