Chapter 6 - Between A Rock And A Hard Place
The tank rolled along through the mountains of the wastes, heading for what its occupants hoped was a safe haven: the city of Ground Zero.
It had been four days since they had set out from Pocahontas' dwelling, and it was starting to show. Snowflake was playing with an old rubber ball she'd found, bouncing it against the wall and then catching it in her hand.
Kristoff was sat by her, trying to read a book and get some rest. It was Elsa's turn for the wheel and he was trying to enjoy his break. "Feisty pants, could you knock that off?" He requested.
Snowflake caught the ball. "Sorry... it's just I'm soooooo bored!"
"We're all bored," Kristoff remarked. "Hey, Elsa, how far is Ground Zero now?"
"Still 1200 miles," Elsa called back to them from the driver's console. "Honestly, I'm starting to think we took a wrong turn. This mountain road doesn't look like it's been used in years."
They had been travelling along that road for what seemed like ages, hoping for a downward ramp, yet none seemed to be one the horizon, just cliff face after cliff face.
it seemed very hazardous as well, with a sheer drop of over a hundred feet inches to their left.
Kristoff sighed. "Hey, don't blame me. Blame the gizmo and it's stupid route."
"Yeah, the gizmo that you found!" Snowflake argued.
"No, arguing you two," Elsa called to the two backseat drivers. "We'll get there... eventually." Morale was starting to become low among the three travellers. If things didn't change soon, their situation could get ugly.
Suddenly, the large tank came to a halt, the engine no longer churning. The tank was now stopped, on the side of a large cliff face.
"You were saying?" Kristoff remarked, getting up and putting his book down.
Snowflake looked at the various consoles. "What's going on?"
Elsa tried to start up the engine, but nothing worked. "The engine's out of power. Clearly, someone forgot to fuel up before we left." She then glared at Kristoff.
"Hey, it's not my fault gas is damn near impossible to find!" Kristoff snapped.
Elsa sighed and put on her jacket. "Snowflake, stay here in the cockpit. Kristoff, with me."
Kristoff groaned, reluctantly following Elsa to the rear of the tank.
Elsa pressed her hand on the button by the exit, the large hatch lowering and opening them up to the elements. She then walked out, pulling up her furry hood. "Right, Kristoff, since you know this thing so well, where's the filler cap?"
"Ah..." Kristoff then thought for a moment. "That's kind of the thing... I don't think this thing has one."
"What do you mean?" Elsa inquired.
"Well... It's just I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find a damn place to put the gas in," Kristoff explained. "To be honest, I'm not even sure this thing runs on gas."
Elsa and Kristoff walked over to the front of the vehicle, Elsa tapping on the bonnet. "Think this can open up?"
"Well, I can try," Kristoff replied. He gripped his hands under what appeared to be a hatch and the bonnet opened up before them, spreading outward. Inside was an engine unlike any they had ever seen, comprised of futuristic tech much like the rest of the tank.
At its centre, Kristoff noticed a large cylinder with what appeared to be a fading blue crystal inside. He picked it up, removing it from the engine. "What's this thing?"
Elsa looked at it closely. "This must be what those soldiers use to power their vehicles and weapons."
"I've never seen crystals like this before," Kristoff remarked. "And I doubt we can just pull up at the nearest store and ask for magic glowing rock to power our stolen tank."
Elsa thought for a moment, stroking her chin and then the container of the crystal. "Maybe we won't have to." She then walked back into the tank and looked at the navigation console.
Snowflake looked up at her, confused. "Elsa, what's up?"
"Hang on," Elsa said, typing into the device's touchscreen. "There! They do have a deposit around here!"
"A deposit of what?" Snowflake wondered.
"This thing runs on some sort of crystal energy source," Kristoff informed her, joining them in the tank. "And from what our fearless leader has just found, it looks like we found a place to refuel."
"Indeed," Elsa agreed, beaming with pride and turning around. "According to this, there's a deposit of those crystals about ten miles ahead."
"Awesome!" Snowflake cheered. "Wait... is there bad news too?"
