Chapter 19

                                    

                                          
"Freya!! You there Freya, Tanya come in!" Called a desperate voice, one that belonged to none other than Hunter. He sounded serious, he never sounds serious.
"We're here Hunt, what's going on? Are you guys ok?" I returned as Tanya and Selene turned back to look at me, realising I had paused to answer the call.
"There was a quake, didn't you feel it? Mal had fallen into a ravine, he says he's fine but might've broken his ankle, I think we're going to need your help, getting him out." He informed us. Showing exactly what I'm feeling, Tanya's face clouds with concern for our friend. I glanced at Selene, she simply nodded and then disappeared from our sight.
It took a minute to register the fact that she was gone and another to realise she had just gone back into our minds.
"I will not distract you! Save your friend!" Was all we heard from the chimes of her musical voice. I looked at Tanya once again, she just shrugged and motioned for me to answer the guys panicked call.
"We're on our way, probably about an hour out! Are you sure you guys are right for the time being?" I asked the main prominent question in my mind.
"Yeah we're good! Clear line of sight in all directions, but Mal says his leg hurts bad, Tanya we'll need your expertise for sure." Hunter requested as Tanya came closer and grabbed the radio bringing it closer to her mouth. I pushed the call button so they could hear her.
"Don't worry guys we'll hustle, is he bleeding? If so make sure he puts pressure on the wound." 
She instructed. 
"You guys know how to make a splint right?" She asked as we made our way back.
"Yep! He's already done it and no bleeding aside from a few cuts from the fall. Alan is seeing if there's a way down to him but the area surrounding the ravine is covered in sharp, jagged rocks, I've called it in to base camp and told them what has happened. They ordered us back, two of us are to escort Mal back to the jeep and head to base camp, the other two are to pack up camp and wait for pick up." Hunter relayed the orders to us which we acknowledged.
"No worries Hunter just stay alert no telling what creatures heard you, we'll be there as soon as we can over and out." I ended the call and looked to Tanya for the agreement of increasing our speed, which she gave.
We had decided to take a short cut, through the stream which according to the locator in the guys packs, suggests we would cut our time in half, but a sound echoed in the trees which made us pause, bang followed by a voice.
"Whoa watch it! That stuff is more valuable than your life, now pick up the pace, we can't be here when the science teams start to branch out! Otherwise bossman will have my head." Ordered a voice which turned out to be the man my father hated with a burning passion. 
I nudged Tanya, pointing to the bushes on the far side.Hoping to stay out of sight we tucked in behind. As we secured our position, I took notice of the man father seems to despise. His choppy, short hair tucked into a douchey man bun. His tanned skin glistened with sweat as he wiped his brow, doing this caused the muscles of his uncovered arm to shift and flex with the movement. As he continued to order the men who I just recognised as the ones with him at base camp, I couldn't help but think that he seemed like a run-of-the-mill asswipe, my father usually doesn't give those punks the time of day, he's cordial even.
Danny Brooks why does my father hate you so much? What could you have done? These questions swirled in my mind I almost forgot to take note of the rocks he was ordering his men to shift into the crates stacked beside them. I felt a nudge at my side and turned to face Tanya. Her hands moved in a swift patterned motion which I recognised as sign language, a version we made up ourselves. We were certain it would come in handy, guess we were right.