Standard Note: This story is mostly my own creation. The characters are ALL mine. They are loosely based on real people, but they and the plot are mine! If you'd like to post this story on your website or use it for some other purpose, please Ask me. As long as you credit me, I won't have any problem. Just know that it's mine. Thank you.
"Really Marie? We're gonna get to go outside?" Cindy asked. She and about twenty five other kids were crowded around Marie, listening to her.
"That's right," Marie replied. "Your parents have decided that they're going to let you go outside tomorrow. You'll get to play in the snow for about an hour and a half."
The kids were excited, and began talking excitedly amongst themselves. "We can build snowmen?" one little boy spoke up.
"Yes, and snow forts and anything else you want," Marie replied.
"Awesome!"
"What if we get cold?" a nervous little girl asked.
"We won't let you freeze," she consoled. "You'll get to wear warm coats and boots and you won't be outside for too long. If you get too cold you just tell someone and they'll let you go back in. Afterwards we're going to have some hot chocolate and warm up."
The kids cheered again. This was the first time they had heard about the plan to go outside, but the rest of the Colony had been working in preparation for that day for the last month. The coats and boots had been specially made for the children from measurements taken while they were asleep. Marie had worked to get permission for each and every one of the twenty five children in the compound. Of course the seven babies wouldn't be allowed to go outside, but every other child had been granted permission.
As Marie left the Children's Center to head to the cafeteria to eat, she smiled thinking about the kid's happy faces. They'd love playing in the snow. And she would enjoy it, too. It had been a while since she'd gone outside and it had been forever since she'd played in the snow.
The beginning of January was a cold time that was full of snowstorms this year, so this was a perfect time to play in the snowdrifts. She hadn't been outside for three months. When she'd first come to the Colony six months ago, fleeing her school, she had gone outside often on missions for the Colony, even being a Watcher for a while. But her love for children and her gift for dealing with them had led her to start working for the Caretakers instead. And it was fun. But she still missed spending so much time outside.
'Would be nice if Kali was here…' she found herself thinking for only the seven thousandth time in the last few months. Kali would have liked going outside just as much as she did.
'Oh well, she's not here.'
She got her food and sat down at one of the tables by herself, immersed in thoughts about her missing friends and the excitement of tomorrow.
'Can you be so sure…?' a whispered voice asked her.
"Huh?" Marie looked up from her hamburger and fries and looked around. There was no one there. 'I must be hearing things,' she thought. 'I could have sworn I heard Kali.' She studied her hamburger for a moment. 'That's old food for you…' she thought to herself, and took a bite.
"It's s-s-so c-c-cold out here," the girl stammered. She moved a strand of hair out of her face as she strolled out of the building.
"Are you sure you want to go? It's so cold out. Maybe you should wait until the weather gets warmer," the blond haired boy suggested.
"Thanks Matt," she replied. "I think I have to get moving on, though."
"Will I hear from you again?" he asked. He wiped his long bangs out of his face and shifted his feet on the floor.
"I hope so," the girl replied. She wrapped the coat around her and smiled. "Thanks for the coat and the food and stuff." She lifted the backpack over her shoulders.
"No problem," Matt replied, shrugging it off.
"I'll write to you if I can," she told him. "Thanks for everything." She turned and started walking down the path away from their Settlement.
"Bye! Thanks again!" Matt said, watching her stroll down the path. She turned once and waved, then continued walking.
'I wish I could stay and help him, but I think someone else needs me more,' she thought to herself as she walked.
Marie took a deep breath and smiled. The cold air chilled her lungs, but it felt so good to breathe fresh air again that she didn't mind. She smiled and checked to make sure her coat was buttoned securely.
"It looks safe enough," one of the Watchers called from his post. Marie looked up and nodded.
"All clear here," another one called from a different location. Marie nodded again.
"Okay Jake, you can bring them out!" she called.
Slowly, a large, snow covered rock lifted up off the ground, seemingly under its own power. It tilted back to reveal the snow it falling away. A staircase was revealed.
"Okay kids, head on out!" Jake called to the kids. They came rushing quickly up out of the Colony, cheering and talking excitedly.
"I want to build a snowman!"
"I want to build a snow fort!"
