Can You Manage? (1D Fanfic)

Chapter 25

It was fairly cold outside. I was wrapped in various layers of coats, a big fluffy scarf, hat, mittens, and boots. Niall was the same. The theatre was right down the road, so we just decided to walk. It was snowing pretty hard, and I could barely see people in front of me. So, no one would notice Niall. In the midst of all my clothes though, I was shivering.

Niall wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "We're almost there."

I nodded, and sneezed.

"Oh no, don't tell me you're coming down with something."

I rubbed my runny nose. "I don't know."

I saw the theatre down the street. I felt the cold wind prick at my face. Suddenly, I noticed something.

There was absolutely NO ONE on the street. No cars, no pedestrians, nothing.

"Um, Niall?" I asked, as we walked up the theatre steps. "Do you notice that there's NOBODY out here?"

Niall looked around; squinting his eyes through the wind and snow. I turned to open the doors, and found them locked. I read something on the door saying the theatre was closed on Christmas day.

"Darn." I said, turning around. "It's closed."

"I think we've got a bigger problem to worry about." he said, pointing to the signs. They were iced over, and I couldn't tell which way was back to the hotel.

Suddenly, a snow truck came rambling down the street, pushing snow in every direction.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Niall cried, jumping in front of me. I stepped back, and the snow truck pushed all the snow at Niall. Then, it drove away.

"Crap!" I cried, brushing the snow off the human snow man. "You saved me!"

"Gotta protect my family." he said, shaking.

"But...your coat! It's drenched!" I cried. Niall's long coat was dripping wet. I took it off. "This is going to freeze you." I said. I draped it over my arm. Niall was only wearing a sweater. He was shivering from being wet and cold.

I felt the inside of his coat. Fur. I needed one of those.

"We need to go back now." I said, grabbing his shaky arm.

"B-b-but we d-d-don't know w-w-which w-w-way!" he said.

I panicked. We couldn't be out much longer with Niall being with no coat. He would get frostbite. If he got frostbite, he could end up in the hospital. Well, at least he wouldn't be hungry for a while.

"I'm hungry." he whined.

Of course. It was Niall Horan I was talking about. He's ALWAYS hungry.

"Ok, but I don't think that's our biggest problem now." I said. I grabbed his hand and investigated it. It was turning red. WHY didn't he have gloves?

Niall's teeth began chattering. "W-w-what do we do?"

I desperately looked down the street. Everyone was closed for the holiday.

"Ow!" he cried, lifting his arm. he rolled up his sleeve, and his entire arm was turning red. His face was pink too.

Suddenly, I saw a light coming from a small cafe about two blocks in the opposite direction.

"C'mon." I said, pulling him up.

"Were are we going?"

"There's a cafe that's open down a few blocks. We have to get there NOW."

"What if there's fans?!" he cried.

"I'm a WHOLE LOT MORE concerned about your health, rather than some fangirling!"

"Ok." he muttered.

I swiftly jumped down the steps of the movie theatre. Niall, on the other hand, could hardly walk. His legs were as stiff as a board.

I wrapped my arm around his waist, and helped him down.

"C-c-can I wear my j-jacket?" he asked.

"No, it'll only make you colder." I said. I checked my phone. I couldn't find any signal. I checked the weather forecast. It was -5 degrees out. That was REALLY cold. I sneezed again.

"Bless you." Niall said. I smiled.

After about five minutes of walking down the street, I began to shiver too.

I looked back at Niall, who was clenching his wrist.

"Agh!" he cried. I stopped, and pulled up his sleeve. The skin on his wrist was cracked, and bleeding, and was cracking down his forearm. I gasped. Suddenly, I heard him gather his breath.

"OH NO, NO, NO!" I cried. I knew that when your body gets too cold, your breath slows down because your heart is pumping MORE blood to your body because it has oxygen.

"C'mon, Niall!" I cried, not letting the fact that he could go into a coma right in front of me, bother me at all. "Just five more minutes!"

"I...can't." he cried, kneeling over. His breath was getting shorter.

Suddenly, I remembered a way to get him moving. I was so glad I payed attention in biology freshman year. If the body knows it's in a life-sustained situation, it produces a chemical called adrenaline. This chemical can cause fight or flight reactions. Niall's choice was fight, but he was certainly loosing. If I could get him up, then he could potentially be able to sprint as fast as an Olympic sprinter to the cafe. When your life depends on it, your body can do extraordinary things. You can pick up heavy objects, run fast, and have spot-on agility.

"Niall," I said, pulling him up. "Run."

"What do you mean?!" he cried. "I can't!"

"Yes, you can." I said. "You've gotta TRUST me!"

Niall looked me in the eye. Then, he took off, yelling and whooping. I took off after him.

Now THERE'S a person who's running for his life.

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Do you think the Nialler will make it out alive, or should I say, make it IN alive? Let's hope so!

As always, vote and comment!