Chapter 2

I woke to Emma's excited whispers about finding more heart-shaped stones. The morning sun filtered through our tent, painting everything in golden hues that should have felt peaceful. Instead, tension coiled in my stomach as I heard Chelsea's voice outside, already monopolizing Jared's attention with another crisis involving Muffin's supposed digestive issues.

"Mommy, can we go exploring after breakfast?" Emma asked, her eyes bright with anticipation.

"Of course, sweetheart," I murmured, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "We'll find the most beautiful stones for your collection."

But we never got the chance.

The rumble started low, like distant thunder. Then the ground beneath us began to shake, and I heard Chelsea scream. I grabbed Emma's hand and pulled her from the tent just as the mountainside above us gave way.

Rocks cascaded down in a deafening roar. Dust filled the air, choking and blinding. When the world finally stopped moving, an eerie silence settled over our campsite, broken only by the sound of settling debris and my own ragged breathing.

"Emma!" I called out, spinning frantically. "Emma!"

Then I heard it—a weak, muffled cry from beneath a pile of rocks and fallen timber near the creek bed. "Mommy... help me!"

My heart stopped. "Emma!" I scrambled toward the sound, my hands already bleeding as I clawed at the rocks. "I'm coming, baby! Mommy's coming!"

From somewhere nearby came Muffin's pitiful whimpering, trapped in his own pocket of debris.

"Jared!" I screamed, my voice raw with panic. "She's trapped! Emma's trapped!"

Jared appeared through the dust, his face pale but his eyes immediately scanning for Chelsea. She stumbled toward him, tears streaming down her dirt-streaked cheeks.

"My baby!" Chelsea sobbed, clutching at Jared's shirt. "Muffin's under there! He's going to die!"

"Jared, please!" I begged, still frantically pulling at the rocks that pinned my daughter. "Help me! She's hurt!"

The sound of approaching vehicles cut through the chaos—the rescue team, responding to emergency calls from other campers. Three men in bright yellow vests jumped from their truck, carrying equipment and moving with practiced urgency.

"Sir, we need you to tell us the situation," the lead rescuer called to Jared. "Our equipment can only access one location at a time safely. We need to prioritize."

I looked up from where I knelt in the mud and debris, my hands torn and bloody from clawing at the rocks. "My daughter is trapped there," I pointed with a shaking hand. "She's calling for help. Please—"

"The dog is over there," Chelsea interrupted, her voice breaking with hysteria. "He's just a baby! He can't breathe!"

The rescue team leader looked between the two locations, then at Jared. "Sir, you need to make the call. Where do we start?"

Time seemed to freeze. Emma's weak voice drifted up from beneath the rubble: "Mommy... it hurts..."

I watched my husband's face, waiting for him to point toward our daughter, to show even a moment's hesitation about the choice. Instead, his eyes fixed on Chelsea's tear-streaked face as she clung to his arm.

"Save the dog first," Jared said, his voice steady and cold. "It's smaller and easier to reach."

The words hit me like a physical blow. I stared at him in disbelief, certain I'd misheard. "What?"

"The dog will die if we don't act fast," he continued, his attention still on Chelsea's sobbing form. "It's the logical choice."

"Logical?" The word tore from my throat like a scream. I threw myself at his legs, my muddy hands grasping desperately at his jeans. "That's our daughter! Our Emma! She's calling for us!"

Jared looked down at me with an expression I'd never seen before—cold, distant, almost annoyed. "Stop being hysterical, Valeria." His foot connected with my shoulder, pushing me away from him with shocking force. "You're not helping anyone."

I fell backward into the mud, my hands scraping against sharp rocks. The rescue team was already moving toward Muffin's location, following Jared's directive.

"Please," I whispered, my voice breaking as I struggled to my feet. "Please, she's our little girl."

But Jared had already turned away, his arm around Chelsea as she buried her face against his chest, thanking him through her tears for saving her "baby."

From beneath the rocks, Emma's voice grew weaker: "Mommy... I'm scared..."

I pressed my hands against the debris, my tears mixing with the mud on my face. "I'm here, sweetheart. Mommy's here. Just hold on."