Welcome to chapter six, The sort off halfway mark. This is one of the key chapters in the story so pay lots of attention, and some mysteries might just be revealed…or maybe not…I don't know. Read and find out

Chapter Six

To Rescue an Argument

-Six o'clock-

'Keep that tarp up!' Lance yelled. 'Don't lose it.'

The men franticly tried to keep the tarp that protected them from some of the wind as they desperately tried to build some supports at the base of the frail building. But no matter how many people held onto the posts that dug it into the snow covered ground, the wind was to powerful and before they could do anything, the tarp and its poles flew off into the white haze. Lance cursed under his breath and turned to the other side of the building.

'Don't let that one get away as well!' he yelled at the men holding the tarp on the other side of the gym. He pulled his hood back on as the wind blew it of for the tenth time in as many minutes. The operation wasn't going quite to plan. The plan was to get some supports on the building as quickly as possible, then work on shoveling a path down to the front door through the mountain of snow. But they still hadn't set up the supports for the building, and it had almost been an hour now. The wind was too strong and the snow was too thick. He turned as he heard the sound of the truck pulling up behind him. He realized how thick the snow was on the ground, the truck was sunk into the ground up to the bottom of the door. Lance pulled the shovel out of the pack on his back and started shoveling out some of the snow around the door so that the driver could climb out. He stood in front of Lance and he stopped shoveling to look up at the towering man. He leaned in closely so the tall man could hear him.

'Is this the last of it!' he yelled to the man.

'Yeah, we can't get anymore scaffolding in this weather!' he yelled back to Lance. They both nodded to each other and Lance quickly turned as he heard his name being yelled from behind him. He looked on in shock as he watched the scaffolding on the right side of the gym start bend and waver in the wind until it finally fell backwards, launching the people who were on it tumbling into the snow along with the whole scaffolding bridge for the right side.

'Will!' he yell as he ran to William's now downed team. He ran up to the team leader and helped him to his feet.

'Are you okay' he said to Will

'Yeah boss, I'm fine' Will replied as he winced. Lance watched the rest of the second squad team rise slowly to their feet, a few of them tumbling back down due to the force of the wind. Will turned in the snow to look at the rest of his team

'C'mon men, get the scaffolding back up!' he yelled and the team slowly started to grab the scaffolding parts that were buried in the thick snow. Lance looked at the building once more as it creaked and some snow tumbled down from the top of the mound.

"Hang in there kids, were going as fast as we can" he though loudly to himself.

*

-Six forty five-

They had passed there awkward feelings about huddling together for warmth, it was to cold to be awkward. They had been sitting here for nearly two hours now, only getting up once to grab a table cloth to make it into a sheet to cover the two of them. They had spoken few words, mostly just things about their lives. Mandy pulled Billy into a tighter embrace, clinging onto what warmth she could. Her eyes were so heavy; all she wanted to do was go to sleep. But she couldn't, not now.

"I mustn't fall asleep, under any circumstances," she thought. She remembered her first aid training classes quite well.

"When people are in hypothermia they can slip quite easily into a coma, so don't fall asleep Mandy!" she yelled at herself in the privacy of her thoughts. She looked over to Billy, whose eyes were half closed.

"Ah, he's falling asleep!" she suddenly realised "I need to keep him awake."

So she did the only thing she knew would keep him awake, she slapped his face … hard. The slap echoed across the gym, causing it to creak a little. Mandy suddenly regretted what she just did as Billy turned his head to look at her, a fresh hand print developing on his face. The look of frustration and confusion in his stare made Mandy feel guilty, and she unwillingly showed this on her face.

'What was that for?' Billy almost yelled.

'You were falling asleep,' Mandy explained.

'So,' Billy shrugged, 'I need a good bit of sleep, I'm tired.'

'No!' Mandy yelled. Billy looked at her curiously and Mandy took a breath to regain her poise.

'We're both in hypothermia,' Mandy said.

'I don't know about you but I went to the toilet this morning,' Billy replied. Mandy ignored Billy's stupidity and continued to explain.

'It means that we have a dangerously low body temperature. So if we were to fall asleep our bodies might not be able to wake us back up.' Mandy watched as Billy desperately tried to make sense of what Mandy just said. When she noticed he still wasn't getting it, she talked it down for him.

'I had to slap you so you wouldn't fall asleep and die,' she said flatly. Billy just crossed his arms under the tablecloth and huffed.

'Well why didn't you just try to talk to me instead of hitting me,' Billy said. Mandy knew that Billy now understood, so she just sat back, not bothering to give him an answer. The two of them were still sitting up next to each other, but they were no longer huddling together. The building started its eerie groan once more and Mandy thought for a second that she could hear faint hammering sounds, but she dismissed the thought as Billy's voice started as the creaking finished.

'You always have to hit first and ask questions later don't you Mandy.'

Mandy was a little taken back by Billy's surprise statement about Mandy's aggressive way. She felt her normal, stern face start to set once more as she looked at Billy.

'What's that supposed to mean?' she questioned, getting slightly aggravated at Billy's outburst. Billy suddenly flung up out from under the tablecloth and stood towering above Mandy, a strange look of anger in his eyes.

