AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I had just enough to finish the job now, but I realized I wouldn’t be able to do it with my gloves on.
“Well,” I said to myself, “time to see how tough you really are.”
I yanked off my gloves and tossed them in through the window, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to worry about themandfixing the window. I pulled out another screw and lined the tarp up where it needed to be, then used the drill to drive the screw into the window frame.
Once the first screw was in place, I had an easier time since the tarp was at least held against the wall, though the wind kept trying to blow it inward and I had to keep fishing it back out.
Once the tarp fully covered the window, I lifted the plywood and fastened it against the wall, preventing both the wind and the snow from getting inside. There might still be some draftiness, but, for the most part, it would hold up against the storm.
I could feel ice crystals on my face and knew I had to get inside as fast as possible. My muscles ached with the strain of trying to get to the front door around the other side of the house, but within a minute or two, I was prying open the heavy door.
As soon as I stepped inside, I dropped everything carefully on the floor and stripped off my outerwear. I couldn’t believe how hard I was shaking in such a short time. Just like that winter with Hannah, the windchill had to be deep into the negatives.
Once I was out of my frozen coat and boots, I carefully placed all the canned goods in the cabinet near the sink. That way, when we wanted to make something, it was a short distance between the fireplace and the food. There was also a cast iron pot that would come in handy when it came time to warm things up. We could stick it right in the fire.
After everything was put away, I turned my attention to the direction of the master bedroom and went to it, knocking, hoping my act of heroism would have earned me at least a little mercy in Jenna’s eyes. If I was really lucky, maybe we’d even get along.
Chapter Nine
Jenna
Ididn’tlikeGabe,but I certainly didn’t want him to die. Even more so, I didn’t want to be left here all alone to fend for myself. What if snow caved in the roof or someone broke in? Was I supposed to be able to take care of myself?
He went out into the wintery storm in what felt like slow motion. I’d pissed him off enough that he would rather freeze to death than deal with me.
“Gabe?” I shouted, trying to force my voice to ring out over the wind. “Gabe, please answer me.”
But nothing came back to me. He was already dead, and I was left alone in this freezing hellscape.
No, I reminded myself, it would take longer than ten seconds for him to freeze to death, no matter what the temperature was outside. I cursed my idea to come here in the first place. But how could I have known that it would snow like this? And how could I have known that Dean would bring someone I loathed and would end up getting trapped with?
I closed the door and tried to think of a plan. Maybe I could keep the fire going long enough to stay warm until rescue crews got here. Maybe I should go out there after him and convince him that he was being stupid and that he was gonna get himself killed.
CRACK!
I nearly jumped as the sound, so loud it penetrated the stormy cacophony, hit my ears. It echoed twice again, and now I was nervous. Gabe had probably gotten lost on the lake and that horrible cracking noise was a tree limb breaking under his weight sending him into deep water. The snow would clear and they would have to fish him out like the hundreds of other people who had met their fate at Lake Lanier. There was a whole graveyard beneath it. What was one more dead body?
Or maybe…
Maybe someone had been watching. Someone had been waiting for us to split up so they could murder us. I always heard about criminals who took advantage of chaos, and this was definitely chaos. This was gonna turn into some weird horror movie where you thought it was about Christmas but ended up with the whole family choked to death with Christmas lights.
Don't be ridiculous, Jenna,I thought.Not even a serial killer could survive out here.Which meant Gabe was likely toast. Or… something cold, unlike toast.
There was a lot of noise from the front of the cabin and I hoped to fuck it was him fixing the window. Anything would do so long as it kept in the heat once we relit the fireplace.
Fifteen minutes later there was a bang, which was the front door opening, some steps down the hall, and a knock on my door where I had been waiting under a mountain of blankets.
“Gabe?” I asked timidly.
“No, it’s the pizza delivery guy. Yes, it’s Gabe.”
I rushed to the door and pulled it open, staring at him covered head to toe in snow, icicles hanging from his eyebrows. This was about to be bad for him very quickly if I didn’t get him heated up.
It was then that I noticed a large cut below his knee, blood crusted around it.
“Oh, my God!” I exclaimed. “We’ve gotta get that bandaged up.”
“I was kind of hoping you’d say that,” Gabe replied sheepishly. “I guess my sense of direction failed me a little.”
