Surviving the Improbable Quest Read Free Page A

Allan. The water sucks them in, rolling them around in its muddy, frothy wake. Something sharp hits Allan’s side. He opens his eyes, but the water stings them. He sees his uncle’s body and reaches out. Rubic grabs his hand. The two are swept over a cluster of boulders, and they fall down a waterfall. Rocks and boulders and debris, bound together by the force of the flood, chase them.
    Silence surrounds Allan. He closes his eyes and rolls in the churning wake. It feels like he is dying, but it’s an illusion. His senses shut off, and his life force gathers around the vital parts of his body. He’s close to death, but not close enough. He has felt this before, on the day he lost the use of his legs.
     
     

 
    Chapter 2
    Of Dreams We Travel
     
    Allan’s eyes pop open. He’s alive! The pine trees tower over his head, and a raven sits on a branch cawing at him. Probably waiting for him to die. He realizes he’s been unconscious.
    Allan pulls his torso out of the mud. Dizziness swims through his brain, but settles. It’s bright. The sunlight hurts his eyes. Rubic! Allan turns and sees his uncle lying face up ten feet away.
    Allan scoots through the muck and reaches Rubic. He grabs his uncle’s hand and squeezes, his mind screaming, no, Rubic. Don’t be dead. Allan listens for a heartbeat. At first he doesn’t hear one, but then it comes. It’s slow and uneven. Tears burst out of Allan as he shakes Rubic, trying to wake him. Rubic doesn’t wake. But is he breathing? He isn’t.
    Panic swarms through Allan as if his veins were filled with tiny piranhas. In swim class Allan was taught how to get someone breathing if they had lungs full of water. He has to roll Rubic on his side. If that doesn’t work he’ll have to start chest compressions. He tries to turn his uncle, but the boulder has pinned Rubic’s arm and a part of his chest. He pulls and pulls and pulls harder. Breathe! His mind roars. Allan thrusts his arm under Rubic then dredges out mud and small rocks. His finger jams on a stone, sending pain signals into his overwhelmed brain. The stone is too big to dig up, but he tries again. His fingers slip off it. Rubic’s torso is heavy and sinks into the mud. Allan isn’t strong enough. He pulls on Rubic’s free arm to no effect. Without legs and the leverage it’s hopeless.
    Allan starts to pound on Rubic’s chest. Water leaks out and he gurgles. Come on Uncle! Allan tips Rubic’s head to the side and more water spills out of Rubic’s mouth. He begins breathing. Allan sits back and gasps. Water drips from his hair and stings his eyes. Or is it sweat? Allan shakes Rubic, but he doesn’t wake up. Blood coming from Rubic’s crushed arm runs into the water. Allan knows he needs to get help. He shakes Rubic again. Get up! Get up! Get up! The sun peeks over the nearby peak, but being wet makes him shiver.
    Allan cries. He’s got to get help, but he can’t walk. He’s helpless, weak. He couldn’t save his parents, and now he’ll watch his uncle die. He’s alone now, worse than before. He touches Rubic’s beard and wonders how his parents died. Was it painful for them? Allan touches his own face. Maybe his mother got to touch him one last time. Tears blur the light. The life he faces now would be filled with total strangers. He’d be unconnected and unloved. Something twisted and evil came for Allan the day of the car crash. It was Death, and it wanted more than his parents, more than Allan’s legs. Did it want his uncle now? Maybe it wants him.
    Rubic lay pressed into the mud by a large boulder. The cool water rushes by him keeping him wet. His skin looks pale.
    No! I can’t let this happen. The river isn’t very deep here. I can do something. Allan screams inside. He reaches the riverbank and collects rocks and sticks. As the sun makes its way through the sky, Allan builds a dam around Rubic. When he is finished, the water is diverted away from his uncle so he won’t freeze in the cold mountain