Day eight brought more trouble. They stopped twice because of Caleb. The thinness of the air was getting to him. Blake looked at Felicia as they climbed. She climbed ahead of him, but she swayed as she walked. They were almost at camp, but it looked as if she would fall before they arrived.

Blake signalled Gustav and pointed toward Felicia. Gustav nodded and they took another unscheduled break. Felicia was relieved and sat with her head in her hands. When they got to camp, exhaustion was written on their faces. Blake and Gustav set up the tent alone. When they climbed into the tent, Blake heard them wheezing. They had stopped hiking fifteen minutes ago and they hadn’t recovered. Blake immediately unpacked the oxygen tank and handed it to Felicia, who took it gratefully. She held the mask over her face and breathed in deeply. She held the mask for a minute before passing it to Caleb.

“I really think you two should call it quits here,” Gustav said. “You’ve had a hard day and it can only get worse from here.”

Caleb said nothing from within the mask but Felicia refused. “No, no.” she said, “We’ve come so far already. Eight days I’ve climbed this mountain. I’m not going to turn around. We’re more than halfway there.”

“Felicia, you’re dying,” Blake put in, “you were wheezing on the mountain.”

“No,” she said defiantly, “I promised you guys I wouldn’t ask for another break, and I didn’t. You guys stopped on your own.”

“It’s not a big deal, Felicia,” Gustav said. “Look, here are some campers on site that are going down in the morning. You guys can just join them. Take the extra tent and go down with them. Blake and I will continue. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“No, I’m not going,” Felicia repeated.

“I’ll go,” Caleb said, taking off the mask, “I’m not stupid. I can feel that this isn’t for me any longer. The cold isn’t as much of a problem as the oxygen is. I felt hot while hiking. Can you believe that? I felt hot. That’s how much my my lungs were burning.”

“That’s good, Caleb,” Blake said, “It takes a man to own up to it. Better to try again another day.”

Caleb nodded and then smiled. “Looks like I owe you a thousand, hey, Gustav?” he said.

Gustav smiled. “Don’t worry about it. As long as you’re still alive when I come back, I’ll be happy.”

The evening was a good one. Some of the fear had left Gustav’s eyes, Caleb had begun talking again and the wind didn’t howl as much that evening. In the morning, Caleb gave each of them a hug before leaving. Blake took the oxygen tank from Caleb. His food bag had gotten lighter as their journey continued so he had the strength to carry more. Caleb left the extra tent in case Felicia decided to turn around. He would sleep with the other campers.

Day nine wasn’t as challenging. But day 10 brought fear to them. Strong gusts of wind threatened to push them off the mountainside and Gustav called for an emergency break. They huddled together to weather the storm before continuing to climb. The cold was starting to become more of a problem.

On day 11, Felicia asked for another break. That brought worry into Gustav’s eyes again. She used the tank again that night and once more they tried convincing her to return. She just said that in three days they would reach the summit and then they would descend.

The next day was extremely worrying. Twice Felicia asked for a break and later, when he saw her sway again, Blake signaled Gustav to stop. For the first time since their hike had begun, Blake had to take the tank out during the hike.

“I—I—I,” she struggled to speak, “I think I will — I will return in the morning. I think I’m done,” she said.

Blake had to lean in to hear her speak over the howling wind.

“That’s good,” Gustav said, basically shouting, “But don’t speak now. Take some oxygen. Look up there,” he pointed to a large rock with a red flag jutting out of it, “That’s the next campsite. Do you think you can make it up there? It’s closer to go up than it is to go down.”

She nodded and gave Blake her hand. He pulled her up and she began to walk steadily. They ascended slowly but they eventually made it. Felicia sat with the tank while they set up the tent. When they got inside, Blake handed her a warm cup of coffee and she removed the mask to drink. She was still wheezing. The oxygen hadn’t helped.

“Are you OK?” Blake asked.

She nodded, “I’m fine. Just…struggling to breathe a little. The tank is helping. Sorry for being so much trouble.”

“It’s fine,” Gustav said, “As long as you’re alright.”

The oxygen never took the wheezing away. When they lay down to sleep, she was still wheezing. Blake listened to it as he fell asleep.

Sometime during the night, the wheezing stopped.

Tell us: What do you think will happen next?