48 Chapter 48 Everybody Does the Wave (1/2)

The path Gia and Vonn had picked out for everyone to follow, was way more difficult than they had thought. With so many deep crevasses to cross, and Tom not being able to see where he was going, they had to keep a much closer eye on him. The rope they had tied to everyone had already come in handy several times.

By midday, they were all tired and grumpy.

”Can we get back down on the beach?” asked Mikey, glancing towards the water.

”No, sorry. There's no beach to walk on, or we would be down there,” said Gia.

”How far before we get to the lizard folk cleft?” asked Carla, glancing ahead of them, towards their destination.

The mountains that held the skeleton of some giant beast was obscured by clouds, so she hadn't freaked out, which made Gia happy, but the cleft they were heading towards seemed so far away.

”Maybe if we turn to head straight there, across these giant boulders, instead of going around the foot of the mountains, we would get there faster,” suggested Vonn.

”Why haven't we been doing that from the beginning?” asked Tom.

”Because it looks to be even rougher,” said Gia. ”Though, we might as well give it a try. If one of the clefts is too deep, we can detour around it.”

”Alright. Let's get going,” said Carla, standing up and helping Tom to his feet.

”Wow, mom. Your legs are doing so much better than when we first started,” said Mikey with a grin.

”I think all of this walking has really helped, but I must admit, I'll be glad when we get some where we can call home. I miss those slow lazy days where the worst I had to worry about was making a hot cup of tea.”

”You've never had one of those!” laughed Tom. ”How can you miss something you've never had?”

”I can dream!” snorted Carla, which ended up making her laugh too.

Hearing them tease each other, and laugh, cheered Gia up. Getting up and moving so early had made it harder on everyone, but every step got them closer to their destination, wherever that was. Glancing at Vonn, they shared a smile.

”Why is the water going away?” asked Mikey, looking out at the water.

They all turned towards the sea, and saw that the water had receded for what seemed miles, exposing the ocean floor. Creatures were flopping around, and the sea grasses lay limp as the water left it exposed to the air.

”That's odd,” said Vonn, taking a step towards the water. ”I've never seen such a thing!”

”We could walk on the beach now!” said Carla.

”No, wait, what's that?” asked Gia, pointing at the horizon. It looked like a wall was rushing towards them.

”It's the water!” exclaimed Vonn, stepping back and looking at the mountains behind them before turning back to the water. ”We need to get to higher ground!”

”What? Why? Don't you think that's silly?” asked Tom, as they all started moving towards the mountain behind them and pulled him along.

”Dad! The water's coming, run!” cried Gia, as the water got closer, and seemed to climb even higher!

Reaching the rocks at the bottom of the cliff on the mountain, Vonn started pushing Carla to climb. Mikey wasted no time scrambling up while Gia tried to get her dad to start climbing. He carefully found hand holds and foot holds, but didn't have the strength to pull himself up.

”Climb, Gia,” said Tom. ”You guys can pull me up with the rope.”

Vonn nodded at her, and Gia started climbing. She didn't hesitate in reaching up or straightening her legs to reach the next rock to grab. Her entire focus was climbing as high as she could before that water hit them. Reaching a flat outcrop, she turned to glance behind her and her breath caught in her throat. The water had hit the coast and was rushing towards them. Vonn reached the outcrop with her, and they rushed to pull both her parents up with the rope.

With her hands aching, she finally managed to grab her mom's arm and jerked her up over the edge, reaching for her dad's arm when the water hit the wall. Vonn gave one last massive tug, and Tom rushed up at them with the water just behind him. Gia screamed, sucking in water and scrambled at the rock, trying to find something to grab as the water washed her back over the edge.

There was nothing but water! She couldn't see anything, and she couldn't breathe!