The Final Showdown - The Moon Trilogy - Book 3

Chapter Twenty-nine:

   Clarity woke up when it was still dark. Her eyes were fuzzy with sleep, but she could still make out the dark lump in the corner that meant Johnny hadn't left. Her lungs burned with the intense cold, and she could hardly take in another breath. The blanket was still wrapped around her, but the icy fingers of cold gripped her harder than they ever had. She snuggled deeper into the plant-fiber cloth, but no matter what she did, she couldn't seem to get warm.

   Her body shook, and she couldn't even stifle these new, intense shivers.

   She sat up. Her breath puffed out in icy clouds, and her limbs were numb with the absolute cold. The blanket fell from her body as she moved, and an even more frigid draft air swept over her. Her lungs constricted with the icy cold. She rubbed vigorously at her arms and chest, but still, she couldn't get warm.

   Her teeth clattered against each other painfully.

   She walked over to Johnny, and she shook him. He grunted slightly as he woke up, and he rose into a sitting position, his face pale in the soft light of an alien night.

   "What's wrong?" he muttered. Clarity could barely see that he was rubbing his face.

   "Can't you feel how cold it is? I think my toes are going to fall off." She hissed through clenched teeth. The stone floor was even colder than the air, and she truly did feel like she could get frostbite. Maybe she already had it.

    She'd never been so cold in her life.

   "Sorry, I-" he broke off in a yawn. "I don't feel temperature like you, but I can lay with you for a bit until you warm up." he finished, grogginess painfully evident in everything he did.

He rose to his feet.

   "Yes please." She said, nodding vigorously. She could practically feel the heat coming off of him in waves, and the thought of getting warm again made her feel even colder.

   She padded back over to the cot, and she lay down, burying herself under the useless blankets again. Just a second later, Johnny climbed beneath the cover next to her. She instantly felt warmer, and she got warmer still when he wrapped his arms around her. In the drowsy haze of new warmth, she fell asleep quickly.

   Unlike the first night, she didn't wake up periodically because of the drafty air. A dreamless, beautifully deep sleep.

   She finally did wake up quite a while later, judging by the light change. She was surprised to see that Johnny hadn't left, as he said he would. He still appeared to be sleeping, but after she stirred, his eyes popped open as if he'd been awake the whole time.

   "I would have left, but it only got colder during the night." He stated, clearly thinking he had to explain himself. She nodded, and then she yawned. She really didn't care if he stayed hugging her for the rest of their time on the freezing planet. He was practically a living heater, and she probably would have frozen to death in the middle of the night if it hadn't been for him.

   "That's fine with me." She fought the drowsiness that was already pulling at her eyes again so soon after waking up.

   She sat up halfway but immediately had to lie back down. Just the millisecond of exposure to the icy air had told her that Johnny wasn't lying. It had gotten much, much colder during the night, and she was surprised that her face hadn't frozen off.

   Johnny laughed softly.

   "I told you so." He murmured.

    She chuckled and snuggled deeper into the cot. He had told her so. She had almost forgotten how cold she had been the night before, and she could hardly comprehend what it meant to get colder. A shiver ran across her spine just thinking about it.