Chapter 3 - The Fall
The route narrowed above sixteen thousand feet.
Thin air burned Sarah’s lungs. Loose stone rolled beneath the soldiers’ boots and vanished over the cliff. The ledge offered barely enough room for one person at a time, with a granite wall on one side and a drop into cloud on the other.
Sarah moved near the rear with Miller.
She kept watching the saddle.
Silas kept watching the western valley.
The first impact did not come from enemy fire.
A section of shale broke beneath Sarah’s right boot.
Her leg slid into a gap between two rocks while the rest of her body twisted downhill. Miller caught the back of her vest before momentum pulled her over the edge.
The force trapped her thigh against the stone.
A crack moved through her leg.
Sarah did not scream immediately.
She inhaled once.
Then the pain arrived.
Miller dropped beside her and checked the limb without moving it unnecessarily.
“Possible femur fracture.”
Silas looked back from farther up the ridge.
“We don’t have time.”
“We need a litter,” Miller said. “Five minutes.”
“We’re burning daylight.”
“She can’t walk.”
Silas’s gaze shifted from Sarah to the saddle.
“The west flank will close if we stay.”
Sarah forced the words through clenched teeth.
“They’re not coming from the west.”
Silas turned toward her slowly.
May you like
Even with her face pale and sweat freezing near her temples, Sarah recognized the danger in his expression.
Her injury had given him an excuse to remove the one person still challenging his report.
