Nadia pressed her forehead to the door, trying to stay silent as she eavesdropped. Perry spoke quietly into the cellphone. “…Food for three more days, wood for two more…Trying to keep the students busy to keep their minds off the situation. Oh, and the power’s out by the way.”

Nadia squeezed her eyes shut as her heart sank. Suddenly, she was back at the resort with the hurricane screaming around her. Her temples pounded with the beginnings of a headache, and tension coiled in her neck and shoulders.

“Yeah, one injured,” Perry said. “Makes it more difficult. Plus, I didn’t think to require snow gear. This storm is way earlier in the season than usual. Sure, we can find something around here, but…”

She bit her bottom lip and tried to ignore her heart which was pounding with anxiety. Just the thought of trying to walk back to town made her want to curl up in a ball and hide. She remembered the short trek through the icy rain and shivered. Perry had to have a better plan than that. She strained to hear more of the conversation, but a sound behind her made her whip around.

“Everything okay?” Lincoln asked quietly.

“Perry isn’t telling us everything.”

“Don’t give yourself a reason to worry, love.”

Her eyes widened as Lincoln grabbed her wrist and ushered her away from Perry’s door just as the survival instructor peered out. Nadia felt his blue eyes boring into their retreating backs. “You guys need something?” he asked.

“Nope, nothing at all,” Lincoln called over his shoulder.

“Actually…” Nadia interjected. But Lincoln wrapped an arm around her to keep her from turning back. When they made it to the living room, he pressed her to the sofa.

“We should talk,” he said.

“I don’t want to talk! I want to do something. It’s been two days since the storm started, and so much snow was dumped that the roads can’t possibly be open. What are we going to do?”

“Perry has a snowmobile. He and I talked about it, but I didn’t want to tell you, in case things went better than expected. He can take us to town one at a time. You can go first. I’ll wait here.”

“I’m scared,” she said bleakly.

“I know,” he whispered, sitting beside her and clasping her hands. “I’m scared, too. However, I trust Perry. He won’t let us down. He’ll get us out of this.”

As Lincoln placated her, Perry quietly entered the room and grabbed his coat. “Where are you going?” Nadia pushed past Lincoln and confronted him at the door. She suppressed a scream of frustration when she caught the wary look that passed between the two men. They were trying to keep her from being anxious, but holding back information was not the way to do it.

“I’ll be right back. I’m just stepping outside to the barn. Lincoln, why don’t you see if there’s anything to snack on in the pantry.”

“There’s not!” Nadia snapped. “And I’m not hungry. The oatmeal we ate for breakfast will tide me over. Besides, we don’t have enough food to ‘snack on’ anything. Now, what’s up?” No one said anything. Nadia put her hands on her hips and stared Perry down. “I heard you on the phone. I think we deserve to know how bad the situation has gotten.”

Lincoln murmured, “She can handle it, Perry.”

“Alright,” Perry sighed. “The park offices were closed for the storm; so, we’re on our own. I’m going to the barn to gas up the snowmobile and get ready to transport you two to civilization.”

She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized they would soon leave the mountain. “How long will it take us to get back to town via snowmobile?” she asked.

Perry’s face tightened. “It’s a thirty-minute drive by car.”

“Meaning, it’ll take much longer by snowmobile,” she surmised. “And it’ll be much more dangerous since you can’t see the roads. We might think it’s solid ground beneath us and be coasting on nothing but powder.”

Perry nodded. She hugged herself and turned away. Lincoln moved up behind her and squeezed her shoulders. “It’s a risk we have to take. We can’t stay here. It’s already significantly colder in the house without the heater going, and the stove is fueled by a propane tank. Our fuel sources won’t last much longer,” he said.

“Since it’s stopped snowing, can’t I call for a helicopter?” she asked.

“Too dangerous,” Perry replied. “With snow this fresh, the vibration of the blades could easily set off an avalanche. Taking the snowmobile is the safest option, even if it means a long ride in the cold. I know this area like the back of my hand. We’ll be fine.”

Perry wrapped his scarf around his face and moved to leave, but she stopped him with a hand to the arm. Nadia forced a smile. “Then, I’m coming with you to check on the snowmobile. I’ve been stuck in this cabin for days. Give me a second to suit up.”

“You’ll have more than a second,” Lincoln replied as he slowly opened the front door. The three of them gaped at the wall of snow.

“I’ll find the snow shoes,” Perry mumbled.

