17

Remy

The view from the front of the riverboat was that of a waterfall, and the early morning sunlight in the mist gave it a golden aura. It was almost surreal seeing something so beautiful.

The air was still chilly when I stepped out on the balcony. We had anchored just south of the falls, away from the churning water crashing into the river.

"That is looking pretty steep," Boden said, giving voice to my own unpleasant observation as we looked out at the trail that ran alongside the falls.

He'd been out here for a while, leaning on the railing. When I woke up this morning, he was already gone, and the bed had felt so cold and empty without him. But I didn't say any of that.

"Maybe it only looks like it is steep because we are so far away, but when we get up closer, it won't be so bad." I tried to be optimistic, but I didn't sound convincing, even to myself.

Once everyone was awake, we all headed to the land. Since there wasn't a dock around here, we had to take a life raft across. Ripley forwent the little boat and swam across the relatively placid river.

To get to the top of the waterfall, we had to walk on a trail alongside the river for nearly a kilometer. It was a smooth easy path with only a slight incline, but the falls still loomed ahead of us. On either side of it, the sheer stony cliff face stretched hundreds of meters up into the air.

The closer we got to it, the more others began expressing their concerns about the sheer gradient of it. Most of the griping came from Garrison, but he was in his mid-fifties, older than the rest of us. None of us were exactly out of shape, because we really couldn't be and survive this long.

"Gosh, the more I'm looking at this, the more I'm worrying about the group managing a climb like that," Garrison said, and he cast a look at Stella, who already needed her walking stick on more stable ground.

"And I'm no spring chicken myself," Garrison continued with an uneasy smile. "Are we sure there isn't another more gradual way around?"

"There might be," Lillian said, and she unshouldered her backpack to pull out her battered atlas.

Everyone took that as a sign of a break, and they all dropped their bags and sat on the rocks or fallen logs around us. I got my hand drawn map out of my back pocket, comparing it to Lillian's official map marked with a red pen. Boden, Serg, Garrison, Lillian, and I crowded together around it with our maps.

Mine had much less detail, but the major landmarks, like the river, the waterfall, the towns, all matched up. Lillian's was a relief map, showing the changes in elevation.

"It does look like we could go around here." Garrison traced his finger in a large circular path out to the west of the falls. "The incline seems much more gradual."

"It does," Lillian allowed. "But it also looks like…" She trailed off, muttering numbers to herself as she did some quick math in her head. "It would be about 40 kilometers out of the way, and that depends on whether or not there is a maintained trail. But I wo uld guess that it would add another day or two to our journey, at least."

Garrison frowned. "How long do you think it would take to climb up the trail next to the waterfall, assuming we all even could?"

Lillian looked up at it and the zig-zagging path of switchbacks carved into the stone beside it. "What time is it now?"

Garrison checked the Vostok mechanical watch he wore on his wrist. "It's almost half past eight."

"Then we could probably make it to the top by two or three this afternoon," Lillian figured.

Castor let out a long, low whistle. He was sitting on a log behind us next to Samara, while Polly was resting on the ground nearby.

"That is quite the difference," Castor said.

"Lillian is only speculating," Garrison countered. "We don't know for sure how long it will take, and if that climb up alongside the waterfall is steep and slippery, making it treacherous, that could take us a lot longer. I mean, how tall is this waterfall anyway?"

"According to the inset on my atlas, it has a drop of nearly a kilometer," Lillian said. "The trail up, with all those switchbacks, would probably be six to seven times as long as that. So, maybe five kilometers."

"It seems obvious then," I said. "Five kilometers versus forty. Even if it's an intense hike, we can take plenty of breaks and still make it up by nightfall. It's a no-brainer."

"Maybe for you." Garrison gave me a hard look. "Have you even asked Stella if she thinks she's up for something so arduous?"

I looked back over to where she was sitting on a large rock. Max was behind her, rubbing her shoulders, and she was leaning forward against her walking stick. Her auburn hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and her cheeks were flushed and sweaty .

