Chapters (65)
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Prologue
- Day One
- 1. Crazy River, Here We Come
- 2. Why They Call It Crazy
- 3. The Luckiest Kid in the World
- Day Two
- 4. Gone, Gone, Gone
- 5. What About Us?
- 6. The Next Thing
- 7. Staying Alive
- 8. One Word
- 9. Freeze-Dried Maggots
- Day Three
- 10. Heigh-Ho for Elmer Fudd
- 11. Boys Get More
- 12. Two Red Eyes
- 13. Wild Yellow Eyes
- 14. No Reason to Starve
- 15. The War Begins
- 16. Three Choices
- Day Four
- 17. Die! Die! Die!
- 18. Making a Fire
- 19. Something Shining
- 20. A Sky Full of Stones
- 21. Run or Die
- 22. The Queen of Not Giving Up
- 23. The Viz
- Day Five
- 24. Hang On
- 25. Fear-of-Dying Scared
- 26. Hands from Heaven
- 27. Friends for Life
- 28. One for All and All for One
- 29. All the Way Down
- 30. Say Hello to Deacon Bailey
- 31. Make a Promise to Yourself
- 32. Can He Be Trusted?
- 33. What Should I Do?
- 34. The Gleam in Her Eyes
- 35. My Brave Friend
- 36. The Invisible Rope
- Day Six
- 37. Between a Scream and a Crying-Out
- 38. The Most Dangerous Thing
- 39. A Better Idea
- 40. Not a Good Sign
- 41. Never Play Dead
- 42. Look Up at the Stars
- Day Seven
- 43. Big Red
- 44. The Big Hush
- 45. The Most Beautiful Sound on Earth
- 46. Something We Need to Discuss
- 47. It’s So Good to Be Alive
- Thirty Days Later
- HOW TO SURVIVE IN THE WILDERNESS
- Wildfire Teaser
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Also by Rodman Philbrick
He’s not wrong. The crack in the ledge is getting bigger, no doubt about it.
6. The Next Thing
It’s tricky getting all of us up to the top of the ravine, one by one. We have no choice but to pitch in and help each other. Even Deke does his part, using his strength to pull us over. Of course, he keeps running his mouth and making fun of whoever happens to be in his sights. “Imani, what kind of name is that? You an illegal, is that why you don’t have much to say?” She shakes her head, disgusted.
Deke has a thing about names, apparently, because he makes fun of mine, too. “Daniel the spaniel, all bark and no bite,” he says, pulling me up over the edge.
“Leave him alone,” Mia says. “He was the last one up. That took courage.”
“Who made you the boss?” he says with a sneer.
“Yeah, who?” Tony chimes in.
“I’m going to find shelter,” Mia announces firmly. “Follow or not, your choice.”
She hefts the backpack and marches along a path a few yards back from the edge of the cliff. Sky had tossed the pack up to her on the ledge. It was one of the last things he did. I follow, wondering what’s in the pack. Clothing? Food? If it’s something good, will she share?
I’m starving, that’s my excuse for having such selfish thoughts.
Looking over the cliff edge gives me a bird’s-eye view of the flood destruction. The riverbed, so clear and perfect on our raft trip, is piled high with broken trees and boulders. So we can’t raft our way out of this even if we had a raft, which we don’t. Our camping area lies buried under twenty feet of wreckage.
The only gear that survived is the backpack Sky handed up to Mia. The pack that maybe has emergency rations. I’m following that as much as I’m following her. So is Imani, a few yards behind me on the path.
The next thing makes me forget all about food. A very loud crack! that sounds like an echoing rifle shot, only deeper. And a weird shifting under my feet.
“RUN!” I scream.
Mia has already veered from the path and is sprinting into the trees, away from the cliff.
We’ve barely had enough time to catch our breath, and once again we’re running for our lives. It’s not just the ledge that was damaged by the flood. A whole, massive section of the sandstone cliff is collapsing. And if we can’t get away, can’t get deep enough into the woods, we’ll plummet into the wreckage of the river below.
“RUN!”
