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Keeping Rowan on his feet was a challenge. Intermittent quakes were enough to keep everyone moving. The mighty pine trees cracked and toppled around them. They dodged falling timbers more than once.
Prevailing winds carried the ash cloud to the south, away from them. The sky darkened. Lauren realized the rumbling of the earth had grown to a deafening cacophony of shaking ground and tumbling rocks, cracking tree trunks and skittering stones. She felt her lungs burning, and her muscles screaming.
Even when it grew quiet, her heart was still hammering. “Come on! Come on! Come on!” She urged Rowan on.
“Lauren!” Derry yelled “Lauren! It stopped!”
“Lauren! Stop!” Jean-René’s voice snapped her out of her panic. Rowan dropped to one knee, taking her down with him. Lauren fell back on the ground, her head throbbing. Her lungs burned. She struggled to catch her breath.
“Rowan needs a break. Are you okay?” Katie asked. Rowan looked pale, but her face had gone bright red.
“Yeah,” she panted. “I just need a minute. We need to keep moving. There could be more aftershocks.”
Derry shook his head. “Take a minute, though.”
“Can you radio out?” Jean-René came over and dropped to one knee in front of Katie.
“I’ll try again, but I probably won’t get a response. Once we get to the meadow, we should be closer to the radio relay tower. I’ll try there.”
“We have to keep trying,” Lauren said, catching her breath. She accepted a canteen of water. She held it to Rowan’s lips, letting him take a sip first.
“We’ll be okay,” Derry said.
Lauren nodded. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away. She didn’t want the others to see her moment of weakness. She was near her breaking point. She wanted nothing more than to see that helicopter come over the rise.
“Lauren,” Rowan lifted her chin. He inspected her black eye and bruised cheek. “It’s ... okay. We’re going ...to be okay.”
She sniffed and nodded. “I know,” she said, stoically. Rowan held onto her and pulled her into him, leaning on her heavily. She reached up under his shoulders and clung to him. It was all her fault Rowan was hurt. She knew he wasn’t the kind who liked to admit to being vulnerable, but he was just as mortal as the next guy. She couldn’t bear thinking how badly hurt he was, even though he seemed improved under the care of the Bigfoot healer.
“What is it?” Rowan asked.
“Can we please just keep moving?” She sat back on her heels.
“Okay. Just not ... such ...a break-neck ... speed, okay?”
Lauren nodded. She got to her feet and helped Rowan up. He grimaced as she steadied him. She kept her back to the others as she turned and headed up the mountain toward the meadow.