Page 72 of Wild Temple

"It's not your fault, sweetie.”

"Don't worry, I'll figure something out," I said.

It was time to improvise a solution.

"Do I look worried?"

"Don't ask,” I muttered.

I searched through Caspian's backpack and found a few MREs, supplies, another flashlight, a coiled rope, and a few camming devices for rock climbing—spring-loaded, aluminum, and never used. They had anticipated a mountain trek but not a deadly snake.

I tied the nylon rope to one of the cams and tossed it across the chasm to JD. The spring-loaded device would expand under tension and lock into place. Slipped into a crevice, it would create a secure anchor point.

Jack found a narrow fissure in the cave wall and inserted the cam, then tugged tight until it clicked.

I found another fissure on my side, inserted the other device, and drew the rope tight. I tied it off, creating a solid line over the void.

Jack tugged on the rope, then hung his full body weight on the line to test it.

It stayed put.

No slippage.

With the assistance of the rope, Jack was able to shimmy across the chasm, using the wall for footing.

The cam on his side did its job—but the rock crumbled away. The cam slipped, and Jack was in free fall.

He held onto the rope and swung like a pendulum, smacking into the wall of the pit on our side.

My heart leapt into my throat. I leaned over the ledge as he hung on for dear life. “You okay!?”

“Been better.”

Jack maintained his grip and climbed up to the ledge. I helped him the rest of the way.

“Son-of-a-bitch!” he said, scoping the severe rope burns on his hands.

He grimaced with pain, and a few more obscenities slipped from his mouth. Jack moved his shoulder around in circles, working out the lingering ache from the impact. I’m sure it had knocked the wind out of him.

“You gonna live?” I teased.

“For today, at least.”

Today wasn’t over, and we had a long journey ahead of us.

We grabbed the three backpacks left behind by Caspian and his men, then stepped outside to catch the last rays of sunshine.

It was tempting to camp here for the night and take shelter in the mouth of the cave. Every second we delayed was a second Rex was closer to death, if he wasn’t already.

I checked with the girls.

"I'm down for whatever," Brooke said.

"Hannah?"

She looked like refried death. “I don't see how anything can be worse than what I've already been through. Let's do it.”

We set out to cover as much ground as we could before fatigue and dehydration set in. We had full canteens of questionable water, which was better than nothing, and at some point, we would have to resort to it.