"Alright there, safe and secure" said Maddie as she finished fastening up Annie's harness, even though Annie said that she could do it herself.
"You do know that I could have done that myself right?" asked Annie as she looked at Maddie.
"I know, and I also know that I trust whatever I tighten, which means that you won't fall" said Maddie as she smiled.
"And what about us?" asked Ollie as he looked at Maddie and she frowned at him.
"Well you can off course take care of yourself Blondie" said Maddie as she smiled in annoyance at him as she walked to Curtis and she made sure to tighten his harness, they could not risk either Annie or Curtis falling down, but well Ollie, he could fall, Maddie would actually be happy if he did.
"Stop thinking about me being dead" said Ollie as he could see that happy smile on Maddie's face, and he knew just what was making her so happy.
"And how are you so sure that I am thinking about you being dead?" asked Maddie as Ollie just scoffed, he could not deal with her right now.
"Anyway, we are all ready, when doing something like this free hand, safety is very important, I would feel more confident if we had helmets" said Maddie as she sighed.
"You can only carry so much in one backpack" said Curtis as Maddie agreed with him.
"Anyway, so I will go first, you guys have to make sure to what where I am going, which steps I take, I will call out my movements, and we have to do this carefully, okay?" asked Maddie as she was testing the strength of the ropes that was holding them all together in a chain as she drew it back.
"Okay" said Annie, Ollie and Curtis.
"Okay, let's do this" said Maddie as she sighed, it was not like she was not scared, of course she was scared, she had never attempted rock climbing without a net before, and also with three other people that she was leading, this was just to much, but they had to get up there first in order to rescue Matt.
"Okay" said Maddie as she seemed to be assuring herself more than anyone else.
Maddie walked to the barrier of a mountain that was in front of them as she felt the surface for any cracks or crevices which she found very quickly as she put her right foot forward to hook in one of the crevices, and she felt around with her hands some more as she got hold to a crack and she pulled herself up as she kept on feeling around the wall as she gradually moved up.
Ollie watched as Maddie kept on going up, he was actually surprised, she looked like she knew what she was doing, he had thought that she was just bragging and that she actually did not know anything about rock climbing.
Maddie took a deep breath, she was not usually afraid of heights, but when the realization of when you fell, there would be nothing or no one to catch you, of course she felt some form of fear.
Maddie looked down as she made sure to hold firm, she had put some distance between her and the rest.
"Alright Blondie, you're up" called Maddie from about as Ollie snapped out of his thoughts.
"Step forward to the fall, and feel the surface a bit, you should find some cracks big enough for you to hold on to" said Maddie as she gave her instructions and Ollie nodded his head as he did as she said.
"Did you find them?" asked Maddie.
"Yes" replied Ollie as he nodded his head.
"Good now, you have to relax your muscles and focus on exerting the strength to pull yourself up and hold on, don't try to do it so quickly, or else you might exhaust yourself quickly, take deep breaths if you can't do it" said Maddie as in the same instant Ollie just nodded his head as he held the crevices and he pulled himself up in one swift motion as he moved his way around the path that Maddie had went through, he had been watching her.
"Show off" said Maddie as she scoffed and Ollie just smiled at her as he was right below her.
"Alright Annie, your turn" said Maddie as Annie nodded her head, it was kind of scary to see Ollie and Maddie hanging on the wall like that, she could not naturally see the cracks with her eyes.
"Just relax Annie and take deep breaths, if you feel pain when you try to move ahead, then just tell me so we can stop" said Maddie as Annie nodded her head and she felt around the surface as she found the crack and she put her foot on it as she held on and she used her foot to lunge herself up.
"Do you have a good grip?" asked Maddie.
"Yes I do" said Annie.
"Good, now use your left hand to feel to the right of you, so you can find another crack, and be careful, you might slip if you don't have a strong enough grip" said Maddie as Annie nodded her head and she did as Maddie said as she moved on to the next crack.
"Good, now from here, you have to keep on going right slowly" said Maddie.
"Okay" said Annie as she nodded her head.
"Okay, Curtis, your turn" said Maddie as she looked past Annie to Curtis.
"Are you sure that you can climb, or can you wait till we get somewhere safer to pull you up?" asked Maddie as she knew that would be an way harder option, but it would be safer for Curtis, in case he wasn't strong enough to pull himself up.
"I am fine" said Curtis as he walked to the wall and he lunged himself up.
"Okay, so now, I am going to move higher, everyone be careful" said Maddie as she looked up, it looked like it would be a long way up, and she really wasn't looking forward to.
"I am moving to the right, very carefully" said Maddie as she moved to the right and Ollie moved to the position that she had been in as Annie followed and Curtis moved as well.
"Okay, slowly, slowly" said Maddie as she kept on moving, she was relieved that they were all doing well.
Maddie kept on moving as Ollie followed after her, but in the same moment Annie lost her footing as she almost fell down.
"Annie!!" called Maddie in shock as she looked down but she sighed in relief when she saw Ollie caught Annie and he pulled her up with his one hand.
"I got you" said Ollie as he held onto Annie until she got her footing again.
"Thank you" said Annie.
"You are welcome" said Ollie as he smiled and Maddie sighed in relief, that was a close call, a very close call, that could have gone horrible wrong if Ollie did not catch Annie.
"Annie, are you alright?" asked Maddie as she looked at Annie.
"I am fine, let's keep on going" said Annie.
"Are you sure Annie?" asked Maddie in worry.
"Yes I am" said Annie as she nodded her head.
"Okay, fine, alright then" said Maddie as she kept on going, her arms and legs were getting tired, lucky, they were almost to the top, and hopefully, they would not have to do any more climbing.
"Okay, we have about 5 more moves, give or take" said Maddie as she moved swiftly and Ollie followed after her with ease as Annie carefully made sure that she did not lose her footing this time.
Maddie groaned in relief as she finally reached the top and she pulled herself onto the flat ground as she heaved as she was exhausted, she had never had to move that much before in such a long time.
Ollie got onto the ground as he looked at Maddie, he had to give it to her, she was very strong for being able to hold on for so long.
"Blondie, help me pull up Annie and Curtis" said Maddie as she looked at Ollie and he nodded his head as they looked over the edge.
"Annie, Curtis, we are going to pull you guys up okay?" said Maddie.
"Okay" said Annie and Curtis at the same time.
"At the count of three, the pull on the rope at the same time" said Maddie as she looked at Ollie and he nodded his head.
"1, 2, 3" said Maddie as she and Ollie pulled on the ropes at the same time as they pulled both Annie and Curtis up as Maddie was completely exhausted as she fell on the ground, without even caring that she was dirtying her clothes.
"I… am… exhausted" said Maddie as she heaved and she removed her harness, the hot afternoon sun was not making her feel any less tired.
"Thank you Maddie" said Annie.
"Don't mention it, come on let's keep on going" said Maddie as she stood up and Anne nodded, they were getting closer to Matt, little by little.