The Risks

INTERLUDE: NOVEMBER 14TH, 2012

A/N: Fair warning: it's going to get a little dark and angsty. Yes, Parker and Claire and everyone else have a lot more hell to go through, but I did tag this story as #angstwithhappyending and I WILL hold true to that. :)

BEGINNING OF PART 2

THERE HAD BEEN rumors that this winter would be a harsh one, so I'd expected bad weather. I just didn't expect it to start so early.

A winter storm blew in two days ago, leaving behind a thick blanket of sparkling, white snow. The kids in the community had been ecstatic, bundling themselves up in layer upon layer to go horse around in the freezing weather. And while it was beautiful, it was also inconvenient. Sidewalks had to be shoveled, solar panels cleared off –things that we couldn't seem to talk the kids into doing even though they spent most of the day outside anyway- and more supplies to be found. Primarily, a means of transportation for the upcoming trip to the Zone. It would be the first official meeting of the two communities, something to write down in the books, but when Lance had gone out to make sure the SUV was driving ready, he'd found the battery to be dead. Freezing weather was apparently not good on cars that didn't get used very often.

Parker and I offered to go out and search the town. Why not? They needed help and we didn't really mind. Not to mention that we hadn't been outside the walls in weeks, and I didn't want to get too used to being cooped up. So with the advice from Lance as to where to find a good replacement battery, we trudged out into the cold. And, holy shit, was it cold. The thermometer at the school had read eleven degrees before we'd left.

I rubbed my arms through my coat, bouncing on my heels in an attempt to create some heat as Parker finished unhooking the battery from an SUV in a garage on the far side of town. My teeth chattered, my breath coming out in thick clouds in front of my face, reminding me of smoke from a cigare-

I turned to Parker. "Hey. Look."

He glanced up at me while closing the hood, watching as I lifted two fingers to my lips, inhaled deeply, and then moved my hand away to blow out a big puff of air –"smoke".

"Nice." He grinned and put the few tools he'd used back in his bag along with the battery.

"Don't patronize me. It's funny."

"To condone smoking?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Um... in what world?"

"In any world. It's universal. A universal joke."

"I think you're full of shit," he teased as he walked past me and back into the house.

I gasped in faux offense. "How dare you," I said after him, hurrying into the house to join him –not like it was any warmer in there than it was in the garage. "I'll kick your ass for that."

"Ohhh," he chuckled. "Okay. Sure you will."

I ran up behind him and kicked him swiftly in the seat of his pants. He jumped slightly, and turned around to face me, sliding his bag off his shoulders and setting it on the nearby kitchen table.

"You just kicked my ass," he said in tones of disbelief.

"Yeah. That's what you get."

He tilted his head to the side with that look in his eyes, his lips spreading into a mischievous grin.

Oh no...

He lunged playfully at me, his ungloved hands darting out to burrow beneath my scarf and cup my neck.

I squealed, twisting away from him. "Holy fuck, your hands are cold!"

"Come back here," he growled, wrapping me up in his arms and pulling me in.