Scott and Selena crashed and splashed through the river as the current pushed them further away from the city. A look of fear and desperation was painted across her face, and grew larger as she peered over toward the waterfall the two of them were about to plunge over.
"Look out!" She shouted with panic in her voice, struggling to pull her arm from the water to point toward the thundering waves as they spouted over the cliffside into the lake below. Scott turned his head, fighting against the crashing and thrashing waves, and stared at the large waterfall in front of them. Panicking he started flailing in the water doing nothing other than speeding up their journey to impending doom.
"Stop you're just making it worse," Selena said spitting the water from her mouth that Scott had splashed her with. He calmed himself down, taking deep breaths and looking around them for anything he could grab to slow them down. His eyes darted back and forth before he noticed something straight ahead, on the edge of the shoreline sat an exposed root dangling inches above the water within arm's length.
He thought to himself for a moment before making his attempt. He launched off of the bottom of the river with his feet thrusting his body toward the exposed root. He stuck out his hand and grabbed on tight. As his hand made contact the water persisted around him, trying to force him down the rest of the way. His hand slid along the root, which cut him deeply on the palm before he was able to tighten his grip toward the base of the sharp plant. Quickly he stuck his other hand out and grabbed Selena pulling her close to him. He held on as tight as he could, tightening his grip as his hand dripped blood that slid quickly along the side of the root and splashed into the water.
As the two of them clung to the root and looked back at the city they saw the blue light had disappeared completely, all that remained now was a large cloud of smoke hovering over the city like a dark cloud sending chills down their spines as they watched it grow larger.
They both let out a sigh of relief believing the worst of it was over and that it was only a matter of time before the rescue team came and peeled them from the root they clung to like baby monkeys lost in a tree. Selena pulled herself into Scott's chest and began to sob quietly on his already wet shirt. He looked down as she dug her nose to his chest and thought of saying something to ridicule her, as he always did at any sign of weakness but as he opened his mouth his conscience kicked in and his lips quickly pressed back together as he wrapped his free arm around her pulling her closer to him.
As Selena cried Scott looked around for anything they could use to escape the ice-cold river. The root they clung to was strong but couldn't support the weight of both him and Selena climbing up without giving in and releasing them back into their cold prison. The top of the shore was just too high to reach from where they were. Scott attempted to pull his body up slightly, to reach for the lip, but the root began to pull through the wet dirt. They were stuck with no foreseeable change. Pain shot through Scott's hand loosening his grip slightly as time passed.
'I can't hold on much longer," he said looking at his blood-covered hand struggling to keep his grip.
"Let me go, you have a better chance at surviving without the extra weight," Selena replied, her eyes filled with sorrow.
"No. if I let go, you die. I will hold on as long as I can and we'll figure it out, together." Scott replied tightening his grip around Selena ensuring she wouldn't slip back into the rapids.
Time seemed to slow down the longer they hung there. As they held that root seconds felt more like hours with each second bringing certain demise even closer. Scott had prepared himself to let go and plummet over the falls certainly dying on the other side each time his grip loosened. He took one last look at the city he had called home for so many years as he prepared to let go, but as he stared he saw something floating toward them flailing in the water, struggling to stay afloat. It was a person he recognized all too well based on their oversized sweater and dark skinny pants.
"Eden!" He yelled out, his voice echoing through the empty air.
Eden hopped out of the water a few inches to see who was calling out to them.
"Scott!" They yelled back, flailing their arms in excitement, hoping they would finally be able to rest.
"Selena, I'm going to grab your hand and send you into the center of the river, grab Eden as soon as you make contact I'll let go that should give us the force we need to avoid the falls," Scott said gripping Selena's hand in his.
Selena looked over toward the falls and saw their escape route: a small opening in the bushes beside Rattlesnake rapids leading down to the lazy river, a river the kids used to use floating tubes to get back to town from the top of the mountain.
"Okay." She replied, hopeful, that Scott's plan would work.
He extended his arm releasing Selena into the center of the river dragging his injured hand further down the root, making his grip even weaker. Eden rushed past grabbing Selena's arm. As they made contact, Scott released his frail grasp from the exposed root, which now dripped with his blood. The three of them launched to the right avoiding the falls and making it into the route leading to the lazy river.
The rushing rapids became a slow wave as they fell over a small slope into the narrow canal, avoiding the treacherous rattlesnake rapids beside them. Selena and Eden clung to Scott before standing up in the shallow water. Their legs were numb from the repeated treading. After a quick reunion where they celebrated their success, Scott climbed out of the water before helping the both of them up onto the shore. The three of them stood on the bank their clothes soaked and their hair flat against their heads.
"What now?" Eden asked, shaking the water from their ear.
"Now we set up camp, and wait to be rescued," Scott replied ripping a piece of fabric off of his shirt and wrapping it around his still-bleeding hand.
"Camp, what about other survivors?" Selena asked, confused as she peeled the wet socks from her feet.
"Yes camp, we need to survive. That means others have to do the same. It isn't up to us to help anyone," Scott said, pointing at the dark cloud of smoke in the distance. Eden and Selena stared at the smoke before looking at each other. The truth was they didn't know if anyone else had made it away in time, and Scott was right. Searching for survivors who may or may not exist was not the right move. Not knowing what else to do Selena nodded grimly.