"I would like to at least try the steep trail next to the waterfall," Stella said, sounding more energized than she looked. "It's better for everyone if we get to the town sooner."

"If we go on the steep path, we'll camp out at the top, and we'll be able to make it to Emberwood by tomorrow evening," I reasoned. " Tomorrow . Then this long road would be completely behind us."

"I vote for the steep path," Stella said.

"Are you sure?" Max asked her. "I don't want you pushing yourself too hard. Another couple days won't make that much of a difference."

"We have time to take lots of breaks, and we'll still be way ahead of schedule," Stella said. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"I think we should take the steep path, too," Castor agreed.

"Me, too," Samara added and gave her father an apologetic smile. "It really does seem like the best option, even if it's not quite ideal."

"I agree," Serg said. "It will be tough, but we will all help each other, and we can go as slow as needed."

"I am voting for whichever one is faster," Polly grumbled from where she laid on the ground. The hood of her sweatshirt was pulled down over her eyes to keep the sun out, but she was apparently awake enough to contribute to the conversation.

Garrison looked back at me and Lillian, his pale eyes sad and defeated. "I know where you two stand." Then he turned his attention toward Boden and Max. "Come on. You both have to know that it's not safe for Stella."

"This is what she wants," Max justified. "It's what everybody wants. We ought to at least try it."

Garrison's shoulders sagged, and Samara came over and put her hand on his back. "Come on, Dad. We'll all help each other. "

He forced a smile at her. "I know, sweetie. Let's go."

We all gathered up our things and made our way toward the steep trail. Near the bottom was a faded but clearly official sign reading Grizzly Falls: Watch for Bears and Slippery Rocks, and then below it, written in red paint, someone had added the words and zombies.

Next to the official sign was a much smaller wooden one with only the word Emberwood painted on it along with a white arrow pointing toward the trail.

Once we got on the pathway, it didn't seem quite as steep or bumpy as we'd feared, but it was very, very narrow. The width was just barely enough for one person to walk on it. It was carved into the stone of the cliffside, varying between smooth incline and shallow steps.

We went up in a single line, and we chose our order carefully since there really wasn't room to change it. Lillian led the way, with Castor right behind. Then it was Samara, with Garrison between her and me, so we could both help him if he needed it. Behind me was Max, and Stella was sandwiched between him and Boden, so they could both help her. After them, it was Serg, and Polly requested to go at the very end. Castor had wanted her to walk next to him, but she had insisted on going last.

"My stomach still isn't right from the boat," Polly said. "I'm gonna need to stop more than the rest of you, and I don't think anyone is gonna wanna stand around and wait while I do what I will need to do."

Nobody argued with her after that, so we began the climb up. Ripley charged on ahead, leaping up to the path crisscrossed above us, and she made the whole thing appear effortless.

It was not as easy for the rest of us, but I don't think it was as bad as Garrison feared. If the path wasn't so narrow, it might even have been almost nice. The sun grew hotter as we hiked, but when we did the hairpin turns near the waterfall, the mist was quite refreshing.

"How are you doing, Dad?" Samara asked Garrison.

"Oh, not too bad," he answered in a tight voice. "I've just always been afraid of heights. That's why I stuck to trains and boats instead of getting planes."

"You collected model trains and boats. How could you not handle model planes?" Samara asked, teasing.

"Well, I suppose that I never liked them because I associated them with heights," Garrison replied.

"Wait. Didn't you propose to Mom at the top of the Empire State Building?" Samara asked, turning dubious.

"They had a fence around the edge of the building so you can't fall off," her father explained. "And I loved your mom, and she loved An Affair to Remember , so I did what I had to do."

"What's An Affair to Remember ?" Castor asked.

Lillian laughed. "It's a very old movie, and it's quite romantic. A pair of lovers vow to meet again on the Empire State Building after a torrid affair."

"Careful. There's zombie guts up ahead," I said, pointing to them.

The trail was much too narrow and steep for zombies to navigate with their clumsy, jerking steps, tottering around like enraged drunks on damaged limbs. But that didn't stop them from trying apparently.

