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I hold his stare, preparing a retort, but he steps out of the way as Leo pushes past, carrying Denver over his shoulder.
Lifting my shotgun, I keep my finger off the trigger and follow them to the workshop.
Kody gets the coal stove going, chasing away the snarling chill. Wolf and I light the candles scattered throughout as Leo heads to the door he welded.
It’s a heavy, impenetrable-looking thing made of steel bars that form a crisscross pattern, hanging on a metal frame at the entrance of the holding cell.
The cage.
I’ve never been in that room with the generator. The small interior chamber sits between the main garage that houses the snow machine and the other side that holds the plane.
Leo dumps Denver inside the prison, removes the rope, and latches the combination lock, securing the monster behind bars. A bucket sits inside. I assume that’ll be his toilet?
“You said the pipes are frozen.” I rub my neck. “Does that mean we’re going to the bathroom outside?”
“No.” Leo gathers a pile of blankets and winter clothes. “The septic tank is underground. Should be deep enough to avoid freezing. Problems start when the system isn’t used for a while. We need to flush the toilets regularly.”
He shoves the clothes into the cell with Denver.
It’s enough to keep him warm for a while, but when the stove goes out, I don’t know if it will keep him alive.
But that’s the point. If he wants to live, he’ll fix the generator and save his life.
And ours.
I can’t stop shivering. From the cold, the adrenaline, the nerve-ripping fear that never goes away.
“Are you going to give us the combination?” Wolf tries to warm his face with the heat from his gloved hands.
“Nope.” Leo rattles the door, checking his work.
“Don’t trust me?”
“Don’t trust him.” Nodding at the caged beast, Leo shifts his attention to me. “How are you doing, love?”
“Better.” I taste the validity of that answer and feel the tension ease from my muscles. “Much better.”
“We need to keep a guard on him.” Kody prowls along the bars, clutching his crossbow. “He might need tools to fix what he broke.”
“He doesn’t need tools.” Leo crosses his arms. “Whatever he did to the generator can be undone with his hands. I agree that we must watch him, but that stove is burning through the last of our coal. When it runs out, we can’t stay in here.” He looks at Wolf. “You and I will collect more coal tomorrow.”
“Yippee.” Wolf deadpans.
“Tomorrow?” My head pounds.
Everything is happening so fast. If Denver gets the power going, we won’t need more coal. But Leo won’t bet our lives on that.
Deep down, we all know Denver will never cooperate.
That means no lights. No electric toothbrushes. No oven. No movies. No power anything. And no showers until spring.
The visceral reality of that is raw and immobilizing, but I can’t think about it.
I have to focus on surviving. “I’ll go with you tomorrow. Wolf can stay—”
“No.” Kody bends his knee, testing the mobility. “My leg is healed. I’ll go.”
“You and Frankie will stay.” Leo scratches his whiskered cheek. “There’s enough wood in Denver’s hearth to burn another day or two.”
An argument ensues between the three of us, one I have no chance of winning. After my last adventure outside, I nearly froze to death. They won’t risk that again.
They also won’t leave Wolf and me alone while Denver still breathes.
So it’s decided. Kody and I will stay while Leo and Wolf go out there and risk their lives.
It will take them two or three days. There are caves along the river near the coal deposits. They’ll find one to sleep in and use it to wait out a blizzard if it comes to that.
The dangers of this expedition run on a loop in my head—falling off the side of the cliff, drowning in the icy river, hypothermia, wolf attacks, starvation. Oh, God, it’s endless.
My insides are so riddled with anxiety I can’t stand here any longer. I need purpose.
“I’ll get your packs ready.” I don’t wait for a response before racing back to the cabin.
Minutes later, Wolf and Kody join me.
After we collect every candle in the house and light them throughout the main floor, we spend the next few hours meticulously packing the survival bags. Food, medical supplies, camping gear, weapons, clothes…Maybe the cold is getting to me, but I focus the most on their clothes, pulling together the nicest outerwear they have. Some of it I steal from Denver’s closet. Then I lay it all out by the hearth and mend what I can with a needle and thread.
“You’re worried.” Wolf plops down beside me and holds his hands to the hot flames.
“We don’t need coal right now. There are enough wood furnishings around here to keep the fire going.”
“There’s no hearth in the workshop. We put him in there, and now we have to keep him alive. If he dies—”
