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It was way outside his comfort zone. And everyone knew it.
Not that it stopped him from pushing off — allowing the rope to slide through his gloved hands for a few moments before he landed against the dirt. He took a breath then went again, continuing until he reached the vehicle. Kash already had their first passenger hooked up — was talking them through the procedure.
Foster shuffled over, giving Atticus a twirl of his finger. Nothing happened for a few moments then the line pulled taut and the person started moving. Foster followed along, maintaining contact while he worked his ascender, keeping the victim correctly positioned until they reached the top. It took a few moments of pushing and shoving before they were up and over the edge, all but falling onto the ground.
Atticus had his flatbed open with what looked like a few blankets and towels spread across the back — the full canopy saving everything from getting trashed. He helped Foster remove the harness, reactivating the winch as Foster turned and retraced his path down the cliff.
Kash took the next survivor, climbing up the side like freaking Spider-Man — making Foster feel as awkward as he’d probably looked earlier.
He definitely should have done more training.
He shook out his right hand, hating how all the metal plates and screws holding his entire right side together ached from the searing cold. The numbness that crept into his fingers when he pushed his shoulder past some arbitrary limit. Or maybe it was like Sean’s ghost — a manifestation inside Foster’s head that appeared whenever he started questioning his own worth.
When it was more than just his life on the line.
He shoved away the thoughts, taking up the next passenger once Kash returned with the harness. This trip was much trickier than the last with mud and rocks sloughing off as they tried to climb the embankment. There were a few moments of uncertainty — the guy in the harness panicking when his feet slipped off and he was dragged across the gravelly surface as the winch kept turning — but Foster managed to get the man’s feet underneath him. Prevent him from getting a bad case of road rash as he crested the top.
Kash didn’t seem to have any issues finding traction on the slick mud, walking up the side of the embankment as if he was taking a stroll along the boardwalk. Though, even he looked haggard by the time he descended again.
The wind kicked up, twirling small eddies across the cliff. The hollow echo of the coastal foghorn sounded in the distance. Foster couldn’t see the rotating light, but there was no mistaking the occasional glow through the fog way off on the horizon. And if he hadn’t been hooked up to a rope on the side of a cliff, he would have found the storm invigorating. The sheer power of the waves as they crashed against the jagged rocks, shooting water twenty feet into the air, nothing short of breath-taking.
Until all that rain had the dirt beneath them slipping away, dropping that van a few more inches as the entire slope shifted. Kash grabbed the next person, barely getting them secured before he was racing up that hill. Helping the line along.
Foster stuck his head into the van. Chase was working on one of the last two passengers, sticking something in his chest as he muttered to himself. He glanced over his shoulder, cursing when the van shifted again, nearly knocking him on his ass.
Foster was at Chase’s side a second later, grabbing the man’s upper body as he motioned for Chase to take his legs. His buddy scowled but moved, helping Foster carry the man out as the vehicle grated along the rocks, the screeching noise sounding around them like some kind of evil premonition.
They cleared the van as it shimmied sideways, glass breaking on the far side. Kash grabbed the edge of the spinal board, clipping the hook around it as Chase set the guy down then dove back inside, emerging a few moments later with the last victim slung over his shoulders.
Kash reached for him, locking his fist around Chase’s harness as the vehicle rocked toward them, looking as if it might fully tip. Foster released the tension on his rope enough to drop another twenty feet and grab Zain by the back of his harness. He yanked them both to the left, kicking his feet clear of the van a moment before the entire slope collapsed, hurtling the vehicle down the rocky cliff and onto the rocks. Glass and metal shot into the air with the incoming breaker, crashing back into the water and disappearing beneath the next monster wave.
Zain relaxed against Foster’s chest, shaking his head as he looked up at him. “I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?”
Foster grinned. “Not a chance. You good?”
“Still breathing, thanks to you. But I didn’t want to stop trying to keep it steady until I knew Chase was out.”
“You two are freaking nuts, you know that?”
“Says the pilot hanging on the end of a rope.”
“Don’t remind me.”
He eased Zain over, then made his way back up. Chase was perched on the edge, his damn pride somehow keeping him and his patient glued to the side of the cliff as the wind and rain tried to blow them off. Foster shouldered up beside him on the right as Zain moved in on the left, the two of them taking turns helping Chase climb as the other kept the tension taut on his rope. It took twice as long to crest the cliff, but they made it.
Atticus had Zain and Chase’s trucks repositioned, the other patient already in Zain’s cab. “I just talked to emergency dispatch. If we can get everyone to the clinic, they’ll arrange for transport once they’ve got an available unit. They’ve got doctors en route, so they’ll be in good hands.”
The men nodded, ushering everyone over to the trucks.
Foster stepped back as the last person scrambled in, waving to his buddies. “You guys go. I’ll catch a ride with Atticus.”
Zain glanced at the older man then back to Foster. “Are you sure that’s in your best interest? He doesn’t look like your biggest fan right now.”
“The guy’s as ornery as a mule, but it’s all good. And don’t eat all the pizza if you bastards get back before me.”
“No promises.”
Foster flipped them off, nodding at Chase when he mouthed that he’d wait for Foster at the clinic. The trucks swerved onto the road, spraying out mud and rocks as they fishtailed on the slick surface, then headed for town.