Page 112 of Born Savage

“We need to find a place to hole up,” Wrath said calmly, much like he’d done when he mentioned the town we’d been lucky enough to find.

Only this time, he was fearful we’d die being out in the elements. The snow was several feet deep, the wind howling through every crevice in the vehicle. We had food, but being unsure of the duration of the trip, we had to be very careful how much we consumed.

I’d even found dog food left over for Jake, a real treat that he’d enjoyed. He’d become Wren’s protector and for that alone, he’d share my food if necessary.

Everyone had a purpose and I sensed his would eventually be guiding us through the final stretch of darkness.

Maybe I was over-fantasizing about what we were facing. Or maybe I was falling into some level of hysteria. Either way, I wouldn’t stop fighting until the very end.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Rage slumped into the seat, staring out the window.

“We just passed a sign back there. I know where we are.” Vicious sounded certain.

Rage snorted. “Meaning what?”

“There used to be a zoo. There are caves that might still exist.”

“You’re fucking looney tunes,” Wrath piped in.

“Maybe not. Some of the enclosures were built in these super strengthened enclosures. The builders were worried about earthquakes. Have you seen anything else around here? We’re going to freeze to death. Maybe at least inside a cave, our Firestarter can give us some warmth.” Vicious’ voice was full of anger, but I knew better than to think it was directed at me.

Rage didn’t.

He almost flew over the seat.

“Stop!” I hissed. “You’ll scare Wren. There’s no reason not to see if there’s anywhere we can ride out the storm. Any idea how long that might be, Wrath? You have a sense about these things.”

He acted as if he wasn’t certain Rage would want him to talk. “It should break in the morning.”

“Then we should do that,” I encouraged. With Rage’s silence, I had to push his shoulder to get him to react.

“Yeah, fine. But we need to pay attention to where we’re going. We don’t need to find ourselves more lost than I’m guessing we already are.” Rage remained as frustrated as I’d ever seen him, yet after my display of power, he’d held me in his arms for almost a full hour while the others had gone through the closest houses, gathering up everything they’d believed useful.

In those moments, I’d felt even closer to him, the energy we’d shared more powerful than any of my abilities. I continued to go back to what Peter had told me and what I’d heard from Wrath.

We needed to be cohesive, working together or we would die.

I closed my eyes, trying to counter the ugly voices inside my head as Vicious directed Wrath where to go.

He’d been right in that parts of the zoo, while mostly covered in snow, appeared intact.

“It’ll be getting dark soon. We need to see if the caves still exist.” Vicious didn’t wait to see if Rage approved, bundling up then exiting the vehicle. The howl of the wind had lessened, snow beginning to taper off. Even the pinging sounds from ice had all but subsided.

“At least we found some equipment that will help with digging as needed.” Wrath allowed the engine to idle and I could tell he was looking at the gauges on the dashboard, which I didn’t completely understand. He glanced at Rage, sharing something between them they didn’t want to vocalize. “We don’t have a choice, Rage. No choice at all.”

As soon as he turned off the engine, Rage took a deep breath.

There was no more gas in the tanks.

“We work together,” Rage finally said. “If we don’t dig a hole through in one hour, we spend the night here.”

There was no other choice, no options that would offer any respite from the bitter cold.

“Honey, stay here. Please. We’re going to find a place to spend the night.” I was surprised when Wren didn’t argue.

“Rage will protect us. Right?” Her question caught everyone off guard.

Rage turned his head, looking over the seat and for the first time, I noticed liquid in his eyes. “I’m going to do my best, sweetheart. Keep Jake warm. Okay?”