Chapter 29 - The Aftermath

Chapter 29
The Darkest Place in the World

Emma peered into the tiny opening. “Gabby!”

The rocks must have shifted when she fell, walling her inside. She stepped back and blinked into the darkness. “Laurel? Charlotte?” No one answered.

Another weak cough emerged from inside the cave. Emma tried 911, but her phone refused to dial out.

The temperature had dropped at least ten degrees since Emma had descended into the gulch, but sweat ran down her face and back. She assessed the opening again. There was a space in the rocks just wide enough for a body to slip through. She could do it. She had to. She was the one who’d shoved Gabby off the cliff. Even though Gabby had killed Sutton, Emma wasn’t a killer, too. She had to make this right.

“I’m coming, Gabby,” she called.

She dropped her backpack to the ground and rolled up her sleeves. Taking a deep breath, she hoisted herself up to the small hole and wriggled through. The inside of the space smelled musky, like an animal. The rocks felt slick and cold on her skin. Her shoulders bent inward, her arms out in front, feeling the way. Her hip bones ground against the sides of the tiny tunnel as she moved forward a few feet.

“Gabby?” she called. Her voice sounded so loud inside the cave. “Gabby?” she tried again. But Gabby didn’t answer. Had she passed out? Had she had another seizure? Was she dead?

Tiny pebbles fell on her head with even the slightest provocation as she squirmed forward. Dust clogged her lungs. At one point, she glanced over her shoulder and could barely see the tiny crack she’d slithered through.

I crawled along with her, the small, confined space feeling like a coffin with the lid closed.

“Gabby?” Emma cried again. Her knees banged on a rock. Her shoulders squeezed through two tightly compacted boulders, and she emerged into a wider pocket inside the cave where she could almost stand. “Gabs?” Still no response. Where had she gone? Had Emma’s ears played tricks on her?

Suddenly, a loud boom filled the air. Dust whipped across her face and up her nose. A loud whooshing sound roared in her ears. Pebbles pelted Emma’s back and head and ran down her shirt. It’s an avalanche, she thought, covering her head and flattening herself to the bottom of the tunnel.

The noises continued for a few moments more. When they petered out, Emma carefully raised her head and looked around. Dirt swirled everywhere. She squinted in the direction she’d come. The hole she’d climbed through was gone. She was walled in.

“Oh my God,” I whispered.