Several kicks later the crate falls, and I see BuK struggle to lift it onto his shoulder. His steps slow as he gets closer to the pod. Just as I’m about to head back down the stairs, a gust of wind hits him, turning him around completely and forcing him into a complete whiteout. Suddenly, I realize he has lost all visual context and can’t see. Forcing my legs to work, I push myselfdown the now snow-covered steps as fast as I can. The moment I get to the door, I scream.B U K!
Crap, I can’t see five feet in front of me. Glancing around, I notice a long piece of wire lying on a shelf. Pulling it down, it takes me a moment to get the stiff wire to move, but I need something to anchor me to the pod or both of us will be wandering around in the wrong direction. I tie one end to the handrail and the other around my waist. Then I do my best to hold my breath as I step out into the frigid Arctic-like air that is trying to freeze my lungs from the inside out. Several times, I try to scream out his name, but it’s like my voice is going nowhere.
Stopping to look around, out of nowhere he suddenly appears. His pink skin is red and blistered from the intense temperatures and I grab his arm, pulling him toward the pod as the wind pushes him and the crate in every direction. Completely focused on each step, I forget the cold and wind. I’m determined to get him back to the pod and then we’ll deal with what’s next if we survive this.
The second we step into the pod, the crate falls from his now freely bleeding arms. He points toward the open cargo door before lifting me so that I can grab onto the bottom rail. His arms are shaking so hard it takes me a second to grip it before BuK starts lowering me back down. He must’ve seen that I was about to lose my grip on the bar, because he jumps up, grabbing it right before I let go. With one arm he lowers me back to the ground, then slams the door closed behind me, cutting off the wind that felt like it was cutting both of us in half. My fingers are so numb, I fight to get the wire untied and off of me.
Suddenly, I feel hot all over, and that’s when it dawns on me that I’m in the last stages of hypothermia. “BuuuK, we have to gggetwarm or wwe’rrre gggoing to die.” My words are slurred, and I feel like I’m moving in slow motion.
I can see he’s barely functioning as he nods. He looks around, almost like he’s as confused as I am. I know I look horrible, but he’s a damn mess. Dark blue blood drips from his fingertips, and his arms are cut up from trying to hold on to the crate. His eyelashes and all of his hair are covered in little ice crystals.
Reaching up, I grasp his face. “BuKKK honeeey, we ggott to gggget the cccrate upstairs. Cccan you help meee or isss it eassierrr to ddo it dddown here?”
He blinks a few times before bending down to pick the crate back up. I don’t think he even knows what he’s doing right now; he’s simply following instructions. I get behind him when he starts up the stairs and I can tell he’s forcing himself to climb them as he sways slightly with each step.
Holding my hand against his back, I try my best to encourage him to keep going. “You kkknow wwhennn this overrr, we’rre gggoingg to lllaugh, and cccome up with a mmmillion ttthinggs we cccould have dddone.”
He stops on the last few steps and I blink my eyes, trying to focus on what needs to be done. Onnccce we ggget the cccrate upstairs, wwe’ll hhope a fffeast is inssside, then we cccan sssnuggle on the littttle beddd you fffound. Only a fffew mmore sssteps, and you’rre thherre. All tthiss pppain iss worth it ifff all we neeed isss in tthatt boxxx.”
I’m not sure who’s more relieved, BuK or me, when he steps into the main room. Reaching back, I seal the main door shut just in case the wind blows the cargo bay door back open now that the lock is broken. Then I push myself around BuK to hold the tarpout of the way so that he can get by. The moment he’s through, I follow, tucking the tarp closed.
BuK collapses on the floor, his whole body shaking uncontrollably. Because my body is shutting down as well, I pull my small rug off me and wrap it over his chest. I know my strength is going to give out all at once, and if both of us collapse, then he did all of this for nothing. It takes me several tries and a broken fingernail, but I finally manage to get the crate open. I swear, when I see MeK and Lacie again, I will be hugging them for days.
I pull out a huge coat, laying it over BuK first before grabbing a smaller one for me. It’s a struggle to get it on, but once I do my skin starts tingling, and I realize I was only moments from permanent damage. I have to grit my teeth as the coat slowly begins to heat me up, and my skin feels like it’s full of pins and needles. A lantern lights up the moment I touch it, and that helps me see what they sent.
Moving things around, I look for a heater but all I see are a few cubes. Crawling over to BuK, I pat his cheek gently. “BBBuK, I needdd you to wwwake uppp. We nneeddd to ggget you off the fffloor, and you have to tttell me whattt tthessse are.”
No response, and his breathing seems labored. Now, I’m getting scared because the last thing either of us needs is to get sick on top of this. BBUKK!I scream out his name, or should I say I squeak, as my throat is raw from the cold.
He jerks, and I almost cry when his eyes slowly open. “Hey, ttthere you are! I nnneed your helppp, but I pppromise you can rrrest all you want afterrr. Cccan you hear mmme, my hhhandsome pppink alien?”
“You think I am handsome?”
“I wwill answer tthat once you are upp and on the ddaybedd. I wantt you to sstartt getting warmer, like I am.”
He rolls over, and I need to duck to avoid getting hit by his horns as he pushes himself up onto his knees and then his feet. Tucking myself under his arm, I help him walk the few remaining feet, and he falls onto the small mattress.
“Okay, handsome. What are these cccubes? Is this some kind of hhheat source?”
“Yes, they are fire cubes. There is an indentation on the bottom; push it for a few ticks, and you will hear it click. How many did MeK send?”
“I think five.”
“Thank the Lord of Light! If what ANDI says is accurate, they should last us until the mass passes Etherium. Light two of them now so they can warm this area up. The others will have an easier time maintaining the temperature afterward.”
I’m half tempted to light them all, but I know any heat right now is a good thing. I find several emergency blankets and three containers of warm food, which I know we both need desperately. When I pull out a change of clothes for both of us, I almost cry, especially since my boots are starting to stick to the floor from getting soaked in the snow.
Dizzy, I close my eyes for a minute trying to steady my thoughts. My skin is tingling so intensely that I’m hurting all over. It doesn’t take long for me to feel the heat coming off the small cubes, and that’s when I realize I’ve been kneeling in front of this crate in a daze for longer than I thought.
Glancing up, BuK’s head is turned away from me, but he’s still shivering uncontrollably, and that’s when I see the water dripping off his pants. At first, I try to pull the crate behind me, but I’m too weak to move it far. Instead, I grab a few of the blankets and practically crawl over to BuK.
“BuK, my sweet pink alien. Honey, I need you to help me get these clothes off.” I shake him weakly, but there’s no movement. By the time I get the clasps loosened on his boots, my fingertips are bleeding, but I know I must get these clothes off him. With everything I have, I finally manage to get one boot off. The thin socks he’s wearing under them are soaked through, so I roll it off, then start on the other boot. Several times, I need to stop to catch my breath as my shivering has started again. I’ve been in this position for so long that I feel like my knees are frozen to the floor.
When the second boot slides off, I could cry, but I don’t have time. His pink toes, if you can call them that as his feet are oddly shaped, are blue! Wrapping a blanket around them, I practically crawl up his long legs to the clasp at the top of his pants. Thankfully, because it’s like the ones on his boots, I quickly get it released, but trying to move wet material down dead weight as weak as I am is not working out.
So, I try once again to wake him up. “BuK … BuK … please wake up. We have to get these wet clothes off you, and I can’t do it by myself.” With the last of my strength, I shake him as hard as I can, “BUK!Damnit, get your pink ass upnow!”
“Briar?”