'You know exactly what it means Mandy,' Billy snapped. 'You're always pushing me an' hitting me.'

Mandy looked up at the boy, her face unchanged.

'So?' she said calmly.

'So!' Billy repeated. 'Why do you do it then?'

Mandy started to frown in aggravation

'Because it's the only way to get through to your tiny brain, idiot,' she said with a bit more ferocity then last time. Billy pointed his finger down at Mandy.

'I'm not an idiot! Meanie.'

Mandy shot up to her feet, the tablecloth floating away with the force. She didn't know why, but she was suddenly so angry at Billy.

'I beg to differ,' Mandy said sharply. 'I've never met a dumber person in my life, you make poop slinging monkey's look smart.'

'At least I'm not a big, ugly, mean loner … that smells,' Billy said, but Mandy was quick to react.

'You can't even come up with an intelligent comeback,' Mandy stated. She always conquered any argument that the two of them ever had, and this was no exception.

'For a guy that thinks world cultures is a topping for pizza, you're in no position to mouth off.'

'Mandy … ugly … cruel …' Billy was at a loss for words as Mandy dominated the argument, raising her voice to deliver the final verbal blow.

'Your immense lack of intelligence is purely a joke for the dumber people that inhabit this lonely planet, and everyone knows it.'

That last comment was Billy's last straw. His face set into an extreme show of anger and he quickly approached Mandy and before she could react Billy thrust his hands out at her, pushing her back. She stumbled backwards for a few steps and finally fell down next to one of the floor speakers by the side of the stage.

"How dare he?" Mandy thought in a fit of rage, she was confused. Usually he would just agree with what Mandy had to say and she would offer him a way to fix it, but not this time. She looked up at his as he walked over to her and stood over her. Mandy felt the rage build up in her body as he looked down at her, until….

Whack!

She shot up and punched him hard on the bottom of the jaw. So hard in fact, that he fell down flat in front of her. He moaned in pain and Mandy cracked her knuckles. He looked up at her now towering over him.

'You truly are a joke Billy!' she said as Billy looked down at the ground so she couldn't see his face. 'This is exactly why your parents left you in the first place.' Mandy felt her stomach churn as she said her last statement

"Oh my god, did I just say that?" Mandy thought, her face did not change at all though. "That was too far." She usually knew when to stop, but something kept her going until she said the thing she least wanted to say. Billy slowly looked up and Mandy saw his face. A trickle of blood ran out of his mouth and his eyes were teary. Mandy felt terrible on the inside, but she didn't let it show on the outside.

Suddenly Billy shot up and pushed Mandy again, only this time it had much more force. Mandy flew back in what seemed to her to be slow motion … then there was a sudden cracking sound and Mandy's back suddenly hurt … then a buzzing, electrical sound … then … Mandy felt the most pain she had ever felt in her life…it felt like all her bones were jumping in and out of their sockets. She heard Billy scream her name, but she couldn't move. There was a loud pop sound and suddenly the pain stopped.

Mandy lay against the smoking floor speaker, her eyes lightly closed. She had been shocked severely by the floor speaker. Mandy slowly opened her eyes to the sound of Billy's voice.

'Mandy … Mandy,' Billy repeated softly as he crouched over her, holding her head up. Mandy lay there shaking, half from the cold and half from the pain she had just experienced. She groaned as she fully regained consciousness.

'Uh, Billy, what happened?' she said, her head pounding.

'Mandy, I am so sorry,' Billy said. Mandy winced and sat up against her shoulders, Billy still holding her head up.

'What Happened?' she asked again.

'You fell on the speaker, and it broke and electrocuted you' Billy explained. Mandy listened on in wonder. Suddenly something was different about him, something almost … smart. Mandy slowly stood to her feet and Billy made sure that she didn't fall over. She took a deep breath in, and exhaled. Billy took hold of Mandy and forced her to look him in the eye.

'Are you sure your okay Mandy?' Mandy looked at him, into his deep concerned eyes.

"Is he being … responsible …" Mandy looked down at her shoes as she began to talk.

'Y-yeah, I'm fine … just a bit cold,' she said. Billy slowly nodded and began to lead her back to the spot they sat at before, grabbing the tablecloth on the way.

'Well then let's keep you warm,' he said as he carefully placed her down against the wall. As Mandy sat down and Billy placed the tablecloth over her she sighed.

She was alright … she wasn't in pain or anything like that, the only thing was her arm felt really numb…but she more seriously felt like all her energy had been zapped from her body. She felt very weak and extremely tired, and she new that this wasn't going to help her body fight back the cold.

OOOOOooooOOOo. This could make things interesting. Mandy's little run In with electricity has made her a lot weaker. And that electric thing was based on personal experience. Once when changing my music gear at a show I got electrocuted and it did feel like all my bones were lumping in and out of their sockets. It hurt … when I woke up five minutes later.

And before you yell at me about Billy being really OC in this chapter let me remind you. Emergency situations make everyone different. Some people handle it well, others … scream and panic. Billy handled it well.