"Guys!"
Erin's eyes bolted open at the sound of Sam's panicked voice. She realized that she was lying on J.D.'s chest and his arm was wrapped around her. She smiled as she recalled the events of last night.
Everyone was huddled around Laura and no one looked happy.
"She only had a fever last night. I don't understand," Sam said.
"She's so pale," Elsa remarked.
"Well, none of us have anything real to eat in days," Aaron stated, which was true, but didn't seem like the reason Laura was unconscious.
"I'm telling you it's hypothermia," Jeremy stated, but that didn't seem real either since fevers didn't usually accompany hypothermia.
Erin knelt down next to Laura and gently rubbed her face and hair. "Laura?" she said softly. Her face looked pained, like she was having a really bad nightmare. "Wake up."
"Maybe it's just the flu," Brian said.
"No, no it's not the flu," Judith interrupted.
All eyes went to her. "Yeah? And how do you know?" Brian asked.
"Books can be good for something other than burning," she replied sharply. They went over her symptoms and Judith quickly came to a conclusion. Elsa told them that she was complaining of a cut on her leg and when they revealed her pale leg, a huge red cut about an inch long sat there, obviously severely infected.
"That's blood poisoning," Judith stated. "Septicemia. She could go into septic shock. She needs a massive dose of penicillin or a broad-spectrum antibiotic immediately, or—"
Judith didn't finish her sentence which told them all they needed to know. If she didn't get medicine, she was going to die.
Sam wasted no time and started hacking up a couple chairs to make snowshoes. He was determined to go to the ship and find the medicine that Laura needed.
"I thought you said it was too dangerous to go outside," Jeremy said.
"I know I did," Sam said, but his tone told everyone that he had to do this.
Brian went to the window then turned back to Sam. "Where'd you find those chairs?"
"Why?"
"I'm going with you."
"Me too," J.D. said.
"And so am I," Erin added. That was of course met with all kinds of disapproval, but she had been expecting that. "Look, I'm going whether you want me to or not so if you want to waste time arguing, go ahead, but I'm coming with you."
Laura was fading fast, and they couldn't spend another second talking about it, so they reluctantly let her come along.
"Brian!" Elsa called as he was leaving the library. She quickly pressed her lips to his firmly and then ran back to the parlor.
"Come on, Romeo," Erin said as she pulled him along.
The four of them quickly began the trek through the snow to the ship. The storm had gotten even worse and they could barely see each other. J.D. kept a firm grip on Erin's hand, not willing to lose her, especially after last night.
They finally made it to the ship and tried to go quick since they knew they didn't have very long at all. They split up and searched all the rooms, looking for where they stored the medicine. Sam finally found the Red Cross on the door, but to his dismay the door was locked and wouldn't budge as much as the guys banged on it.
Erin pushed in front of them and took a hairpin out of her hair that had stayed in thanks to her hat. She used the pin to unlock the door and they were in.
The four of them rushed around the room, trying to find what Laura needed. There was a huge problem though.
"It's all in Russian," J.D. said.
"Hey, guys, I found it!" Brian exclaimed.
"What? How do you know?" Sam asked.
"Because it says 'penicillin' on the bottom."
They grabbed the vial and a couple needles and prepared to head back to the library. Erin froze. "Did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" J.D. asked.
"It sounded like…a growl."
"It's nothing. Come on. We gotta go." He put his arm around her shoulders and they were almost out when they passed another room.
"Hey, wait, this is the mess hall," Brian told them. "We should find some food while we're here."
"We don't have time!" Sam argued.
"None of us are going to survive without food," J.D. said. "Including Laura."
At that, Sam relented and allowed them to get some food. They found a ton of food they could use, and after Brian nearly had a heart attack, found a float they could use to carry it all.
Erin's stomach flipped as they heard several snarls and turned to find at least five wolves standing in the doorway. The group tried to run to the next room, but one of the wolves latched itself onto J.D.'s leg. He cried out in pain as Sam hit the wolf on the head with his flashlight and it finally let go as Brian and Erin pulled him into the room.
"My leg," J.D. groaned.
Erin clutched onto him tightly as Sam wrapped his scarf tightly around his leg to stop the bleeding. "It's okay," she whispered, kissing his temple. "Just breathe." If she knew one thing, it was that pain often made one stop breathing because it hurt so much. "Hey, hey, look at me." J.D. met her eyes and she helped him slowly breathe in and out so he wouldn't end up passing out.
