by Krista Wolf
I paused on the staircase. “Or I could make a bow drill.”
They both stopped to look at me again. I shrugged.
“You can do that?” Jeremy asked.
“Uh huh.”
“And it works?”
“Oh yeah.”
Shane still looked a bit skeptical. “Girl scouts?” he asked. “They give you a badge for that or something?”
“Nah, nothing that glamorous,” I snickered. “I just grew up with a dorky dad. Watched too many of those survivalist shows. And the ones about… what the hell’s it called…”
“Doomsday prepping?” asked Jeremy.
“Yes! That’s exactly it!”
Shane dropped more wood on the pile and shook his head. “We sure could use some of that right about now.”
In a way it was calming, just making small talk. Being actually useful instead of focusing on the elephant in the room: what the three of us had done together, the night before. I guess I believed them when they said it had been their first time. It was certainly my first time…
“Let’s go then, dork,” laughed Jeremy, pulling me up the stairs by my wrist.
“It takes one to know one!” Shane called after us.
Somewhere behind his back, Jeremy flipped him off.
Fifteen
MORGAN
The rooms upstairs were mostly stripped and empty — at least the ones we could get to. Halfway around the upper landing the roof had collapsed, creating a slippery blockade of ice that looked just as dangerous as it would be to climb.
“I’d crawl over it,” said Jeremy, “if I knew there was something good on the other side.”
“You’d slide off and fall all the way to the first floor,” I countered. “That’s what you’d do.”
“Think so?” he squinted.
“Oh I know so.”
“You sure seem to know a lot of things.”
“Like I said before, I’m the master of useless knowledge.”
Jeremy turned to look back at me with a big, flirtatious smile. His ice blue eyes shimmered so gorgeously, I felt my knees giving way.
“Maybe there’s something good on this side,” he suggested, stepping into me.
“Could be,” I countered.
He took another step closer, and my mouth went dry. Or rather, it went even drier than it already was. From this distance I could feel the heat radiating off his body. His breath was white steam, mixing in with my breath.
“I like your earring,” he said, moving his face closer to mine. I froze, my body stiffening with excitement. He was so close to me now, I swore he could hear my heart beating.
“It’s just a skull.”
“No, not a skull. It’s the Punisher logo,” he countered correctly. “The original one, from the early eighties.”
I almost gulped, but my throat was too dry. Jeremy’s lips were an inch from my ear now, as if studying the tiny black and white lacquered earing I’d put on two mornings ago, without so much as an afterthought.
“T—The original Punisher was from the seventies,” I said nervously.
“Seventy-four actually,” Jeremy replied. “Amazing Spider Man, number one-twenty nine…”
He kissed my earlobe, and a shockwave rocketed right through my body. I was all goosebumps. All tingles.
“First appearance aside,” Jeremy continued, “he didn’t get his own comic book until—”
I couldn’t take it anymore! Not caring what anyone thought, I grabbed his face and planted my mouth over his.
Oh Morgan! What are you doing?
We kissed hungrily, like we were starving, like we hadn’t just screwed each other half to death only a few hours before. The whole thing was so totally unlike me. In the end though, I really had no choice.
I just couldn’t get enough of him.
“You felt incredible last night,” he murmured into my mouth. “So totally fucking hot and amazing.”
I pushed him backward, into one of the rooms. We were still on the landing, and I wanted privacy.
“Don’t want Shane to see?” Jeremy giggled.
“No,” I lied. “It’s not that…”
“Yes it is,” he said, kissing me some more. “But that’s okay. Shane’s a big boy. He can handle it.”
I shuddered as his hands slid beneath my coat. They ran deliciously up the sides of my body, even as his mouth worked its way slowly down the line of my neck.
“Besides,” Jeremy went on, between kisses. “He watched us. And he thought it was hot.”
“Maybe…” I sighed. “Still..”
“Still nothing. If I want to kiss you, I’m going to kiss you.” He began nibbling now, tiny little bites that were driving me absolutely wild. “And if I want to do this—”
He cupped my ass, and I almost jumped into his arms.
“I’ll do that too.”
Morgan…
I was being stupid, I knew. But both these guys were stupidly hot. The kind of hot that makes a girl do stupid things, like squirming ass-first into some sizzling hot, sleeping-bag threesome.
“I’ve been looking for you, you know,” Jeremy was saying.
“Me?”
He nodded into my shoulder. “Mmm-hmmm.”
“And how’s that?”
“Well for one you’re a nerd at heart, like me.”
I started to laugh, but instead inhaled sharply as one of his nibbles turned into a bite. It was amazing, receiving this much attention. Especially from a guy this beautiful.
“You’re intelligent, you’re sassy, you’re adventurous…”
Adventurous! Now there was a new one. No one had ever called me adventurous before.
“You’re beyond beautiful,” Jeremy went on, kissing his way back up. “Although I’m not really sure you realize that just yet.”
I couldn’t believe it was all happening. I could barely even believe what he was saying.
“And of course, it doesn’t hurt that you’ve got the hottest…” he slid a firm hand between my legs, “…tightest…”
“RADIO!”
