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"You couldn't have been bothered to check the weather." Emily lamented to herself, as the daylight started to fade a whole hour before she had expected it to. She was wrapped up good in layers of clothing and a bomb-proof jacket but she was starting to actually worry about the temperature which seemed to be dropping. The GPS on the Sat phone had made the cabin look as though it was only a six mile hike, and it probably was… But working through the hard-packed snow had made it far more slow going for her than she could have possibly anticipated. "Unless you had checked the weather…" She berated herself. She should've come more prepared – known that it had been snowing for days and it'd be packed in good.
Without daring to stop for fear of the precious little time she had of daylight, she began to think of a plan B, when a few fluffy flakes of fresh snow started to come down. "Ah Jesus… Not now…" She pulled the hood of her coat over her head and tied it snugly to keep her hair dry.
As the wind began a low howling past her ears, a very real panic struck at the core of her. No one would hear her. No one was expecting her. "Relax, Emily. It's probably not a terrible snow storm…. Don't panic, just keep walking." A near fear struck her as the realization that she hadn't checked the Satellite phone's GPS feature in almost an hour and a half. "God, I'll never ask for anything ever again if you just somehow let me be still walking in the right direction…." She continued to power through her steps, though her legs were aching something fierce, as she pulled the phone out and powered it up.
"Oh thank God!" She sighed and looked heavenward. The GPS confirmed she had used her compass properly, and she swore she'd thank Morgan for teaching her how to use it. "Well that's the good news, anyways. The bad news is now I only have fifteen percent battery life. Of course." She kept walking, willing her legs not to stiffen up on her while she punched in Rossi's number and sent a text, she figured that would use less battery than a call. "Hey it's Emily – using dying sat phone. 1.4 miles North East of your damn cabin. 4p.m., 12/23. Surprise... Hope you get this. Walking and losing daylight, 15% battery life."
She inwardly begged God for one last favor, that he'd receive this and that she'd get to the Cabin before she was frostbitten. Turning it off once again, she trudged on, more exhausted than she could remember being in a very long time. She'd trade an arm for a hot chocolate right now. Realizing she was thirsty she pulled her water bottle out and drank greedily. "That's all I needed. I'm just dehydrated. I'll get a second wind any minute…" She whispered to herself, replacing the bottle in her sack and trying desperately to stay positive. She couldn't hear her own voice now, the wind was howling so loudly. She looked at the compass and again at her path, and realized in the two minutes it had taken her to turn on the phone and send the text, the snow had begun falling harder, and was quickly eating up the visibility. "It's not like you're going to die out here… calm down."
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David Rossi was humming along to a Frank Sinatra holiday tune as he stirred the Pheasant stew on the oven. Turning and giving the gullet to Mudgie, he sipped contentedly on a scotch, and noticed his cell phone was blinking on the counter top. "Well would ya look at that Mudge? I didn't think I had any reception up here." He pet his little friend, "Do you think we should see who the hell is trying to get ahold of us or should we ignore it? We're on vacation, after all, boy." Mudgie simply responded by begging for more scraps and wagging his tail in a way that made David unable to resist giving him a hefty piece of the meat to gnaw on. Out of mere habit he picked the cell phone up and opened his messages application.
"Fuck!" David dropped his Scotch in the sink and ran to his coat rack. Clumsy in his haste, he tripped over the dog and Mudgie whimpered. "Mudgie! Outside! Now! Go find Emily!" He opened the heavy oak door and as if he understood exactly what his master was telling him, he bounded outside at top speed and off into the darkness.
David buttoned his jacket around his neck as he stepped into the howling snow storm, and inwardly cursed – the visibility was bad. He checked his phone again and saw the text was sent almost half an hour before. There was only a faint semblance of daylight, even at this early evening hour.
Running to the barn he quickly spotted a LED lantern, and hopped into his ATV and turned it on, hoping beyond hope that it would still fire up just fine – it'd been a year since he last used it. "Thank God." He felt a small amount of relief as it sprang to life and he punched the power button on the built in GPS, he was sorely glad at this moment for the young man who'd upsold him on this package when he bought the thing.
Even though the top speed of his vehicle would not be safe on the ice, he knew it would be faster than walking to find her. "Jesus God Emily… please be okay…" He was surprised, all right, and pissed. Why would she come in on foot?! This weather – "Please God, let her be okay." Mudgie was nowhere in sight. "Come on, boy, where is she?" He drove with the headlights on, trying desperately to see in the growing blizzard. He sounded the horn twice and slowed down the engine so he could try and hear a voice or a bark. Nothing. He drove on for a mile and stopped. According to his GPS, she should be here. He looked at his cell phone, one measly bar of reception. He hoped against all odds he'd still be able to get a hold of her. He dialed the number from the text, and it didn't ring. "Must be off…" He punched the metal dashboard and cursed loudly. The pain that would've shot through his fist if his fear wasn't taking over his entire body, would surely remind him later to pay a price for that move.
He turned the ATV around and began back tracking, maybe he'd gone by too fast?
Ten agonizing minutes later, Mudgie came bounding out of a cluster of tree's, barking loudly, and then turned tail for Rossi to follow him. David was cautious to get his hopes up, but damn if he didn't trust his mutt. He wasn't able to get through the cluster of woods so he parked and just as he began to climb down from the vehicle, Emily emerged from the tree line, smiling, shading her eyes against the harsh headlights, Mudgie hoping excitedly beside her, wagging his tail as if there wasn't a care in the world.
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