“Wow,” Kelsey said. “What a friend you are.”
“Enough,” Gina said firmly. “Right now, we focus on getting out of here alive and in one piece. Everything else can wait.”
Nick appreciated her practical approach. They had more immediate concerns than Kelsey’s legal complications or Joe writing about what happened. They were still stranded in a damaged building, miles from help, with limited supplies and no communication.
The wind gusted again, but it lacked the sustained fury of earlier. The worst of the storm was definitely over.
“We should check the cars,” he said. “Make sure they’re not buried or damaged.”
“I’ll come with you,” Joe offered.
Nick nodded, though he would have preferred Gina to be the one who offered. Maybe they could pick up where they left off earlier. He looked in her direction, and she gave him a nod. “Be careful.”
The tone she used sent a rush of warmth through him.
They bundled up and stepped outside, flashlights lighting their way. The cold hit Nick like a physical blow, but at least the wind wasn’t trying to knock him over anymore. The snow came up to the top of his boots, deeper in the drifts, but not impossible to navigate.
George’s body was covered by the massive tree trunk, snow filling in around it. Nick tried not to look too closely as they made their way to where the vehicles were parked.
His SUV and Joe’s truck were both buried in snow but otherwise intact. After clearing the tailpipes, they took turns starting them. Both fired up easily, engines purring as they should. Getting them out would take some effort, but they appeared drivable. The real question was whether the road beyond would be passable.
“What do you think?” Joe asked, gesturing toward the track that led down the mountain.
Nick shook his head. With the storm having passed, the moon was providing some light but not enough for him to give an accurate assessment.
“We should assume that if one tree fell, others did too. I’ve got a folding saw in my emergency kit, but it’s only good for small limbs.” He motioned in the direction of the killer tree. “Something like that, and we’d need a chainsaw to even think about getting it out of the road.”
Joe nodded, his breath visible in the frigid air. “At least we’re alive to worry about it.”
“Yeah.” Nick kicked at the snow around his bumper. “How are you holding up? Really?”
“Honestly? I keep thinking about how close we came to dying. That tree missed us by inches.” Joe paused. “And I keep thinking about how George was right about some things. I am an outsider here. I was struggling to fit in even before all this happened.”
“You fit in fine,” Nick said. “You’re part of the group, especially after what we’ve all been through together.”
“Am I? Because it feels like the group is pretty shaken up. Like maybe there won’t be a group after this.”
Nick considered that. Joe might be right. The Basin County Running Club had been built on friendship and trust, and Kelsey’s betrayal had damaged both. Even if they all survived this, even if they eventually forgave her, things would never be quite the same. Nick suspected Kelsey would, at the very least, lose her job and probably the ability to even practice law. Even more likely was jail time and fines.
“Groups change,” Nick said finally. “That doesn’t mean they disappear.”
They made their way back to the hotel, shaking snow off their feet before entering the hallway. The others looked up expectantly.
“The cars are fine, started right up,” Nick reported. “Once it’s daylight, we’ll go out again. Maybe hike down the road a bit and see how it looks.”
“There’s another set of cabins about a mile down the road,” Brooke said. “Then, after another five or six miles, there’s a warming hut and vault toilets used for the cross-country ski trails. Worst case, we take our exit in segments.”
“That’s a long way between shelter,” Joe said, shaking his head. “I’d hate to have to spend a night in the truck.”
“We could do it,” Nick suggested. “Especially if we get the springlike weather back.”
Gina shrugged. “Maybe. But for now, we wait and see what the daylight brings.”
“We wait,” Nick agreed.
He sank back down beside Gina, her presence steadying him in a way nothing else could. The future was uncertain, with Kelsey, the law, everything, but with her there, it felt possible to endure it all. That alone mattered.
The others had gradually settled into an uneasy sleep. Joe’s pen had finally stopped scratching across paper, his notebook closed beside him. Brooke had cocooned herself in her blanket, looking smaller and more vulnerable than Nick had ever seen her. Kelsey had rezipped the tent, crying for a while, but now she was silent.
