“I’ll drop you off at the King’s Arms,” he said, referring to the pub where he had planned on them getting dinner. “Or I can drop you at home?”
She shook her head. “The pub would be great. I have a book in my bag, so I’ll get a glass of wine while I wait. If I go back to the Manor, I’ll end up working.”
His phone pinged again. A message from Alex who was available to assist as well. Several of the other members of the team had responded also, but given that the walking party had just three people in it, Zack knew that he and his brothers would be enough, unless something had gone very wrong.
“I’ll drop you off and pick Alex up.”
He rang Alex as he started the car, giving him instructions to get to the King’s Arms with the dogs as soon as he could. Alex had a townhouse nearby, a neat, ordered townhouse that Zack and Jake liked to mess up while he was on shift or out of town with the dogs, just to see Alex’s reaction when he got home. They had, on one occasion, set up a camera so they could witness the pissed off fall-out when he saw the state of his lounge, but as Alex had brought a girl back, it had been minimal.
The resulting fodder with which to tease him had not been minimal, however.
By the time he had collected Alex and driven up to the closest possible point to where the flare had been spotted from, the snow was falling thicker and faster over the peaks. Zack kept a kit in his car at all times and Alex had brought his, which also contained an AED. They had managed to help a man having a heart attack during the summer just by having the right kit and by being fit enough to climb quickly.
“They left mobile numbers with Scott before they set off, but there’s no signal up there,” Zack said. They had started to jog quickly, knowing how to pace themselves but making sure that they had enough energy left to potentially carry someone down the peak.
“Scott’s phone is going straight to voicemail,” Alex said. “But that could be because it’s got no battery.”
“Dick,” Zack said. “He sets a good example, forgetting his radio too. Or they could be at Torn Cairn,” he said, knowing that was most likely. “If they’re near to that it’s a good shelter point.”
“And the helicopter can retrieve from there,” Alex said. “The sooner we get our own, the better.”
There was a sudden and sharp gust of wind that howled as if announcing its presence.
“Holy fuck,” Zack said. “Was this forecast?”
“Not for down there, but up here has its own climate. There’s another flare!” Alex pointed in the distance, in the direction of Torn Cairn, a huge pile of rocks that would’ve been left as a monument to someone who had died. A tomb.
Zack didn’t think about the prisoners the peaks had taken and had never given back. He didn’t think about what he would find when he reached the walkers. There was no reason to. He just needed to get there and deal.
This time he saw the flare, orange and smoke stealing through the blizzard. The wind had stayed wild after its first howl and he was glad Sorrell was warm and dry in the pub. She’d left him with a broad smile and he figured she’d be sitting by the fire with a glass of merlot and her book. The image warmed him. The promise of the rest of the night just made him hot.
He saw Scott first, probably because his brain was conditioned to always see his family first. His dark hair, tied back in a man bun that was fair game to have the piss taken out of and his trimmed beard. He was the mountain man. He was also the most skilled climber and knew the peaks as well as their father.
Zack knew he’d seen them, but there was no need to acknowledge it.
“Broken leg,” Scott informed them. “And hypothermia. We need to get him down the mountain.” He looked at Zack, expression grim. Zack figured it was a bad break.
The man sat with his back against the cairn, face pale, too pale. He was in shock and pain.
One of Alex’s dogs went straight to him, sitting down close, knowing that the man needed heat and probably comfort.
“This is Tim,” Scott said. “And his mate, Paul. Their other friend headed home this morning with flu.”
“What’s the plan?” Alex said after giving Tim a pat on the shoulder, crouching down next to him.
“We need to get him down. The ‘copter won’t come out in this. It’s going to get worse as well. Jake and Lewis are on the way up, plus the two who have just come on shift.”
That gave them seven people to get Tim down. They would get him on a Split Thomas stretcher and take him down the peak. In the meantime, it was a case of keeping him and his friend calm.
“We shouldn’t have set off,” Paul said. He was in his fifties, probably about the same age as Zack’s dad with enough of a belly to suggest he didn’t do this that often. “We knew the forecast but wanted to walk, so we chose this peak, thinking we’d be in the pub by the time the snow started. Then Tim went over on his ankle and…” He gestured to his friend who looked as if he was about to vomit with the pain.
“These things happen,” Zack said. “You were prepared though.” He’d seen flares at least.
Paul nodded. “Compass, map, supplies. We used to hike a lot. We wouldn’t want to be the idiots who call you out because we got lost. I tried to help him move but he was a dead weight.”
“And you could’ve done more damage,” Alex said.
Tom was drifting in and out of consciousness, becoming only a little more lucid as they put him inside a casualty bag to try to keep him warm. Moving him risked causing him more pain with his leg, not getting him warm increased the risk of hypothermia.
