Virgo's Vice (21 page)

Chapter 39

When I finally get to the bottom of the hill, after what seems a lifetime, I throw the camera down and run. “Billy,” I yell. “Billy where are you?”
Oh please let him be okay.
My heart is beating fast and I gasp for breath.

“What happened?” Stretch says. “Is everyone okay? I think I must have blacked out.” He’s sitting on the ground holding his arm with a dazed expression on his face. His skin is gray, apart from the scrapes all down one side of his face that are oozing blood.

“A big boulder crashed down. Jared stood on it to get higher and it fell. Billy was with him. It brought a whole lot of other smaller rocks with it and they crashed onto you guys down here.”

He grimaces and gazes around him.

“Where are you hurt?”

“My arm and my shoulder. Hurts like heck,” he says in a strained voice.

“Have you seen Billy anywhere?”

Stretch is too stunned to answer.

“I’ll see if I can find anyone to help you.”

I try to swallow but my mouth is too dry. I move on. “Billy, please answer me.”
Oh God, please.
The ground is littered with rocks of all sizes and that must be the big one. The boulder Jared was balancing on. Someone is lying half underneath it.

I stop breathing.

Then I run.

“Jared!” I kneel down beside him.

He opens his eyes wide. “My legs,” he moans.

His feet seem to be wedged under the boulder. I taste bile and force it back down.

I crouch down and reach out and stroke his forehead. It has blood and dirt streaked on it. “Does it hurt?” I say.

“No. I don’t think . . .” He doesn’t finish, but I know what he wants to say. His feet must be crushed. It doesn’t hurt yet, but when the shock wears off he’s going to be in terrible pain. I stand up and push my shoulder against the boulder and lean into it with all my weight. It doesn’t move. I stay there and stare for a few seconds, not knowing what to say.

“I’ll come back in a minute. I have to find Billy.”

I move on.

Maria is lying on her back, her arms out above her head and her legs flung wide. Her eyes are closed. I bend down and reach out to touch her. Is she alive? I feel for a pulse in her throat. Yes. It’s stronger than I expected.

“Billy,” I yell. “Billy Murphy, answer me this minute!”

“Yo,” Billy shouts. “Over here. Near the big tree.”

I run to him and throw myself on the ground beside him, and wrap my arms around his shoulders. “Oh Billy, thank God. I thought you were . . .” I bury my face in his chest.

“I’m glad you care. I didn’t think you would.”

His clothes are torn and dirty but I don’t see any blood.

“Are you okay?”

“I think so,” he says.

I offer a silent prayer of thanks.

“Oh, Billy, Jared’s hurt bad and the boulder is on his feet. I don’t know how we’ll get it off.”

He sits up and I help him to his feet. “Fuck!” He almost falls over and leans heavily on me, and I see the pain in his scrunched up eyes and gritted teeth. All the blood has gone from his face. I wonder if he’s going to pass out. He’s holding tight to my arm.

“You’re hurt.”

“My knee. I must have twisted it. I felt it when I lunged for Jared. I don’t know if I can walk on it.” He’s still leaning on me. His face is streaked with dirt and sweat runs down his forehead. “I tried to catch him, to stop him, but I couldn’t get to him.” He stares at me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t on that rock. We should go to Jared.”

Maria is now sitting up rubbing the back of her head.

Billy uses me for balance and hops on one leg. He has to stop and rest every couple of steps, and he rubs his knee, breathing hard and muttering curse words.

“Over here.” Lela’s standing staring down at the ground.

Billy and I stagger over to her. Sam is lying half on her side. Her head is thrown back and her neck is bent at an impossible angle. I know she’s dead.

“Oh crap,” I say, and my heart sinks.

Lela’s forehead has a big gash in it and she’s holding it with one hand. Blood has seeped through her fingers and she’s wiped her brow and smeared it on her face. “You okay?” Billy says.

“My arm hurts real bad. I think it’s broken.” Her voice is shaky and quiet, she’s holding onto it. I can see bone sticking out of it and I heave, but there’s nothing in my stomach to come out. I manage to swallow and take a few deep breaths. I’m not going to cry, no matter what. My ears start ringing and I feel myself sway.