Jeremy suddenly stopped everything and jumped back. His face was all shock and surprise as he blinked at me in confusion.
“Look!” I pointed excitedly. “It’s a radio!”
Sure enough, on the shelf behind him was a big, ugly-looking box of dials and knobs: an old ham radio, from the middle of last century.
My gorgeous new lover was still confused. “So?”
“So if it still works we can use it!’ I shouted. He cringed, and I realized how loudly I was talking. “Sorry! I mean… I mean if the transmitter’s not broken—”
“That thing?” he said, wrinkling his upper lip. He even looked cute like that. “Look at it. It’s been on that shelf forever!”
I reached up to take it down. Jeremy helped me. “Yup.”
“It’s gotta be shot. Or at the very least, the batteries are all—”
“It doesn’t need batteries,” I said, cradling it like a baby in my arms. “It’s one of those hand-crank models.”
It was so heavy! So big and thick and very, very old. It was sheer insanity to think it could actually work, especially in this climate, after all these years. Then again, as my father always said: ‘they used to make things a lot better back in the day’.
“Come on,” I urged. “Help me lug this thing downstairs.”
I was talking high and fast as I headed for the doorway, as excited as a kid on Christmas. But Jeremy still looked disappointed.
“Relax,” I assured him with a quick peck on the lips. I let my eyes wander his body intentionally. “We can always finish this later.”
Sixteen
MORGAN
“This thing?”
Shane’s expression was exactly as I expected — a mirror image of Jeremy’s. Only his came with a little less laughter and a little more thoughtful rubbing of his trim, sexy beard.
“This thing is a dinosaur!” he told me. “There’s no way it coul
d—”
I stopped him by spinning the hand crank, faster and faster until the whole lobby was filled with a loud whining whir. On the face of the radio, the light behind some of the dials blinked a few times and began to glow.
“Whoa.”
I smiled and kept cranking for a little while longer, to juice it up. “It’s got power,” I said. “That’s the important part. But either the microphone is broken, or there’s something wrong with the transmitter.”
They were staring back at me, hands on their hips. “And how do you know this?”
“I grew up with stuff like this,” I shrugged.
“That’s weird,” Shane said with a smirk.
“Is it? You know how to dig a snow shelter, with venting and everything.” I flipped a switch, and the radio’s speaker vibrated with static. “Just like your shelter, this thing might actually save our lives.”
Shane scratched the back of his neck, making a face that acknowledged I might have a point. Jeremy just winked at me.
“Alright,” he said. “What do you need from us?”
“Tools,” I said. “Screwdrivers, pliers, anything you can find.”
They scrambled, and for the next hour or so I fiddled with the radio. Shane dragged an old end table over for me to use as a workbench. Jeremy came back with a wrench he’d found in the ‘clutter of crap’ that constituted the front desk’s back office. It was old and rusted, but at least it was adjustable.
“I also need wire,” I said. “Any kind of wire.”
“Like this?” Shane asked, pointing to the nearest light switch.
“If we can get it out and strip it down, yes.”
I watched in half admiration, half-awe as the two of them set to work demolishing the nearest wall. They tore it apart by swinging pieces of firewood, shattering through lathe and plaster until they were pulling out long lengths of wire.
“This enough?” asked Shane, holding up what had to be a six or eight foot length.
“Yeah,” I laughed. “That’ll more than do it.”
I took the wire from him and began stripping it. It didn’t take long before the smile disappeared from my face.
“Shit.”
“What?”
“This is aluminum,” I said. “I need copper.”
“Aluminum won’t work?”
I shrugged. Actually I wasn’t sure. “Maybe.”
“We’ll look for copper then,” said Jeremy.
“If you can find the main panel—”
A hand closed over mine, pinning it to table. “Morgan, you’re freezing.”
“No I’m not.”
Shane released my wrist and my hand went back to shaking again. Actually my whole arm was trembling. I hadn’t even realized it.
“We need to get the fire started first,” he said firmly. “Let’s get it going now. We’ll get warmed up, melt some snow, and get re-hydrated.”
Reluctantly I agreed. I put everything down.
“After that we can scavenge this place some more, all three of us. But I want the fire going before anything else. Before it gets dark.”
We headed over to the fireplace, where the two of them already had a nice assembly of kindling all ready to go.
“Bow drill?” I asked, looking around for something I could use for a spindle and a fire board. Some of the aluminum wire might serve as—
“Matches,” Jeremy smirked, holding up an old match box.
“Even better.”
Shane took the matchbox from him and knelt before the hearth. There were old newspapers at the bottom. Dirty rags. Everything was dry, everything looked good.
“This is going to feel totally amazing,” Jeremy smiled, holding his hands out. “My body is ready!”
Shane struck the first match. It lit on the first try.
“We’re going to make this fire so fucking big they’ll see the smoke for miles,” Shane declared proudly. “Even through the storm.”
As he swung his hand into the firebox, a loud, shrill whistle caused us all to whip instantly around.
“Not without clearing that chimney, you’re not.”
