He jabbed the rifle barrel into the space between my shoulder blades.
One misstep or stumble, and the bastard could pull that trigger.
Sweet Jesus. He could kill me.
My stomach twisted so violently I thought I might throw up. Except there was nothing left to bring up. My stomach was a hollow, gnawing pit. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten. Yesterday morning? The day before? Time blurred together in a haze of fear and exhaustion.
"Keep going," Doug's voice cracked through the passage.
The tunnel narrowed, walls pressing in until my shoulders brushed stone on both sides, and Mitch had to walk sideways. Water still trickled somewhere ahead, and my damp socks rubbed against the heels of my boots.
The tunnel opened into the entrance cave, and dim dawn light painted everything in shades of grey and gold.
The water had cleared.
"Thank God. The flood's gone," I breathed.
"Don't celebrate yet," Mitch said. "We still have to climb out of the ravine."
My stomach sank. I'd forgotten about the cliff.
Doug prodded me with the rifle again. "Keep moving."
I flinched, stumbling forward on the cave floor, and slipped on the slick mud. Mitch gripped my arm, steadying me.
"Easy," he murmured. To Doug or to me, I wasn't sure, but his jaw was tight with tension.
We reached the cave entrance, and I looked out at the ravine. The flood had transformed the landscape. What had been a raging torrent yesterday was now a rushing brown stream, but the damage the flash flood had left behind was catastrophic. Mud and debris plastered everything in sight. Branches were wedged between boulders like broken bones, while whole trees were stripped bare and scattered across the banks. Entire sections of the ravine walls had collapsed into the water.
"Wow," I whispered. "Everything's changed."
"Yeah." Mitch scanned up the rock wall, looking toward the top. "And these stones are still wet. This climb is going to be unstable."
"I don't care," Doug said. "Start climbing."
Mitch turned and clenched his fists.
"Doug," I said. "This is insane. That cliff is practically vertical. One slip, and we all die."
"Then don't slip." Doug's eyes flared.
"What happened to you?" I glared at him, trying to find the man I used to know, but he was long gone.
"Shut up!" He shoved the gun into Mitch's back.
Mitch clenched his jaw, yet he still remained calm.
"Fine," I snapped, pulling my hair back and securing it in a ponytail with shaking fingers. "Lead the way, Mitch."
"No." Doug shook his head. "Charlie first. Then me." He leveled his glare at Mitch. "You last, and don't try anything."
"No way," Mitch barked. "If Charlie falls?—"
"Then you’d better hope she doesn't." Doug scowled at me. "Get climbing, Charlie. Now. Or I put a bullet in your boyfriend right here."
"You've lost your mind," I yelled at him.
"Shut up and go!"