Chapter
19
By
Rachel
The next
morning, AJ was awakened by someone shaking him and saying, "Come on, Aje,
wake up. We gotta get going."
AJ pulled away
from the hand that was shaking him and sat up wincing in pain. "Damn
back," he mumbled as he opened his eyes and squinted against the small
amount of sunlight that was reflecting off of the snow outside.
"You want
a cracker to eat before we go, Aje? I know it isn't much, but we don't know how
long this food will need to last us," said Howie as he bent over and
started to unzip the bookbag he had brought along.
"No, I'm
fine, Howie. The sooner we get started, the sooner we will find help for the
other guys," replied AJ after he stood up and put his arms through the
shoulder straps of his bookbag. "Let's go, D. If you are ready," he
said as he walked outside the cave to wait for Howie. The sight before him
simply amazed him. It was the beginning stages of sunset, the snow on the
ground before him glistened like diamonds, and the mountains were all around
him.
"Beautiful
sight, isn't it?" said a voice behind him, breaking him out of his trance.
"Yeah, it
is. It is hard to believe something so beautiful could be so life-threatening,
you know what I mean? And it doesn't help that it snowed more last night. I
can't see our footprints we made last night," stated AJ.
"Yeah, it
snowed last night, and it was snowing a little when I woke up this morning.
Well, let's get this show on the road."
AJ just nodded
in agreement and they again started walking, hoping that they would accomplish
their mission, finding help for their injured friends.
***
Hours
later, both Howie and AJ were still walking, having only stopped a few times to
catch their breaths. "Howie, can we please stop for a few minutes?"
whined AJ. "My back is bothering me, and I can barely feel my legs."
Howie didn't respond and just sat down in the snow. "Well, I guess that is
a yes," said AJ with a small grin.
"Hey, do
you hear that?" said Howie suddenly after a few moments of silence.
"Hear
what?" said AJ with panic written all over his face. "It isn't
another avalanche, is it?"
"No, it
sounds like people cheering or something. Listen," ordered Howie as he
strained his ears to listen. AJ listened closely and was about to give up after
a few seconds but then he heard what Howie was talking about.
"I heard
it, D! I hear it!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet immediately, ignoring
the pain. "Let's go!"
Howie grinned
at AJ's enthusiasm and quickly got up to his feet and followed AJ, who was
walking quickly towards the sound.
A few minutes
later, they reached what looked like a ski trail, and there were approximately
six college-aged students waiting to ski down as they cheered on their
companion who made it safely down the trail. Both Howie and AJ approached them
quickly. "Excuse me?" they both said, immediately grabbing the
attention of the young people in front of them. "We were in a plane crash
a few days ago, and three of our bandmates are injured. Please help," said
Howie without stopping to get a breath and shaking.
The faces of
the college student immediately paled when they realized the situation. They
quickly talked amongst themselves and came to a decision. "Of course we
will help you. First off, we need to get you guys warmed up and get you checked
for injuries. One of our companions who is skiing on another trail took first
aid so they should be able to help you when they come back. Oh, by the way, my
name is Daniel," introduced the young man who was obviously the leader of
the group.
"Thank
you so much. You don't know how much this means to us," said Howie,
smiling the first real smile he had smiled during the crash.
The group
carefully lead them down to the lodge nearby and asked the two obviously tired
young men in front of them approximately how many miles they had walked and
replayed the information to the police, who said they would start an air search
immediately for the wreckage. Howie and AJ immediately fell asleep, relieved
that they had finally found help, hoping that they same luck they had would
also come to their friends left at the crash site.
***
