Broken Orbit | ONC

Tonya

      The gas I'd gotten from Ram and Maria lasted about three days. The motor began to splutter and cough until it eventually died. I tried pulling the motor, but it was dry. Just to be sure, I tipped the bike over and checked the motor. To my surprise, it wasn't just empty of gas. The insides had practically eaten themselves. The cold had warped most of the metal. I was stunned it lasted as long as it did. Nonetheless, this motor would never run again. No amount of gas would save it.

    I detached it. With it left in the snow, I hooked the tracks up to the pedals and got back on. I'd added enough stress points that pedaling wasn't too difficult. The stress of the uneven tracks was distributed through all of the mechanisms. The tracks rotated and I was able to start moving again. Our speed was still faster than walking.

   We town-hopped for a while. Eventually, we hit a dry spot where it would take two days of walking to reach the next building. I debated my options before resigning myself to another night in the snow. There was no way I could avoid it. The gap between the two towns was too large. I'd have to camp for one night.

   The cold that day seemed to taunt me, almost as if it knew I couldn't escape it. The wind tried to steal my warmth. I pedaled on, keeping my breaths even. My legs had been sore the first days I'd had to pedal the bike, but by now I had built enough muscle to avoid the pain.

    Chance alternated between looking out and staying hidden. He was already getting a little uncomfortable to keep in my coat. The fabric was stretched tight around him and my shoulders. He always stretched for a while after I let him out, a little sore from being wrapped up so tightly. A few times of the day, I'd let him lope beside the bike, but he could only stand to be out for a few minutes at a time. His coat was thickening. It would be a while before he could withstand the cold. I had to find an alternative to keeping him warm before then.

   As for now, I'd bundled the top of his head with the lower end of my scarf. His ears were pressed flat against his head and I'd made sure that his neck was covered. He could see and smell, but he couldn't hear very well. I didn't want to risk his ears getting frostbite. He might have been a husky but he was still a puppy.

   The clouds had kept the sun obscured since the snow started, but I kept tracking of the lighting. When it began to darken in the slightest way, I turned to the side of the road. Chance felt the shift and wedged his nose out to investigate. Once I reached the line of short shrubs and trees, I realized why Chance was listening. Very faintly, I could hear a voice. It was shrieking over the wind. Bewildered, I looked down the road.

   Through the swirling snow, a figure became clear. A woman wrapped in layers and layers of fabric plowed through the wind. She'd managed to get ahold of snow shoes and ran on top of the snow layers, unhindered. She yelled at me to stop. I debated my options. She looked fairly small. I could probably take her if she tried to hurt me. Besides, I had a gun, a bow, a quiver, and a knife. I had to be careful, though. Everyone still alive and heading south was willing to kill to make it before I did. I couldn't trust anyone.

   I made no attempt to head her way, but she reached me within a few minutes. Her gait seemed familiar. "T-Thank you," she panted.

   Recognition made me tense up, alarmed. Her gait, her stature, her accent. I knew her. The scar across my collarbone throbbed at the memory. She was the one who'd slashed my chest right open to kill me. She'd also stabbed me in the abdomen.

   At the beginning of the blizzard, I'd been foolish. After a few days of walking, I met the woman and we agreed to travel together. We could fight together for food and share warmth. The following morning after breakfast, she stabbed me in the gut. She'd managed to cut me across my collarbone. That was when I realized she was going to kill me. After a wrestle for the weapon, I got her into a chokehold. The moment she was unconscious, I gathered my things, took her knife, and left. I locked her in the house from the outside and fled.

   Apparently, she'd gotten out and headed the same direction. I had no idea if she'd been following me. There really wasn't a good way to tell. We were both intent on getting to the Ark. Our paths crossing again could be coincidental.

   She wore a dark pink winter coat and her face was wrapped in different scarves, not all unlike my own outfit. She had one small backpack. I couldn't tell if she'd recognized me yet. She knew my eyes and my voice. Sure enough, once she was close enough to see through the thin layer over my eyes, her face darkened. "Oh. It's you."

   I wasn't exactly impressed with her arrival, either. I'd hoped I'd never see her again. "Tonya."

    "Drifter." she said evenly. She had to look up to meet my eyes. Her head met my collarbone. I wasn't the tallest guy around, but she was pretty short in general. Whisps of her black hair flew around her cheeks. A sharp nose and thin lips hid behind her scarves. Brown eyes bored into my face. "What are the odds of this, huh?"

   "Pretty small," I replied, my tone not all too kind. It wasn't harsh but it conveyed that I knew the chances of this meeting happening on accident were slim to none. She knew I was wary. I wasn't going to outright accuse her of following me, though. I'd let her fill in the blanks.

   Tonya grunted. Her hands jammed into her pockets. "I can't believe this, but I need a favor."

   My frozen eyebrow rose slightly. "A favor."

   "Yeah. I can't survive in this cold for a night." Her tone turned into a frustrated growl. "I didn't know that the next civilization was that far. You can tell I'm not equipped to stay outside at dark."

   I believed that much. She had nothing but that small backpack. She probably didn't have a map, either. But I didn't get what she was asking for. "What do you want?"

   "I'm willing to make a truce," she grudgingly admitted. "If we can share supplies for the night."

   Skepticism made me blanch a bit. "What makes you think I have enough supplies for myself, let alone two people?"

   "You're crafty. And you're not stupid. You wouldn't be carrying two bags if they weren't full of essential supplies."

   I studied her. She wasn't wrong. "Why should I bother to trust you, Tonya? You tried to kill me. Almost did, actually. I have no reason to believe that you won't try to kill me again."

   "Because I said I'm making a truce," she said. "You have my word that I won't bother you."

   "Your word means nothing to me."

   Tonya growled under her breath. "Dammit, Drifter! I'm going to die if you don't help me. You want that on your hands? You could easily prevent it."

   Her words hit a nerve. My jaw tightened slightly. Whether or not she knew it, she'd just hit the perfect spot. I was still sore about letting people die. When the world was shutdown for the week of the possible collision with Lover, I'd ignored my orders and stayed home. People died directly outside of my house and I did nothing. It wasn't until the girl next door died that I'd stopped being so selfish.

   I wasn't sure I could do that again. I'd sworn to stop being a coward. I'd sworn to protect a life if I could. At the time, I hadn't known what I was getting into, but I kept my promises. I always kept my promises.

   "Fine," I said reluctantly. "I'll let you share my shelter for the night." 

12,703 total words.