Chapter 10 - Falling.

"How are we even gonna find this place?" Carson asked as she closed her backpack, now filled with anything she and the Bakers might need for their little adventure.

"Where's your usual sense of adventure?" Elliot asked, turning to the girl.

"Well, you know," Carson said, giving the man a simple look. "My 'sense of adventure' tends to die down a little bit after you get caught in a hunting trap and nearly bleed to death."

Elliot put his hands up in defense and Carson smirked in victory.

"Boys, let's go!" Elliot called, and a few moments later Bradley and Caleb appeared from the other side of the truck.

"This is bullshit," Bradley muttered once he was at Carson's side. "We would have had a better chance getting back to the highway. He wants us to hike aimlessly for who knows how long, with you being hurt, an–"

"Bradley," Carson said, interrupting him. He turned towards, giving her an apologetic look. "Look, we're gonna be fine. Elliot talks about this cabin all the time, he's gotta remember where it is." Right?

And so they walked. They walked and walked until Carson could feel the scabs on her ankle breaking and her muscle burning. She tried looking around to distract herself. Come on, Carson. It's just a wound, get over yourself. Look, snow, trees, a bird, another tree, Bradley, leaves... As the girl thought about the things around her, her mind set on only one of them. She knew this wasn't the time to develop feelings, in fact, this was probably the kind of situation to hide them but... she couldn't help but stare at the brown haired boy in front of her.

Bradley sometimes turned around to check on her, making sure she was ok on her bad leg, but his eyes would always linger on her a little bit longer than they should've before returning to their original position, looking in front of him. But even then, when he wasn't looking at her, he knew she was there, in the back of his mind. Always.

"What?" Caleb asked, snapping both teens out of their thoughts. They hadn't noticed Elliot had stopped to look at...

"A tree?" Bradley asked, noticing how his father was intently staring at a pine tree.

"This way," Elliot said, pointing to the right.

"How do you know?" Caleb asked.

"See these branches?" Carson said, stepping in front of the group so she could point at the tree. "They're bigger on this side. They get more sun, less stress from the north wind."

The two boys looked at her as if she'd just spoken an alien language. Elliot just looked at the tree.

Carson sighed, putting what she had just said in simpler terms. "It means they point south."

Caleb and Bradley both seemed to realize what she meant, forming an 'o' shape with their lips.

"Elliot, if you keep staring at the tree, you're gonna have to marry it," Carson said, turning towards the direction in which they had to go.

Caleb let out a chuckle as he moved around his dad, followed by his brother.

So, they kept walking. Carson was trying her best to keep up on her bad foot, but she often had to stop for a second and lean on a tree to rest it.

"How much further is it?" She finally asked, pressing her arm on the bark of a pine tree.

When Elliot didn't respond, Caleb spoke up, stopping as well. "Dad?"

"Hey," Bradley called to his father, "should we really keep going if we're not sure where we're headed?"

Elliot stopped, turning around to face his son. "You got a better idea?"

"Dad, Carson's hurt, she's struggling. We need to take a break," Bradley replied, walking backwards towards the girl.

"No, we can't risk taking breaks. We'll lose daylight," Carson said, Bradley turning to her with a worried expression.

Carson gave the boy a reassuring look. "I'm fi–"

"You're in pain, and you know it," Bradley answered before she could finish her sentence.

"So, what are you gonna do about it?" Carson snapped, knowing he wouldn't put hands on her. But then again, she'd thought this back at home too...

Bradley took her wrists and wrapped them around his shoulders, moving in front of her and placing his hands on her thighs before hauling her up.

"BRADLEY WHAT THE F–"

"I'm giving you a forced piggy back ride," he said, cutting her off again. He wondered for a second before bouncing her a bit. "Damn, you are really light."

"Bradley, put me down. You are not carrying me all the way to the cabin."

Bradley ignored her words, turning back to his dad, who was looking at them with an expression he couldn't really place.

"This is the right way," Elliot said, looking at the two up and down. "I know I'm right."

And so they moved on, farther and farther away from anywhere safe.

Bradley would sometimes stop for a moment to chuck Carson high up on his back before he continued walking.

"How's the view from up there?" Caleb asked, slowing his pace so he was next to the two.

Carson smiled at the younger boy's attempt to lighten the mood. "Eh, the ride's a little bumpy," she replied, trying to get on Bradley's nerves.

"Hey, don't you dare complain," Bradley said, giving her the reaction she had been hoping for.

"You're the one that offered to carry me," Carson said, an evil grin making its way to her face. "Well, forced me to be carried, actually."

Bradley opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She was right. Again.

They reached a clearing, but before the kids could step into the circle of trees Elliot stopped in front of them, stomping on the snow.

Carson was just as confused as the boys at first, but when she realized what was happening her expression dropped, her face turning as pale as the snow around them.

