Page 3 of Eco-Activist's Mountain Men
Now for the other end.
Who the hell decided our slogan had to be this long? Jesus—the banner just keeps unrolling in my hands as I shuffle, inch by inch, along the increasingly swaying walkway. The breeze isstronger now, and the sky has definitely darkened. I feel a drop of water on my shoulder.
Amazing how fast the weather's turned. Why couldn't the blue skies have remained just an hour or two longer? Then I'd be safely back on the ground, looking for a place to hole up for the night, unobserved.
Instead, here I am, swinging from side to side on a flimsy rope bridge, fumbling with cord and fabric while tightly gripping both the rope bridge and the banner itself at the same time, and all while trying not to puke from the motion.
Shit… was that lightning?
Yes. There it is again—a brilliant flash that lights up the whole sky, followed by a massive CRACK of thunder that sounds almost directly overhead.
Dammit. This isn't a game anymore. Honestly? I don't feel safe.
What should I do? Keep going and try to fix the other end? Or retreat to the safety of my nice, solid Douglas fir?
But if this banner doesn't go up, the whole mission fails. We were supposed to put up two banners, and I haven't even finished one. It's no good, I have to do it. Somehow.
I grip the banner tightly in my left hand, my right clinging to the guide rail. I edge my right foot forward. Then shuffle my left foot to meet it.
Good. One more step.
The rain is falling now—huge drops, the size of dimes, though not many yet. The wind's picking up too, and the sky to the northwest has turned a horrible, purple-bruised color I've never seen before. The sun is gone.
It's darker.
Colder.
Windier.
I shiver in my thin T-shirt, wishing I'd put on another layer when I'd had the chance. Too late now. No way to change clothes up here, not in this wind. It's all I can do just to stay upright.
CRACK. Another peal of thunder, and almost at the same moment, the sky lights up again with angry flashes of lightning.
I take another tentative step… but something feels different.
The walkway feels looser, less sturdy, like it's not properly attached to anything.
Then, in a heartbeat, and before I can even register what's happening, the ropes give way, and I'm falling.
My pink hair whips around me, and my backpack is gone. The banner flaps around me like some kind of demented albatross. I open my mouth to scream, but before I can even make a sound, I hit the ground, hard, with a brutal oomph that knocks the breath right out of me.
My head hurts. I must've hit it on something. I try to sit up, but my left wrist is useless. When I try to get up, a sharp pain shoots through my right ankle.
Oh Jesus. I hope it's not broken. How the hell am I going to get out of here with a broken ankle?
Then, just to make things worse, the heavens fully open and the rain starts coming down properly, soaking me to the skin.
Thank you very much, Mother Nature.
I'm shivering now, and it hits me I could actually be in danger. Cold, wet, injured, no food, no shelter. The storm isn't letting up. If anything, it's getting stronger.
I need to act fast, because staying here could mean hypothermia. Or worse.
I try to move again, but I immediately stop, letting out a yelp from the pain in my ankle.
I can't stay, but I can't move. Fucking wonderful.
My phone is gone, along with my backpack. Presumably it's nearby, but I can't see it. It could've fallen anywhere within a twenty-foot radius.
