"You guys" I began quietly, arousing them, "look outside..." Cassie crawled to the window, and Denny squinted through the frosted glass next to his face, both saw the white wonderland outside and gasped.
"We're screwed..." Denny muttered
"Don't say that" Cassie whispered "we'll figure this out."
"Cass, I don't know if we can even get the car moving" I admitted "There must be almost a foot out there." Cassie's face fell, and she looked at the ground. We all sat there for a minute, until I realised, someone had to take charge here or we really were screwed.
"OK" I announced "Cassie, Denny, you two go to the stores and find ANYTHING you can that could help us. It's only gonna get colder from here, so we want heaters, coats, warm socks, anything. I'm gonna survey the situation and try and clear off the windscreen and get the car out of here. Got it?"
"Got it" Cassie grinned, eyes full of determination. We had to survive this.
"Everyone grab blankets for now" Denny instructed "Me and Cass will be back with warm clothes as soon as we can." With that, the three of us wrapped blankets around our shoulders and forced open the door. I watched Denny and Cass trudge off into the distance with Velvey at their heels as I began scraping snow off the windshield with my blanketed hand. Yesterday had been a normal june day, and then we were just hit with this. Who knows, this could just mean someone turned the AC on, or we're all dying. There's just no way to know. The snow reached up to about my mid shins. Being from Massachusetts, I'm used to snow and the cold, but I had never been shin deep in snow with only a hoodie and jeans. The freezing pain shot through my legs, almost paralysing me with shock, as I marched into deeper and deeper snow. I dug out all the snow I could from around the car, giving it the best chance it could get. I turned the key in the ignition, and set the heating to full blast. I carefully accelerated the car, slowly beginning to move it forwards in the deserted parking lot. It took work, a lot of work, but eventually I got the car moving over the crunching snow. The wheels slowly rolled, as I pumped my fist with joy and relief. I finally set the car to park, as I saw Denny and Cassie running towards the car, arms full of coats and everything warm. Maybe we would make it after all. Just maybe.
"JORY" Cassie shouted, as she and Denny ran towards me "I GOT SUCH A PRETTY COAT FOR YOU"
"I TOLD HER NOT TO BOTHER" laughed Denny, he knew my fashion sense, or lack thereof at least. Cassie was wearing a fluffy lilac coat that reached down to her ankles, it looked almost like something from 101 dalmations! Her flowing black hair was topped by a matching lilac hat, perfect for the winter. She had thermal gloves, and a hazel bracelet to bring out her eyes. Denny was wearing a warm winter coat, simply dark gray with a neon orange stripe around his waist. He had black sweatpants and a simple hat and gloves, designed for simple functionality. I couldn't help but notice his dreamy chestnut hair, filled with flecks of snow. I finally looked at what cassie had picked out for me, a deep purple coat with a white fluffy hood, I had to admit I kind of loved it. I ran with them to the store changing room, where I stared in the mirror at myself. My dark hair tied back in a loose ponytail, with a hair tie to match my coat. The coat ran down to my waist, where it met my insulated snow pants. I slipped on my white, fluffy, gloves and matching bobble hat. Cassie was truly the fashion queen. I always thought it was useless, but it felt really good to be wearing something nice for a change. I looked good, and I liked it.
"So what else did you get, heater wise" I asked, they had been shopping for almost an hour.
"Welllll, someone wanted to pick out the perfect coat for her big sister, so we didn't have time to get anything else" Denny grinned, ruffling Cassie's perfect hair. Cass didn't even mind Den messing with her hair, she was so enchanted by his gaze. I had never seen someone make her face light up like that. Cassie smiled up at me, and I gave her a hug.
As we wondered to the next store, I couldn't stop thinking about what this meant for our real life condition
"So does this mean we're getting worse or better in real life" Cassie asked, clearly thinking the same as me
"Hypothermia?" I suggested, joking "I haven't got a clue"
"I guess it's either cold at the hospital, this is just getting sicker or healthier, or this is completely unrelated and just a figment of our imaginations" Den reasoned, and we both nodded our agreement
"Oh, can't we just get out of here already" Cassie sighed, frustrated
"I know, Cass" Denny comforted "I know..."
"I think we're all wishing that right now" I lamented "but hey, at least we have each other ya know." Cassie sighed, and everyone was silent. We came to the technology store, but all we found tempting was a plasma tv. We knew our best bet was home goods, so we went there next.
"Okay, Cass you go check out aisles 1, 2, and 3. Denny, you get 4, 5 and 6, and i've got the rest. Deal?"
"Deal" Cassie sighed, still upset from the earlier conversation. I got the furniture aisles, so I wasn't expecting much luck, but I found a few odd dog toys, which I gave to a very grateful Velvet who was following me around, and I found a fan for in case the weather drastically changed again. We met back together by the checkout, and I found Denny with a full blown radiator, and Cass with a new shirt, of course.
We trailed back to the car, and Denny somehow managed to set up his battery operated radiator with help from an eager pup. I started to drive, carefully, along the snow, when I was hit with a sudden wave of nausea and had to stop the car.
"Damn" Denny sighed, as I threw up out of the window "I thought we had gotten past the sickness"
"I guess they're doing something to me in real life" I coughed "that or i'm just getting sicker.
"Well, we don't know, so speculating won't do us any good" Cassie reasoned, as I threw up again, and Denny nodded.
"Come on Jor, let's switch. You're in no state to be driving right now." He sighed, and helped me into the passenger seat. The heating in the car, and Denny's makeshift radiator were on full blast, yet we were still shivering. The car thermometer said something ridiculous that I don't remember and can't be bothered to estimate. Velvet lay on top of Cassie, keeping her as warm as possible. It was sweet, how much Velvey protected Cass, and helpful. When the dog's looking out for Cassie I don't feel like I have to as much, and she likes not being hovered over by me. I act way too much like i'm her mom
We kept travelling for the entirety of that day, with a few rest stops, and a few stops to throw up. I really hate being sick, like Cass, it's just gross and everyone treats you differently. Cassie was basically better now, her forehead gash had healed up nicely, and her other cuts and scrapes were following suit. We were still being cautious, after the bathtub incident where she literally almost died, but she was getting better.
We kept driving until nightfall, and then resumed at dawn, I took a shift for Den but he made me submit when I threw up mid drive again. I started napping in the passenger seat, and overheard pieces of a conversation about when to pull the plug on me and Cass, but from what I could tell, dad was far from giving up. I knew how hard this must be on my dad, but he knew we were still here, and thank god for that.
At this days lunch break, we stopped for bagels from panera, I got strawberry cream cheese and the others got mango (eww). We talked about the regular stuff, death, destruction, comas, all that sort of thing, until we pulled out the map and traced our route.
"Huh" Denny began "we're almost exactly halfway there"
"Woah" I grinned, "we're really getting there!"
"50% huh," Cassie smiled "I never thought we'd get this far..."
It was then that we all stopped to really think about what one half meant. 1 out of 2, 25 out of 50, half way was the turning point. Here was where we could either settle with what we had, or push forward. We all knew it from day one, we were pushing through. We were in this to finish it.
YOU ARE READING
Falling Awake
Ficción General// THIS WAS WRITTEN A LONG TIME AGO AND IS GENUINELY AWFUL - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK// Jordyn Merrill, a fifteen-year-old girl with five younger sisters, is still recovering from her mother's tragic death, and being forced into the responsibility of l...
