False Horizon - Alex Archer [31]
Annja looked cold and tired, but still in fairly decent shape. Mike looked pale and winded. He was limping along with Annja as a support for him.
Tuk cupped his hand over Annja’s ear. “How is he?”
“He can make it. I think the bleeding started again, though. How much farther is it?”
“A few hundred yards,” Tuk said. “You’ll see the outcropping and that’s it.”
Snow continued to fall on them as they clawed their way those final few hundred yards. At last, Tuk spotted the outcropping, relieved that it hadn’t been covered over with snow yet. His tracks made just thirty minutes earlier were already mere depressions in the snow.
He waved Annja and Mike over, helping them the last few feet. Annja handed Tuk the single flashlight that she’d retrieved from the plane. “Tell me what it’s like inside.”
Tuk ducked into the outcropping and switched the light on. His heart raced. He had found them a cave. A few yards in from the opening, the roof opened up to a height of seven feet or so and then seemed to go on right into the mountain.
There was always the danger that an animal lived inside, but Tuk was beyond caring. They had a place to wait out the storm.
He poked his head back outside. “Let’s get Mike in here.”
Annja eased him through the opening, which was barely big enough to accommodate his girth. Mike wasn’t obese, but years of football had made him large. Getting him into the cave was a challenge.
Annja ducked through the opening a moment later, dragging the last of their gear with her.
She looked around and nodded. “Good work, Tuk.”
“Thank you.” He moved the flashlight around the walls and floor of the cave. It seemed remarkably dry. “We need a fire to get us warm,” he said.
Annja grunted. “Wish we had some firewood.”
Tuk looked at her. “You’ll be okay with Mike here by the entrance for a little while?”
Annja nodded. “I need to change his bandage. He’s bleeding again.”
“All right. I’m going to see what there is to use in this cave.”
Annja frowned. “You expect to find a tree?”
“You never know what might be around,” Tuk said. “If animals have lived here, they might have bedding or even scat that we can use to burn. Anything to get our temperatures up would be good. Especially for Mike’s sake.”
“Well, you’ve already saved us by finding this place,” Annja said. “Just don’t be too long. I’ve barely got any light over here as it is and that flashlight is our only source right now.”
“I’ll be quick,” Tuk said. He headed off toward the back of the cave and kept shining the flashlight around all the crevices. His feet brushed over bits of straw that he dutifully gathered up in his pockets. It would burn, but it wouldn’t last long. They needed more substantial fuel if they were going to stay warm.
The cave seemed to descend toward a point where the walls converged. Tuk looked down at the ground and saw evidence of smaller animals living there, but again, nothing beyond that. As much of a blessing as the cave was, there seemed to be little of use inside its walls.
Tuk leaned back against the rock face of the wall and took a breath. He hadn’t realized how utterly exhausted he was. Forging through the snow drifts had sapped all of his strength.
He decided to get back to Annja and Mike. They might not be able to have a roaring fire, but at least they were out of the storm.
“Any luck?” Annja asked as he came back around the bend.
“Unfortunately, I only managed to find a handful of straw. It is probably from an old bird’s nest.”
Annja had spread the coats around on the ground and layered them atop one another. “Well, so much for my picture perfect idea of a campfire and ghost stories tonight.”
Tuk smiled. “How is he?”
Annja looked at Mike, who lay on the coats with his leg slightly elevated. “I’ve stopped the bleeding again, but he’s lost a lot of blood. We’re going to need medical help tomorrow or else…” Her voice trailed