Elsa sighed, nodding. "The bad news is, the crystals are about a mile underground. We'd need to dig pretty deep or at least try and find a cave."
"Well, that's perfect," Kristoff said with a hint of sarcasm.
Elsa got up, tossing Snowflake a jacket. "Wrap up warm, Snowflake. We're going on an expedition."
"Hopefully, we won't get attacked by a bear this time," Snowflake remarked, putting on the jacket and pulling up the hood.
"At this altitude? Unlikely," Kristoff said. "I'll stay here and see if I can eek some life out of this thing."
"Good luck," Elsa bid him farewell, walking out of the tank with Snowflake.
As they exited the vehicle, Snowflake felt her hair being blown in the frozen winds, a large blizzard making visibility impossible.
Elsa had detached the navigation device, now wearing it on her wrist. "Okay, it should be this way. Watch your step, Snowflake, it's a long way to the bottom."
Snowflake nodded, gulping. "Yeah, so glad it's not icy up here or anything."
The two of them began to walk along the side of the mountain path, the storm practically cloaking the other from sight. The only thing Snowflake could see while behind Elsa was the light from the device on her wrist and even that, she had to squint to see.
She got to the side of the rock wall, trying her best not to fall down the large slope to her left. She didn't want to become a pancake at the bottom of the mountain.
Snowflake quickly closed her lids, trying her best not to imagine the sheer drop.
Elsa kept moving forwards and they kept their pace for what seemed to be a few miles, before Elsa eventually stopped, checking her device again. "Alright, according to the gizmo, we should be right on top of the crystals."
Snowflake looked around, slightly confused. "So... where are we?" She then pressed her hand on a rock wall, feeling her weight upon it.
Suddenly, the rock face gave way, collapsing in front of Snowflake. Snowflake tried to balance herself, but soon gravity too it's toll and she plunged into the dark abyss.
"Snowflake!" Elsa cried, before rushing to the cave entrance, utterly bewildered by the depths. "Oh god..." She then saw a long ladder to her side and climbed onto it. "I'm coming, Snowflake!"
xXx
Snowflake awoke at the bottom of the pit, her eyes heavy. She wondered how many of her bones had been broken by the fall, but when she looked down, she was amazed to find her body virtually intact. She had landed on a large cushion of powdered snow, the impact having been like landing on a pillow.
She sighed, rubbing the sides of her legs. "Thank god, I still have legs."
Looking to her left, she saw a large series of stalactites rise up towards the ceiling of the immense rocky cavern she was in. The cave was clearly made of granite or some hard rock, judging by how large and preserved it had all seemed to be.
There were also spotlights surrounding the area she was in, as well as a tall ladder reaching to the entrance to the cave, now very high from where Snowflake was.
As Snowflake got to her feet, she saw Elsa race down the ladder, planting her feet next to her. "Snowflake!"
Snowflake nodded. "I'm okay... no broken bones. There was some powder snow down here, it was like landing on a pillow."
Elsa wiped her brow. "Don't scare me like that, okay?" She then took a moment to admire their surroundings as well. "Where are we?"
"Some sort of abandoned mine," Snowflake assumed. "Is that gizmo of yours still working?"
Elsa looked at the device on her wrist, confirming Snowflake's inquiry. "Yeah, it says there should be some crystals still here. Obviously, whoever used to operate this mine missed a few of them."
"Then they won't mind us taking some," Snowflake replied.
Elsa turned on a flashlight, and the two began to explore the cavern together, keeping close as to not lose each other.
Snowflake felt skittish, like there was some sense of deja vu about this place. She could feel like something was crawling on her skin, some presence other than Elsa and herself in the cave.
"Elsa... do you get a weird feeling about this place?" She wondered.
"Like what?"
"I'm not sure," Snowflake spoke. "But it kinda feels like we're being watched."
"Snowflake, you said this place was abandoned," Elsa reminded her. "There's not going to be anyone here but us. We'll be fine."
