Page 10 of Mountain Men Heroes

“Man, you okay?” Ethan clapped him on the back. He offered up a weak smile to help ease the worry lines already cutting deep ridges into Ethan’s forehead.

“Let’s go.” Drake broke away from the crowd as everyone exited the tent.

“Fire this off if you find them before we do.” Chief handed him a flare gun and nodded.

“Copy that.”

“We have a little over six hours of real daylight left to find the hikers. We’ll take the south side while you Savage boys take the north.”

He nodded once. Fine by him.

“Ethan, I’ll head up to Esme point and scout out to see if they made it clear. You take the bottom.” Ethan gave a two-finger salute and tossed a two-way over to him.

Static played over the radios before settling in on a station they shared with the other team members. In situations like this, time was crucial and teamwork meant lives saved.

Drake shuffled his climbing gear over his shoulder and secured the straps around his waist. Team one took the southern route and already had rounded the bend out of sight.

To his left, a vast amount of pines served as a barrier between the town and any avalanches that could possibly strike. To his right a vast sea of sparkling powder stretched out before him. Ask anyone north of the Arctic Circle and they’d tell you a million and one stories about the wilds of Alaska and how going against nature wasn’t a safe bet.

“Hey guys,” a newcomer’s voice came in over the two-way.

His brother responded. “Come in, Remy.”

Drake grinned. So that was her name. His brother would be married by spring, he knew it. The poor sap was too much in denial to see it.

“The weather station just radioed in. The guy says two hours tops before total whiteout.”

That narrowed their window by a hell of a lot.

That was his cue. He wasn’t leaving this mountainside until he had something to show for their efforts. God, he hoped it wasn’t with body bags.

He stretched his arms and rolled shoulders.

“Copy that.” Drake hooked the radio onto his backpack and turned to his brother.

“Be safe.” Ethan clasped his arm and pulled him in until their foreheads touched. A strong family bond tied him and his brothers together.

“Be wild!” He tossed out a sly grin and one last squeeze to their clasped hands.

He held up his radio. “Hit me up if you find them. I’ll do the same.”

“See you on the flip side.”

His brother started his descent as he started the climb. Finally alone, he made quick calculations. The hikers didn’t have long. If they were missed by the avalanche and had any sense, they would have made their way to the nearest protection from the storm. Esme point was their best bet, and his.

He made quick work of advancing up the snow-covered trail. Strong gusts whipped around the side of the ledge. He sucked in a hard gulp of air out of surprise and fell to his knees.

Fresh snow, pine, and the approaching storm are all he could smell in the air. No signs of human life like burning wood. He loved the wild, brutal world he and his family called home for the last eighty-plus years, but it was as deadly as it was beautiful.

Beneath his weight snow crunch and his feet punched through the fresh powder now coming down harder.

A gust of wind hit his square in the face and nearly had his heart stopping.

Honey. Or at least that’s how he translated the sweet smell of Esme that whipped along the wind.

Oh, God, what have you done, Esme?

He took a bend in the trail with a little more force than necessary. Drake dodged a low-hanging branch and made short work of passing a felled tree covering the path. Snow shifted underfoot and he lost his footing.

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