The walk back was terrifyingly loud. The explosions and gunshots bounced around me, enveloping me with anxiety. Lucky's breathing tickling my ear uncomfortably. However, the loudest thing I heard was the beating of my own heart.
It beat louder with every step, reminding me that I had left my friend behind.
The awful feeling in my chest grew worse.
The sounds only increased when I was met with the chattering of a large crowd.
Why haven't they started evacuating?
"Snow!"
I turned to look at the girls and Tristan, who ran towards me.
"What's wrong with Lucky? Is she okay?" They crowded around me as Sani checked on her.
"She just... fainted." My chest felt tight.
Tristan seemed to notice Arianna's absence. "Snow, where's Arianna?"
My eyes avoided theirs as I handed Lucky over.
Tristan was usually slow, however he decided to chose this moment to be sharp. "No." He stepped back. "I- I'm going to bring her."
He was about to walk past me, but I quickly grabbed his arm.
"Let me go!" He snapped while attempting to pry my hand.
"She chose to give us time. Don't waste it." I snapped but quickly softened my tone. "She'll catch up."
They stared at me, unsure of what to believe.
Sani broke the silence with a smirk. "Arianna's too tough to die. I'm sure she'll catch up."
Her hands were trembling.
Brye and Liz sent each other looks with racing hearts while Dan shifted uncomfortably.
"We need to leave now." I mumbled to Tristan.
He seemed to ponder for a moment, frustration and tears clearly in his eyes but his body finally went limp as he nodded in defeat.
I let go of him and turned to Sani. "Why hasn't the evacuation started?"
"It seems the blizzard is too tough for us to walk through. They're gathering all the elementalist to do something about it."
My head bobbed up and down. "Stay here. Take care of the others."
"Okay."
I trudged past the crowd.
Past screaming children and frightened mothers. Past whispers of fear and anxiety. Past panicked breathing and shouting.
No one even noticed me.
After doing my best to ignore the noise, I reached the front of the crowd.
The roof had been expertly collapsed, revealing an icy hell behind it. Parker and Snake-eyes spoke loudly against the howling from outside with a group of different aged people. Each one of them hugged their bodies to battle against the cold.
Parker caught sight of me. "Snow!"
I pointed at the hole. "How far and in what direction is the emergency hideout?"
He blinked. "What?"
"How far is the emergency hideout?!" I shouted.
Snake-Eyes seemed to have caught on. "70 meters southeast from here. Are you able to do it?"
I nodded.
It wasn't far. I could do it.
"Get ready to move people. Make sure someone hardens the ground for easier movement." I yelled and walked towards the entrance.
"Snow what are you doing?" Parker called after me.
The harsh winds nearly pushed me off my feet. Memories of that night came to mind and fear grew in me. holding my feet firmly, I did my best to push that fear away.
Create a barrier around yourself.
I smiled.
To hear his voice now meant I was in danger. But it had been a while since I've heard him.
After doing what I was told, I looked in the direction of the hideout.
"Snow!" Parker ran up to me, falling when he meet with the winds. "Snow come back here!"
I turned around. "Is everyone ready?"
"Yes but we haven't thought of a plan yet!"
"You have thirty seconds!" I shouted.
A deep exhale escaped my lips.
Never had I tried to use my element to such a scale, but I knew it was possible. After all, I had done it before. I just needed to make it bigger right?
Closing my eyes, I remembered what Addie had taught me. My veins grew cold reaching every corner in my body and escaping through my hands. I grunted, scrunching my eyebrows as the cold began to bring me pain.
The blizzard in my head began to fall backwards, growing lighter and lighter until there was nothing but the cloudy sky.
The pain slowly subsided.
I opened my eyes a relieved laugh escaped my lips when I saw my efforts were not in vain.
The air around me had completely calmed. A wide path leading to the emergency base emerged among the storm, as though the space was protected by a long invisible box.
"Let's go!" Snake-Eyes shouted.
I glanced at the crowd of people who began to spring out of the hole, like rabbits.
"Frez go on ahead and harden the dirt."
"I'll see you later then." A brown-headed man ran off to lead the others.
Parker looked at me intensely.
