GLOWING (Joel Miller)

26 | The Strangers

Three Weeks Later...

I yanked my beanie down over my cold, red ears, not taking my eyes off of the white expanse before me. The storm had passed, leaving multiple feet of fluffy, white powder to cover the ground as far as the eye could see. My gloved hands gripped my shotgun as I sat on a rock a few feet away from the undercroft that Ellie and Joel were sleeping beneath.

My breath was visible in the frosty air and I watched it snake it's way up into the sky. The world was dead; the snow seemed to suffocate the forest of all sound, leaving the only audible noise to be my own breathing and Joel's quiet snoring from behind me. 

My joints ached from lack of use and my eyes stung from the dry cold air. I closed them for only a few seconds, but they sprung open when a muffled crunch sounded from afar. it was so quiet, I could have easily imagined it, but I was on edge, and my gaze raked across the forest floor meticulously.

I stood up, when no movement caught my eyes. I didn't want to wake Joel unless it was a true emergency, so with a quick inhale, I made my way towards the trees, gun raised.

"Don't move."

I stopped in my tracks. not daring to move a muscle as the unmistakable click of a gun sounded from right beside my left ear. I strained my eyes to the side, but I could barely see the dark silhouette in my periphery—not enough to see any details of the person.

"Turn around." I raised my arms, holding my shotgun by its strap. "Slowly."

I did as I was told, the stranger quickly coming into my full view. It was a man—probably around Joel's age—who stared down at me menacingly. He pointed a handgun at me, his hands shaking slightly in the cold. I stopped when I was fully facing him, the somewhat-concealed outcrop of rock, barely visible just up the hill. I tried not to look at it too indiscreetly; so as not to give away Joel and Ellie's whereabouts.

"Are you alone?" The man asked, not lowering the gun in his grasp. I nodded. "What are you doing out here, all by yourself?"

I shrugged, lowering my shotgun to the ground; the weight of it was starting to become uncomfortable. The man's gaze followed the weapon, until it hit the snow with a muffled thump. "I'm just passing through. I don't want any trouble."

The man didn't seem satisfied with my vague response. "Where are you headed?"

"Wyoming."

"That's pretty far." The man reached up with his empty hand, to wipe the sheen of sweat from his forehead. "The open country ain't safe, especially for a woman, travelling alone."

I nodded with feigned gratitude. "Thanks."

The man, lowered his gun and holstered it, much to my surprise. "I'm staying with a small group in a cottage a few miles away. Come stay with us." I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "We have food and water, and it's warm..."

I shook my head. "No thanks, I'm fine." The man's jaw twitched and I felt my heart rate quicken. This was not going to end well. "I'm just gonna keep heading west. But thanks."

The man shook his head, as if he was trying to stay calm. "There are raiders and rapists and cannibals everywhere around these parts." I gulped as he took a step closer to me, the mock concern having completely left his eyes. "You won't make it five miles."

"I'll take the chance." With that, I reached down and picked up my shotgun, only to feel an immediate pressure on my arm. I glared up at the man, who now had his gloved hand clenched around my forearm. "Let go," I demanded in a whisper, not averting his menacing gaze. "Now."