Page 32 of High Intensity

No answer, but another little shuffle. As if something is trying to hide deeper in the shadows.

I reach into my pocket and fish out the penlight I always carry on me, flicking it on. When I shine the narrow beam into the crevice, it first reflects on something shiny; the metal buckle of a backpack.

When I pan the light around, it catches on a pair of wide eyes in a dirty face, tucked in the far corner. My heart stills and a sob escapes my lips.

“Hey, sweetheart…”

Ten

Wolff

Since I saw her body disappear into the crevice a few minutes ago, I’ve been fighting the temptation to go up there after her.

Instead, I’m trying to calm Hunter, who is whining even harder now she can’t see Jillian anymore, while I keep my eyes peeled on the ledge above.

I’m not a praying man, but I find myself silently pleading with some unseen force that she found the little girl. Alive.

“Wolff?” Jillian’s head pops out over the ledge. “She’s here. We’re going to need medical here.”

Shit.

It’s going to be tough for EMTs to find their way up here and, unfortunately, Bo went home to sleep. It would be more efficient if I could carry her down to base camp and meet up with EMTs there.

“Is she injured?”

“I can see some scratches and bruising, but she’s weak; probably hypothermic and dehydrated. She’s in and out. We need to get her out of here.”

“I’m gonna carry her,” I make the decision. “Let me radio it in and then I’m coming up.”

Her head disappears, as I put a call in to base camp and report the situation to Jackson, who answers. He’s going to call EMTs and the sheriff’s office to meet us when I carry her down.

My winter boots aren’t going to cut it but, since I don’t carry climbing shoes in my pack, I’m going barefoot. I leave the boots and tuck my socks inside, so I have something dry to put on my feet. I hope we can do this quickly so I don’t get frostbite.

Next, I shrug my pack off my shoulders, pull out the two coils of twenty-foot buckled tie-downs I carry with me, and shove them in my pockets, along with my water flask. Then I climb up on the boulder.

“Good girl, Hunter, you stay. We’ll be right back.”

I have no idea if the dog gets what I’m saying, but it makes me feel better for leaving her here.

Going up, I’m not quite as nimble or fast as Jillian was climbing to the ledge, but—despite the fact my toes are already frozen and tingling—I make it without losing my footing. I stay flat on my stomach and turn my head to peer into the crevice.

The space is barely large enough for Jillian and the girl, who, I see, has been wrapped up in a mylar blanket. No way I’m going to fit in there as well.

“Jillian, I’m going to give you my parka and I need you to put it on her,” I tell her as I sit up to unzip. “It’s going to be way too big, but it’ll function as padding when we lower her down. Make sure the hood is up to protect her head. I have two straps; we’ll fashion a harness with one, and the other I’ll use to lower her to you.”

I’m going to be fucking cold, but I should be okay once we get moving. Luckily, it’s not as bitter cold or windy as it has been recently. I slide my coat toward Jillian and hand her the water flask as well.

“See if you can get her to drink some.”

“Careful!” Jillian yells at me ten minutes later.

We were able to get Hayley down safely, but I’m not so sure I’ll make it in one piece. My fucking feet are numb and I slipped twice already, trying to climb down.

“I can’t believe you were barefoot,” she scolds me when I try to put on my socks over my uncooperative feet.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Well, I hope, for your sake, you didn’t do permanent damage,” she grumbles.

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