CHAPTER FIFTEEN - BIRDIE #2
I sigh and shove my icy hands into my pockets.
Paper crinkles, and I pull it out slowly, laying the magazine picture beside me on the seat.
The sand is a buttery yellow, and the water looks so inviting, I feel a physical throb of want in my chest. Why can’t I have even a little bit of that?
Just once, before I freeze to death on a mountain or my mind is broken to pieces in some twisted lab experiment?
I grit my teeth and toss the picture on the dash. Dreaming is almost as bad as whining, and neither will get me where I need to be.
Peering over my shoulder, I try to guess how far I’ve come.
I have to be at least halfway, don’t I? I try to remember the ride up the mountain, but I was still reeling from the parting gift that Reeves’ thugs doled out.
Besides, what kind of landmarks are there in a frozen forest, anyway?
A particularly sturdy stump, an extra brittle branch?
Everything is white, white, white, and so goddamn cold.
I take a deep breath and snatch Hog’s knife off the dash, before pushing the door open.
It catches on the snow drift, but I hack at it with the hilt of the blade until it gives way.
I kick the rest of it aside and slide carefully through the gap.
I thought it was cold in the cab, but without anything to shield me from the wind, the night air hits me like a slap.
My knees waver and I slump against the truck.
Jesus, can I really do this? Can I really walk down this pitch-black mountain and find my way to safety?
The grim reality is that I don't have a choice. I reach back into the truck to grab Hog’s jacket and tug it on, then collect the pillowcase of supplies.
It feels disturbingly light in my hands, but I swallow down my panic.
I only need to get back to civilization, after all.
Once I’m there, I’ll have more options, including plenty of chances to hitch a ride once I reach the interstate.
Feeling a little more positive, I cast one last glance at the half-buried truck and turn resolutely to the road.
Or what I think is the road. It’s hard to tell without the truck’s headlights pointing the way. After a few tentative steps, I glance back, but my footsteps are shrouded in darkness. As for the truck, it’s like the mountain swallowed it whole.
Sorry Gung-Ho.
It was shitty stealing it in the first place, but it’s not like I was planning on keeping it. As soon as I reached town, I was going to leave it at the train station. Now, he’ll probably be lucky to dig it out before Spring.
I grimace and tuck my face into the collar of Hog’s jacket.
In this sea of cold, the smoky scent is comforting, and I let myself sink into it.
I still don’t trust my reaction to him, but I can’t see the harm out here.
Back in the cabin, it was another potential weapon, but the threat of the alphas is fading with each sinking step.
Because the snow is getting deeper.
Am I still even on the road?
I look around, but all I can see are lumps of snow and frozen trees. It’s eerie how much their branches look like thin, twisted arms and I shiver as the cold grips me tighter.
God, what if this was Reeves’ plan all along?
He must have known I’d run. He and the general talked a lot about gaining the Lawson Pack’s trust, but Reeves must have known I’d never trust them.
Maybe this wasn’t a field experiment in pack rehabilitation, as much as another way to torture me.
His pet project; the omega cast-off who he saved all his worst treatments for.
I shake my head. Whatever that asshole’s motives, I’m walking my own path now. Even if I have to fight for every step.
And it’s really a battle now, my boots sinking deep into the snow.
It reaches past my ankles, sometimes mid-calf when I stumble into a drift.
Pulling free makes my thighs burn, and I have to focus on pushing forward, even as the snow gets deeper.
It clings like frozen hands, and despite Hog’s thick jacket, I’m already numb from the chest down.
My legs feel like frozen blocks, and my sweats are soaked through.
Whatever warmth was clinging to me from my encounter with Colt is now long gone.
You’re walking to your death, Omega.
I whimper in fear, then clap my hand to my neck. I barely notice my icy touch as I feel a sharp flutter under the skin, like a butterfly with razor wings. Oh, God. Panic twists viciously in my gut. Of course the speech inhibitor would choose this moment to wake up.
I look around, desperate for an escape, but there’s no outrunning the moan rising in my throat. I try to swallow it back, but it’s too late. The monster is rattling the cage, and when a cry breaks free, the sensor knocks me straight onto my knees.
Shit! I land badly and my right thigh is pierced by something sharp under the snow. Pain spears through me, biting deeper than the cold. I scream out a curse and the sensor answers, twice as loud, twice as vicious…
It’s a collar of fire, and I claw at my throat, tearing into the skin.
Blood coats my fingers, but the world is splintering into shards of white-hot pain.
It hits me in the face, and I realize I’ve rolled into a drift.
A hundred icy mouths bite deep and I try to claw my way free.
But the sensor is still buzzing, still sending bolts of lightning straight into my marrow.
I kick and thrash, but all I’m doing is sinking deeper into the agony.
I can’t fight it anymore.
The world is a blur. Trees shiver above me, bending against the moon.
The buzzing sound is louder now. It’s all around me, and I roll into a ball and shake.
I don’t know how long I lie there, but when I can finally breathe without screaming, there are frozen tears on my cheeks.
Tears of pain, tears of failure. Rage washes over me, sending a burst of fire into my frozen limbs.
I won’t goddamn cry. Not for Reeves. Not for anyone.
Somehow, I’ve grabbed fistfuls of snow, and I hurl them aside, struggling back to my feet.
My head spins and I stagger forward, almost falling again.
Dark arms reach for me, wearing sleeves of frozen lace.
I lurch into the tree’s embrace, feeling it scrape its claw along my cheek.
I want to howl like a wounded animal, but I swallow back my cries as I cling to the truck.
It’s an oasis in the dark. A tiny sliver of life in a frozen hell.
Whatever bearings I had are gone, but as I peer around, something slithers between the trees. The buzzing is back, like a swarm of hungry bees, and I freeze, my heart pounding. What the hell was that?
I turn my head, but it throbs in pain. I blink frantically, trying to see through the dark. Something is there. Something huge and hooded, gliding through the trees…
I turn and bolt.
A branch cracks, loud as a rifle shot in the dark.
I fumble for Hog’s blade, but my hand is empty. No! All my supplies are lost, along with my only weapon. I stoop to search the ground, but I’m shaking too hard to keep my balance. Snow slaps me in the chest, and I try to crawl away, but the hooded thing is right there, looming up beside me.
I blink as it glides closer. I’m frozen solid, and I’m pretty sure I’m about to pass out, but I still fight the urge to laugh.
Because who ever heard of a bear on a skidoo?