“Come on, Lexie. Don’t give up on us now,” Billy says.

He shakes my arm.

“She has no pulse. I think she’s dead,” Lela says.

It sounds like she’s far away.

“You should sit down, Lela. We need to get the first aid kit over here to you. Your arm looks pretty bad and you’re bleeding from that cut on your head. Take a few deep breaths,” Billy says to me. After a few moments, he adds, “Feel better now? Where’s Jared?”

We make our way slowly to Jared.

Billy lets go of my shoulder and, ignoring his own pain, he slips down into a sitting position. He takes Jared’s head and slides under it so it’s pillowed by his good leg. “What the fuck did you think you were doing, bro?” he says with a grin. “Extreme rock surfing?”

It brings a smile to Jared’s face despite his obvious distress. His face is white, and his eyes are very big and dark. His shorts are torn and I can see his boxers through the ragged hole. Apart from his face, his skin is red and has scrapes all over it. His glasses are gone.

“We’ll have to figure out a plan to get you out from under there. You okay otherwise?”

Jared nods. “I have a few scratches and bruises, but if I could only get my fucking feet free.” He groans. “I can’t see too well without my glasses, either.”

Jake comes galloping up to me, his tail tucked between his legs. He’s panting and obviously terrified. I crouch down and hug him around his neck and stroke him. “It’s okay, boy. That gave you a big fright, too, didn’t it?” He keeps his tail down, but wags it a little to show he appreciates the comfort of my voice and hands.

We hear yelling in the distance.

Trip is running toward us, Faith trailing after him.

“What happened?” Trip asks when he catches up to us, breathing hard.

“Rockslide,” Billy tells him. “Jared’s feet are trapped, and most of the others are not in very good shape. We need to move this rock somehow and the others need the first-aid kit.”

Trip throws down the black trash bag and pushes the boulder. It doesn’t move. “We need a couple of strong, thick poles to lever it off him.” He searches around. “The axe is in camp. I’ll go and get it.” He picks up the black bag again.

Stretch limps across to us, with Maria trailing behind him.

“Are you all okay?” Faith says.

“Lela’s arm is broken,” Maria says, chin-cocking in her direction. “We need the first-aid kit and water.” Maria is a little pale, and she still has a bit of a dazed look in her eyes, and a few scrapes on her face, but by the way she’s staring down at Jared, I can tell she’s back in nurse mode rather than victim mode. “And my space blanket,” she adds.

“We’ll also need one of the parachutes and maybe we can drag Jared back to camp on it,” Billy says.

“I think I have a concussion,” Stretch says. “I’m prone to them and I can’t remember much about what happened. Something must have hit me on the head. Again. But it’s my arm.” He grunts. “Anyone know how to put a joint back into its socket?” His arm is hanging down. He touches it carefully and grunts. “My shoulder is hurting too. I don’t think it’s broken but it hurts like heck.”

Maria moves over to his side and gently takes his wrist in her hand. “Let go of this arm,” she says to Stretch, who is holding his shoulder. Maria yanks and twists the arm somehow and it makes a sickening crack and Stretch screams.

“Sorry,” she says, “but I think it’ll be okay now.” She peers closely at the shoulder. Stretch is holding it again and moaning.

“Let me see,” she says.

Sweat is pouring off Stretch’s face. “That hurt like hell.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” Maria says. “You were right. It was dislocated, not broken. How does it feel now?”

Stretch gingerly moves it, then a little more, and then he rolls his shoulder carefully. “It’s better. It’s still real tender, but you fixed it. Sorry I yelled, but thank you.”

I swallow hard. “I’ll go back and get what you need. Come on, Jake.”

I start at a panic-driven jog, but I can’t keep it up and after a while, I have to slow to a walk.

I haven’t made it to camp yet when I run into Trip heading back to the site of the rockslide. He’s carrying the axe, and the first-aid kit. “Lexie,” he says, “I want to talk to you alone.” He tosses the axe down onto the ground, and before I realize what he’s doing, he grabs my arm.