"I want to throw snowballs!"
Marie couldn't help but laugh. 'They remind me of me and my sister when we were young,' she thought to herself. She noticed Jake smiling at her, and was so happy that she actually smiled back.
"Marie!"
Marie looked up from where she sat, helping Cindy and another girl roll a huge snowball, to see one of the Watchers motioning to her. She left the kids and strolled over to him as casual as possible.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"Nothing major. I just see something. Check it out." He handed her his telescope.
Marie nodded, acting as casual as possible, and peered through the telescope.
It was a girl, not much older than she was (if at all older). She was lying on a blanket, looking half-frozen.
"Last night's snow must have caught her by surprise," the Watcher commented. "Should we help her?"
"Who is she?" Marie wondered. "And what is she doing out here?"
The man shrugged.
Marie turned and motioned to Jake. She hated to ask him for help, but she knew that she could trust him to keep it a secret and view it with a clear head. Besides, he happened to be free for the moment.
"What's the matter?" he asked, stepping up to her. Wordlessly, she handed him the telescope.
"Should we help?"
He nodded and handed the telescope back to the Watcher. "We've only got fifteen minutes left," he said. "It'll take us that long to get to her." Marie nodded.
"Tell the others to bring the kids in. We'll go get her," she told the Watcher, who nodded. Marie and Jake headed out in the snow-covered woods.
"Any ideas who she could be?" Jake asked. Marie shook her head.
"No clue," she replied.
"I just hope we get to her in time," he continued.
She nodded.
Jake sighed. Conversation would obviously be difficult. "Do you think she's alone?" he asked.
Marie shrugged. "Looks it."
"Where do you think she's from?"
"I dunno."
Jake decided to abandon the conversation.
Marie looked down at the girl. She reached into the bag she carried on her shoulder and found a spare blanket.
"I'll get some branches to make a stretcher," Jake offered, pulling a hatchet out of his own bag. She nodded and began to pick up some odd twigs. A fire would be necessary. It might be a good half hour before Jake was finished, and she'd need to start warming her up as soon as possible.
As soon as she'd gathered a decent amount of twigs, she placed them in a pile and pulled out a pack of matches from her bag and started the fire. In a short while she had it burning brightly. Then she turned to the girl.
She pulled off the torn, thin leather boots, and the ice-covered socks. Using the blanket, she warmed up the feet as much as possible. She would have used warm water, but she didn't have anything to heat the water in. Instead, she just focused on warming her gradually.
Marie had received a minimal amount of first aid when she became a Caretaker for the children, and when the project was announced to let them go outside, they had all been trained to recognize frostbite. She was pleased to see that, although cold, the girl's feet were the only things that were frostbitten so far.
Jake returned ten minutes later, and she helped him to make a stretcher from the two sticks and the spare blanket. Jake used his own spare blanket to cover the girl's feet as best as possible. Then Marie lifted one end and they carried her back to the Colony.
'I know it's probably not possible, but she looks so much like Kali…' Marie thought to herself. 'I've felt like she was close for a few days now, I don't know how to explain it, but it's true. I could almost sense her. If this is her…'
'But it couldn't be. Kali was in an area south of here that was totally destroyed by the armies. She couldn't be alive. I'm just getting my hopes up for nothing. Then when it turns out that this isn't her I'll be disappointed.'
'But still…it looks so much like her…'
She groaned slightly when she felt the pain in her toes. She wasn't quite awake yet. She didn't want to wake up. She didn't want to open her eyes and see that she was in the middle of a freezing cold forest. She didn't want to see that her feet were so frozen she'd not be able to walk again. She wanted to stay here in dreamland, where she was in a warm bed in a warm room under warm blankets. Yeah. She'd just roll over and bury her head in the pillow…
Pillow?
She sat up with a jolt and looked around. There were walls around her. Four walls. And it was warm. She looked down at herself. A blanket. She was under a blanket. In a bed.
Slowly she laid back down, not certain quite yet that it wasn't a dream. Her head hit the soft pillow, and she gasped.
'I must be dreaming,' she thought with certainty.
Suddenly she became aware of the pain in her frozen toes. She sat up again and pulled the blanket back. They were strangely discolored now, and so cold to the touch. But they hurt. That was a good thing. She could feel them.
