Page 65 of Rarely Pure and Never Simple
"It goes through. There's a tunnel. We have to go through and up and through. Nearly there. I feel it. Shudder, can you walk a little? You're going to have to walk."
Blaze took him by the arms and gave him a little shake. "Slow down, Twitch. Unwrap the box for me and set it out on the table, one thing at a time."
A deep breath later, Damien focused on the concern in Blaze's eyes and told him what he had found in a more linear, logical fashion, ending with, "It's through that cave. The place we're going."
"You're sure."
"Yes."
Blaze went to the rock and propped Shudder up against him, patting his cheek. "Shuds? Fuck, I hate to do this to you, but you gotta walk now. Just a little bit. We'll help you."
Shudder blinked at him, eyes unfocused and full of pain. "Okay."
Damien took Shudder's one hand and Blaze the other. They managed, walking sideways like a trio of crabs who had accidentally locked their claws together. The last bit of the fissure was tricky, but Damien slid through first and turned to take Shudder under the elbow with both hands, supporting him as he managed the right bend and twist to emerge. Blaze had to bull his way through, the passage simply too small to accommodate his mass. He lost a few buttons, and a steady rain of small rocks accompanied his passage, but he finally made it after several colorful rounds of swearing.
"Are you all right?" Damien touched an abraded spot where Blaze's shirt had ripped.
"Yeah. Mostly. Don't let go of Shuds. He's going out."
Damien head whipped over in time to see Shudder's eyes roll back. He collapsed between them as they both scrambled to catch him.
"This isn't good," Damien said on a long breath.
Blaze was staring hard enough at the rock face opposite to burn holes in it. "No. It's not. But we'll manage. You packed rope?"
"Yes. Two."
"Of course you did." Blaze granted him one of his fiercer smiles. It almost covered the worry in his eyes. "I'll just carry him like a big-ass pack. It'll be fine."
"Skinny ass."
"What?"
"You called him that."
Blaze let out a shaky chuckle. "Yeah. Can't get anything past you."
With his hands tied in front and looped over Blaze's neck and his legs hoisted up and secured around Blaze's waist, Shudder made perhaps the clumsiest pack in the history of mankind. Damien scrambled up the rock first, secured the second rope around his own waist, and lowered the end to Blaze. It wasn't a long climb. Maybe having someone up top belaying was overkill, but Damien was having anxious thoughts about Blaze falling backward on top of Shudder. Any disasters one could prevent.
Damien didn't have much to do but keep the tension on the rope, though. Blaze might have been a skinny teenager, if Shudder's insults were any indication, but his adult strength rivaled a bull moose in its prime. He had no desire to lay odds on the outcome of a fight between Blaze and a moose.
Handhold by handhold, Blaze hauled the weight of two full-grown men up on the strength of his arms and fingers. The primal grunts and muscles bulging under his torn clothes set an inappropriate brushfire in Damien's belly. The want hit him so sharp, so fast, he had to close his eyes on a hard intake of breath. Luckily, Blaze's fingers gripped the top of the climb at that moment, and he heaved up on his belly to get them both onto the ledge.
"That's done," he panted out. "Next."
Damien helped him stand, and Blaze's relieved expression folded into concern again.
"Great."
"What?"
Blaze pointed at the cave-tunnel with his chin. "You all right going in there?"
"I… it's not far."
"That issonot an answer."
"I have to be."
