Chapter 17

It didn't matter how many layers I was wearing. The gale-force winter wind battering me from all sides sent the cold straight to my bones with little resistance. If I had left any more skin exposed than the small slit for my eyes, it would no doubt be already frost-bitten. A particularly strong gust slammed into me, and I stumbled and almost fell over.

Up ahead, Sam led the way with the twins tucked under each arm; Lisa was perched on his shoulders, holding a battery-powered weather-proof lantern to guide us. For us "big people," it was slightly less difficult because the snow was only shin-deep due to the wind, but for the youngest of my siblings it may as well have been riddled with booby traps. Lincoln was handling himself fairly well, but Lucy had to be given a piggy-back ride by Dad, and Lily was cradled safely in Mom's arms.

Sam periodically stopped to let the rest of us catch up, which some of us were no doubt grateful for. Eventually, Sandra picked up her pace to catch up to Sam. Their exchange was lost to the wind, but I saw Sam hand the twins to his aunt, pluck Lisa off of his shoulders, and nestle her against his chest as he held the lantern aloft himself.

After what felt like ages of walking, the mall finally came into view, the lights within cutting through the storm for us like a lighthouse for a ship. We reached the wide parking lot, and we were about halfway across it when the ear-splitting shriek of bending metal was heard. I looked to the side and saw one of the lampposts about to fall on top of me! Before I could react, Sam tackled me out of the way, flipping us around so that his own body took the brunt of the impact with the ground. I saw his eyes flash yellow as we pulled ourselves back to our feet and trudged onward. Another family of three reached the door from another direction at the same time as us, and the people on the other side pulled the doors open to let us all in.

The minute we stepped inside, we were commanded to peel off our soaked and snow-covered outer layers, and blankets were wrapped around us as we were grilled by EMTs on the scene. The family that arrived at the same time as us revealed themselves to be Thai-American, and one of them happened to be Lincoln's friend Jenny.

"It's a good thing you got here when you did. The storm's getting even worse!" exclaimed the lady who was looking me over for signs of frostbite.

My ears perked up when I heard a man's voice in the background ask, "Where's Darcy?" There was a lull of about two seconds before Jenny and her family panicked and had to be stopped from rushing right back outside. Apparently, Lisa's best friend Darcy was Jenny's younger sister, and they had unknowingly gotten separated during the trek to the mall. Now she was lost out in the storm somewhere, and the guy in charge of this whole operation wouldn't let them back out to look for her.

"Look, I know you're upset. Just leave everything to us. We'll do everything we can to find your daughter," he was saying. As the EMT finished with me and moved on to the next person, I overheard him tell one of his underlings, "Barricade the door. Everyone who couldn't shelter in place is safe now, and the building's at full capacity."

"But what about the Helmandollar girl? You told them we'd do our best to find her."

"It's too late. In weather like this, she's a goner. We need all of our resources here."

Sam wasn't too far from where I was sitting, and we shared a look. No doubt he'd heard the same thing I had, and I could see growing fury in his eyes. I nodded to him, and we clasped hands and went to confront the man ourselves. Sam grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, grabbed his throat, and lifted him off the ground.

"How dare you?!" he growled, his eyes flashing yellow again. "How could you be so heartless as to leave a little kid to freeze to death in the storm?! Find. Her. NOW!" His roar of anger attracted the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

"I can't!" the man gasped around his decreasing oxygen supply. "We can't afford to waste resources on just one person!" Sam looked at me with a silent question, and I smiled.

"Go get her, babe," I said, kissing his frost-bitten but rapidly healing cheek. He smiled and nodded before turning back to the man.

"Well if you won't look for her, then I will!" Sam declared, then sent the man sprawling with a punch to the gut. Sam turned toward the door. Anyone who got in his way to try and stop him from leaving got tossed aside like a rag doll. Finally, Sam got angry enough that he hurled himself through a window and ran off into the storm at full speed.

The man in charge swore and yelled, "Seal that window! Nobody gets in or out without my say-so!" I sat back down as a piece of plywood was placed against the hole in the window and secured with duct tape. Jenny approached me, and I scooted to the side so that she could sit down.

"I-is it true? D-did they really refuse to look for Darcy?" she asked with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, it's true," I sighed. "Don't worry, though. If anyone can find her, it's my boyfriend. I have a feeling that this isn't the first blizzard he's had to survive..."

...

Truth be told, I was more worried about Darcy than I was about Sam. Now that I knew that he was a fast healer and could even come back from the dead thanks to his werewolf traits, I knew he'd be fine even if he froze solid. Darcy, on the other hand, was just a regular human, and a small one at that.

Sam had been telling me about most of the various survival skills he'd learned from his dad. From what I'd gathered, the best thing to do if you found yourself in a storm like this without shelter was to bury yourself in the snow. The snow would then serve as a form of insulation and help preserve your body heat.

For Darcy's sake, I hoped Sam was able to find her in time.

Everyone at the mall waited the rest of the day and all through the night for the storm to cease, sipping on soup and hot drinks. The next morning, blue sky could be seen through the glass dome over our heads, but there was no sign of Sam. The snow was piled so high against the walls that the doors wouldn't open. If and when the doors were forced open, it would take hours to tunnel through the snow to get outside.

Out of boredom, I made my way to the second floor to look out one of the windows. There was nothing but brilliant white as far as the eye could see. I was in the process of turning away when something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned back to get a proper look. A dark speck on the horizon was gradually getting closer. In order to identify the speck, I ran to the toy store nearby and grabbed a pair of cheap toy binoculars (which were actually pretty effective in a pinch). Rushing back to the window, I lifted the binoculars to my eyes.

Racing across the surface of the snow on all fours, the back of his poncho flapping behind him...

...was Sam!