Sam opened up the window. "You guys, I think we're in the eye of it. We gotta get back right now."
Erin didn't like his tone. Then it hit her. He said people were going to freeze to death. Once in the eye of the storm, the next part was worse. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going to happen if they didn't make it back to the library before they got out of the eye.
"I'm going to go outside, and I'm gonna lure the wolves out of the room. When they leave, you lock the door." He grabbed a butcher knife and exited the room.
Erin clutched onto J.D. tightly, scared out of her mind, but not regretting her decision to come at all. They watched the wolves and heard Sam screaming before they took off after him.
Erin had J.D. put his arm around her and tried to support him as Brian locked the door. The wolves shook the door, trying to get in, and then the other door shook, but it ended up being Sam. Brian ran over and opened the door for him, thankful he was still alive.
"We have to get out of here now! Brian, get the supplies." Sam took the raft and Brian got everything they needed.
Because J.D. couldn't walk, Brian, Sam, and Erin put him in the raft along with the food and medicine and the three of them pulled the raft as fast as they could back to the library.
Sam paused and they looked at the buildings. They watched in horror as they quickly began to ice over at an alarming rate.
"Let's go!" Sam screamed. "Pull, guys! Pull!"
They began to pull faster as adrenaline started coursing through them. Erin's heart was about to leap out of her chest. Once they got in, Brian took the supplies and ran to the parlor. Sam and Erin took J.D.'s arms to support him and the three of them ran to the parlor, the ice catching up to them fast.
J.D. was screaming from the pain and it hurt Erin to hear him in such agony. But she couldn't stop until they were safely in the parlor.
"Hang on!" she screamed to him.
The ice was gaining on them, trying its best to catch up with them in the deadly race.
"Almost there!" Sam screamed. "Brian, close the door!"
They sprinted into the parlor and Brian jumped up and slammed the door shut. It quickly began to ice over just like everything else.
"Don't let the fire go out!" Sam screamed as he flung everything he could find into the fire.
"What's happening?" Judith asked.
They looked around as the walls and the door iced over, threatening to consume the entire room and everyone in it if the fire went out.
"More books! More books!" Sam ordered.
They all threw as many books as they could into the fire, refusing to let the ice win.
When the ice had finally stopped, the medicine was given to Laura and J.D. was tended to.
As they bandaged up his leg, he kept screaming in pain, and Sam demanded Erin to give him a distraction. So she did the only thing she could think of. She pulled him close and pressed her lips to his and kissed him passionately. She didn't release until he was all bandaged up.
"That works," Sam said.
Erin smiled and J.D. pulled her close to him.
It was another day or two before everyone was sleeping and Erin awoke to Sam saying, "My father."
She and J.D. were huddled closely together to keep warm and to have Erin be there if the pain got intense.
Sam stood up and went over to him. "You made it." Father and son embraced tightly, just like Chloe and Emmett had.
"Of course I did."
They were saved.
Sam's father, Jack, instructed them all to start walking so they could get to a point where the helicopters could find them.
Soon, the sweet sound of a helicopter flew over them and landed in front of the large group. The overwhelming relief of finally being saved brought tears to Erin's eyes. J.D. hugged her and pressed his warm lips to hers as they all began to board the helicopter.
Sam held Laura, Emmett held Chloe, J.D. held Erin, Brian held Elsa, Jeremy held Judith, and Aaron held his dog, Buddha.
As they flew over the city, Erin looked out the window and saw a sight that filled her to the brim with happiness. "J.D.," she whispered. They all looked out the window and saw hundreds of people on various rooftops, evidently having stayed put and survived the storm and the destruction the eye brought. Everyone in the helicopter smiled at each other as they realized they were not the only ones.
Erin rested her head on J.D.'s shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her protectively. Laura did the same with Sam, and this time, Erin truly felt nothing. She was genuinely happy for the both of them.
This had been the worst experience of her life. She was scarred by the whole thing, and she knew it was going to take a while before she truly felt okay again. But she had no doubt that all of these people that had fought through it were going to help each other as they attempted to get through the emotional trauma of it all.
These people. Sam, Laura, Brian, J.D, Jeremy, Judith, Elsa, Chloe, Emmett, and Aaron. She couldn't have asked for a better group to help her beat the odds.
