The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 134

The foot of Wells Peak was far quieter than anyone had anticipated.

It wasn't a peaceful quiet, but a suffocating, heavy silence that pressed painfully against the chest. The wind had died, the snow had settled, and the world felt entirely muted, save for the crunch of their boots and the ragged sound of their own breathing.

Five headlamps swept through the abyss, carving stark white patches out of the desolate snowscape.

"Right here." Professor Harrison knelt, aiming his flashlight at the frozen ground. "Josh, gauge the ice density."

"On it."

Josh dropped his pack, pulled out his instruments, and got to work.

The harsh glare of the headlamp illuminated his sharp, handsome features, highlighting his total concentration.

Sloane crouched beside him, stabilizing the rig. Her hands were perfectly steady, her expression totally unreadable.

"Josh, I'm locked in. Ready when you are."

"Alright, Sloane, hold that exact position..."

A few feet away, Professor Harrison knelt down, gently tapping his geology hammer against the frost, listening intently to the reverberations and studying the fracture lines.

Diego shadowed him, clutching a cluster of sampling tubes like his life depended on it.

Only Coach Jensen lingered in the distance, his back turned to the crew as his headlamp swept aimlessly over an empty stretch of ice.

"I'll keep watch from over here," he shouted over his shoulder. "The surface looks a bit sketchy; I'll holler if anything shifts."

"Yeah, right. Like he can see anything from back there,"

Diego muttered, rolling his eyes before refocusing on Harrison's tools.

Sloane's fingers adjusted the dials on the rig.

She watched the fluctuating readouts on the screen, shooting a discreet, calculating glance at Coach Jensen's back.

"Sloane," Josh whispered, breaking her focus. "Metrics are up. Log them."

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