Chapter 16
You decide the best thing to do is to stay in the car.
There are some scary noises outside, and at least in here, you’ll be safe.
And you have almost half a tank of gas. Maybe you’ll make it through the night.
If you don’t return home by the morning, Blair will almost certainly send out a search party to find her Audi.
Just to be safe, you keep the heat on low and turn the radio off.
It takes a little over an hour for the gas to run out.
You thought you’d have longer somehow. The car engine dies, and you are left in your dark car with no heat.
You hug your body for warmth, but this mountain is extremely cold—well below freezing.
You can see puffs of your breath in the air.
If only you had brought something more than your light jacket. A hat would have definitely been nice.
As the hours go by, the temperature continues to drop precipitously.
You had no idea how cold it could get on a mountain.
You consider getting out of the car, but when you try the door, it is frozen shut.
Even if you could somehow dig yourself out, you have no gas left in the car.
You had your chance to get out, and you missed it.
At two in the morning, a miracle occurs. All of a sudden, you feel warm again. At first, you are sure that the heat has magically turned back on, but no, the engine is still dead. So why are you warm again all of a sudden? You’re not just warm—you’re hot. Like you’re burning up!
You strip off your coat because it’s way too hot in this car for a coat.
Vaguely, in the back of your head, you remember reading about how when you’re freezing to death, the muscles controlling the peripheral blood vessels that have been keeping heat close to the body become exhausted and give out.
This causes a sudden rush of warm blood from the body’s core to the extremities that can make you feel like you’re burning up.
It’s the last fatal stage of hypothermia.
That isn’t what is happening to you, though. Is it?
But before you worry about it, a gentle cloudiness comes over you. Gosh, it’s so nice and warm in this car. You’re just going to shut your eyes for a few minutes. When you wake up, it’ll be morning, and you’ll be safe to find your way home.
THE END
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