Alive
As I got closer to the canyon, I slowed from a run to a walk. There had been several shots fired, and I had told myself that was a good sign—each shot had meant Ron had survived the last. But in the past thirty or so minutes, with the sun rising above the peaks, there had been only silence.
I reached the slotted opening and pulled the gun out of my belt. I was thinking more and more that this was a bad idea. Although I’d been trained in using firearms, I was nowhere near Ron’s level, and I didn’t have any knowledge of the current situation. If anything was still happening, I’d probably just get in Ron’s way or get myself shot. My best bet was to stay quiet, stay out of sight, and find out if Ron was still alive or not.
I moved toward the slot, trying to make as little sound as possible. The spiders were awakening, their webs dancing in the morning sunlight and causing shadows of movement along the rocks that made me jump at every turn. I had nearly fired at imaginary foes a dozen times when I finally tripped. I looked down at what looked like fishing wire, probably set by Ron to catch the mercenaries off guard. I started to move backward, but I was too late. The smaller rocks above me were beginning to rattle down the side of the wall.
I turned, expecting to see a boulder before it caught me in the face, but instead, I saw Ron holding his crutch above him as he slid down the wall face.
“It’s a good thing I disabled that,” he said. “I almost forgot about it.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, lowering my gun and placing it back in my belt. “I guess this means you won?”
Ron grimaced as he pulled his crutch back under his arm. “You could say that.”
“Jackson?”
“Dead.”
“The woman?”
Ron smiled. There was something in his eyes that almost looked like admiration. “Gone,” he said. “She decided she’s out of the game.”
“Your doing?”
Ron shook his head. “I think it was Joey. That boy has a way of growing on you.” As he said Joey’s name, Ron stiffened. “Matt, where are the boys?”
“They should be to the highway by now. Peng is leading them out.”
“Why aren’t you with them?”
“They wouldn’t leave unless I came back to check on you.”
Ron studied my face more carefully. “You look like you’ve been in a fight with a grizzly bear.”
“Worse,” I said.
“You took on Tiny?”
I nodded. “That is one strong man.”
“Yet you’re still alive.”
“Thanks to the boys.”
He shook his head. “You never cease to surprise me. Did you run all the way back here?”
“Pretty much.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You don’t look too winded.”
“I used to run a lot in the mountains,” I said. “I kind of enjoy it.”
“In that case, I think you should turn around and get back to the boys as soon as possible. Even though the team on the ground is out of commission, we don’t know where the mother ship is. I don’t like those boys being out there alone.”
“Hopefully they’ve already flagged down a camper and gotten some help.”
“Let’s just hope they picked the right camper.”
I hadn’t thought about that. I’d figured with Tiny, Jackson, and the woman out of the way, the boys were home free. A bad feeling started to creep up the back of my neck. “What about you?” I asked.
“I’ll hobble along behind as fast as I can, but I would just slow you down.”
I nodded, pulled out my water bottle, and took a long drink. And then I turned around and once again began to run.