“Does everyone else feel like garbage?” Scotty asked once Bakari had left the tent.
We all muttered our assent. I felt awful.Worsethan the night before. There was no pretending otherwise, but I was trying to chalk it up to anxiety.
“I’ve got a pounding headache,” Richard offered.
“Little nauseous,” Van added, raising his hand.
“I ate so many antacids last night that the inside of my mouth feels like a chalkboard,” Brooks said.
We all laughed.
“So, what exactlyisthe Western Breach?” My head throbbed inside my helmet. “I know it’s late to be asking, but I’ve been trying to avoid thinking too much about it.”
“Yeah, probably too late,” Brooks said, smiling sympathetically. “The Western Breach is the steepest part of the ascent, six hours of nearly directly vertical rock scramble.” The more he talked, the more excited he sounded. Like a little kid describing a roller-coaster ride. “Physically challenging and totally exposed. So, hope you’re okay with heights. But the real issue is the rockslides.”
“Rockslides?” I asked against my better judgment.
“Yes. Only question is whether the rocks actually come down on top of us. You got anyone back home you want to say your last goodbyes to?” Brooks laughed awkwardly. “I’m just joking, sort of.”
“Knock it off, Encyclopedia,” Van said.
“I’m just giving her the facts.Sheasked.”
“I did ask,” I offered. “And luckily there’s no one back home to call.” Had I said that for Richard’s benefit?
Good Lord. I needed this summit. I needed to focus myself. I was leaving that seventeen-year-old girl up there.
“Come on, Brooks,” Richard chimed in. “There’s a best-case scenario and a worst-case.”
“No,” Brooks said. “Facts are facts.”
Richard rolled his eyes. “Brooks, you sell ‘environmentally friendly’ chemicals for a living. Come on. You use facts to make whatever point serves you.”
“Sorry, Richard, if I don’t see the truth as a relative thing, like some people,” Brooks said, and there was a real edge to his voice.
“Come on, guys,” Van mumbled.
“Yeah, give it a rest,” Scotty added. “If I’m going to die, I don’t want to spend my last hours on Earth listening to you assholes bickering.”
“Okay, okay.” Bakari had stepped back inside the tent with Kito, pulse oximeter in hand. Their arrival instantly defused the tension; it was as if we all exhaled at once.
“Bakari, can you explain the Western Breach?” Richard turned to me and winked. “You’re good at being honest and calm.”
“Today is the most difficult part of the climb for two reasons,” Bakari said, sounding like he’d given this speech a thousand times before. Meanwhile, Kito began checking our numbers. “Several hours of a scramble—hands and feet on rocks. Very steep. It is also more elevation gain and much longer time climbing than the other days.”
“How much more?” I asked.
“A lot more.” Bakari smiled. “But slowly, slowly.”
“There are also rockslides, right?” Brooks added, knocking on his helmet for emphasis.
Oh, God, that’s what the helmets were for. I should have put two and two together, but it was like my brain kept spitting out unwelcome information instead of processing it.
“Yes,” Bakari said, but his tone was measured. “The area we cross first today is a place where there have been rockslides in the past. Two climbers were killed—tenandfifteenyears ago. And not with our company. Changes have been made to make the route safer for everyone. That’s why we leave so early. Before the sun rises.”
“Wouldn’t daylight be helpful?” I ask.
“Before dawn the rocks stay frozen into place,” Bakari said, as if this should have been obvious. “They cannot slide.”
