I'm in it for the Long Run // Edge of Winter

07

I was awakened by the beautiful sounds of birds chirping, and I almost felt like this had all been a terrible dream. But of course, it wasn't and we were all still trapped in the middle of nowhere with a lunatic.

I was able to sit up without waking Bradley, and grabbed my diary from the back. With Caleb still sleeping and Elliot wandering somewhere new, I felt now would be a good time for another update.

Belle's Diary ~

Well we're not dead yet, but Elliot's only gotten creepier. He's started freaking out over stupid stuff and I don't think he ever wants to leave.

Brad and I are doing our best to protect Caleb, but I'm afraid that when Elliot tries to move us out of the way, he might just kill us by accident. :(

Last night however, the sun had set and the night sky had grown cold and bitter. We were all frozen in the car and I forced myself to sleep next to Bradley for warmth. As weird as this sounds, I actually kind of enjoyed it. I know he's my (semi) step brother and all but, it just kinda felt good is all I'm saying.

Hopefully, I'll get the chance to write again. Maybe something will get better. But if this is the last time I write in you make sure my dad knows I love him.

End of Entry ~

I finished writing just as Caleb rose from his slumber. He sleepily batted his eyelids, looking around for his dad, then turned back to me. He looked down at Bradley, noticing how we had positioned ourselves. He pointed down at us and began to speak in his morning voice.

"Why are his arms around your waist?" I furrowed my eyebrows and looked down at my hips. Matter of fact, Bradley's arms were tightly wrapped on my waist. I blushed a little bit, seeing that I hadn't noticed this happen while sleeping.

"Umm, it's nothing. Just trying to keep warm since you kept on stealing the blanket last night." I tried to turn the attention onto Caleb, but he wasn't falling for it. He nodded sarcastically and chuckled at my rosy cheeks.

"Bradley wake up." He shook his brother's leg gently the first time, then a little bit more assertively the second. "Brad get up!"

Bradley snapped at him a bit and threw the blanket off us. He angrily sat up ready to demolish Caleb, but I nudged his shoulder.

"Morning." He said, rubbing his eyes. Just like Caleb, he peered towards the front of the car and seemed surprised to see Elliot missing. "Where's dad?"

Caleb and I shrugged our shoulders as we wiped the condensation from the windows. All three of us looked out, but we didn't actually look for anything. We were still too tired to function.

We were suddenly popped out of our sleepy state by a loud noise coming from the trunk. We all jumped back and I grabbed onto Bradley out of instinct. He snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him as the trunk opened.

As it gradually moved up, we were relieved to see that it was only Elliot returning from his voyage. He laughed at all of our shocked faces as we breathed out our annoyance.

"Hahahaaa I got you good." He cheered, patting himself on the back. Glancing over at me and Bradley still hooked together, he stopped his cheering and smirked. "Am I interrupting something?"

We quickly pushed off each other and said 'no' in as many ways as we could. Trying desperately to explain the situation, Elliot stubbornly refused to listen and kept the joke going. Caleb soon joined in by poking and prodding us, making it more uncomfortable than it already was.

As we folded the blanket we had used to sleep with last night, Bradley and I grew tired of the joke. Caleb and Elliot only got more annoying each minute, but Bradley finally had enough.

"Maybe instead of joking around and acting like fools you could make yourselves useful and think of a way to get us out of here." He stated, glaring at the two of them. If looks could kill, Elliot and Caleb would have died and already been buried six feet under.

"W-well I don't see you coming up with any ideas smartass." Elliot insulted back.

"Maybe I do dad. Maybe you just haven't asked what I was thinking." Bradley paused and clearly tried to think of something off the top of his head. "We should walk back to the highway, maybe find some help. There's enough daylight for us to get back if we start going now."

Elliot removed his eyes from Bradley and fixed them down the road. He shook his head then looked at the frozen lake. Pressing his tongue against his cheek, he turned to face us again and sighed.

"We'll never make it, too cold. Listen, when I was young I used to come up here and we'd hang out at this cabin on the lake. If we head out we could make it there before nightfall. That's our best bet." He ordered.

"How is that our best bet?" I jumped in. "At least we know where the highway is, we know it exists. The cabin might not even be there anymore, and we might not even find it if it is there." I tried to argue.

"No, trust me. The cabin is our best bet." He repeated. "Grab the essentials, we need to travel light. We're going."

With that, the three of us bundled as many layers of clothes over ourselves as we could. We raided the trunk and grabbed some food and water, while Elliot grabbed the gun and stuffed a knife in his back pocket. He signaled for us to go as we followed close behind him.

At first, I wasn't sure Elliot knew what he was doing. But after about half and hour, we had found our way to the frozen lake. There was about three inches of snow on top of the ice layer, and we had to make sure it was stable enough to hold all of us.

Elliot walked out onto the lake and found a good spot with snow and ice. He stomped in the same spot a few times, leavings footprint in the snow. Luckily, none of the ice had cracked or shattered so we were in the clear.

We stumbled onto this lake that spanned miles in every direction you turned, and we were headed....... who knows where?