Survivor
Chapter 11
"Oh my God, Nick," Bailey whispered. "What are we gonna do?"
"Just be still," Nick said through clenched teeth. "Maybe he'll go away."
"Mountain lions don't just go away, Nick!" Bailey hissed. "He wants to have us for dinner!"
They watched as the huge cat walked over to the tent and sniffed around.
"Oh God! He's gonna eat Kevin," Bailey squeaked.
"Oh shit! What do we do?" Nick whispered hoarsely.
Bailey slowly turned her head and spotted the flare gun sitting in the box between them. "Get the flare gun, Nick," she whispered.
"I can't reach it," he replied. Bailey gave him a nasty look and turned her eyes back towards the huge cat. In one movement, she lunged forward and grabbed the gun from the box. She shot at the animal, hitting it right in the side. The cat screamed and ran for the woods.
"Good shot!" Nick exclaimed, breathing a visible sigh of relief.
"No thanks to you, you big chicken," Bailey chided.
"Well I'm sorry! I was scared," Nick exclaimed.
"Go check on Kevin," Bailey muttered. Her heart was still beating like a jackrabbit. Nick got up and stomped over to the tent.
"Bailey! Come here quick!" Nick yelled. Bailey hopped up and ran to the tent. Kevin was shaking really hard and his eyes were rolling back in his head.
"Oh my God! He's having a seizure!" Bailey screamed. "Ok, ok, Let's not panic. Just let him go."
"What if he bites his tongue off??" Nick exclaimed.
"He won't. See? His tongue's not sticking out. Just don't let him hurt himself. It'll be over in a minute. It's from the fever. I think they're called febrile seizures. That means his temp is really, really high," Bailey said.
Finally, Kevin stopped shaking, and Bailey put his head in her lap. He opened his eyes and looked up at her, his breathing raspy and harsh.
"Bailey?" he said quietly.
"It's me, baby. I'm here," she said, stroking his forehead.
"I'm sorry I let you down," he said, closing his eyes. "I was supposed to take care of you guys, and I haven't."
"You did take care of us. Now it's our turn to take care of you, ok. Just relax and rest. We're getting out of here soon. They're on their way to get us," Nick said, patting Kevin's arm.
"Kevin, I talked to Brian and AJ," Bailey said, smiling. "They love you, and they'll be here soon. Then we'll get you to the hospital and they'll make you all better."
Kevin smiled a little, then fell back asleep.
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"Mr. Townsend, you realize how dangerous it is going out there at night, don't you?" The private pilot wasn't too keen on going out into the Rocky Mountains at night in a helicopter. There was so much risk involved. Hitting trees. Hitting boulders. Hitting mountains.
"I don't care," Bob Townsend said gruffly. "I want my daughter found right now."
"Ok," the pilot sighed. "If you insist, We'll get started now."
"Thank you. I'll be going with you."
"I can take one more person," the pilot said.
"I'm going," Brian said, before any of the others could say anything. They all silently agreed that Brian had more right than any of them to go. After all Kevin was his cousin and Nick his best friend. Bob nodded and the three of them set out into the night sky.
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"Nick, do you hear that?" Bailey asked quietly.
"Hear what?"
"That noise. Is that... is it a.... oh God, it's a helicopter!" she screamed. She jumped out of the tent with Nick hot on her heels.
"Where's the flare gun?" Bailey screamed.
"I don't know! Where did you put it?" Nick yelled back, searching the ground frantically.
"Oh God, I don't remember! Oh no! Please don't let this be happening," Bailey moaned.
"I found it," Nick yelled. He held it up in the air and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.
"What the fuck?" he screamed.
"You have to reload it!" Baily yelled, running for the box. She grabbed another flare and put it into the chamber. Nick held it up in the air again and fired. A bright orange flair shot up into the sky and lit up their surroundings.
"Do you think they saw it?" Nick asked.
"God I hope so! We only have one more left," Bailey said, clinging to Nick's arm. They waited. And waited. The helicopter noise wasn't getting any closer.
"Use the other one," Bailey whispered.
"Are you sure? It's the last one we have."
"Use it!" she screamed, dropping the flare into the chamber.
"Cross your fingers," Nick said, as he shot the second flare.
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"Hey LOOK!" Brian yelled. "Is that a flare over there?"
"Oh God, Brian, you're right!" Bob Townsend gasped.
The pilot turned the helicopter toward the flare and very quickly, they were hovering over the crash site.
"There's nowhere to land, boss," the pilot yelled. "I can either drop a ladder or we'll have to come back on snow-mobiles tomorrow."
"Drop the damned ladder," Bob exclaimed. "I'm not leaving my baby girl out her another night!"
The pilot lowered the helicopter as far as he could, and instructed Brian to throw the ladder out.
"Oh shit," Nick exclaimed. "They want us to CLIMB up? Oh man..."
"I'm going!" Bailey yelled, running for the ladder. "Come ON Nick!"
"What about Kevin? He can't climb a ladder!" Nick yelled.
"Oh God, I forgot about Kevin," she said, stopping in her tracks. "I'll go up first and hopefully there's something they can pull him up with."
Without thinking about how high she was going, Bailey climbed the ladder and Brian pulled her into the helicopter. She hugged him with all her strength, just glad to be rescued. She had no idea who she was hugging. All she knew was it was a warm body, and it was hugging her back.
"Daddy!" she squealed.
"Oh, baby!" Bob cried. "I'm so glad you're ok!"
"Daddy, Kevin's too sick to climb the ladder! You've got to help him!"
"There's a rope harness back there. We can pull him up," the pilot said. Brian hooked it up, hoping he was doing it right, and he threw it out the door.
"Kev, come on man. We're outta here," Nick said, struggling to help Kevin to his feet. Kevin coughed raggedly and they stumbed out to the waiting harness. Nick hooked it around Kevin, hoping to God Kevin didn't plunge to his death, and they began to pull him up.
"Kev," Brian said, as soon as they got him inside. "Man, I never thought I'd see you again."
Kevin closed his eyes, and didn't respond.
Nick climbed up last, and embraced Brian as the helicopter turned to go back to the airport.
"I thought we lost you, Frack," Brian said, smiling through his tears.
"Nah. You know I'm too mean to die," Nick laughed. He hugged Brian again, and it was the best feeling in the whole world.
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