Wonderer's Wish World 2: Evolutionary Rebirth

Snow is Fun... Sometimes

Day 17

Time: 8:54 PM

Location: North

They all went quiet as the reality started to sink in. In defeating the machine, they had stranded themselves in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but the broken heap of metal in front of them. In every direction, there was nothing but snow.

Luca was already rubbing his hands together, perhaps out of nervousness, but far more likely for warmth.

"M-Maybe," he started, stuttering. She shook his head and tried again. "Maybe we can fix it...?"

Darius looked disbelievingly at the machine in front of them, then at the wires on the snow in front of that. Even if they had the tools, which they didn't, it'd be near impossible to reattach those. The machine was as good as scrape.

"Maybe we can go back," Molly said, and she twisted around to look behind them. "We're only a day or so away..."

"A day or so for the machine," Darius reminded her. "Not for the machine. And besides, how do we even know that that's the way back?"

Molly sighed.

"Darius," Ai called. "Is there anyway to find out where we are?"

"I..." Darius remembered the last time he had tried that, and bit his lip. Still, he pulled up his watch, tugging off his glove to tap the map. But before he could, something else caught his eye, and he paused, clicking on the radio instead.

To his surprise, the channels came up, and he clicked on the first one he saw. The most familiar one.

Immediately, music began flowing out of the watch's speakers, and everyone perked up. Ai looked at him with wide eyes.

"The radio," she said breathlessly. "It's working?"

Darius could only nod.

"That means we're close!" Molly cheered, and then she paused. "That's what that means, right? We're almost there?"

"I'll find out," Darius muttered, already closing the radio, but leaving the music to play, and opening up the map. At first, all that came out was the familiar white of snow and ice, but with a little bit of finagling, Darius finally stumbled upon the light brown of what was called the 'Death-Tastin' Desert'. Immediately, Darius clicked it, setting directions as fast as he could.

Once he finished, he breathed a sigh of relief. The others straightened, easily being able to guess what that meant.

"You found it?" Luca asked, hopeful. "A way out?"

Darius nodded, and his friends grinned at each other.

"Is it far?" Ai asked, and immediately got her answer when Darius grimaced.

"It's not... close," he admitted. "My watch says a day or two, but based on how slow we are... yeah. It'll take a couple. But it's not like we have a choice, right? I don't think we can go back, even if we wanted to."

The small group exchanged glances, some nervous, some concerned, but most were determined, and ready to do whatever it took to get out of here. Giving up wasn't on the table.

Molly stepped forward, a smile on her face and her eyes narrowed in unwavering determination.

"Lead the way," she said, and Darius did.

They didn't leave at first, as it was already late, and though Darius didn't think it could get much worse, he figured it would get colder at night. Instead, they torn the machine apart, using the metal to create a sort of makeshift shelter for them. It was long and difficult work, so much so that Darius couldn't stay awake even if he wanted to. They all fell asleep, almost immediately.