Page 87 of When the Silence Breaks

“We don’t need to.”

Huh? What? He dragged her, propelling them both toward a jagged rock formation—but she saw it now. It was out of the path of the wall of death. Still, could they make it? Doubts tumbled through her, but who was she to question the wisdom of this former Navy SEAL turned wilderness guide?

It was all she could do to keep up.

The thunderous roar closed in on them, around them, overwhelming her and flooding her.

“There!” Ryder shouted as he kept moving, pointing to a shadow in the rock face. “Let’s go!”

Across the shifting ground, lungs screaming, vision blurring, she pushed her legs harder and faster than she had ever done. Her life depended on it. Snow and ice nipped at their heels. Any moment her breath could be stolen from her.

We’re not going to make it. We’re not going to make it.

Ryder tugged her forward, then shoved her ahead of him, forcing her toward the narrow opening. He was putting her life ahead of his, and she had no time to unpack his selfless act. A guttural crack echoed across the mountain. In her peripheral vision she saw the avalanche sweep over the tents and the remnants of the crash site.

“Get inside! Now ... go, go, go.”

Sarah ducked into the opening, then tripped on a ridge of ice. Ryder barreled into her, and she hit the ground hard, thunderous pressure sucking air right out of her as Ryder’s body anchored her to the floor.

Protecting her.

Again.

How many times would they land like this? The violence erupted outside the mouth of the cave as snow crashed over the opening and the world outside, and snow and ice sprayedinto the cave, reaching for them like a monster clawing, furious at their escape.

She lay there, struggling to breathe.

But alive.

I’m alive. We’re alive.

She welcomed this protective and familiar pressure against her body. Sarah waited for what came next, listening to the eerie sound of a heavy, unnatural silence.

Her nose burned and eyes stung. “Ryder?”

“Yeah.” He lifted off her. “You okay?”

She’d be better once she stopped shaking uncontrollably. “Sure.”

He chuckled, and that familiar sound in this ridiculous predicament reassured her. She sucked in a deep breath of cold arctic air, smelling frozen earth and old secrets. Sarah took a moment to compose herself. Let her heart rate slow, but she wasn’t sure that would happen any time soon.

“Where are we?” She pushed up to sit and took in their surroundings.

He released a short, rough breath. Relief? Or exhaustion? “We’re safe, that’s where we are.”

“Without this spot, we might be dead and buried.”

“Without a doubt.”

She sat in stunned stillness and took in the cave’s eerie blue light—in some places. Other places looked like stone walls covered in ice. “It’s like a crystal cathedral in here.”

“Or a crypt.”

Sarah didn’t like hearing that desperate tone from Ryder, who seemed mostly upbeat, the man with the plan. Doom and gloom weren’t his modus operandi. He was always offering her comfort—squeezing her shoulder or giving her a reassuring smile.

Her throat tightened. “What do you mean? We’re getting out of here, aren’t we?”

“Yes.” But his one-word answer held nuances of doubt with a little fear mixed in too.