ROMANOGERS: PAST TO PRESENT

Chapter Forty

Natasha's POV

I became aware all at once. The freezing cold, the pain, and desperation. It was all swallowing me whole. My eyes opened and at first I thought I was dead. Everything was white, a thick blanket enveloped the world around me. Snow, it was everywhere making an sort of orientation impossible. I was on sprawled on my back and with a quick burst of effort I rolled onto my stomach. My head spun angrily and I had the urge to throw up. Resting my forehead on the ground despite the snow I gasped trying to steel my anxiety. Get up. Take in your surroundings you aren't dead for God's sake!

Lifting my eyes I spotted Steve's shield to my right. Small pieces of what had happened flashed back in my mind. The searing sensation of the shield burning through my suit. Something coiling around my waist before everything was swallowed by heat's embrace. Shifting my gaze to the left I spotted Steve face down in the snow. He was covered in a thick layer of the cold powder, hardly visible if it weren't for a boot sticking out, and a shoulder, to contrast the snow. Feeling beyond weak I mustered the strength to slowly start crawling in his direction. I reached him after what felt like years. I needed to assess his injuries but I couldn't do that if he was covered in snow. Struggling to my knees I began to scrape the snow off of his body. My hands were shaking bad but I couldn't feel them.

When enough had been cleared away I braced myself to turn him over onto his back. Making my way to the opposite side of him I hooked my arms around his waste, pulling I threw all of my weight back at once. He was heavy, but I managed to roll him over. Sucking in deep breaths from the effort I tried to check for a pulse but my fingers refused to acknowledge anything. For the first time I felt at a loss of what to do. The snow was littered with, somehow, surviving rubble. My clothes were in tatters, Steve's were as well, he was unconscious, and I was hardly able to perform any tasks whatsoever. I couldn't feel the tears slipping down my cheeks until I saw them spear the snow leaving tiny dents behind.

I didn't bother to hold them back. I was so overwhelmed and confused. How can I do this? How am I going to get us out of this? We're alone in the middle of nowhere, and Steve's unconscious! This wasn't supposed to happen! I slumped back until I was leaning heavily on Steve. My sobs went unnoticed by anyone, the only thing that heard my cries were the glowing specks in the sky. I wondered what it would be like, to die out here with the snow sucking your life away, and nothing but the pitiless stars staring back at you. I cried shamelessly and all I wanted was for someone to tell me everything would be alright. Resting my cheek against Steve's chest I closed my eyes. A familiar sound greeted me. I listened to it intently, something so common and small, but so...calming.

I stayed like that for a while until the tears stopped coming and I could bear the circumstances. I hadn't realized just how much I'd latched on to Steve. My hand clutched his tattered clothes, my free arm had wrapped around his, and now I let go. Look for supplies. That was my motto and so I set out, my eyes searching for useful items. The first I collected was Steve's shield. The entire front side was a charred black color, no trace of the familiar patriotic design. Slinging it onto my back I got back to my task. I discovered a half buried and nearly destroyed motorcycle. Using Steve's shield as a shovel I scooped aside the snow revealing the broken remains. I scoured it pulling off any relatively in tact wires. When I was finished I looked for more charred vehicle remains. I found only one other vehicle, it was about one fifth of a car. Plopping down in the snow I slid the shield off my back and placed all of the wires in front of me. Slowly I started twisting them together until I had two long coils. Attaching them to the shield I created a sort of sled. Pulling it along I began to collect other items.

In all after what I assumed was an hour I returned to Steve with a car battery, a headlight, a few spare wires, some light weight sheets of metal, a long broken rod, half a car hood, and few spare parts. At first I was afraid to leave Steve behind but I couldn't drag him around while I looked for a place to sleep. Dragging my newly acquired supplies I headed towards the tree line. As I walked a sudden thought occurred to me. I glanced over at where the base had once been. In its place was a monstrous sized crater. With a shiver I headed into the woods. I needed to find a place where we could be sheltered from the weather. It would most likely be morning soon, it would be easier to see, and I could sleep at night. It was better that way, otherwise if I was out and about at night I might get lost or worse.