"Maybe it's not a dream," she thought aloud. "You're not supposed to feel pain in dreams. But then how on earth did I get here?"
There was a door to her left that she hadn't noticed before then, and it opened now. Her first thought was that she'd been captured. Captured. She must have been captured, and she was back in the compound now. She didn't know which one, but whichever one was closest. That must be where she was. Because this wasn't the Julian's lab. And if Julian had found her, he wouldn't have been so kind as to put her in a warm bed and try to heal her frozen toes.
The door opened the rest of the way and a girl walked in.
She was of average height and build, and had straight brown hair that fell just past her shoulders. Her eyes were bright blue and big, standing out against the pale white skin on her face. She wore a pair of blue sweatpants that hung loosely around her legs, a long red shirt that also hung loosely around her, and plain leather shoes on her feet. In her arms she carried a tray with a steaming bowl of something that resembled chicken soup.
"Oh, you're awake," she observed.
The girl in the bed blinked at her several times and stared with wide eyes. "M-M-Marie?" she stammered.
Marie set the tray down on a table and sat down on the edge of the bed. "It is you, then. I thought it might be."
Kali nodded, her green eyes still wide. "I thought I'd never see you again…" she blurted, and the two girls hugged.
"What happened to you?" both asked at the same time. Their eyes were watering, and both wiped the tears away.
"I heard that your hometown was destroyed in the invasion!" Marie cried.
"It was," Kali admitted, looking down. "It was a terrible massacre. We didn't have any warning at all."
"Everyone? Dead?"
"Everyone that I knew of," she replied, meeting her friend's eyes once more.
With a dejected sigh, Marie shook her head. "That's a shame," she commented sympathetically, and put her arm around her friend's shoulder. "All your family?"
"Gone," Kali replied. She wiped the tears from her eyes again. "What about you? What is this place?"
"I was lucky," Marie replied, standing up and getting the tray. "I was at school. It was one of the worst hit areas. After the invasion, I ran to the woods. A lot of other people did, too. Mr. Witherspoon," she paused to snicker at the image of the bald man that popped into her head, "a local man, was an engineer before he retired. He suggested that we build an underground fortress."
"Underground?"
Marie nodded. "Welcome to the Colony," she greeted, handing her friend the tray of soup.
Kali nodded. "Thanks," she replied as she took the tray.
"C'mon, you've got to eat something," Juliana's voice coaxed. "Just a little bit."
Risa shook her head violently and then immediately regretted it as her head began to pound. Added to the lurching motions in her stomach, combining to make her feel incredibly ill.
"You've got to eat something, Risa. Just a little soup."
Risa shook her head again. "No…" she moaned. Her whole body ached. Her head was pounding, her stomach was lurching, and her bones were sore.
"Please?" Juliana half-begged. Reluctantly, Risa agreed, and the woman spooned a few sips of the chicken broth into her. As the warm liquid slid down her throat, the pain in her stomach began to ease. "Better?"
She nodded reluctantly and slowly sat up. Juliana handed her the bowl, and she began to sip from it. The soothing soup eased not only her stomach, but calmed her emotions down a little as well.
She finished the soup and handed the bowl back to Juliana, who took it from her with a soft, sad, smile. She looked at Risa's eyes and her smile continued. Still so innocent, still so trusting, those eyes were.
Juliana stood up to leave the room. "Wait," Risa said. She paused in the doorway. "Stay. Please. Just a little?" Risa asked.
The woman was silent for a few long moments before she responded. Then she shook her head slightly, looked down at the ground and left.
Risa sighed. 'I should have known,' she thought to herself. She had been here for two months now, and Juliana always left after she gave her some soup. She should have expected that she wouldn't stay, but she hoped anyway.
With a sigh, she laid back down, and shivered as the cold metal of the table she was on hit her bare arms. She lifted them both and stared at her wrists. The burns on them were still visible. A small, brown circle, still tender to the touch. She couldn't see her forehead, but she was certain that she had two more of those bruises up there.
With another sigh, Risa lowered her arms again and shut her eyes. It was worth it to try and fall asleep. There wasn't much else to do, after all.