* * *

It took twenty minutes to dig a passage to the surface. Nadia rubbed her forearms. Perry knew her muscles burned from hauling snow to the bathtub and kitchen sink, since he suggested saving it in case they ran out of fresh water. When they emerged from the cabin into the whited-out world, she was awestruck by the surrounding scene. The sun reflected off the snow’s surface with blinding brightness. Nadia shaded her eyes and looked around.

The air was dry and cold and smelled as clean and crisp as any she had ever breathed. Like the storm had washed the world.

“It’s like we’re the only people left,” she murmured.

“Isolated as all hell.” Perry eyed the beautiful, treacherous landscape with furrowed brow. “Hand me the shovel,” he called down the tunnel. Lincoln handed it up, and Perry set off for the barn with Nadia on his heels.

They trudged through the snow, leaving prints from their snow shoes. What should have been a quick trip around the back of the cabin took longer because of the deep drifts. The tall doors of the barn opened inward. He dug a ramp to the floor several feet below and dropped to the icy floorboards, reaching to help Nadia.

“Watch your step. It’s slippery,” he warned. Perry took a look around the shadowy outbuilding. The only light was sun pouring through a window high in the wall. It was just enough illumination to see where, weeks before, Clyde MacAskill had taken a nasty fall from a ladder that was still on its side.

He glanced at the ceiling, at the narrow crack in a support beam that Clyde had been trying to repair. The old man had worried heavy snow would put a strain on the aging roof, but the structure was holding. Perry studied the crossbeams and nodded to himself, satisfied it would not come down on their heads.

“What about the snowmobile?” Nadia asked.

“Right this way.” He carefully crossed to a bulky mass covered in tarp. The sleek snowmobile looked ready to go, and he thanked his lucky stars.

Perry threw a leg over the seat and turned the key in the ignition. The engine growled to life, sputtered, and threatening to expire. His eyes dropped to the gas gauge, and Nadia gnawed on her thumbnail. “Don’t worry. There’s a gas drum, babe.”

“Thank goodness. Is this it?” Nadia moved to the metal drums and tilted one. Perry’s eyebrows shot up. The drum should not have been light enough to tilt. The other barrel was on its side, the fallen ladder resting against it.

Perry hopped off the snowmobile and marched toward her. He shook one, then the other. Both empty. The ladder clattered to the cold floorboards as he knocked it aside. He kicked the downed gas drum, and it skittered across the frozen floor. Nadia’s breathing rapidly accelerated. He shot a glance at her, tried to get himself under control. Despite the freezing temperatures, he had broken out into a sweat.

He wiped his brow with a shaky hand and moved back to the snowmobile to turn it off. The needle on the gas gauge remained dismally close to the E. His mouth went dry at the thought there was no way to take them to safety now.

“Can we get there on what’s left in the snowmobile and refuel once we make it to town?” she asked.

Perry dejectedly shook his head.

“What are you saying, Perry?”

He looked at her with apologetic blue eyes that pierced her core with icy fear. “I’m saying we’re stranded, Nadia.”

* * *

Lincoln paced the living room, an eye on the dwindling fire. He tossed another few sticks on the pile, but the flames were barely making a dent in the cold. He shrugged into a jacket, wondering what was taking the others so long.

Daydreams of a warm hotel room washed over him. He pictured a big, soft bed and downy blankets, room service and pay-per-view. Wi-fi. Lincoln sighed dreamily. He would gladly suffer the cold a little longer to let Nadia make it there first, but he was anxious to see his companions off. The sooner Perry took Nadia to town, the sooner he could return for Lincoln.

Then, they would return to the real world, and Perry would come with them. Getting the reality TV show off the ground would give Lincoln something to do since the Landon Ashville film looked to be passing him by. Maybe it was for the best.

He wanted to call Carmen and find out if her father was willing to be their producer. Lincoln wanted to channel his creative energy into a project he believed in. Television was not his forte, but with Carmen’s help, he could make his mark.

He had never considered himself relationship material, but Nadia and Perry made him want to settle down. He pictured them moving into a home together, working on the television show. But there was one thing he had to do to get the ball rolling.

He ventured into Perry’s bedroom and grabbed the cellphone off the dresser, telling himself he was merely checking the time. The battery light flashed at three percent. Lincoln sighed in frustration.

“I’ll make it quick,” he whispered to himself. He slowly dialed the phone number to Dominic’s office, ignoring the voice in the back of his head telling him he was wasting a precious resource.

