Eli was barely staying afloat before the apocalypse. Working long shifts, taking care of his younger brother, and just trying to figure out what to do with his life.
When he finds his mom trying to take a chunk out of her youngest son though, Eli...
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The snow has melted.
At least began to, but that was enough for us to start moving. We were all clad in snow gear, the lot of us either dealing with shoes that are too big or too small. My own were the boots that we got off the dead soldier.
Harry was dealing with pinched toes as Amelia was wearing multiple pairs of socks to try and make the shoes fit her better. Mason had snow boots that gave him room to grow into. And I was saddled with the guilt of wearing a dead man's shoes.
As we left the small cottage behind that stood as a refuge for us. I felt conflicted. While I was excited to be leaving when we had been chomping at the bit to leave for so long. It was bittersweet.
We were safe here for so long, and now we were leaving.
We were leaving.
And the current mountainside we were facing was our biggest challenge we've faced so far. We had chosen the farthest path from the roads as possible, going for a straight shot directly to the water where the rest of our people should be.
That straight shot called for hiking over rough terrains and mountainsides. All while staying quiet.
"We can do this." My words caused Harry to straighten up, both of us were loaded down with supplies. Melia was caressing her stomach as she had a tight grip on Mason's hand.
"I'm going to go down first, Mason you come behind me. You step exactly where I do, do you understand?" I waited for the small boy to nod his head before continuing. "Harry you follow after Amelia. Don't make any noise, if you get afraid, take a deep breath."
Pressing a firm kiss on Mason's forehead, I left the group to follow behind me to the short walk to the cliff side. I lowered myself down, my feet testing for any sturdy footholds.
I tested every step-down multiple times before taking it. A few feet down, I called for Mason to start lowering himself down. I wasn't surprised to see a look of determination on his face. He had never been afraid of heights. Not with Red encouraging him to climb trees, but he hadn't even looked at trees to climb since we've been back in the forest.
With the melting snow, the rocky mountain ride fluctuated between frozen and squishy, borderline mud.
I focused intently on Mason, he tested multiple times before going down. I realized soon that he couldn't reach the holes I had made, and instead of diverting my attention from reaching the fast approaching bottom, he took matters into his own hands.
By the time I reached the bottom of the ten-foot drop, I was sweating from the exertion it took to reach the bottom. Quickly sweeping the area around me, I breathed out in relief that there were no predators within sight.
"Melia didn't come down." Turning my head back to Mason I looked up and could faulty see Amelia and Harry's figures at the edge of the cliff. She hasn't come down when I called for her too.
