Pinky's POV

The snowstorm is not making the journey easy for us.

Terry has to support me, and after two hours he's actually carrying me. Peter stumbles only twice in the first hour but by the time two hours have passed, Peter is almost dragging himself through the snow. With his arms hugging himself to keep himself warm, Perry stumbles onwards, the grim determination evident in his face.

Perry suddenly stumbles and pitches face-down into the snow. Before anybody can help him up, he determinedly climbs to his feet and carries on, this time holding his hands in front of his face to protect it from the blinding snow.

Terry's POV

I'm worried about my friend. He's determined to find his son but I'm sure it's going to kill him.

"Perry!" I yell to be heard over the whistling wind. "It's too cold! We won't survive much longer!"

"We have to keep going!" Perry yells back. "We're nearly there!"

"How do you know?" bellows Peter. "I'm going to pass out soon!"

"Nobody forced you to come with me!" yells Perry.

"STOP SAYING THAT!" I suddenly scream. "WE WERE FORCED TO COME WITH YOU! IF WE HADN'T COME WITH YOU, YOU WOULD HAVE DIED, SO SHUT UP!"

Perry just growls and continues on. I begin to follow but my aching legs fold under me and I crash into the thick snow, being careful to avoid landing on Pinky. As I try to get up, Peter wordlessly comes up to me and takes the semi-conscious Chihuahua from me. Then he helps me to my feet and provides an arm to lean on. I nod my thanks and the two of us trudge after Perry.

Peter's POV

I really wish Perry had chosen a different day to do this trek on. I can't feel my freaking ears.

To make matters worse, it's like he doesn't care about his friends. I'm carrying Pinky and helping Terry find his footing. Perry just continues on without even looking back. I know he wants to find his son, I would too, but that's not much of an excuse, seeing as we're all suffering here.

After a few more minutes, Pinky struggles out of my arms and starts walking. "I'm okay," he says bravely. "I don't want to be a burden to you anymore."

This is actually very helpful, since now I can focus on giving Terry more help. The poor turtle has been carrying Pinky and himself for the last two hours. At least I've been able to drag myself and sit down briefly for breaks. Terry has not stopped once.

Pretty soon, a large building looms out of the snow. That gives us energy. All four of us pick up speed and reach the metal door. Perry throws it open and we all tumble inside, closing the door behind us.

I'm pretty sure we all sleep, even Perry. That two hour trek really took a lot out of us.

Perry's POV

I wake up and immediately curse myself for having fallen asleep.

My friends are still snoozing gently. I take out my phone and, just like I did over two decades ago at the retreat, set an alarm. This time, I set it for five minutes and turn it up to the highest volume.

I leave the porch area and go through the door. The facility inside looks a lot like the facility that Priya was kept in.

I know immediately that this place is being lived in. There's a fire in the fireplace and lights are on. I edge towards the door on the far side, but then I hear the alarm go off. I can't believe it's been five minutes already.

A few moments later, Peter stumbles through the door and stops on a rug. He looks tired but alert. "The others are coming."

As if on cue, Pinky and Terry join Peter on the rug. Terry looks the worst. I feel a stab of guilt as I look at my three exhausted friends. During the retreat, I nearly killed someone for hurting my friends. Now I just led them through a perilous trek during which they could very well have died and throughout the walk I didn't pay any attention to them.

I open my mouth and say, "Guys, I'm sorry."

They stare at me. I continue, "For dragging you with me and not caring about you when you were suffering. I was being selfish, and I'm sorry."

To my surprise, Peter is the one who comes forward and puts his paw on my shoulder. "It's okay. You're not being selfish. You just want to get your son back, I get it. But next time, do listen to what we're saying, okay?"

I nod quickly. "Of course."

"Cool." Peter pats me hard on the back. "Then let's go find out of anyone's here."

Next chapter: … actually, I won't give you guys any spoilers for this one I:}