Page 68 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part two
Axel chuckles. “Sure thing. Let’s go guys.” They go back over the fence and Tivon turns to us.
“He’s out here. I feel it,” Gavin says.
“Me too,” Ari agrees.
“What do we do?” I ask.
“We fucking find him,” Tivon answers. “We know he’s not in the woods. We need to move further out.”
“The only thing left are the cliffs,” Gavin says and then his eyes widen. “The fucking cliffs!”
We all take off running, slapping branches out of our way. We come to an abrupt stop when we see how far down the cliffs actually are, but I can see Tyler’s train of thought plain as day. If he got away, there’s no way he would have let them take him again. So the only way out… was down.
We each get our flashlights out since it isn’t entirely light out yet and try to see if we can catch a glimpse of him. “Tyler!” I yell, but I’m met with silence.
“Here!” Ari calls out. “He’s over here!” I run to Ari’s voice, and he’s pointing over the edge. About ten feet down, there’s a figure that’s entirely too still. I go to try to slide over the edge, and Ari grabs my arm. “We can’t risk it. Go to the car and get my gear.” I hesitate, and he pushes me away from him. “Go.”
I’ve never run so fast in my fucking life. I don’t even care about the branches slapping me in the face. I jerk open the hatch when I get to the car, grab Ari’s climbing gear, and hustle back to them. I’m out of breath by the time I get there and shove it into Ari’s hands, but Tivon grabs it.
“Not a chance,” Tivon answers, setting it on the ground and squatting to open it. “You just got cleared. I’m not letting you dangle from a fucking cliff.”
“I can handle it,” Ari answers, and I hear the steel in his voice.
“I’m sure you can,” Tivon replies, standing back up with the harness in his hand. He steps into it and pulls off his vest before he straps himself in. “But we aren’t testing it yet.”
Tivon doesn’t give him a chance to argue before he ties the other end of the rope around a tree and walks to the edge of the cliff as we get into position to lower him down.We’re coming, Tyler.
I just hope he’s alive when we get there.
30
TIVON
Istep over the side and lock my gloved hands onto the rope. Once I start moving, I start praying.
Tyler hasn’t moved since we spotted him, and it’s a really long, steep drop. I finally get to the ledge he’s on and tug the rope to let them know that I’ve arrived. I carefully crouch beside Tyler and check his pulse, and I breathe a sigh of relief when I feel it. It’s weak, but it’s there.
“Tyler,” I say gently and shake his shoulder. He groans and I almost wilt. “We’re here.”
“Fuck,” Tyler croaks. “That hurt.”
“He’s awake,” I say into comms. “Is anything broken?”
Tyler starts moving his limbs and flexing his fingers, only wincing a few times. “No. Just sore.”
“I’m going to help you roll over. There’s some blood on the rock, and I need to see where it came from. But we have to be careful. This ledge isn’t very big.”
“You got it, boss.”
Shaking my head, I help him get over on his back, and that’s when I see the gash in his forehead. “You hit your head on something. You might have a concussion.”
“But I’m breathing,” Tyler groans. “Holy hell. I feel like I got hit by a mack truck.”
“We’re going to get you out of here. Can you stand?”
“Only one way to find out.”
I get to my feet so I can help him to his. He sways a few times, but finally gets his balance. “I’m going to send you up first.”
