Grip of the Shadow Plague

Kendra could not resist laughing. The surprise on his face, the way he went from so intense to so unsure, only added fuel to the fire. It took a moment to regain the power of speech. Gavin looked so crushed that she wanted to reassure him. "Okay, I was being sarcastic before, but you really are sweet. I appreciate the sentiment. I’m scared too-part of me would love to follow your advice. But I won’t be going into the vault, just camping on the mesa with Neil. I wouldn’t do this just for kicks. I think it’s worth the risk."

Tammy entered the hall wearing a lightweight hooded jacket and carrying a tomahawk. She had tightened the hood so that only her eyes, nose, and mouth were visible. "I can’t believe we’re hiking up a waterfall," she said. "The trail was tiring enough."

"You didn’t see anything on top of the mesa last time?" Kendra asked.

"We saw something," Tammy corrected her. "Something big. It had at least ten legs and it rippled when it moved. But it never came too close. The mesa shouldn’t be a problem. I’m worried about negotiating some of those traps again, though."

Warren, Neil, Dougan, Hal, and Rosa came down the hall to the door. Dougan held a bulky stone axe. Warren carried a spear.

Hal sauntered over to Kendra, thumbs hooked in the belt loops of his jeans. "You’re really going to lead these nutcases up the mesa?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Reckon I could lend you this." He held out a stone knife in a buckskin sheath.

"I’d rather she went weaponless, like Neil," Warren said.

Hal scratched his mustache. "Neil does have a talent for staying alive. Live by the sword, die by the sword, is that it? Might not be a bad idea." He tucked the knife away.

"We only have climbing gear for five," Warren announced. "I’ll ascend at the rear without a harness, just keeping hold of the rope."

"You have the key?" Rosa asked.

Dougan patted his backpack. "Wouldn’t be much use to reach the top without it."

"We should get under way," Neil recommended.

Outside, rain continued to drizzle. Neil drove the Jeep with Kendra, Warren, and Tammy. Dougan followed in the truck with Gavin as copilot. Windshield wipers swaying hypnotically, the Jeep sloshed through puddles and occasionally fishtailed in the mud. At one point, Neil gunned the engine and they roared through a stream, water spraying up from both sides of the Jeep like wings. They approached the mesa from a less direct route than before, winding more, and not climbing as steeply. The drive took almost twice as long.

At length they stopped in the same flat, boulder-strewn area where they had parked earlier. Neil cut the engine and killed the headlights. Everyone exited the vehicles and shouldered their gear. Warren, Dougan, and Gavin turned on large waterproof flashlights.

"You see the stairs?" Dougan asked Kendra, squinting into the rainy darkness.

"Barely," Kendra said. She actually discerned the Flooded Stairs more clearly than she admitted, but wanted to avoid making it obvious that she could see in the dark.

They picked their way forward over wet rocks, looping around several depressions where water had pooled. Part of Kendra wondered why they bothered avoiding the water, considering the climb they were about to undertake. The hood of her poncho magnified the patter of the rainfall.

As they neared the fissure at the foot of the stairs, Kendra found herself beside Neil. "What happens if the rain stops while we’re on the stairway?" she asked.

"Truthfully, I have no idea. I would like to think the stairs will persist while we remain on them. We should probably hurry just in case."

Warren helped Kendra into a harness, tightened some straps, and wound a rope through some metal clasps. Once they were all linked together, Kendra led the others along the narrow shelf between the cliff and the fissure.

"Don’t focus on the stairs," Neil instructed the others. "Put your attention on following the person in front of you. It may take some effort."

Kendra stepped into the rushing water at the base of the stairs and started climbing. The boots gave her better footing than the tennis shoes she had worn earlier. As the steps became steeper, it became impossible to ascend without using her hands. Her sleeves and pant legs became soaked. The rushing water made each step forward feel unstable.

After at least a hundred stairs, they reached the first landing. Kendra turned and looked down, shocked by how much steeper the ascent looked from this perspective than it had felt as she climbed. If she fell, she would undoubtedly tumble all the way down the crude stone stairway, and her corpse would be washed away into the fissure. She backed away from the edge, fearful of hurtling down the most painful waterslide of her life.

Kendra turned. Ahead, the water fell straight for about a hundred feet before noisily splashing on the landing. The stairs became as steep as a ladder, rising to the side of the cascade.

Kendra guided the others forward and started mounting the steepest steps yet, trying to ignore the sound and spray of the waterfall beside her. No stair was wide enough to place her entire sole on it, and the steps were often separated by more than two feet. She moved cautiously upward, always keeping her hands on a higher step as she climbed, the aroma of wet stone filling her nostrils. She concentrated on nothing but the next step, ignoring the void behind her, ignoring the thought of slipping and peeling everyone off the stairs with her. The wind picked up, blowing her hood back and making her long hair flutter like a banner. Her arms trembled with fear and exertion.

Why had she volunteered for this? She should have listened to Gavin. He had tried to give her an out, but pride had prevented her from considering it.

She reached for the next step, got the best hold she could, lifted her right foot, and then her left foot. She pretended that she was only a few feet off the ground as she repeated the tiring process.

At last Kendra reached the top of the waterfall and another broad ledge. Neil boosted himself up behind her. Looking up, there remained a long distance to climb. She denied the impulse to look back or down.

"You’re doing well," Neil encouraged. "Do you need a break?"

Kendra nodded. She had been so full of adrenaline while climbing beside the waterfall that she had not noticed how fatigued her limbs felt. Kendra pulled her hood up and waited a few minutes on the ledge before proceeding onward.

The stairway now rose back and forth in many short flights. Sometimes the flowing water followed the path of the stairs; sometimes it spilled over and took a shortcut. They scaled flight after flight to landing after landing.

Kendra’s legs ached, and she started running out of breath, requiring more frequent pauses the longer she climbed.