When Kay woke up, she was sweating. She saw she had been moved to a small isolated room with a bed and a closet. Looking under the covers, she saw the very think pair of wool pants they had given her along with a sweater. She looked around for a clock to tell her the time, but there was none. Shoving the blankets aside, she stripped off her sweater and pants for something a bit lighter. In a nearby closet she found a large tan thermal shirt that hung down to her knees and a dark robe. She kept the thick wool socks on her feet and the pair of long johns covering her legs.

Kay cautiously opened the door and poked her head outside her room. The hallway was gray and empty with only a few lights overhead to light her way. She scooted out and silently closed the door. She wandered down the hall, taking in the boxes and crates lining the walls. She could hear no voices from around her, just the sound of her socks rubbing the hard floor. The silence grew more eerie as she continued to explore. When Kay passed a window, she looked outside and saw nothing but white. She already loathed the snow because of what it had done to Denny and everybody else she had worked with. Her desire to escape the cold had only increased since she had been here. Thinking of Denny only filled her with more sadness.

Blinking back tears, she continued to explore, waiting to encounter someone. Eventually, she heard noises coming from a room off to one side. Following the noise, she discovered it was a woman speaking softly. The door was slightly ajar when she put her ear close to it. There was a man inside as well, chuckling.

"Poor baby, you're starting to lose it, aren't you?" he said.

Just when Kay thought she was eavesdropping on someone having sex, she heard the woman say, "Rook to Knight 6."

Intrigued, Kay pushed open the door slightly and looked inside. There was indeed a man, but he was sitting at a computer entitled Chess Wizard. His back was to her; from the looks of it, he was losing. The man poured himself a drink as the computer said, "Checkmate. Checkmate." The man, no doubt upset by his loss, opened the computer up and poured his drink inside the machine. A few sparks flew, and then the screen went black.

"Cheating bitch," he mumbled. As he stood up, Kay quickly moved out of the door. However, she tripped over a loose tarp and fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Before she could run back down the hallway, she heard, "What are you doing?" She looked up and saw the man staring down at her. She had to admit, he was handsome. He was tall, well built with a full grown beard. His light eyes looked her up and down in understanding. "You're the girl, right?"

Flustered, Kay quickly nodded. He bent down and offered her his hand. She took it and he helped her to her feet. "Thank you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was just…wandering."

"You're American?" he asked surprisingly.

She nodded. "Am I that obvious?"

"No, it's just there aren't many Americans down here during the winter. Usually Garry's informed if there are."

"Guess I wasn't important enough to report," she joked.

The man didn't laugh. There was an awkward silence before he cleared his throat. "Listen, ma'am…sorry, I didn't hear your name."

"Kennedy," she said. "Kathryn Kennedy."

"Right, Miss Kennedy. Now that you're up and about, Garry'd like to ask you a few questions."

Kay nodded. "Fine. Can you take me to him?"

He nodded. "Follow me." He started down another hallway as Kay followed him. As they walked, Kay observed him. His posture was very relaxed, but he didn't try to make conversation with her. She guessed he was the type of person who isolated themselves from everybody around them. Oddly enough, she knew the feeling well; Denny was the only person who had really bothered to talk to her about non-work related topics. She was too busy studying him to realize she was about to bump into a crate. The man had noticed, though, so he grabbed her arm and yanked her away from it. "Careful," he cautioned.

After a minute of silence, a little light bulb went off in her head. "You're MacReady, aren't you?" she asked curiously. "You brought Denny and me in."

He looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, that was me and Copper."

"How did you find us, if you don't mind my asking?"

MacReady was hesitant before speaking. "Copper and I were out trying to find a Norwegian base where this crazy guy might have come from. He was chasing a dog, wounded one of our men. We were searching for the base when we found you."

Kay was puzzled. Who from her base had come here? She had an idea, but she had been certain he had died…

"I got to say, we were surprised to find two people out in the middle of nowhere. You were barely holding on," he said. "Good thing Copper spotted you when he did."

Kay swallowed and said, "Well, I owe you my life, Mr. MacReady. Thank you, and Copper too."

"It was nothing," he replied, looking at her. "You can just call me MacReady. Everybody else does."

"Will you call me Kay?" she asked. "I'm not used to being called "miss"."

"Fair enough," he said. He was silent before speaking again. "I'm sorry we couldn't save him. Dennis, I mean."

Kay took a deep breath, trying not to let tears well up in her eyes. "Thank you. I know you and your team tried."