Snowed In

“What I’m saying,” I said softly, “is that we all have secrets. We all have things we kept to ourselves.”

She glanced down for a moment. “Yeah, but—”

“No yeah buts,” I smiled. “Seriously. The others don’t even have to know about this. All they need to know is you fixed the radio.”

Her expression changed again, and I saw gratitude there. Maybe even something else. Something more substantial. Something that could outlast our time here, and be carried back to campus.

I took her hand and put it back on the crank. “Keep going. Don’t give up.” She nodded, and I squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I’ll be downstairs, cooking up the rest of that rice. It’s time to get rescued, and I don’t wanna do it on an empty stomach. Think positive.”

“Okay.”

She was actually smiling now, and the last of her tears were gone. Right before I left she squeezed my hand.

“So… you really wanted to ask me out?” she asked shyly.

I paused for a moment, pretending to consider. “Nah. Your friend was cuter.”

Morgan’s eyes went wide as the sun as I backed away laughing.

“Asshole!” she shouted, laughing despite herself. She cursed and threw something at me that felt like a length of wire as it bounced off my back.

I felt lighter than ever as I took the staircase.

Forty-Five

MORGAN

“She’s been at it all day. Still nothing.”

I could hear them from the other end of the room, trying to keep their voices down. I was tired, exhausted even. My arm was killing me from cranking the radio all day.

But I didn’t care.

“You heard what she said,” Jeremy muttered. “We’re too low. Too far down the mountain to get the signal out.”

“Or there aren’t any rescuers in range,” added Shane. “If we could get closer maybe. Or—”

“No,” Jeremy interrupted. “Higher ground. I’ll climb if you guys don’t want to. I don’t care if I have to climb all the way back up to the peak and ride the gondola home. I’ll do it. I swear I’ll—”

“You’ll never make it,” I heard Boone say. “So much snow came down that side of the mountain you’ll be swimming in it for weeks. They’ll find you in the summer, after everything thaws. Arms and legs out spread out like an idiot. Still swimming.”

Their voices dropped low again, and I sent out another Mayday. They were right though. We needed a different position. The radio was definitely transmitting — we we getting our signal out there. It just wasn’t far enough. There were whole mountains in the way.

“If we’re gonna do this,” Boone went on, “it has to be tomorrow. While we’re still strong. While we’re not starving and exhausted.”

That part scared me — that they were willing to go out again. The storm still hadn’t let up. Locals talked about storms that lasted half the winter here in the Alps. Snowfalls that went on for weeks and months…

“I don’t know about you guys but I feel strong,” said Shane.

“Strong now, sure,” Boone countered. “But we just finished the last of the food. No more rice. No more lentils. No more peaches, or canned anything, or—”

“Wait… there were peaches?”

They mumbled amongst themselves some more, their voices growing louder. I could hear Shane getting insistent. I could hear Boone getting frustrated.

I cranked the radio even harder and started again.

“What do you mean there were peaches?” Jeremy was asking.