“Shit!” Came the reply.

“Well you’re a lot of help.” I muttered. We were about ten feet from the other side. I squinted in the darkness towards Kevin and he wasn’t moving either. When I looked back down at Nick, I saw that he was laying very still. “Come on honey, you gotta wake up. This thing is going to go any second.” I gently shook him. He only responded with a soft moan.

“Lizz, you’re just going to have to keep dragging him.” Kevin called, still not moving.

I groaned. “That idea doesn’t make me all that comfortable.”

“Try to move as carefully as you can. Go quick though.” He offered.

I stood up slowly, but almost immediately there was a harsh crack. I whipped my head around just to see about ten boards that made up the bridge floor go falling into the cavern. It was almost exactly between us. I sucked in a breath as the whole bridge swayed. All that was in the place of those boards was a huge black hole. Running along both sides of the bridge were two ropes that stretched across the bottom. The ropes on the bottom were (or weren’t) secured to the boards that served as the bridge floor. About four feet higher was another set of ropes that served as the handrails. More ropes were sort of interwoven to make a “wall” to keep people from falling off or I guess these rocks from rolling off.

“Careful!” Kevin called.

“I’m trying!” I hissed back. Again, I took Nick’s wrists and began pulling. We made it about halfway when there was another crack. I didn’t even need to see what was happening, I heard it. The floor of the bridge was collapsing. I knew I had to hurry because there was no way I could support my weight and Nick’s on those ropes if the floor collapsed.

I took another step and let out a short scream when my foot went through the board. I could feel myself falling, but grabbed a rope, stopping short with a grunt. From the waist up I was laying across the rest of the boards, my feet dangling. “Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod...” I breathed.

“Lizz?!” Kevin called anxiously. “Can you pull yourself up?”

“Do I have a choice?” I called back. With that I used every ounce of strength I had to hoist myself up and out of the hole. I leaned against Nick, breathing hard. “I’m okay, but we have another problem. How do I get Nick over this hole now?”

“Can you go around it?”

“No. It was only one board that broke, but it was the whole thing.” I explained.

“The only choice you have it to just go over the hole. If it’s only one board, its not big enough to fall through.” Kevin said reluctantly.

My eyes grew. Didn‘t I almost just fall through it? “And if more boards break?!”

“Lizz, pretty soon there will be a lot more than just one board missing in front of you.” He reasoned. To mark his words there was a bunch more cracks.

I took another deep breath, my heart pounding. I eyed the hole warily and kicked at it a few times before attempting to cross it. It didn’t budge so I began to pull Nick. I knew that if something happened and he went through, I would want to go right after him. Either we both made it, or neither one of us did. Amazingly enough we made it over the hole and we almost to the edge. The cracks of the boards and the crackling sounds of the ropes were almost constant now. As soon as we made it to the steady ground, my knees gave out and I wrapped my arms around Nick.

“I’m actually kinda glad you are out, cause if you would have seen how close we came to falling, you would have had a heart attack.” I whispered. Finally when the shock had let me move again, I crawled over to the edge again. “Kevin?”

“Got a problem here.” I heard the faint voice and my heart flip-flopped in my chest. It was hard to see with it being so dark, but it didn’t look like he had even moved.

“Kevin? Why aren’t you off the bridge?” I questioned.

“I didn’t want to move and risk it collapsing before you two got off.” He replied.

A knot formed in my throat. He risked himself so we could get off. “And what’s the problem?” I called, my voice quivering.

“There’s no more boards and the ropes on my side are about to break.” He said flatly.
My eyes strained to see and sure enough, all that was left of the bridge was the both sets of ropes on either side. Kevin was clinging to the ropes on one side, not moving.

“Can you sort of inch your way back off the bridge?” I asked hopefully.

“I would if I could. The rope in front of me is about to snap. If I move, it will.” I heard the nervousness in Kevin’s voice and it made me even more scared for him.

“If you don’t move, it’s going to break anyway. You just got done telling me that!” I cried, a frantic note hitting my voice.

“I’m going to try to move.” Kevin said quietly.

I kept my eyes on him like a hawk. He didn’t was about 6 feet from the edge when a sickening crack was heard. I watched in horror as the rope that he was clinging to snapped and he started falling.

“KEVIN!” I screamed, racing to the edge of the ropes.

