Kara

 

Kara kept one eye on Ryder and the other on the road as she drove. The snow had lessened some, but she had a gut feeling that it wasn’t going to last. She flipped on the radio to hopefully catch an update.

 

“ … conditions have lessened over the last few minutes in scattered locations north of the city but be advised that this winter storm isn’t even close to being over. Stay indoors, and don’t think that just because the winds have died down that it’s safe to leave your home.”

 

Ryder moaned in the back seat, rolling over onto one side in his unconsciousness. Kara hated to see the man suffer, but she knew that if he was making noises, it at least meant he wasn’t dead. As she drove, she considered the very real possibility that she might have a corpse in her back seat before too long but dismissed the idea as being just too horrible to dwell on.

 

The next exit approached and Kara pulled off onto it. She had no idea where she was but knew that beggars couldn’t be choosers when it came to a matter like this. They needed shelter and they needed it fast. But the turnoff only led to a rural area—not a motel or even a fast food joint in sight.

 

Panic gripped Kara. She frantically looked around her for any sign of a place where she could stay with Ryder. Glancing over her shoulder at her bloodied passenger, she watched him writhe and moan as he seemed to slip in and out of consciousness. The blood from his clothing smeared on the seats, but she was too worried about getting away from the blizzard and to shelter to be concerned about that.

 

“You okay back there?” she asked, her eyes fixed on the twin beams of light in front of her.

 

“Ughh, ahhh,” he moaned.

 

Kara wasn’t sure if he could even hear her, but she remembered picking up somewhere along the way that it was a good idea to make sure a person who’d suffered from a head wound didn’t slip into unconsciousness, and that talking was a good way to do that. However, it only had the effect of making her feel more helpless than she already did.

 

“We’re gonna find somewhere; don’t worry.”

 

But there wasn’t anywhere to stop. Kara cursed her luck at getting off at the one exit that didn’t have so much as a gas station. As she drove, however, a sign caught the light of the high beams which read “Hollybrook Campgrounds.” The sign had a medical cross and a simple picture of gas, and she figured this was as good of a place as any to check out.

 

Kara made the turn and the road shifted from a paved four-lane to a bumpy and unpaved two-lane. The snow continued to pick up, and she wondered if she’d just made the mistake of driving into someplace even more isolated than she’d already been.

 

“Don’t go to sleep back there,” said Kara. “Just stay with me.”

 

Kara drove for a bit longer, still not seeing anything close to a place where she could stop. In desperation she made the next right turn, hoping it would lead to something, anything. The road was narrow, now only a one-lane, and the surface was already covered in several inches of fresh powder.

 

Just when she began to give up hope, however, she spotted something far down the road. It was a squat little building that appeared to be a cabin of some sort. Kara’s heart began to beat faster with excitement, and she mouthed a silent prayer that there would be someone there who could help them.

 

As she approached and the cabin began to glow in the headlights, Kara wasn’t able to spot a single sign of life. There were no cars parked near the cabin, no lights on inside—nothing. But she could spot a generator and the place looked sturdy enough, and that was good enough for her. Kara pulled onto the property, parked the car, and rushed up to the wooden door of the cabin.

 

“Hello?” she called out over the howl of the wind. “Anyone there? It’s an emergency! I’ve got a wounded man out here!”

 

She waited for a moment or two, despite it being as clear as day that there wasn’t a soul inside. Growing more desperate by the second, she began searching around the property for any way into the cabin that she could find. But the place seemed to be locked up tight.

 

Then, on the ground near the door, she noticed that one of the rocks piled under one of the bare-limbed bushes looked just a little different than any of the others. It was shinier and smoother. Squatting down, Kara gave it a tap with the tip of her finger, a hollow “thunk” sounding out as she did. Lifting the rock up, she realized happily that it was one of those false rocks used for storing spare keys. Sure enough, a small pull-away panel on the underside of the rock revealed a pair of keys.

 

Standing in front of the door, keys in hand, she couldn’t believe that she was about to break and enter into some stranger’s cabin. But it was either that or freeze to death. Not to mention the chance of there being medical supplies in the cabin she could use to treat Ryder’s wounds.

 

Slipping the key into the lock, Kara took a breath and opened the door.