Since Perry and Nadia were preparing the snowmobile for their trek to town, they would be out of the cabin by nightfall, at least. The phone could recharge at the hotel. Lincoln pressed the phone to his ear and swallowed nervously as his heart thudded in his chest. The line connected with a quiet click.

“Carmen Wilde,” she answered.

“Hey! Carmen!”

“One moment, please.”

Elevator music funneled through the phoneline and Lincoln stared at the device in disbelief. “She put me on hold.” He paced the living room with the phone between his face and shoulder. I should hang up. I’m gonna hang up. A minute ticked away. He had already used up some of the precious battery power, and to hang up now would make the call in vain. Another minute passed.

“Shit, Carmen! Pick up the phone,” he growled.

The phone chirped. Lincoln glanced at the screen and read the message: Battery critically low. His thumb hovered over the disconnect call button, but suddenly Carmen’s bubbly voice returned. “Hello! This is Carmen. What can I do for you?”

“Thank God. Hey! My phone battery is low, and I was afraid the phone would die before I could speak with you. It’s Lincoln.”

“Oh, Dominic is back! I’ve been trying to reach out to you for days, but the phone kept going to voicemail,” she said.

“Yeah, I’m stuck in a situation where I can’t charge the phone, so we’ve been using it sparingly. But I really had to reach out to you before I make it back to LA. I was wondering if you could get me a meeting with your dad. I have an idea for a television show that I want to pitch.”

“Normally, I wouldn’t, Lincoln. People are always trying to get to my dad, but what do you have in mind?”

He scrambled to condense his show idea into a few words, knowing the battery could die at any second. “A survivor show, but not just any survivor show,” he said. “We throw two teams into the wilderness, and they compete to survive anything.”

“Anything?”

“With nothing but the clothes on their backs and a hunting knife.”

“I hate to say it, but that’s been done to death,” Carmen said.

“Not like this!” he insisted. “The teams won’t be made up of fitness junkies or thrill seekers. Instead, picture a bunch of rich and famous people in the wilderness. Uh, the owners of tech start-ups, popular music artists, famous brain surgeons. That kinda thing!”

“Yeah, but they won’t need prize money.”

“A portion of the prize could go to the charity of their choice, and the rest could go to an Average Joe teammate? I don’t know! I haven’t worked out all the details, but I’m sure we can come up with the proper treatment. I just need Herschel Wilde’s ear.”

“For you, I can make it happen.”

“Oh, thank goodness!”

She giggled on the other end of the line. “I owe you one. You were so sweet on the set of Vengeance with a Vengeance. Your friendship helped me get over an ugly breakup, and that movie softened the effect of the nasty things the tabloids were saying about me.”

“Speaking of which…There’s something I need to tell you first. Nadia Marson is one of the potential producers.”

“You’re shitting me!” Carmen sucked in a breath. “She won’t want anything to do with me! How did you even get someone like Nadia Marson to sign onto the deal?”

“We’re at this survival training camp together. Don’t worry. I’ve talked to her about you, and she’s on board. I never saw the tabloid articles, but I’ve heard a lot about them lately. All I can say is, the differences the two of you had won’t derail anything. I’m sure the rumor junkies didn’t help. You should get to know Nadia. She’s a real sweetheart.” The phone made another funny chirping sound and powered down. “Hello? Carmen? Hello?” The line was dead.

Lincoln tossed the cellphone aside with a frustrated snarl. He went into the living room and stood on a chair near the window to peer out over the snow. He could see Nadia and Perry’s feet, they were finally making their way back, and they did not look happy. He was not looking forward to telling them he had used up all the battery.

Minutes later, Nadia dropped down the snow shaft and into the living room. Perry followed. Lincoln nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he waited for them to remove their coats and snow shoes.

“So? What’s up with the snowmobile?” He noted the concern lines etched on Perry’s forehead.

“Out of fuel. The extra container was somehow knocked over when Clyde fell from the ladder. I told Nadia it’s time to call in her private helicopter.”

Lincoln’s heart sank to his stomach. “We can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Perry asked suspiciously.

“Because…I just used the last of the battery.”

“You did what?!”

A sound like rumbling thunder rendered him mute. Perry tilted his head and listened more closely as the floor began to shake under their feet and the noise grew louder—like a jet taking off or huge waves crashing against the craggy bluff. It swelled in volume, followed by a more sinister hiss. Lincoln and Perry locked eyes with matching horror.

“What is that?” Nadia asked tensely.

“Avalanche,” Perry whispered.