Getting Back To You (Book 2 of Under The Floorboards)

Chapter 6: Mark

The snow gets harder as time passes, inches grow into a foot and the snow is almost to our knees. I can feel the wetness seeping through the thin cloth of my jeans, scraping against my bare skin. No one says a word, everything is silent. The only noises are the sound of the wind blowing and the chattering of teeth. I swear the wind is whispering something to me, I swear it is trying to tell me something.

At first I don't notice, I'm too focused on the burning sensation covering me from head to toe because of the freezing weather. But after a time, I focus in on everything else to distract myself. It is only a few hours after we left the open field that I realize the wind is whispering things to me. Maybe I am losing it, who knows. But I swear on my life that it is saying a name. A name that seems so far away at that point that I deny myself the right to even think about it, I'm afraid it'll hurt me to acknowledge it. Kendall.

"We aren't gonna," Hazel takes a breath between her teeth chatters, "make it much longer out here if we don't build a shelter," she finishes, her voice is weak and scratchy.

"I can't feel my legs, we have to stop," Arizona speaks as though she is about to shatter into tiny pieces in the snow, as though she is on the verge of tears. As soon as her voice trails off with the wind, I find myself squinting ahead.

Not more than 15 feet away, the shape of something that isn't another tree appears through the falling snow. It is large, causing my heart to hammer in my chest for the first time in a while. If it is anything alive, we'll be dead in seconds. My hand shoots to my chapped lips, my finger shushing them. Everyone stops beside me, huddling closely to each other. I can hear their breaths slow and easy around me, the puffy clouds floating away. We stop moving for a good 10 seconds before we realize it isn't alive. "What if it is a shelter or something?" Yvoni whispers to us.

"We can't stop, we have to get to it," I order as bravely as I can. We have to risk it.

"I don't know if I can!" Arizona whimpers in pain.

"Don't think about the burn, think about the warmth that could be ahead." I encourage her with a pat on her frail back. I feel fear gnawing inside of me, realization settled in that we may not all make it home.

"Think of a warm fire, just keep holding on," Cole trudges to Arizona's aid, helping her shuffle forward. Her feet never leave the ground, they just drag beneath the clumps of snow.

My legs wobble beneath me, my muscles flex as I hold my breath to stop myself from crying out. I feel lightheaded, as though I may pass out and drift away into the whiteness. It is a full on blizzard.

We all travel shoulder-to-shoulder in a tightly knit pack. The only source of warmth we have is each other. Our skin begins to bruise and crack, random cuts tear open with small drops of blood sputtering out. Only a few more feet to go.

After I count 8 footsteps, the shape takes form. It is an old train, rusted and untouched. It has a layer of frost covering it, revealing little shapes of crystals. Icicles drape from its roof, dangling with sharp points. We are only seconds away, I can almost feel the warmth inside of it. The most confusing part is that there isn't any train tracks anywhere, it is just a random train out in the middle of the woods. It seems as though it had derailed and rolled away from the rest of the train, somehow ending up here. No one bothers to ask questions, all that matters is that we found something. I adjust my backpack, taking another painful step forward. I flinch as a scream comes from behind me.

Yvoni's legs had given out, causing her knees to buckle and her to fall forward into the snowdrift. I watch as she cries in pain, her sobbing tears at my eardrums. Cole slowly makes his way from Arizona to kneel down and scoop up Yvoni. Lazaro breaks away from Chase and slides over to help Arizona continue. Ivy's face is scarcely pale, her lips more purple than the rest of ours. Everything happens in slow motion, even our hearts are thumping slower. We are freezing to death.

After an agonizing few more steps, my fingers find their way to the handle. I struggle to press my thumb on the latch, my weaknesses get the best of me. Chase and Hazel drag themselves over to my side, placing their hands on the door. Lazaro still helping Arizona balance, Cole still clinging onto Yvoni in his arms, Ivy shivering, they all sit behind us as patiently as possible as we struggle immensely for a few moments. The moments feel like days, until finally the door cracks open. It is so sudden that I trip over my own foot and find myself falling backwards. I feel myself crash into the soft snow, my back slams against the ground as the whiteness engulfs me. It is deathly cold, my entire body aches. I squint through the snow as Chase offers me a hand. His hand is colder than the dead body of the clown back in the house, colder than any hand should be. He helps me to my feet as everyone piles into the train.

Cole is the last inside, gently setting Yvoni on the floor before slamming the door shut. As soon as the handle clicks, everything goes black and quiet. Warmth begins to come back to me, slowly but surely.

Eventually, my eyes adjust and I can faintly make out the shapes of my friends. We are all still huddled together, quietly savoring the warmth with more gratitude than I have ever experienced. We are more than lucky to find the train, otherwise we'd be dead.