It’d be night soon. The beasts of the wilderness were enough of a pain to fend off during the daytime. I had no interest in their nocturnal counterparts.
“Shit. A wasted trip because of some damn snow,” I grumbled under my breath.
Looking over my shoulder as I walked, I reached for the pocket the machine was tucked into to shut the annoying noise off. No need for its services any longer.
I let out a surprised roar as my feet suddenly came out from under me, my knees buckling. Everything turned white. Cold pressure surrounded my body.
Pause. Evaluate...
Fuck.I fell into a damn tree well.
Searing pain shot up my leg when I tried shifting my weight.Something is broken. I ground my teeth to stifle a pained yell. There was nobody on this mountain to help me, only predators that would be delighted to find my incapacitated ass trapped. Easy prey.No noise.
“It’s fine,” I reassured myself mentally. “Just assess the situation and fix it.”
First priority, create an air pocket to breathe through, then I could work on digging myself out. I knew my survival skills like the backs of my four hands.
I was methodical, despite the splintering burn of my injury. Once I tasted fresh air, I took inventory of the way each of my arms were positioned and how each could best dig me out. It was exhausting work, and the cold was beginning to set into my bones. My vision was speckling with stars, but I kept moving. Being stuck in the snow was bad news. I needed to stop feeling. Stop needing. Get the job done. Being cold, hungry, and in pain wasn’t going to fix anything.
Just be a living shovel. A tool. Nothing more.
It felt like I was fighting an endless barrage of snow, but I kept going. Panicking would be counterproductive, so instead I trusted the process.
Once I finally saw a glimmer of daytime starshine, things moved quickly.
Finally crawling free from the pit, I tried to stand, only to have my broken leg fail under me. I collapsed with a pained growl, my vision darkening—a threat of looming unconsciousness. All the discipline in the world wouldn’t fix the fact that my body was failing me.
I’d barely been navigating this blizzard effectively before. Now I was inserious troublewithout the ability to walk. I lay there, staring at the towering blue trees reaching into the sky around me. They grew to be massive in this region. It was probably a sapling that had taken me out. The thought was almost funny. An infant doing what no grown ass killer had been able to do. Death by baby tree.
I’ll just rest for a moment and think of a solution. My eyes closed.
“How many people?!”
“Theo, calm down.”
“Fuck you! Tell me how many people right now, or I’ll add you to the number without a second thought.”
“Shit!” I heard through the haze of my subconscious. Was I dreaming? That sounded real.
I was jolted awake by a kick in the ribs, a shout, and something—someone—flopping on top of me. My head too cold and heavy to lift, I peered down at the body stretched across my own.
“Oh my god!” The person scrambled off me and kneeled at my side. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you! Are you—are you alive? What the fuck are you doing out here?!” A husky female voice yelled over the shrieking wind. Gloved hands began dusting a layer of snow off me. I was so numb, I couldn’t feel the touch through my thick clothing.
My attention panned to the sky. The daytime stars were setting. How long was I out for?
I tried to say something, but my lips were numb and nearly frozen shut under the layers wrapping my face. All that escaped was an incoherent mumble.
“Are you hurt?”
I nodded my head stiffly, using my eyes to direct her attention to my leg.
“Here?” she asked, dusting snow off my skin with aggressively batting palms. I groaned through my teeth when she repeatedly struck my broken shin. Icouldfeel that.
“Sorry! Sorry!” she cringed. “Okay. This is fine. You’re going to be alright. I can help,” she assured me. The high pitch in her voice betrayed her confidence.
She pulled out a knife. Adrenaline instinctively pumped through my body at the familiar gleam. She got to work slicing my pant leg from my body. Had I been able to speak, I would’ve objected. She should splint the bone and leave my clothing intact to protect me from the elements. But my lips were numb, so I’d let her do whatever she wanted. I wasn’t likely to make it out of this anyways. What was she gonna do, carry a grown Quadmos through a blizzard at night?
My leg bare to the blistering cold, she bit off one of her gloves and rested her palm directly over my injury. It was probably black and swollen from the fresh blood pooling under my skin. Locating the problem area would be easy. She closed her eyes.
