“We’re fine,” I said, glancing at Cade for confirmation. If there was something that he had been hiding from me, then he also didn’t show it now. “We have food and water, and we don’t have any injuries. We have firewood to last a few days, too. We’re just a bit worried.”
“That’s understandable,” the voice crackled back. “We have Aiden Thornton and Cade Coleman down there, right?”
“That’s right,” I confirmed.
“Okay, boys,” the man on the other end of the radio said. “You just sit tight for now. You’re under the deepest part of the snow and we’re working on getting your friends out, too, so it might be a couple of days before we can get to you. Neither of you has any particular medical conditions?”
I looked at Cade, who shook his head. “No,” I said. “We’re both fit and healthy.”
I knew I was probably agreeing to stay down here for longer by saying that. I knew they would probably prioritize others who might need help sooner.
But, first of all, this wasn’t so bad. I was having fun with Cade, even if it was all a little forced. And secondly, if other people had injuries or something like asthma that might act up, or even if they were just closer to the surface and didn’t need to stay trapped for long, I was fine with waiting.
“Just try and keep yourselves occupied,” the man on the other end of the radio said. “We’re using a different channel for each of you so we can quickly identify problems and talk to you without interference, so don’t call us on the radio unless you need us, okay? We’re focusing on getting everyone out as quickly as possible. If anything happens, you must update us. I’ll check in with you again tomorrow. Just try not to think about any of this.”
“Wait,” Cade blurted out, and I handed him the radio. He took it. “Hey, excuse me? Do you know if my brother is okay? Caleb?”
“We’re still getting information from everyone and finding out what’s what,” the voice replied. “I’ll be able to update you more tomorrow. Right now, as things stand, it looks like everyone’s okay.”
“Can I talk to him tomorrow?” Cade asked desperately.
“I’ll see what I can do,” was the only answer. “I have to go now, boys. Keep your chins up and wait for us to call again.”
The radio clicked into silence, but this time it was not the ominous or uncertain silence of before. It was a victorious silence. A hopeful silence.
They knew we were down here and they were coming for us. We were going to be okay.
We weren’t alone, and we weren’t going to be down here forever.
But I looked at Cade, and his face only showed worry.
“He said he thinks everyone is fine,” I told him, trying to urge him to be happy. “He probably just doesn’t want to say Caleb’s name so he can’t get sued for misinformation later if he’s got it wrong. Caleb’s fine, just like we are.”
“Yeah,” Cade said, although he didn’t sound convinced.
I reached across the table to grab his hands, trying to get his full attention. “Cade, listen to me,” I said. “We’re getting out of here. We’re going to be fine. They’re coming to rescue us.”
Cade looked at me for a long minute. “I think I preferred it when you called me Red,” he said.
I chuckled. “Red. We’re going to be fine, Red. And Caleb, too. We’re all safe and we’re all getting out of here. And we’re going to have one hell of a story to tell on the other side.”
Cade slowly looked up, meeting my eyes. His fingers tensed slightly and relaxed slightly in mine, a reflexive movement that made me all too aware of the point of contact between us. “We’re getting out of here,” he repeated, and his eyes slowly began to widen, losing the worry lines around them.
“We’re getting out of here,” I told him again, nodding encouragingly. I grinned as a slow smile spread across his face. It was finally hitting home for him the way that it already had for me.
“We’re getting out!” Cade exclaimed, leaping to his feet all of a sudden, pulling out of my hands. He looked like he wasn’t sure why he had jumped up or even how he’d found himself in a standing position. He looked dazed like he only had half an idea of what was going on.
To hell with it. I jumped up too so he wouldn’t feel like he was being weird. “We’re getting out!” I shouted, throwing my head back like I was a wolf howling at the moon, letting the words rip out of me with relief and passion.
“We’re getting out!” Cade yelled back, copying my movements and then laughing, his eyes slightly mad and his hair falling just a little over his face as he looked back at me again.
He was smiling. Really, genuinely smiling. I beamed and leaped for him, grabbing him into a hug the same way I would with any of my buddies, without even thinking about it.
He felt surprisingly good in my arms. Lean but solid, just the right height with his head below my chin, bristling now with energy. He collapsed a little, letting himself slump against me so that I took most of his weight – took it easily, given how much bigger than him I was.
His arms wrapped around my back as mine wrapped around his. I could feel his heart beating rapidly like a rabbit’s from where his chest was pressed against mine. I thought about how he could probably hear my heartbeat where his head leaned against me –
We’d been hugging for way too long. Much longer than I would hug one of my buddies.