Just then, a large rock fell from the ceiling of the cavern, landing not too far from Elsa and Snowflake. Snowflake jumped as the rock crashed, tackling herself and Elsa to the floor.
Elsa's eyes widened as Snowflake found herself pinning the blonde to the icy ground. She felt a little unnerved at Snowflake being this close, this close to her heart... her face.
Snowflake blushed, quickly moving away from Elsa. "Elsa... I'm sorry. I just."
"It's fine," Elsa excused, trying to get the memory out of her mind quickly. "Let's just keep moving okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Snowflake added, getting up as well. She herself couldn't get the image of Elsa under her out of her thoughts. There was something sparking between them, but Snowflake knew she shouldn't be thinking about that, not when they had an important task to do.
They continued on through the cave, passing through a very low tunnel. Elsa wondered how anyone could have mined down here, it being so cramped like this.
Snowflake bumped her head on the roof of the tunnel, feeling pain for a second. "Ah! They should've made this bigger."
Elsa giggled. "Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon."
Snowflake crawled down onto her hands and legs, feeling this was the better position than having to bang her head every few steps.
The tunnel kept going on for a while, miles and miles of solid, icy rock, deep into the mountain. Eventually, the two of them ended up in a second large chamber, with large crystals stretching out of the ground, glowing like the crystals in the tank.
"Jackpot!" Snowflake exclaimed.
"Good, let's grab a few and get going," Elsa stated, reaching into her rucksack and taking out a pickaxe. "Let's hope these crystals aren't too tough."
As Elsa headed to one of the large crystals to try and take out a chunk to power the tank, Snowflake then noticed something to her side that made her blood run colder than the winds.
Lying on the floor in the corner of the room, were two bodies. They were both wearing the grey armour of the soldiers that had attacked Snomar, their visors crashed open and their faces and several parts of the skin torn off. They had clearly been there for some time.
"Um... Elsa?" Snowflake called to her companion.
"What is it?" Elsa replied, continuing to chip out of the crystal with her pick.
"You err... might wanna come see this."
Elsa dropped her pick and headed to Snowflake's side, seeing the two bodies lying on the floor. "Jesus... what did this?"
"Do we wanna know?" Snowflake wondered, her voice slightly nervous. "I mean... these bodies look like they've been torn to shreds... by bare hands."
Elsa sighed. "We'll worry about that later. Right now, we've got crystals to mine."
"Right, Right," Snowflake replied. "Mine the crystals, don't think about the two dead corpses and the possible giant monster that made them." She breathed softly, trying to calm her anxiety filled thoughts.
The white-haired girl went to Elsa's backpack, taking out a pickaxe and began to mine herself, the two partners now hacking away at the bright crystal rocks.
Soon, they had chopped away a few chunks of rock, enough to power the tank for what Elsa assumed would be some time.
While they started to pack up their collected resources, Snowflake then heard a soft noise echo through the cave. It sounded like moaning, a low, painful moaning.
"Elsa... did you hear that?" She wondered.
Elsa turned around, looking in all directions before turning to Snowflake. "Hear what?"
"That noise," Snowflake stated. "That weird... groaning noise."
The noise then sounded again, Elsa being able to hear it this time. "Okay, yes I heard that."
"What could it be?" Snowflake inquired, hiding behind Elsa.
At that moment, from an opening in the left side of the wall, a skinny, pale-skinned human-like creature stumbled towards them. Its eyes were dark, pulled to the back of its skull. It's skin, blue and cold and it lacked any body hair. It lurched and snarled, clearly a mindless zombie.
Snowflake opened her mouth to scream, but Elsa clasped her hand around her mouth, shushing her quiet.
The creature growled, gazing at Elsa and Snowflake, trying to make sense of what they were with its lack of sight.
Elsa quietly motioned for Snowflake to start moving away, while she tried to distract the creature with hand signals, trying to pray it had some form of intelligence and would mean them no harm.
The creature didn't seem to care. It's face contorted in a fit of anger and rage. Its stomach was growing as well, hinting that it was ready to feed.
