The Pass (Wattys 2019)

Chapter Seventeen

Nika woke up the next morning to find that she was alone in the little cabin.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, confused. The sun was starting to stream into the window, but she wasn't in much of a hurry: according to their weather predictions, there was supposed to be a storm in the early morning hours, right around the time they'd been getting up and going during that trip. Everyone had been in favor of sleeping in, but she hadn't thought she'd be able to manage it: her body had a very specific sleep schedule, and it rarely deviated. But, according to the sunlight coming from the window, she'd managed it just fine.

She could hear people talking, outside. People having a very heated discussion. Ones that sounded suspiciously like her friends.

Nika groaned and stretched her arms above her head. Time to get up and settle... whatever was going on outside.

She put on her coats, yanked on her boots, and stepped outside.

Peter, Yuri, Rufina, and Arisha were all standing around a specific spot, looking down at something in the freshly-fallen snow. When they heard Nika come out, they all looked over their shoulders at her. None of them seemed angry. A good sign: she didn't feel much like dealing with internal conflicts.

"Come take a look at this," Peter said.

Frowning, Nika walked over and looked down at the snow by their feet.

She'd expected to see something shocking. Maybe even something gruesome. In all honesty... it was kind of disappointed.

"... footprints?" Nika asked. She looked up at everyone. "I won't lie: I thought there would be something more, here."

"You don't find it odd?" Peter asked. "We're the only ones out here."

"How do you know it isn't any of yours?" Nika asked.

"It doesn't lead to the cabin, and it isn't the right size for any of us," Arisha said. "All of our footsteps from last night are all covered up from the storm this morning, as well."

Nika continued to stare at the tracks for a few moments, then looked up at everyone. "Listen: I understand that we're all a little on edge. I can't blame you: never know what's out there. But... I think we're getting a little paranoid."

"I don't know about that," Yuri said.

"I agree with Nika," Rufina said. "This-" she swept the footprints in front of them away with her foot, "-is nothing. Someone was walking through. As far as we know, someone else is going into the Urals with us. We're not even the first people to go on this route; we can't be the only people using this as a gateway to the mountains."

Nika couldn't believe that Rufina was actually agreeing with her. But, she didn't say anything about it: she wasn't about to ruin it.

"Come on," Nika said. "Let's get packed up and get going: I think we'll feel better once we've hit the road."

***

They headed out into the snow about an hour later, after lunch. The weather, like the past few days, held out, the sun shining brightly above their heads. Nika had expected that foul weather, the type that could blow hikers right off of mountains and kill a man in their sleep, would be their worst enemy. Now, she was suspecting that snow blindness would be their worst enemy. All of them had tinted goggles, but that didn't mean that it couldn't happen.

She'd hoped that everyone would forget the tracks in the snow outside the cabin once they got out there, but it didn't look like it. All of them were quiet. Even Peter didn't seem like his normal self.