Chapter 11
Walker
The hike to the cave took longer than expected. I hadn’t been expecting the weather to deteriorate over the course of the morning. The falling snow was coming down harder, making it almost impossible to see.
Destiny was shivering. Her steps were slowing, and she was losing her fight against the wild. Even with scarves over our mouths and noses the wind was biting. The chill was colder than it had been in ages, nearly arctic. Was the drastic change in temperature another after-effect of my cousin leaving town? If the locals found out, she might never be able to leave again.
Darkness was closing in around us as we reached the cave and stepped out of the blistering beating that we were getting from the blizzard.
The cave created a nice reprieve even if it only blocked the wind and not the cold.
Destiny was shivering with her hands dug deep into her pockets like weights. Her cheeks were bright red, and her eyes were glassy when she pulled the jacket away, uncovering her mouth. “I thought you said we could make the hike and back in a day.”
Her teeth were chattering in time with her shivers.
I dropped my backpack and unzipped it, pulling out heat packs for her hands and feet and shoved them in her direction. “Use these and stay here.”
“Where are you going?” Her words echoed off the cave walls.
“I’m going to check deeper into the cave to make sure we won’t have any visitors during the night.”
“Wait, what?” Her words were laced with panic. “What do you mean during the night?”
“We can’t hike back in the dark. The temperature is already dropping. We’re going to ride it out tonight here, and in the morning, when the blizzard has stopped, we’ll head back.”
Destiny lowered her head, but I didn’t wait around to argue with her. I dropped my backpack, slipped my Glock out, and grabbed my flashlight, heading slowly and deeper in the dark cave.
The bright white luminescence from my flashlight bounced off the stone walls. Clouds and the sound of my own breathing broke into the surrounding quietness.
Destiny was sliding a heat packet inside her glove when I returned.
I grabbed my backpack. “We should be good.”
Her brows dipped. “Warmth versus creepy cave dwellers. Decisions, decisions.”
“You wanted to come,” I reminded her, grabbed her backpack, and headed farther from the opening of the cave.
“The darkness is kind of creepy but its better than being out in the cold.”
“Hold the light for me,” I said and offered her the flashlight to unzip my pack. She shined the light inside as I began to pull everything out, including the glow sticks and a state-of-the-art thermal sleeping bag.
I popped the sticks and moved around the cave, placing them strategically until the entire area was rimmed in light.
Destiny sat down on the hard floor. The smooth rock beneath our feet was a blessing she hadn’t even noticed.
“I don’t suppose you packed a heater in one of our bags, did you?” Destiny looked at my pack as she began to open hers.
“No, but I’m hoping we won’t need it,” I said, shoving my hat farther down my head and clapping my hands trying to psych myself up to go out into the cold again. “Stay here. I’m going collect wood for a fire.”
“You’re joking, right? All that wood is going to be wet from the snow.”
“Maybe not all.” I left without further explanation.
It took another thirty minutes in the cold before I found what I was looking for. A dead tree that was easy enough to break, with a slope that had kept the snow off the branch. These were as dry as I was going to find.
I pulled down what I could and carried them back to the cave entrance. Destiny had the blanket pulled tight around her shoulders. Her bluish lips trembled.
I stacked the wood and left again to grab the remainder of it. The supply wouldn’t keep us warm all night, but I ought to be able to make it last until sun-up.