There were no moving zombies on the trail, but the pathway was littered with viscera and broken bones. The zombies would evidently make it up high enough that when they inevitably fell, they crashed into the stone and exploded like overfilled water balloons .

The slippery guts were honestly the most difficult part, as well as maneuvering around the litter left behind by other uninfected travelers. Jackets and bags, either accidentally dropped or abandoned, and trash like chicken bones, broken bottles, soiled underwear, and tattered blankets were left behind.

"There must be quite a few people in Emberwood to leave so much trash behind," Max said. "It's gonna be so strange to be around so many people."

"It will be different, but you'll get used to it," Boden said from behind us. "It'll be good."

By late afternoon, we were nearly three-quarters of the way up, and everyone was doing really good. We stopped often, mostly for Stella or Polly, and the rest of us had been enduring it well.

As we got closer to the top, the eastern most turns of the switchback drew even closer to the waterfall. We never quite touched it, but the mist was enough to dampen our clothes.

"It is absolutely gorgeous here," Samara said breathlessly as she paused at the turn to marvel at it. "I never imagined I'd be this close to a waterfall."

She smiled and laughed. Her straight black hair was in a loose fishtail braid over her shoulder, but a few errant strands were stuck to her damp cheeks. As she turned back toward the trail, her shoes slipped on the wet stones, and she fell.

"No!" Garrison shouted, and he lunged for her. In the process, his own feet skidded on the rocks, and he tumbled forward.

Samara had managed to grab onto a rocky edge of the trail with both her hands, and the only thing that would catch her if she fell was the river half a kilometer down. Castor knelt at the edge and grabbed her hand.

When I reached them, I peered over and saw that Garrison was hanging off Samara. The watch he wore on his wrist had gotten caught on her backpack somehow, and he was dangling from that off of her.

"Hang on, Garrison!" I yelled, and I reached over to the edge to try to grab his hand. "Max, hang onto my legs so I don't go over!"

Max did as I instructed, and I laid on my stomach, so I could stretch my arms as far as I could. Below us, the water churned furiously, and the mist sprayed in my eyes. Garrison's free hand was flailing wildly, and I grabbed onto it with both of mine.

"I got him!" I shouted. "Max, pull me back!"

"I'm trying!" Max yelled, and I could feel him pulling on my legs, trying to slide me back down the trail.

"Oh, shit, she's slipping!" Castor shouted in dismay.

"Don't let me go!" Samara cried.

"I won't!" Castor promised her, but I wasn't so sure that he would be able to keep it.

The path was too narrow for anyone else to get around to help us, and Max's grip on me and Lillian's grip on Castor was enough to keep the two of us from going over with Samara and Garrison, but not much more. Everyone's hands were slick from the mist, and Samara and Garrison's bags were overloaded and weighing them down. Castor and I just didn't have enough working in our favor to be able to pull up two grown adults over the edge of that sheer drop.

"Remy, save my little girl," Garrison said, looking up at me with tears glistening in his eyes. "Let go of me, so that you can pull her up."

"Dad, no!" Samara protested, but I could see Castor struggling to keep his grip on her.

Garrison let go of my hand, but I still hung on.

"Make sure she makes it to Emberwood, please," he asked me.

"I will," I told him, and his hand started to slip out of mine, so I let it.

"No, Daddy! Hang on !" Samara screamed, but when I reached for her hand, she took mine, gripping it tightly.

Garrison hadn't fallen yet, because his watch was still hooked on her bag. He reached up with his free hand and undid the clasp. Within a second, his hand slipped free, and he plummeted downward. He bounced off the edge of the cliff with a wet thwock , and then disappeared in the dark water below.

As soon as he'd slipped free, I had felt the weight lighten. With both Castor and I working together to pull up only Samara, it didn't take long for us to get her safely up onto the trail again.

Samara was wailing by then, crying for her dad, and Castor held her close to him.

I leaned back against the stone wall and exhaled roughly.

"Are you okay?" Max asked me.

"Yeah," I said, and I put my arm around him, because I could.