Chapter
12
By Julie
When I awoke,
I looked around. Kevin was sitting next to Nick, who was still asleep.
"Hey,
cuz," I said. Kevin turned and smiled at me.
"Hey,
Bri," he replied.
"How's
Nicky?" I asked. Kevin shrugged.
"About
the same. He hasn't woken up at all," he said. I nodded sadly. "Do we
have any food?" Kevin asked suddenly. "I'm kinda hungry."
I nodded.
"We have some crackers," I said. I opened Jason's backpack and took
one of the three packages of crackers. Howie and AJ had taken the other two,
along with the bag of Starbursts, which I had insisted they take. My thoughts
suddenly shifted to my two friends, and I wondered how they were doing and how
far they had gotten. Little did I know what they were going through.
***
As I rested
back in the plane, safe and warm, Howie and AJ trudged through the snow, cold
and tired.
"Can we
rest now, Howie?" AJ asked, panting. "I think I'm going to
collapse."
"Come on,
Bone, we've only been walking for a couple of hours," Howie said. Luckily,
they had found a cave in the mountain to spend the night before. But they had
started walking again early that morning, determined to find help for their
injured friends.
"Can we
stop to eat?" AJ asked.
Howie sighed.
"Fine, AJ, we'll stop to eat," he said. AJ collapsed into the snow
with a relieved sigh and took off his backpack. He eagerly pulled his package
of crackers out and began to eat. "Not too many, J," Howie warned.
"You have to save them. We don't know how long we'll be out here." AJ
sighed, but nodded, chewing slower.
A few minutes
later, they started on their way again, walking down the mountainside. As it
began to get steeper, Howie grabbed onto AJ's arm.
"Take it
slow," he said. "It could be icy here." AJ nodded and they
walked carefully and slowly down the slope.
About halfway
down, AJ lost his footing and slipped.
"AJ!"
Howie cried, as his friend was torn away from his grip. He watched in horror as
AJ tumbled down the slope. Howie hurried down as fast as he could without
falling himself. When he reached the bottom, the ground evened out more and it
wasn't so steep and slippery. He gasped when he saw AJ lying on the ground.
"AJ?!" he yelled, rushing over to his best friend. AJ was lying flat
on his back, staring up at the sky.
"Damn,
that hurt," he said when Howie reached him. Howie grinned down at him,
relieved.
"Are you
okay?" he asked anxiously.
"Yeah, I
think so," AJ replied. Howie offered AJ his hand and helped him to his
feet. "Oh, my back," AJ moaned.
"You
gonna be okay?" Howie asked.
"Yeah,
I'll be fine," AJ said. "It's just a little sore. It'll probably be
stiff tomorrow."
Howie nodded.
"Well at least you're okay," he said. AJ had a cut on his forehead,
but other than that, he looked to be alright.
"Well,
it's not so steep here. Let's get going," AJ said. Howie nodded, and they
slowly started on their way again.
They hadn't
gotten very far when they heard a rumbling sound in the distance. Howie kept
walking, oblivious of the strange noise, but AJ stopped.
"AJ?"
Howie asked. "What's wrong?"
"Just
listen," AJ said. Howie stopped and listened. His brown eyes got a
confused look in them.
"What is
that?" he asked.
"I have
no clue," AJ said. Suddenly, the rumbling seemed closer. And closer.
Howie's eyes
widened in horror. "Avalanche!" he shouted. He began to run. AJ
hurried after him, trying to catch up. It was hard to run with his hurt back.
"Hurry,
Bone!" Howie back. AJ ran his hardest, but it was not hard enough. When he
turned around, mounds of snow and rocks were rolling down the steep slope,
right towards him. He continued to run, looking back every few seconds.
Suddenly, he tripped over something and fell facedown in the snow. He scrambled
up and started to run again, but it was no use. Suddenly, the wave of snow was
surrounding him. He screamed as he was covered in the cold, white, snow. Then
everything went black.
***
Howie stopped
a few minutes later, gasping for breath. "Do you think we outran it,
AJ?" he asked. No answer. "AJ?" Howie cried, turning around. To
his horror, his friend was not behind him. "Oh my God, AJ," Howie
cried, tears of panic filling his eyes. He didn't know what to do. Where was
AJ?
He stood long
enough to catch his breath, then started jogging back up the hill, calling AJ's
name. There was no answer. All was silent. It was no longer steep here, so
Howie figured the avalanche had stopped. All around there were big drifts of
snow. Howie cringed, thinking AJ could be buried under one of them. Buried
alive. He shuddered, and wandered around, calling for his friend. But an answer
never came.
***
