They awoke to freezing cold and a frigid wind driving against their faces.
“Where are we?” Dan asked, trying to brush off the snow that had built up on his body.
“The last thing I remember is falling asleep in the hotel,” Desiree said as she mimicked her twin’s movements.
Will slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. The cold hindered his movements. “The show likes to mess with us. Put us in some crazy weather, take us away in the middle of the night. They’re jackasses, y’know?” He paused and glanced around, a look of panic growing on his face. “Where the hell are Moira and Adrian?”
Dan struggled to stand, and then helped his sister to her feet. “Couldn’t they at least give us gloves?” he asked as he rubbed his hands together and blew on them.
“There’s our packs.” Desiree pointed, then wrapped her arms around herself. “Maybe there’s some coats in them?”
As Dan slogged through the calf-high snow to ransack the bags, Will said, “Is that all you two are concerned about? Two of our teammates are missing. We gotta find them.”
“Hey!” Dan shouted, looking up from the pack he was vainly trying to unzip. “We aren’t gonna do them any good if we freeze.” He turned back to what he was doing, muttering, “If I can ever get this open. Damn zipper’s frozen solid.”
Will sighed and crouched down, yanking first his pack, then Desiree’s and Dan’s open. He gestured at the remaining bags. “All five are here. That means what’s in these packs, Adrian and Moira don’t have.”
Desiree had already found a heavy snow jacket in her bag and was pulling it on. “Then we need to find them.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to say!” Will drew out his own jacket, dug around a little more, and found a pair of thick gloves. He put everything on, then hoisted his, Moira’s, and Adrian’s packs onto his back. “Let’s go.” He stormed off, not waiting to see if the others followed.
Desiree hurried after him, her brother taking up the rear. “How do you know you’re going the right direction?” Dan asked, a hint of sarcasm coloring his voice.
“I just know, okay?” Will snapped, not looking back as he continued to trudge through the snow.
They traveled several miles before they found Moira and Adrian. Will was the first to spot them, buried partially under snow drifts. He dropped to his knees next to Moira, tossing the packs aside. He grabbed Moira’s shoulders and shook her, calling her name. There was no response. He looked up at Desiree in desperation. “Can you heal her…I mean them?”
She shook her head. “No. My powers aren’t strong enough to heal this level of frostbite, not even with my brother’s help.”
“What do you mean, with your brother’s help?”
Dan shifted uncomfortably. “I, um…amplify…others’ powers. I can help Des heal these two, but we gotta get them down the mountain, and outta the snow. They need to thaw out a little.”
Will nodded and dug through Moira’s pack to find her coat. He wrapped it around her carefully, then threw her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. He lifted his pack, as well as hers, onto his other shoulder. “Can you two handle Adrian between you?”
Dan hoisted Adrian onto his back with Desiree’s assistance. Desiree struggled with the three remaining packs, but managed to find a balance. “We got it,” she said.
“Then let’s go,” Will said.
They started to head down the mountain, hoping they would reach the end of the snow soon.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Team Promethiad 