Page 48 of Hold Me Before You Go

I couldn’t hear any cars, people, or even birds. The wind had stopped as well, and suddenly, I felt like an intruder.

I looked up to the dark sky again, holding my breath, waiting for just the smallest of sounds. There was nothing. This small glimpse of the world in front of me was paused, frozen by winter as nature waited for spring to come.

“Okay, Carrie,” I said, looking at the concrete as I weighed my options. “You need a phone. You need to find some people. That’s your best bet.” I looked over my shoulder to the forest behind me, taking in the snow-covered branches on the trees and the wet ground. “That isn’t going to work. I don’t want to get eaten by a bear.”

I’d seenThe Revenant. Leonardo DiCaprio survived a bear attack, but that didn’t mean I would.

With a sigh, I looked straight ahead once more, my eyes on the field. I studied it for a moment before I looked at the barbed wire fence. “Humans own this land. Humans are good.” I chewed on the inside of my cheek as another chilly breeze hit me.

I was too busy worried about my life to complain about the cold.

Go, Sunshine. Go into the field.

Grayson’s voice had a lump forming in my throat, and I took a deep breath. Then, I moved, running a bit further down, watching the fence line, looking for a break in the barbed wire. I knew I wouldn’t be able to squeeze in between the lines, and I couldn’t afford to have an injury.

But I would if I had to. I just hoped the universe would grant me a shred of grace.

Minutes passed before I spotted it and I let out a choked sob, laughing slightly as the small flicker of joy brightened in my heart.

There was a missing section of barbed wire, and I noticed brown a leather bag on the ground, nestled into the snow by the post.

“Humans,” I whispered as I stepped into the white blanket of ice, wincing at the cold. The bag didn’t have snow on it, which meant someone was just here. I bent down, scooping it up and opening it.

Another sound left me as I spotted a small bag of food—jerky.

“I’ll pay them back,” I promised as I ripped the bag open and grabbed a piece, bringing it up to my mouth. My taste buds exploded after taking a small bite, and my knees nearly buckled as another realization hit me.

I hadn’t had any food in days.

Brandon gave me a few sips of water now and then, but…

I shoved the piece all the way in, chomping down on it.

Thank God.

This was the best thing I’d eaten in my entire life.

After swallowing that down, I shoved in a second piece of jerky. I searched the rest of the bag and found a small toolkit, some rope, and a pair of worker’s gloves.

Gloves.

Clutching the bag of jerky to my chest, I let the leather back fall to the ground again as I nabbed the gloves, shoving them on my hands quickly before putting the bag over my head, letting it rest against my hip.

I had food and gloves.

All in all, that was a pretty good start.

I looked straight ahead, towards the end of the field that butted up against the base of a small mountain. Chewing the jerky as my eyes followed the height of the mountain, my headfell back and my eyes widened, noticing how half the mountain was charred.

There must have been a wildfire here.

Another gust of wind slammed into my back, and I grabbed another small piece of jerky. Then, I started running across the field, the snow going up to the middle of my calves, soaking my thin, black leggings. I kept my eyes straight ahead, focusing on the base of the mountain and controlling my breathing. The freezing temperatures didn’t make it easy, but I did what I could.

Time passed, but I kept going.

And going.

More time passed, the day growing shorter as the air around me grew colder.

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