Darwin Expedition by Diane Tullson

Author:Diane Tullson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2007-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

I’m in the lead now, running in the direction of the sound of the highway. Tej is panting to keep up, but I don’t care if I’m leaving him in my dust. I’m thinking about hamburgers, a six-patty monster dripping with cheese. And milkshakes. Chocolate. Strawberry. Both. And apples, a whole bag of apples. And pizza. My legs burn and the back of my throat feels like I’ve swallowed a scrub brush. “Hurry!”

We’re charging up a slope strewn with rocks. Behind me, Tej stumbles and I turn to haul him to his feet. The sound of the siren has faded to nothing, but it plays in my memory. The highway. We’re going home!

The slope grows steep and I have to scramble. I use my hands to pull myself up the rocks. Finally, the slope flattens to a broad plateau.

Tej calls from below me. “Can you see it?”

The light is getting flat. “It must be over the rise.” I wait for Tej to catch up, and then I start running again.

I don’t know what makes me stop, but I do, and good thing. At the edge of the rise, the ground falls away down a sheer rock face, so far down that it makes me dizzy. I fall to my knees.

Tej runs up behind me and I yank him by his legs to stop him from going over the precipice. He takes a look over the edge. “Oh no.”

We can see the highway, all right. It snakes through the valley far below us. Cars on the highway look the size of toys. Tej flips on his cell phone and then swears as he snaps it closed again. “Nothing.” He jumps to his feet and starts shouting at the cars, “Hey, we’re here!”

“We’re too far away. They’ll never see us.”

Still shouting, he waves his hands over his head.

“ Like that‘s going to make a difference.”

He throws himself on the ground beside me. “Well, I found the highway. Now we just have to get down to it.”

I scan the rock face. “We’ll k ill ourselves if we try to climb.” I’m so hungry I’m half-tempted to try it.

He says, “We’ll climb down the backside of the mountain and circle around to the highway.”

Up here, we’re at the edge of everything we know. The highway leads home. One of those cars could be my dad. I swallow a lump in my throat. “I can’t do it, Tej.”

Clouds roll around us, deadening the last light of the afternoon. I watch the highway vanish in the cloud. Maybe it was there all day yesterday and we just couldn’t see it. I shiver, suddenly cold.

“We can do it, Liam.”

“We’ll be out here another night.”

Tej nods. “Maybe. We’ll walk as long as we can.”

With a resigned sigh, I hoist myself to my feet.

Tej takes a granola bar out of his pocket. “The last one.” He rips the package and hands me half. The bar is basically crumbs. I put it in my mouth, not even tasting it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.