The Bitter Cold

Chapter 8: Shelter

                                                                                             --Sierra--

          The snow began to beat down harder than ever. Me and Jess were slowly dying, and we needed shelter quick. The snow felt like it was getting deeper and deeper. We may have been able to fight off the deadly beast, but this weather is the real monster. Ty was still no where to be seen. We soon emerged out of the dense cold forest. It felt even colder now. I took one more step and Jess fell down. "SISTER!" Jess screamed in agony, " JUST GO WITHOUT ME! I'M AS GOOD AS DEAD ANYWAY!" I couldn't let her go, and we were just 2 blocks from the school.

"NO!" I screamed back in tears, "WE ARE SISTERS! I COULD NEVER LET YOU DIE!" I yanked her up and pulled her over my shoulders. We were going to get threw this TOGETHER!  We walked a couple of steps forward, and saw two kids stranded. I think they were trying to call somebody. They were also wearing huge coats that must have kept them warm."HELLO" I screamed out to them," PLEASE WE ARE FREEZING TO DEATH! WE NEED SHELTER!"They turned around to look at us. They had black masks covering their faces, and giant goggles protecting their eyes. The only thing you could see of them was their hair. One kid's hair was blond, and the other kid had brown hair with blonde highlights. They looked very suspicious, but they were are only option at the time. The two kids waited there, and then looked at each other, and then back at us. They started walking closer. You could here the crunching of the snow beneath their boots. As they got closer the began to reach in their pocket. Jess and I backed up, who were these people? And what were they going to do us? As we backed up they started walking faster. The crunching of the snow somehow started getting louder and louder. Jess looked at me in a terrified look. These people might save us, but we weren't going to risk it. I kicked a piece of snow in their face. They began to freak out and pulled something out of their pocket. These two kids had tasers! Jess and I began to run not looking back. We heard the crunching of the snow behind us. They were chasing us! We had no idea what these two kids were going to do, but we didn't want to have any part in it. We began to arrive at a block of large condos. I looked behind me to see if the kids were close, but they were far away in the distance. They weren't going to see us through the fog of the snow. I grabbed Jess' sleeve and yanked her towards the door of one condo. I kicked the door open and threw her inside. I shut the door and kicked it in to make sure it was tightly sealed. It was warm in here, but it wasn't warm enough. Jess was still freezing. I walked through the house and found a fireplace near the entrance. This was how we were going to make it! I looked around to turn it on, and found directions. TO USE FIREPLACE PLEASE PUT MATCH INSIDE: MAKE SURE MATCHES ARE NOT IN CHILDREN'S REACH. The matches had to be here, but where? I walked into the kitchen and checked all the drawers. They were all empty except for two. one was full of food, and the other one frozen shut. I took out the one full of food and checked. There was a lot of cereal. I took a box, and walked over to Jess. She looked at me almost as if she was crying out for help. I put down the box next to Jess. "Here, have some of this. I'm sure your hungry" Jess reached inside the box and grabbed some of the cereal inside. As she ate that I went to try and find something that could pry the other cabinet open. I went up stairs in the house, to look for a weapon or something. As I arrived up the steps I saw pictures of the family. Two kids two parents. They seemed like such a happy family. Now they were gone, no trace left of them. I began to shed a tear as I though about what had happened to them. I began to think of my family. They must be so worried about me. If they're alive. I wiped the tears off my face and got back to my mission. I walked down the hallway and found the parent's bedroom. this had to be the place where they would keep a weapon. At least, it was the place my parents kept their weapons. I walked into the cold quiet room and looked around. I saw the cold wet bed in the center of the room and walked towards it.  I began to run my hand through the blankets. They were cold and wet, but while waiting for the fireplace this could heat Jess up. I grabbed the blanket and threw it over my shoulders. I then looked down below the bed and saw exactly what I was looking for. A crowbar! I reached my hands under the bed and grasped for the crowbar. Except I didn't feel a crowbar, I felt something icy. I had no idea what it was so I pulled. What I saw was more terrifying than anything I had seen before ( including the beast ). What I saw was the body of a frozen little boy. I screamed and jerked backwards. The boy was frozen solid. He looked to be about 5-7 years old. You could see the icicles hanging from his emotionless face and cold blue body. I knew he had to be dead, so I just ignored him and grabbed the crowbar. As I began to leave the room with the crowbar in my hand and blanket on my shoulders something happened to me. Something happened to my train of thought. I looked towards the boy. Something started to draw me to him. Something in my mind was telling me to not leave this dead child behind. I turned around and looked at the boy. I finally gave in to my mind and picked the boy up. I trotted downstairs and put the boy down next to the fireplace. I then went over to Jess and put the blanket over her as she ate. She felt colder than ever before, and she would need the fireplace quick. I ran back to the cabinet with my crowbar in hand. I knew how you were supposed to open something with a crowbar, but that day was just so rough, that I needed some type of satisfaction. I swung the crowbar deep into the wood of the cabinet. It was lodged into the cabinet deeply. I then made sure I had a good grip on the crowbar and pulled as hard as I could. I ended up pulling the whole cabinet of the counter. Inside were, detergent, washcloths,cutips, soap, and..... MATCHES! I grabbed the box and ran to the fireplace. I kicked open the net blocking the fire and began to open the match box. When I lit the match it was a bright and warm flame. It would make a good fire. I threw the match into the fireplace and watched the flames burn. The warmth felt so nice on my cold wet skin. After about 30 seconds of basking in the warmth I went to go get Jess. I picked her up and walked her over to the fire. She was surprised by the kid but got over it when she saw the fire. I set her down and began to feel the warmth emanate from her body. It was so nice to escape all the cold and just live in the warmth. That was when I had a feeling that we could survive this. Suddenly, the front door was kicked open hard. The two kids barged in with their tasers ready. The began to corner us in the corner of the room. We were terrified.

"So this is where you two went." One of the kids bellowed through his mask, "And I see you found the kid as well." Jess and I looked at the frozen kid. Who were these people, and how did they know this boy. Suddenly the bigger kid picked up the frozen boy and put him over his shoulders. The other one took off his mask. It was. It was.... It was Josh! "We were looking for you guys! Here, there are a group of survivors at the school. We can stay there until help arrives."

"How are we going to get to the school?" Jess questioned, "I don't know if you've noticed, but we are pretty under dressed!" Josh looked at the bigger kid holding the frozen boy. 

"Cooper." Josh said, "Let me get in your backpack." Cooper nodded at Josh and leaned forward showing his backpack. "We have tons of extra super warm clothes." Josh explained while searching through the backpack, "We were looking for survivors, and apparently the school gets a lot of clothes for the Spring Winter Clothes Drive" (Where the school collects winter clothes during the Spring to help homeless people be prepared for next Winter). Josh pulled out a bunch of giant coats and such. "Get changed in the bathrooms up there " Josh pointed upstairs, "We leave for the school in ten minutes."..........