Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Twenty-Two

"C'mon Slater!" Grant yelled over the wind, "We have to get just a little farther tonight!"

Grant and I had been trekking through the wastelands of Russia for so long we'd lost count of the days. We'd almost died at least 40 times, from getting too close to cliffs to avalanches to near-freezing temperatures to being almost buried by snowstorms to a dozen other things. We had to keep pushing ourselves every single day, and I was running out of stamina.

But I was not about to give up now.

I clenched my fists, lowered my head against the wind, and kept pushing. We'd have to make camp before the storm came to join the wind, but we still had time to get a little closer to our goal.

After struggling along for a few more miles, we couldn't go any farther.

"Alright," Grant finally said, "We'll camp here."

****************

It took us forever to get a fire going. We had enough fuel (for now) and a lighter, but the wind was so strong it kept going out anyway.

Finally, we were able to huddle together in front of the fire, shielding it from the wind with our bodies while we got a few hours of rest. Part of the SHIELD long-term survival gear was a tent, thankfully, but we always waited to set it up until we were actually going to bed so the wind wouldn't blow it away.

I was breathing hard as I stared blankly into the flames. I started wondering where I would be right now if I hadn't joined SHIELD. Probably fresh out of college, in an apartment somewhere. I had no idea what time it was in New York, but maybe I'd be sitting down in my own bed, reading a Paula Pinske novel instead of living one.

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. I couldn't think like that. SHIELD was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and a little hardship like the Siberian tundra was not going to change my mind. No matter how close it came to killing me.

At least I had Grant with me. I don't know what I would've done without him. Whenever I was starting to lose hope, he snapped me out of it and kept me going. I didn't say anything, but I leaned in to him and he put his arm around me.

"This sucks," I muttered.

"No kidding," he sighed back.

"How close do you think we are to Finland?"

"Closer than we were yesterday."

I sighed. It was true, we'd been steadily making progress. I had to believe that we could do this. That we could survive.

"Let's set up the tent and get some sleep if we can," suggested Grant. I nodded and silently we set up our only shelter, a flimsy piece of fabric.

We laid down, still huddling together for warmth. We were pretty much a puddle of coats, now almost completely dependent on one another.

"Hey, Slater, get up," said Grant, shaking me awake, gently this time. I was much easier to wake up now, since I never got comfortable enough to be in a deep sleep.

"I'm up," I said, feeling a sinking sensation in my heart as I realized it was time to start the endless trek again. I crawled out of the tent and helped Grant pack it up, then dug through now-extinguished fire for any wood that could be reused.

We had been extremely careful with our emergency food supply, and by some miracle, it hadn't run out yet. However, that also meant that breakfast was a few bites, and Grant and I were running on less and less fuel every day.

I took a deep breath along with my first step, trying to steel myself for the day ahead. Hopefully, today would be the day we finally made it to Finland.