Suddenly the creature shot towards Elsa with superhuman speed, it's wide, toothless mouth ready to try and bite a chunk from Elsa's flesh.
Elsa quickly pulled out her pistol, aiming it at the creature's chest and fired, denting a hole through its body.
As the zombie slumped, dead and with a strange blue blood oozing from its death wound, Snowflake started to panic.
"Elsa! THAT WAS A FUCKING ZOMBIE!"
Elsa nodded, sighing. "It looks like we found out what happened to those soldiers."
"Yeah... and what will happen to us if we don't get out of here!" Snowflake exclaimed.
As Snowflake said that, they then heard a chorus of inhuman moans from the same opening in the wall the lone zombie had come from. Clearly, he was not the only one of his kind in those caves.
"Run," Elsa ordered, pulling Snowflake by the arm and leading her towards the tunnel they had come from.
"You don't need to tell me that!" Snowflake added, being pulled along by Elsa's arm as the rest of the zombies entered the cavern, snarling and lashing at them.
As they ducked into the narrow tunnel, Snowflake suddenly felt one of them grab her by the leg with its bare hand, trying to pull her back.
Snowflake screamed for Elsa to help her, not wanting to be the zombie's next meal.
Elsa whipped out her gun, praying her next shot wouldn't hit Snowflake by accident. She closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger, shooting off the zombie's hand.
The creature groaned in pain as Snowflake scurred along the tunnel with Elsa, both of them ending up in the large open section of the cave with the ladder.
"Okay, up the ladder?" Snowflake assumed, as the Zombies lurched closer.
"Like there's another way out," Elsa remarked, before heading towards the ladder and grabbing onto it tightly. She grappled along the ladder, climbing up with Snowflake in close pursuit.
Snowflake closed her eyes as she climbed the ladder, trying her best not to look back onto the creatures behind them.
She gulped and hurried up the ladder with Elsa, the two of them eventually reaching the top of the cavern.
Elsa looked down, seeing the Zombies clinging the walls, out for their flesh and blood. "They're still coming!"
Snowflake looked up, seeing a group of stalactites under the cave entrance. "Hey! You got a bomb on you?"
Elsa fumbled around her bag, before pulling out a pair of hand grenades. "I found these in the tank. Will they do?"
"Plenty," Snowflake agreed, taking the grenades. She then pulled the pins and tossed them into the cavern, pushing her and Elsa down to the ground as the bombs exploded, sending the rubble down on top of the ice creatures and burying them under solic rock.
Elsa coughed, sitting to her feet, amazed at that Snowflake's little party trick had worked. "Well done, Snowflake," she stated, smiling.
Snowflake groaned. "Well... let's hope we don't see any of them anytime soon," she remarked.
Elsa got up, helping Snowflake to her feet. "Come on... let's get these crystals back to the tank."
xXx
Sometime later, Elsa and Snowflake had brought the crystals to the tank, Kristoff having wired them up into the engine. Amazingly, they did indeed work and soon the tank was up and running again.
As Kristoff drove off, taking the first shift at the wheel, he said. "Sounds like you two had an adventure."
"You could say that," Elsa admitted. "Wonder what those monsters were though? I've never seen anything like them."
"Me neither," Snowflake replied. "And I've got amnesia."
"Well, be thankful you made it out in one piece," Kristoff said. "I think this gizmo is telling me that we've got a few more miles of these mountains to go, and then we'll be on the plains to Ground Zero."
"Sounds perfect," Elsa said, relaxing in her chair.
Elsa then lets her eyes fall on Snowflake, seeing the young girl pretty much at peace now. She then let her thoughts dwell back on how she had felt when Snowflake was on top of her, when Snowflake had gotten close to her when they were climbing into the Snowcat that one time.
She hadn't felt that way about anyone before... was this love?
Elsa didn't know, and didn't want to pressure Snowflake about it. After all, they had a city to get to and that was more important.
xXx
Author's note: Oooooh, Elsa is deftintley in love with Snowflake now. Might be a while before she says anything about it though ;)
See ya next time!