Seventeen
MORGAN
To our amazement, there was a man standing behind us! And a huge one at that.
He was tall and broad — bigger even than Shane or Jeremy — and his presence dominated the foyer. From the waist down he was covered in snow — boots, pants, and everything. But from the waist up…
From the waist up, he was peeling his clothes off.
“Fuck yeah!” screamed Jeremy. “Woo-hoo! We’re out of here!”
He ran up to clap the man on the back, even as he was pulling his jacket and hoodie over his head. Beneath it he wore a thin, sleeveless T-shirt. His massive chest — and impressively bulging arms — were both covered in tattoos.
Whoa…
Everything was wet — soaked through with a combination of sweat and snow that made his remaining clothing stick to his body.
A body right out of any girl’s wildest dream.
“Don’t take your coat off now man, we’re all ready to go back,” said Jeremy happily. But Shane knew better.
“He’s not here to rescue us,” Shane said coldly. “Are you?”
“Nope.”
There was a moment of silence. A moment of disappointment.
“Then who are you?” I asked incredulously. “Where’d you come from?”
“Outside.”
He took off his ski hat and shook it out. Matted to his head was the thickest mop of hair I’d even seen, all dark with sweat and exertion.
“Y—You mean you’re not from a rescue party?” Jeremy asked, grabbing him by the shoulder.
The big stranger removed Jeremy’s hand calmly and pushed it away. “No.”
“Then who the hell—”
“He’s one of us,” interrupted Shane. “From the trip. From the campus.”
The newcomer nodded.
“He’s a Greek too,” Shane went on. I could see him squinting hard, sizing the guy up. Cycling through all the pre-programmed male dominance bullshit guys always did, whenever they met someone bigger or badder. “Sigma Omega maybe, or—”
“Alpha Rho.”
I searched my brain, trying to remember this guy from any of our other stops. Faith would, without a doubt. He was too big and beautiful to miss.
Right now however, I couldn’t think straight. I was too cold, too hungry, too tired. Not to mention, I couldn’t take my eyes off the new guy’s arms.
“Boone,” Jeremy said, snapping his fingers. “You’re Boone Silva.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve heard of you! You were the guy who…” Jeremy paused as if just realizing something, and his smile of triumph quickly faded. “Well shit! If you’re stuck here too, that doesn’t help us at all!”
It was true. We were back at square one. Only now there were four of us here, instead of three.
“I want to know how you got here,” I said suddenly.
Shane shifted into position beside me and nodded. “Yeah. Me too.”
Boone rubbed at his arms, which were red from the cold. I could see goosebumps all over his perfect skin.
“I walked.”
Jeremy eyed the newcomer suspiciously. “Bullshit. The avalanche was two days ago.”
“Even worse, two nights ago,” I added. “Where’d you sleep?”
“The first night I didn’t sleep,” Boone said. “I walked straight through, to keep from freezing.”
I opened my mouth to tell him he was lying, that such a thing wasn’t possible. Then I looked again at his physique. Everything about him was absolutely gigantic! I could imagine his two big lungs, burning through the cold night air. Carrying him forward on two tree-trunk legs…
If anyone could walk through the night, it would be this guy.
“Fine, and the second night?”
“The second night I stayed here.”
Jeremy and Shane made a show of looking all ar
ound the lobby.
“Where?”
“The lower level,” said Boone. “The whole west side of this place is the old garage. It’s the only part of this building still unburied.”
“A garage?” asked Shane.
“Workshop too.”
That caught my attention. I was ready to jump all over the workshop thing when Shane interrupted me.
“But you just came in through there,” he said, pointing to the snow-covered opening. “From outside.”
‘Yeah, I was stomping around through the storm for a while. Trying to find a path or a road or something.”
Shane shot Jeremy a dirty look, but Boone was already shaking his head.
“If you’re thinking about going out there, don’t,” said the stranger. “It’s a total whiteout.”
“Ah, but you can go out there,” said Shane, crossing his arms. “Right?”
“Yes. And I’m telling you I shouldn’t have.”
“But you did.”
“Fine,” Boone finally shrugged. I could see his patience was already wearing thin. “You wanna go out there? Then go.”
“Maybe I will.”
“Maybe you’ll die.”
“Alright, alright,” I said, breaking them up. “Let’s not act like children.” I turned toward Shane. “You wanted to get the fire started first, right?”
He nodded without taking his eyes from Boone. “Yup.”
I turned to Boone. “And you’re saying we need to clear the chimney first?”
“If you like breathing, you’d better. Otherwise this whole place is going to fill with soot and smoke.”
“Shane and I came in through a hole in the roof,” I said. “Maybe we could go up there and clear it from the top?”
“It’ll be covered in snow,” said Boone. “Totally invisible. You could dig blindly around for hours and still not find it. And that’s if you had a shovel.”
Jeremy was staring forlornly back at our huge pile of makeshift firewood. “So then what do we do?”
“We clear it from the inside,” Boone said simply. “From the bottom up.”
“Bottom up?”
“Someone climbs up the chimney from in here,” Boone shrugged. “Knocks all the snow down until they can see sky.”