The Hijinks War

37. Holiday Inn Run by Squirrels

The late evening February sky cast an eerie blue grey glow over everything, including Kellen and I laying on the ground. The combination of not moving anymore and the sun finally disappearing over the horizon, set us shivering and our teeth chattering. 

We had watched as two partially injured wardens carried the other back to the academy, listening to the screaming long after we couldn't see them anymore. The other three, convinced that there were students nearby, had decided to keep looking.

They moved slowly, searching thoroughly, as if fearful of more booby traps. There were none, of course, but I was tempted to launch another explosive into their midst, and send these last few running with their tails tucked. I decided it would be better saved, in case we needed to use it as a weapon?

After two hours, with only the eerie evening glow lighting their way, the wardens headed back to The Academy. We didn't know if they would return, bringing others with them. We watched after them for some time before we attempted moving again. But by that time, our bodies had long since given in to exhaustion.

"Cole?"

"Yuh?"

"Cole, we need to move."

"Can't. Too cold. And tired."

"I hear you, Cole, but we can't stay here. I'm tired too. There's no way either of us is making the hike back to base tonight. But, we should try to find a place to camp for the night."

While I agreed with him, I couldn't feel much of anything but the pain in my feet and the cold numbness in my legs. I could hear him shuffling as he pushed himself up, and told myself to push past the icy pain.

I succeeded in rolling over onto my back and peered into the sky, lamely stating, "It's going to snow."

He looked up as if he didn't believe me, and then shrugged after examining the sky like he had a clue. "At least it will warm up a bit. But again, we need to find someplace out of the open to stay for the night."

Where exactly are we going to find this place, Kellen? It's not like we would find a Holiday Inn run by squirrels. We'd be lucky to find a fallen hollowed out tree big enough for two of us to squeeze into. And warm? We were outside in February... February!

There would be no warmth—especially since we couldn't start a fire in case the wardens were still paying attention. There would be freezing half to death and maybe, just maybe waking up with enough energy to crawl halfway to camp. But, he was right. If we stayed out in the open, we wouldn't even have that small possibility of surviving till morning.

"Fine. Let's go."

We walked in silence, making our way north through the now sparse woods and toward the edge of the ridge we were on. The other side was a rocky slope that I carefully followed Kellen down―I couldn't see us finding a shelter there. It was a long way down the slope or back in the direction we'd come from to reach the thick forest, where we'd find protection from the elements.

Ahead of me, Kellen stopped and looked around every once in a while, as if re-assessing the landscape. Still uphill and east of where he was, I had a different view, so when I began doing the same, I saw something he would have missed; a hollow in the rocks. I stopped moving downward and started moving sideways along the slope. Kellen didn't notice what I was doing, nor did I call him until I stumbled, crashing down a few feet.

"What the HELL, Cole? Be careful!" He chided as he climbed back to me. I didn't wait and started climbing to what I'd seen, hoping desperately it was what I thought it was.