Chapter 40

“Let go of me,” I yell and pull away and twist my arm and do everything I can to get Trip to loosen his grip. That old sick sensation swirls inside me. I can’t let him overpower me.

“Wait, Lexie, I only want to talk.”

I’m pulling as hard as I can and hitting his hand with my free hand. “No.”

Jake leaps up and closes his jaw on Trip’s wrist. Trip lets go of me and punches Jake on his snout. Jake yelps and then growls and jumps at him and barks, but he doesn’t get close enough for Trip to hit him again.

“Keep him away or I swear I’ll hurt him, Lexie,” Trip yells.

“Jake. Come!” I manage to get a hold of his collar. “Isn’t it just like you to delay when those people out there are relying on you to help them,” I sneer.

“I just wanted to talk, Lexie. That’s all. I haven’t been able to talk to you privately the entire time we’ve been here.”

“Now is not the time, Trip. If you’re not gonna help Jared and the others, give me the axe and the first aid-kit and I’ll help them.”

He picks up the axe, keeping his eyes on Jake who is still growling, and walks sideways along the trail toward the others, glaring at me.

I turn my back on him and continue on toward camp. I half expect him to follow me but I don’t hear his footsteps, and I know Jake will warn me if he gets close again.

“What do you need, Lexie?” Rodriguez asks when I finally make it there after what seems like forever. Trip is not following me. I hope he’s taken the medical supplies to the others. “Water. I need water.” I dump the camera in the shelter and follow Rodriguez to the water bags. He starts lifting them off their hooks. I take one from him and suck greedily on it. Jake is already lapping up the water in his bowl.

“Jared’s trapped under a boulder. I think his feet are crushed,” I tell him between drinks.

“Trip told me some of what’s going on. You must have seen him on the trail.”

“Yeah. I need to take water and a parachute and the space blanket. If they can get Jared free, they’ll have to drag him on some sort of litter.”

“What about the others? How will they get back?” Rodrigues rubs his ankle as if to show me why he isn’t able to do anything.

“I’ll help Billy get back. His knee is twisted badly, but he’ll make it. Lela’s arm is broken. It’s real gruesome with bone sticking out and all. Stretch’s arm was dislocated, but Maria fixed it. Faith was with Trip, so she’s okay and didn’t get caught up in the rockslide. She’s helping the others, and I think they’ll all be able to make it back here on their own.”

“I wish I could come with you. It’s a long way to that hill.”

“I know. More than five miles, I think. You’ll probably have to help cook supper tonight if we have anything. Faith is gonna be helping out there for a while, and we’ll be needing something to keep our strength up.”

I start walking as fast as I can back toward the trail. I was running on adrenalin before, but now I want to like lie down and curl up into a ball. Jake must have fallen with Jared and Billy. He was on the big boulder with them. I’m so glad he’s okay, and he doesn’t seem to have been affected by Trip’s punch.

For a while, the hill doesn’t seem to get any closer. It’s almost like a mirage and I wonder if the heat is getting to me. Then I think of Jared’s feet and that gives me a little more energy.

I don’t want to see how mangled they are.

I guess his phone is long gone.

As I approach the disaster area, Billy, Trip, and Faith are angling long poles under the big boulder. Stretch is sitting on an old tree stump still holding his arm. I hand the water bottles and the other stuff I brought to him and Maria.

“If you have another of those poles, I can help.” I know even though I’m not very big or heavy, Billy won’t be able to put his entire weight into it and it’s going to take a lot of force to move the boulder.

Billy says, “Lexie, I want you to stand behind Jared and hold him under his arms, and when I shout
pull
, you drag him backwards. Okay?” I nod and stare at Billy’s leg. His jeans are torn and his knee is twice its normal size. I wonder how he finds the strength to do this.

“I wish I could help you, Lexie,” Stretch says, and limps over to us. His arm looks okay, but he’s still gray.

Billy calls Maria over. “You can give him that shot of morphine now.”

She slips a syringe out of her pocket and holds it up and squirts the air out of it. She pushes it into Jared’s arm and we all stare at the plunger as the morphine goes in. “Let us know when it starts to work. I don’t know how much of the pain it’ll deaden, but it will help. It may still hurt like a bastard,” Billy says. “Yell if you want. We don’t mind.”

