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

A sharp tug around her waist caught her by surprise, and she was suddenly slammed against the side of the cliff, hanging by the rope as the water receded back to the sea. Blinking, she looked around trying to get her bearings. Gia saw that she was hanging from the cliff they had climbed, and both her parents and Vonn hung below her, where they were all attached by the rope. Glancing up, she saw that Mikey had climbed even higher and secured the rope to a tree above them. His grinning face brought her immediate relief.

With a cough, she reached for the rock behind her and tried to get a grip. She could hear those below her starting to groan and cough.

”Grab the rock, so we can climb,” she called out with a hoarse voice.

”Gia, are you alright?” called Vonn, sounding weak.

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”I have a nasty headache, but yeah, I think I'm fine,” she said, clinging to the wall, trying to ignore the pain of the rope around her middle.

”I'm bleeding, I think,” called Tom. ”I can't seem to get a good grip on the rock, it's too slippery.”

”Just try, dear,” called Carla, her voice heavily tinged with pain.

”I'm climbing up,” called Vonn, as some of the weight was relieved. ”Tom must have hit his head, because he's bleeding like crazy. Nothing too serious, though, I think. Here, put your hand here, and your foot…”

Gia listened as he coached her father to climb up the rock face. Once they got to Carla, he started to do the same with her. With each step, the weight was removed from her waist a little more, and Gia could breath a little easier. She didn't realize she was crying until they reached her.

”Are you hurt bad, Gia?” asked Carla, looking at her with worry.

”We need to get to the top, so we can check everyone,” said Vonn, giving Gia an encouraging look from her right. ”Go on, Gia. You can climb now.”

She nodded, looking up at the tree above them that Mikey had tied them to and started climbing. She tried not to think about anything else. There was only the next handhold and the next foot hold. Even the sounds of grunting and moans from the others as they climbed was tuned out as she drew closer to that tree.

”No, Gia, climb here, not the tree,” said Mikey, reaching out to point to the side of the tree.

She blinked her eyes a few times, trying to comprehend what he had meant, then nodded and changed her course. The others were following her, she knew.

Reaching the top, Mikey helped pull her onto the wide ledge and she rolled over onto her back to get out of the way as Carla's hand reached up to climb over.

”It's amazing… what you can… do when… death is the… only other option…” panted Carla, crawling past Gia to collapse against the wall.

Next came Tom, coached by Vonn. Once they were all on the cliff, Mikey cheered.

”Did you guys see that wall? The water was so high! It had all sorts of fish and huge monsters in it, too! If you look, you can even see one of those things with tentacles on the rocks below, where it got stuck after the water left! It's huge!” exclaimed Mikey.

”Son, I'm glad you're excited, but I think this rope is about to cut me in two. Think you could help take it off?” asked Tom, picking at the knot at his waist.

”Oh! Sure!” said Mikey, turning and starting to try to untie it. ”The rope's all wet and it's too tight. I can't get it.”

”Here,” said Gia, with a groan. She struggled to sit up, feeling pain all around her middle from her own rope. She ignored it to start working on her dad's knot. It took her ten minutes to get the rope worked loose enough for the knot to let go. Once he was free, she turned to her mom. Vonn was trying to work on his own, but when she was done with her mom's, Gia crawled over to help him with his. Then they both worked on hers.

”I'm bruised all around my middle,” whispered Carla, holding her shirt up to show the deep purple and black coloring. ”My back kind of hurts, too.”

”I don't know if I'm bruised, but I certainly feel like I may be,” said Tom. ”I don't even know how I managed to climb that. My hands and feet are shaking so bad I would drop anything I tried to pick up.”

”We're all bruised,” said Vonn. ”I shouldn't have tied the ropes like that, but it seemed to have worked. We'll all be sore for a while, but we should be okay.”

Gia wasn't sure about that as she lay back down. Her entire belly felt like it was on fire, where the rope had cut into her.

”Is anyone hungry?” asked Mikey, reaching into his bag for a ration bar, but everyone groaned. With a shrug he bit into his with relish, making sure to shove a sliver into his pouch for Sprout, his Limcheez.