“No, you’re right," she said, cutting me off. "Let’s go, but let me at least try to walk.”
I shook my head. “Not a chance.”
She had been through so much in such a short amount of time. My struggles were Little League and hers were the Majors. The few hours of labor, the loss of blood, being cramped in the tiny snowmobile enclosure, giving birth, not knowing if your baby would arrive alive or dead…the list went on and on.
I allowed myself to smile as I stood there taking in Mia and Monica. Mia’s hair was a sweaty mess, her cheeks were red, her lips were even more blue than before, but she looked happy. Happier than I had seen her in a long time.
Monica’s head was barely visible under my hoodie and sweater. I saw just a hint of her clumpy dark hair. She had more hair than some of the guys I'd graduated high school with had in their late twenties.
Five minutes away, I told myself. That’s all. We can make it…
Unless the monsters were out there waiting for us.
“You ready?”
Mia kissed the top of her newborn baby girl’s head. “No, but what other choice do I have? Stay here and die?”
I nodded solemnly.
Exactly. We had no choice.
I carried them. It was not easy. The combined weight sunk me deeper into the snow with each step. It came up past my belly button, packed under my top, and spilled into my pants and shoes. Remember, I had no protection over my torso aside from a t-shirt and a blanket partially thrown over my shoulders that was meant to cover Mia and Monica completely. Thirty seconds out of the bridge and my skin felt like it was on fire; two minutes, and I was sure I was going to have to be amputated from the waist down.
The baby wailed and wailed, but the wind stole most of the sound. I was glad I could hear it, and I kept praying I would continue to hear it.
The lighthouse’s lantern burned bright above us, sweeping along in a circle. In the flurry of snow, I could just make out the towering gates the military had erected over the area. I knew we were still following the road because of the guard boxes set up on either side of the entrance. These were buried nearly to their roofs, useless now, but no mirage.
Seeing them and the light gave me another shot of much-needed adrenaline, and I sped up. I had to dig deep into my energy reserves once the adrenaline wore off. There were many close calls when I almost lost my balance and dropped them, but I stayed standing. The snow helped in that regard; the wind did not.
“You okay?” I shouted.
“Save your breath!” Mia answered. The icy air lifted her hair, and it slapped against my cheek. I smelled sweat and coconut.
“Almost there!”
Almost there—almost there—almost there—
Then—
We were there, right below the gate. I rotated, somehow still able to move on my numb legs, and threw my back into the fence. The chain link rattled. Large swathes of ice cracked and fell, landing without noise in the surrounding snow.
“HEY! HEY! HELP US!” I shouted.
Beyond the ice were plastic coverings, hiding the metal. I smashed my face against it and tried peering through the cracks. I saw nothing because of how hard the snow was falling.
“HEY! PLEASE! PLEA—” My voice cracked, lost strength. “Please…”
It was then that the light burning in the lighthouse above went dark.
I remember thinking, No. This can’t be happening. We didn’t come all this way, go through hell and back, just to be turned away at the door.
I couldn’t stay up much longer. The numbness of my body broke, and the icy pain ripped through my flesh. It was like being swallowed by flame. Now I knew how the monsters felt.
I was either sinking deeper, or my knees were finally giving in.
“Pleaseeeeee…”
Mia’s sobs went unheard, but a thrumming vibrated through my chest.
I thought to myself: I won’t let us freeze. I’ll put us out of our misery before I let that happen…
But with what?
Light us on fire? Go back to the site of the snowmobile crash, find a sharp piece of glass, and then slit our throats? I had no more energy left. If I were going to do anything without outside help, it would happen in this very spot beneath the tower.
I didn’t believe we were meant to die, not yet. I found another inkling of strength and diverted it toward my voice.
“PLEEEE—” I bellowed, but the newfound energy drained away and the scream tapered off into a hoarse whisper. “—eeeeeeeasssseeee…” I felt no vibrations in my chest, which meant no crying from either Mia or the baby. Felt no movement. I told myself I wouldn’t drop them, even if they were dead. I would hold onto them and freeze before I did that.
The snow won.
It finally won.
This is it, I thought. It really ends here and now. Like this. What a way to go—
And the strength in my knees gave way. I sank into the white abyss. Each inch brought on a new wave of indescribable pain.
In vain, I tried to lift Mia and her baby above my head, as if we were in a room slowly filling with water and doing so would allow them to have one last breath of sweet oxygen before their lungs were flooded.
Screaming, grunting, I raised them up…and up…and up…
Tendons in my arms twanged, bones crackled, muscles ripped, and—
The light came back. High above, it burned brighter than before.
It had stopped rotating and now settled onto us. Even from a couple hundred feet below, its beams warmed my skin.
Before us, the gates rattled on their tracks, making a sound like a screeching beast. When it opened wide enough, what looked like a speedboat drove over the white surface. My eyes expanded and, shaking, my arms locked into place.
Please don’t be a mirage…please don’t—
Two people emerged
