Zero Visibility by Sharon Dunn

Author:Sharon Dunn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2012-07-27T05:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

Nathan burst to his feet and raced uphill. He could hear Merci’s footsteps as she followed behind him. It had just been a momentary flash. Two distinctive blinking lights against the night sky and then they were gone.

They ran nearly to the top of hill. His legs ached from the effort of treading through deep snow. They both stopped, doubled over from the exertion.

“Where…was… it?” Merci scanned the sky.

Nathan pointed. “He might have dipped back behind that peak over there.”

“It doesn’t matter. The point is they are here on this side of the mountain. They are looking for us.”

“There has to be a way for us to get the pilot’s attention.” He tugged on her sleeve then they made their way up the rest of the hill.

“I see it.” Merci jumped up and down, her voice filled with excitement. “Over there, he’s coming back this way.”

Nathan waited for his breathing to even out. “Quick, find wood for a fire. They might still see us.”

Merci disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

Nathan kneeled down and frantically cleared away snow in an effort to create a dry spot. Merci returned a moment later with an armful of dried branches of various sizes.

“We need something for kindling,” Nathan said.

“I can go find some little twigs,” Merci said.

Nathan looked up. The flashing lights were distant but appeared to be moving toward them. They had to make this work. “No time, we’ve got to get this started right away and build it as fast as we can. Find what you can close by, anything that might burn.”

He slit open his coat and pulled out a handful of down. He gathered some of the thinner twigs Merci had brought. His hand was shaking as he struck the match. He leaned in and blew gently on the embers. A golden edge rimmed some of the kindling. He held his breath. The ember burned out, and the down feathers curled in on themselves.

Again, he glanced up to get a bearing on where the helicopter was. It was still moving this way. He stuffed more kindling into the triangular structure he had made with the wood and pulled another match out of the box.

Merci came and sat down beside him. “We need something that catches fire fast.”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah, paper or something.”

Merci searched her pockets and retrieved several receipts. She bunched them up into a ball. “This will work.”

The clacking of the helicopter engine and the whir of the blades broke through the darkness.

Nathan struck the match and an orange flame sparked to life. “It has to work.”

His bare hands were cold and stiff from exposure. He struggled to hold the match steady.

“Give me a box of matches, too, it’ll go faster.” She held out her hand.

He caught that look in her eyes, that desperation. He felt it, too. Everything depended on getting this fire going.

He handed her one of the boxes of matches.

She struck the match and pushed it toward the kindling. The small flames burned the paper and ate up the twigs around it.

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