I could barely watch as he swung down and into the wall of the cliff. He hit hard, but somehow managed to hold on to the rope. The entire bridge seemed to sag a little with one whole side broken now. “Kevin! Say something!” I pleaded, fear wrapping around my heart.
“I...can’t...hold on...” I heard a faint voice.

“God, Kevin, hang on please! I’m coming.” I yelled. I risked a glance back at Nick and sure enough he was still out of it. Damn it, now I wish he was awake. I carefully stepped onto the bottom rope and held tightly to the top one. My heart was racing and my breath was coming in short pants, but I forced myself to keep going.

“No! Lizz...it won’t...hold you!” Kevin gasped from the other side.

I ignored him and inched across the ropes, willing myself not to look down. Of course whenever you aren’t supposed to do something, isn’t that always the first thing you want to do? Bad, bad move. It almost completely made me panic, that black abyss below me. The panting turned into gasping. Kevin, think of Kevin. I shut my eyes and moved as carefully as I could. “I’m coming! You just hang on!” I yelled, my voice trembling.

“I...can’t.”

I winced at the sound of his voice. He must have hurt himself and it was probably taking everything he had to hold on. I prayed for strength for him and for me to not fall off and to get to him before it was too late.

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!”

The voice made me jump and I nearly let go of the ropes. I whipped my head around to Kevin’s side of the bridge to see several men with torches. A mixture of fear and relief surged through me. “Please! Kevin’s below you! Help him!” I begged.

One of the natives peered directly below to see Kevin struggling to hold on. He said something in his native tongue and immediately several others started to work on getting Kevin up. I clung to my spot in the middle of the ropes, above sheer nothingness. Finally after an eternity of waiting, they managed to pull Kevin up. I heard him cry out when they grabbed him and I knew for sure he was hurt. As soon as he was safe, I let my breath out.

“Slave, do as you were. Continue coming this way.” The one that appeared to be in charge yelled to me.

“I can’t! Nick is on the other side and he had a...he’s sick! I can’t leave him.” I cried, already moving away from them.

“If you do not obey, your punishment will be even more severe.” He threatened.

“Punishment?! For what? I had permission to come here.” I yelled back, aghast.

“Punishment for destroying the bridge. You are a woman, therefore the fault lies on you.” The native stated flatly.

I balked. “What?! Wasn’t this bridge built by men?! Furthermore, why would I break this bridge with my friends on it with me?!” I was incensed.

“Return to this side immediately!” He bellowed.

“I can’t leave Nick! Please, you have to understand! He can’t be left alone for however long it takes for you people to get to this side!” I pleaded, knowing either way I was screwed. Either way I was in for a punishment. As was Kevin probably for leaving his work. If I left Nick, who knows what could happen to him. If I stayed, the punishment would be worse, but at least I could make sure Nick would stay okay. Suddenly I became very aware of the small bottle in my pocket. Before leaving Brian’s hut I had made sure I had one dose of every pill that Nick needed in the smallest bottle. I knew what I had to do. I only had to face a very angry Nick when he would discover what I had done.

“I understand the consequences of my actions. I need to stay with Nick and I will take responsibility for that choice.” I said, hoping my voice wasn’t betraying my fear too much.

“Fine, stay in that place until we come for you. After you are disciplined along with the dark one, you will be returned to the medicine hut to take care of your charge. If the other slave is still sick, he will join you in the hut.” The native said, sternly.

I bristled. The other slave? They couldn’t even refer to Nick by name? Then again they hadn’t called me by name either. At least Kevin had gotten ‘the dark one.’ I watched as the torch lights faded. I could only see shadows and I couldn’t tell if they were carrying Kevin or if he was walking. I thought of the last thing the native had said, how I would be returned to the hut to ‘take care of my charge’. My heart sank. That had to mean Brian wasn’t doing better if Lelani was making me go back. She had said she didn’t want to watch him die so I had to be the one to be there. I felt sick and miserable and my stomach was clenched in anticipation for whatever they were going to do when they reached us. I had finally made it off the bridge, but was too heartsick to be happy about it.

I looked at Nick and he was still out. After a seizure like this, he would more than likely sleep for awhile and be weak for the next day or so. Tears sprung to my eyes and I curled up by his side and rested my head on his shoulder. I shut my eyes, praying till I fell asleep.