I sat up and moaned. My head felt like I was wearing a vise and it was getting tighter and tighter.
"Feeling better?" Howie's voice came from over by the fire.
"No." I moaned again, "I couldn't feel anything before. Now I can feel everything!" I held my head to try and stop the room from spinning. "Could everyone please stop spinning?" No one replied to me. Finally, after it did stop I looked around. Everyone was watching me.
"Where'd you go?" AJ asked.
"Some where." I sighed, then remembered the shoe. It was lying beside me. I picked it up and looked at it.
"Where'd you get that?" Kevin asked.
"Remember where we had found the other one?" I asked. He and AJ nodded, "It was on the other side of the stream. That means Nick didn't drowned."
"What?" They all said at the same time, surprised, "Then that means he could still be alive!" AJ said.
I shook my head.
"Why not?" AJ demanded.
"AJ, It's been two days. You know how cold it is. Nick would have frozen by now." I shook my head.
"Not necessarily!" He said.
"AJ, Brian's right. Nick's dead. We have to face it." Howie sighed, looking into the fire. AJ looked at his friend then slumped down in his spot and mopped, staring into the fire.
Cloud got up from his spot where Nick used to sleep and went to the door and whimpered.
"Okay." Kevin got up and let him out. He took off running in the same place he had the day before. Shadow came in and sat down by the fire.
"What are they doing?" Howie looked at the cat. The same thing had happened the night before.
She got up again and tugged at my arm.
"No. I don't feel like going for a walk anywhere. Last night was enough." I looked at her. She seemed to get the message then she sat down by the fire again.
"Anyone hungry?" AJ asked.
"Yeah." We all agreed.
Kevin got up and went to get two more fish. As he came back in Cloud rushed in too and sat by the door. As Kevin shut the door he sighed, "This is all the fish we have. We'll have to try the deer now." He said.
"Did you guys…you know…" I had forgotten about the deer.
"He's already been skinned." AJ nodded. "The skins handing on the top of the shelter to dry."
I nodded and looked into the fire again. We waited silently until the fish were cooked. When they were ready, like the day before Cloud grabbed one of them by the tail and nosed the door open before anyone could stop him.
"Stupid dog!" Kevin yelled at the top of his lungs. I covered my ears. My head was pounding again, "Sorry Bri." Kevin lowered his voice.
"Yell like that again, maybe someone'll hear you and come to rescue us." I uncovered my ears.
He sighed, but smiled at my sense of humor. "I'm gonna get some deer meat." He went out, knowing that the one fish would not feed us all.
I couldn't figure out why Cloud would do that two times in two days. And he looked like he was starving. He wouldn't take food from us if we offered him any. Kevin came back in with a chunk of meat about the size of my head. He had the knife that had been in the first aid kit stuck in his belt.
Howie cooked the meat, boiling it in the water. Finally it was done and we were able to eat. I didn't know what it as going to taste like and after I was done I still didn't know.
"Do you think you inhaled that fast enough or do you want to try it again?" AJ looked at me.
"Sorry I was hungry!" I said, putting down my bowl.
Shadow suddenly got up and went to the door. She had been lying peacefully by the fire, full from eating. She had gotten her share as well. She had caught it for us.
"What's wrong girl?" AJ asked from his spot.
She licked her lips and looked back at the door. Then she turned and came over to me and started pulling my arm again.
"I said no, remember?" I looked at her but she still didn't stop pulling.
"Brian, I think you'd better see what she wants to show you so bad." Howie said.
"Yeah, I'll come with you." Kevin said getting up.
"Alright, alright." I sighed and got up and opened the door. I stepped out, followed by Kevin and we let Shadow lead us to where she wanted to go. She led us to the stream, where I had been the night before. I could see freshly made paw prints in the snow and something had been dragged along the snow. I saw in one place the imprint of a fish where Cloud had dropped once.
Shadow led us where the prints were, over the edge again. Kevin and I went one at a time over, landing in the deep snow. Shadow kept leading. Passed the place where I had found Nick's other shoe and up the side of the mountain. We were starting to get tired and our pace slowed but Shadow kept moving.
Finally she stopped. We had been using a path that had been worn into the rock, probably by mountain goats and lions and whatever other animals there were. We had been climbing for about two hours now. My feet were getting sore and I was happy for the stop. I could tell Kevin was glad too. He was still holding his arm close to his side and it was hard for him to climb with only one hand.
She sniffed the ground for a few seconds then started again, this time up a small path. It was almost going straight up. She had to dig her claws into the rock to keep climbing.
"Brian, look." Kevin suddenly stopped and pointed. I looked where he was pointing and saw it.
"It's a footprint…" I whispered to myself. It was a footprint, a human footprint. But it was blood. There was no snow up this high and it was just rock so we could see the blood that had dried itself to the path. There were prints leading up a long way still. All blood.
"It's Nick's footprint, I'd know his big feet anywhere…" Kevin tried to joke.
I sighed as we started again. Finally after what felt like hours the prints stopped at an edge that ran along the side of the mountain.
They stopped completely. I stopped too and rested on the ground. My legs hurt from the steep climb and I was cold.
Kevin looked about how I was feeling. But he sucked in his breath; "This must be where Nick started to crawl." He said, then motioned behind me, "There's a cave right there in the side."
I looked and spotted a large opening. I wasn't quite sure about that, until I spotted the small head sticking out of the opening and staring at us.
"Cloud…" I slowly and painfully got up then looked down. "Oh geez!" I fell to my knees and clutched the edge of the mountain; I wasn't very good with heights, as I mentioned before.
"Nick crawled for a reason." Kevin used a 'Duh' voice.
"Shut up." I started to crawl toward the pup, finally reaching him. I could see Shadow's tail swishing side to side further back in the cave but the rest of her had been swallowed up in the darkness.
I crawled into the cave and went over to her. I patted her head, "Why'd you lead us here huh?" I asked, she licked my face, jumping on me. If forced me backwards. My hand shot out behind me to stop me from falling all the way back but suddenly my hand landed on something cold and soft. Let me put it this way, it wasn't snow!
I gasped and jumped away. The sun was still rising and slowly its light filled the cave. Like on the moon during a half or quarter day the light moved in an arc pattern and swept over an almost pure white hand lying motionlessly on the cold ground. The fingernails were a baby bluish.
When I get into situations I make really stupid comments. "Okay, Kevin's out there so it's not his hand…my hands are right here." I looked at my hands, you know, just to make sure, "And you don't have hands…that means…oh geez!" I jumped back again as the light moved and swept over a white face. A head with blonde hair and blue eyes. How do I know they were blue? They were open! That's how! And he didn't move! I stared at the emotionless face, which stared out of the cave. I was horrorstricken. I was so scared I couldn't move.