Cold as Ice ✓

05

Zena and Brian heard an immense crashing noise, louder than anything they had ever heard, enough to make their ears numb. Razor-sharp pieces of ice were suddenly flying through the air on either side of the rock and shattering when they hit the wall. They felt a huge THUNK as a larger piece of ice hit the backside of the rock.

By the time everything stopped, Zena’s ears were ringing and her eyes were closed tightly. Slowly, carefully, she opened them.

Everything was dark. There was still some sunlight filtering in near the entrance, but for the most part, the cave was in shadows. She and Brian were surrounded by shards of ice scattered like broken glass;  there were also pieces of rocks here and there. Wait, Brian, she thought, snapping her head back to look at him.

Brian’s head was drooping slightly, and at first she was worried he was unconscious, but then she saw that his eyes were open and he was looking at his leg. When she followed his gaze, the first thing she noticed was that it had been out in the open. It seemed that he had forgotten to pull it in with him when they hid behind the rock. The next thing she noticed was that there were red streaks on the ice around it. Blood… her stomach churned. That can’t be good. His pant leg and his boot were both torn to shreds by the flying ice knives.

“Brian…” she whispered, accidentally startling him with her voice.

He turned to face her and smiled. “Zena, you’re okay.”

“Of course. I’m glad to see that you’re okay too.”

“Well… for the most part, at least…” he remarked, gesturing to his leg.

She looked at it with concern. “Yeah. We have to take a closer look at it.”

Brian nodded in understanding and then began to peel the ripped pant leg off his ankle. Zena could tell that it was hurting because he winced in pain when it finally came off to reveal several slashes across his skin, most of them not very serious but a few of them deep.

She inhaled sharply through her teeth and explained, “Those two cuts need immediate attention; the other ones just need to be cleaned up a bit.” Then she went over to their packs to grab the first-aid kit.

Brian was sure his ankle was supposed to be painful, but instead it was numb because of the cold and the wound. He watched as Zena came back, carrying a small plastic box.

“Let’s see if there’s anything good in here,” she added, digging through the contents of the box until she found what she was looking for: A plastic bottle of some sort filled with a clear liquid. “This will clean it up, but it might sting just a little.” She also held up some gauze that she found and began working on Brian’s ankle.

Soon the entire area of the wound was clean and wrapped in fresh white gauze. Brian had taken off his boot and rolled up his pant leg to just above it.

“Can you stand?” asked Zena.

He looked down. “I think so.”

Carefully, Brian put his hands underneath him and pushed himself into an upright position. When he tried to stand, though, he put too much weight on the ankle and he almost fell over, barely righting himself. “Okay, so no weight on the ankle, then,” he remarked.

“No. But I think I have an idea,” Zena said before taking out a flashlight, turning it on, and running to another part of the cave.

“Where are you- oh, never mind.”

She came back holding a sturdy wooden stick, which she handed to Brian. “Here. Try using this as a crutch.”

After testing it, Brian found that it was great to use and thanked her. “So, that problem is at least solved. But now we’re stuck in here, and we have no food whatsoever.”

“Wait!” Zena blurted out, picking up the first-aid kit. She again searched it until she produced a welcome sight: six granola bars. After searching through a second time, she found one more.

“Yes! We have food!” Brian celebrated, earning a glare from Zena. “Oh... right.”

“We have to be careful with these so that we don’t finish them before our two days are up.” Zena started drawing calculations in a small patch of dirt.

“Or we could just eat them whenever we get really hungry,” suggested Brian.

“Fair point. I say that we have to get out of these caverns as soon as possible.”

“Agreed.”