Jared’s face is still white, and he’s shivering. He licks his lips. “It’s working,” he says and grins. “Yeah. I’m getting a good high now.”

Billy stares at Trip, then Faith, and then at me. “Okay. Ready.” They lift their poles.

“On the count of three. One, two, three.”

Everyone groans with the strain, but the rock hardly moves. “Sorry, bro,” Billy says.

They’re all sweating, and I know Billy is hurting. The way Jared looks I figure he’s probably going to pass out.

After a short rest, they’re ready again, and on the count of three they all strain to lift the rock. I grip Jared’s arms and Billy yells, “Pull Lexie.” I lean back and tug with everything I have. I am beginning to think it’s not going to work, and then all of a sudden he’s free and I’m falling backwards.

I lie there panting for a few moments, with Jared’s head and shoulders heavy on my legs. I slide out from under him and get up. I don’t want to see his feet but I can’t help it. His shoes are gone and he never wore socks. Where his feet were is just a pulpy mess of meat and bone. I dry heave and then lose some of the water I drank. I wipe my mouth and move my gaze to his face, and I’m thankful he’s passed out.

Maria kneels beside him and wraps him in her space blanket. She whistles. “I don’t know what we’re gonna do with this boy. Someone is going to have to get help here before gangrene sets in.”

I’m suddenly cold and I’m shivering. I can’t swallow.
Why am I in shock? I’m not even hurt. Gangrene. One little word. One terrifying word.

They have figured out a way to tie the parachute across two of the poles they used to lever the rock up, and they roll Jared onto it. Trip takes one end and Faith takes the other.

“Sorry, Faith,” Stretch says, the strain in his voice clear. “I just can’t take that weight on my arm or shoulder.”

“It’s okay,” she responds. “I can handle it as long as we don’t go too fast.”

Lela and Stretch and Maria walk slowly behind them, supporting one another as best they can. Lela’s arm is bandaged and is in a sling. There wasn’t enough morphine for both of them, and Lela agreed that Jared’s need was greater than hers, but she’s very pale, and I don’t know if she’ll make it all the way back to camp on her own.

Billy and I have agreed to watch Sam’s body until they can come back for her. We are afraid wild animals will get her if we leave her alone. I think Billy should have had morphine too.

“You should get to camp and rest,” I say.

“I can rest just as well here,” he says with a grin. “Besides, we’re alone together now. We can do whatever we want and nobody will be around to see us.” He winks.

“Billy Murphy,” I say. “I cannot believe you’re thinking about sex at a time like this.” I pick a piece of grass and chew on the end, savoring the little bit of moisture in it.

“I think of sex every time I’m near you,” he says, “and also when I think about you. And I think about you a lot. Pretty much all of the time.”

A warm tingle runs down my back.

“What are you gonna do when you get back home?” Billy says.

“I guess I’ll go back to work. I need to earn money. Anyhow, it doesn’t look like we’re gonna get home. Ever.”

“Sure we will. Will you come and live closer to me?” He shifts and I can see the pain in his eyes.

“Do they make movies in Texas?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Then the answer is no.” I shrug.

“What if I don’t accept no as an answer?” Billy says.

“What? You gonna kidnap me?”

“Maybe I’ll marry you and keep you pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen.” He grins.

I smile. “Billy Murphy. Is that a proposal?” My heart misses a beat and I hardly dare to breathe.

“What if it is?” he says.

“You hardly know me.”

“I don’t give a shit about that. I just know I’ve never felt this way about any woman before.”

“It’s probably because we’re stuck out here together. Things will be different in the real world.” I can’t hold his gaze.

“Is that a no? Does that mean you don’t want to marry me?”

I glance at his face. That sad expression is unusual for him. I put my hand up to his cheek and stroke it. “I . . . have a lot of baggage.”

“We all have baggage of some sort or the other. I haven’t always been the best citizen in the world. In fact, I’ve been a dumb asshole and gotten into a lot of trouble and caused a lot of pain for my dad.”

“How so?”

He shifts his leg and groans. “I killed my mom.”