Early on, Nola and Vale had raided the pantry. They’d eaten conservatively, but the limited food supply dwindled fast. So did her medication.

Nola dreaded the coming withdrawal. The aches and pains, the flop sweat, the constant shivers. Muscle spasms. Feeling like she’d come down with a nuclear flu. Crying over everything and nothing. Vomiting and diarrhea would be a forgone conclusion. Yay me.

On the fifteenth day, Vale said, “If we stay, we die slowly. If we leave, we’ll find help or die quickly.”

“If I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.” No way Nola would stay here and watch her wonderfully vibrant sister starve to death. And what about GG? The search could begin again!

Stop! Just stop. He isn’t real, and you know it. You’re only setting yourself up for disappointment.

“Then it’s settled.” Vale squeezed her hand, pulling her from her musings, and offered her a sad smile. “We head out in the morning.”

Nola tossed and turned that night, desperate to hear GG’s voice. Alas. He’d ceased all communication.

Because I’m taking less medication than usual.

Tears welled. So, he’d been a product of her medicines all along, just as part of her had feared.

When morning came, she put on a brave face and donned the survival gear they found in the closet. They packed two backpacks with essentials and set out, and it didn’t take long for hypothermia to set in. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably, an earthquake in her jaw. Despite goggles and a full face mask, her nose and lungs burned every time she inhaled.

But, through it all, instinct urged her to turn here, go there. Then, a miracle happened. As the sun set, silvery moonlight falling over the terrain, Vale discovered a large cavern tucked inside a hill of ice. They had to climb twenty feet to get inside, but...worth it. Even as Nola’s knees buckled, that instinct shouted, Yes! He’s near.

Uh, what the what? No way! Just no way.

“Stay there. I’ll get us warm.” Vale extracted logs and matches from a backpack and built a fire, then used climbing rope to create a hanging-line for their wet clothes.

“Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you.” Nola removed her hat, goggles and face mask, even the gloves. Delicious warmth licked each newly exposed patch of skin.

She scanned the cavern, finding carved images on the far wall, featuring a horned monster and a headless corpse. Nice. “Is that ice graffiti?”

“Let’s find out.” Vale stripped out of her gear and crossed to the other side of the cave. Her jaw dropped, excitement radiating from her. “Someone has to live here, or at least visit upon occasion. We could be close to civilization. I’ll look around for more clues.”

“Be careful.” Whoever had carved those images might be a wee bit...disturbed.