"What is he doing?" Caleb whispered to Carson, who was still clinging onto Bradley's back.

"He's testing the ice. It's a frozen lake. We need to make sure it's safe before we go across," the girl replied, leaning towards the younger boy so he could hear her, her voice laced with terror.

"Come on," Elliot said, walking onto the ice. "Keep an eye out for the cabin. We should be getting close. And Bradley," he turned towards his son, "put Carson down. We don't want too much weight on the ice. Everyone goes by themselves, and keep a distance."

Bradley did as he was told, though kind of hesitantly. If the ice wasn't safe, Carson wouldn't be able to swim with her bad foot.

"I'll be fine," Carson said from beside him, reading his thoughts.

Bradley looked at her for a moment, not sure what to think. She looked like she'd seen a ghost, her face pale and her eyes wide with fear. Nevertheless, she stepped in front of him, following Elliot and Caleb, but trying not to step exactly where they had. The ice might go weak if too many people stepped on the same place repeatedly. She would know.

Elliot kept looking around, the strange look Carson had seen in his eyes earlier was back, but this time it seemed almost... stronger. As if his sanity was slowly crumbling, and he was trying to hide the ruins under a layer of dust.

I really need to stop watching all those horror movies, Carson thought to herself as he shook it off, looking for the cabin.

"I know it's around here somewhere," Elliot muttered, turning around, looking in every possible direction.

"Hey," Bradley called, getting the group's attention. "Wait, wait, wait a minute!"

"W–"

"Shut up," He said, cutting Elliot off. The boy turned around, taking a few steps towards the direction where they had come from.

"What?" Caleb asked, just as confused as Carson was.

"Can you not hear that?" Bradley said, referring to a sound no one else could hear.

Carson listened for a second, as did Caleb. Both of them heard a noise, like a buzz. After a few seconds, it stopped.

"Well, what was it?" Caleb asked frantically.

"I just..." Bradley trailed off, not sure what to say next.

"Shouldn't we go and check it out?" Carson said, looking for any excuse to get off the ice.

Elliot shook his head lightly, looking in front of him. "It's gone. Come on." He turned around and continued walking on the ice, followed by Caleb.

"We should go and find them, no?" Bradley insisted.

"Come on," Elliot repeated, a little more firmly this time.

The group kept walking farther into the ice, moving away from anything Carson would consider safe in the middle of nowhere. They were all freezing, wrapping their coats tighter around their bodies.

Bradley looked at Carson. Her limp seemed a little better than it was a few hours ago, but she still looked completely terrified, as if every step might be her last. The boy was tempted to put his arm around her, tell her they were gonna be fine, but he had the feeling the girl wanted to be left alone for a bit.

Caleb shivered, his teeth clattering.

"I know. Try not to think about it," Elliot said, noticing his son's behaviour.

They walked for another three steps before Elliot said the one thing they had been waiting for this whole time.

"Look!"

The three teens brought their eyes to where Elliot was pointing.

"Finally! YES!" Caleb yelled, smiling wider than Carson had ever seen him smile before.

She let her self let out a sigh of relief. They were almost there.

"Told ya!" Elliot said, turning to the kids.

Bradley turned around one last time, still thinking about the noise.

"Hey, you coming?" Bradley turned back around to find Carson standing next to him. "Or would you rather sleep over here?" She had a smile on her lips, something Bradley hadn't seen since she had gotten caught in the trap.

He smiled back at her and started walking towards the cabin. He hadn't taken three steps when his foot slid down into a small hole in the ice, soaking his shoes. He grunted, stepping out of the puddle and walking forward.

Carson kept her eyes on him, but her smile dropped once se saw the crack in front of him, her eyes widening.

"Bradley, look ou–"

Bradley wasn't able to hear the rest of her sentence, because his foot slipped into the ice, and he fell through.

"Bradley!!" Carson yelled, getting Elliot and Caleb's attention.

The two turned around, their eyes widening before Caleb snapped to his senses.

"Brad!" He yelled, running towards Carson, who had started taking her jacket off.

Elliot realized what the girl was about to do, and immediately ran towards her. "Carson, no!" But it was too late.

Carson threw herself into the hole Bradley's body had formed in the ice, the freezing water wrapping her like a snow blanket. She opened her eyes, wincing in pain as she fought against the weight of her clothes, desperately beating her legs so she wouldn't get dragged under. She grabbed Bradley's arm, blindly reaching forward with her other hand to try and grab the blanket he was carrying and yank it off of him. She heard yelling from above her, but she couldn't understood what they were saying. Her vision was blurry, her lungs slowly running out of air as she used all her energy to push Bradley out of the water. And she did. But she wasn't able to get her own head to the surface.

Well, at least not before passing out.