My eyes locked with his for a moment but I quickly looked away in order to focus.
My shoulders were starting to feel heavy but I ignored it.
"What's wrong?" Snake-eyes asked Parker.
Parker walked up to me. "Snow, you're pushing yourself too hard. Let me help."
I stared at him. "Help me by getting everyone else out first."
He stood still for a moment before nodding. He turned towards Sharp-eyes. "Switch positions with me."
Snake-eyes looked at him as though he had grown two heads. "These positions are given for a purpose. Staying here last could expose you to them and you're not ready for that."
"I'm- I'm ready!" Parker trembled. "I know it's dangerous, but I can't leave knowing Snow could be exposed as well! So switch with me!"
I grit my teeth and turned to look at him. "Are you an idiot?!"
The winds began to pick up, inducing some frightened yelps and screams.
"Focus!" Snake-eyes snapped at me.
My attempt to swerve away from the conversation failed. The mere thought of Parker being exposed to danger caused my heart to race.
"I'm staying." Parker stated firmly.
There was a moment of silence.
"Fine." Snake-eyes sighed in defeat.
"But-"
He cut me off. "But I'm going to stay as well. Go and call Sani, we'll have her go with the last group."
Parker grinned and nodded. I watched as he ran off back into the hole.
"Snow." Snake-eyes called to me, pulling my attention. "I'll stay and take care of him, so please just focus on helping us evacuate."
He pointed at the sky.
Snow had began to drizzle down again, the people that were heading out were covered in white fluff.
I stared at him uncertainly but nodded in defeat. If anyone was able to protect Parker it was Snake-eyes.
Moments later, Sani appeared. Her eyes shined when she saw what a blizzard looked like for the first time.
She swallowed heavily as she stared at howling wind that was being blocked by my bubble.
Snake-eyes closed her jaw. "I'm sure Parker explained on the way."
She looked away from the storm, nodding.
"Good. The carriers have just finished, women and children are next. You're going with the trainees."
"Okay." She balled her hands nervously.
Sharp-eyes placed his hands on her shoulders. "I've seen your capabilities and even fought with you. You can do this."
Sani nodded.
Each of adding moment, my body felt heavier and my legs grew weaker.
Luckily, the mid-section had already passed and the trainees were next.
The girls arrived and stared at me worriedly.
"I'm fine." I motioned, "I'll be right behind you."
Sani nodded, leading the group of trainees into the path. The girls and Tristan glanced behind every so often, as though the storm would swallow me up.
My eyes anxiously looked behind at the hole.
Snake-eyes also seemed to mirror my anxiety as he picked up his walkie. "This is Vans. Everyone's been evacuated, what's the situation down there?"
Parker looked at him nervously.
There was a crackle. "This is Michael, that's a relief to hear."
Hearing his voice sent relief through all of us, but we couldn't relax as the sounds of violence sounded especially empowering.
"They seem to be advancing pretty quickly, but we'll get out on time. Go on without us.Over."
The tone of his voice caused alarms in my head to ring.
Something was wrong.
"Understood. Over." Snake-eyes looked over at us. "Come on, let's go."
I shook my head. "I'm going to stay."
Over time, I had learned not to ignore my feelings. And I had a feeling that if I didn't stay, something horrible would happen.
"Snow-" Parker turned to me.
"It's an order." Sharp-eyes barked.
"I- I need to see them come out." I responded as my heart raced loudly. "I need to see they weren't lying when they said they'd come!"
It seemed for a moment that he was going to give in, but then his fists balled up. "I was given a responsibility to care for everyone in case of an emergency. I will execute it without fail. So will you be coming voluntarily, or by force?"
My jaw tightened.
"Snow-" Parker started again but was interrupted.
A ear-deafening explosion echoed and the floor shook violently beneath us.
We all stumbled as the ground under us began to shift rapidly. Snake-eyes grabbed Parker and the both of us moved out of the way.
I shifted all my attention on creating an incline of ice that kept the wet dirt from collapsing into the entrance. Almost instantly, the wind from the blizzard hit us.
"Snow!" Snake-eyes shouted. "We need to leave now!"
"How- How will they get out?"
"They have elementalist as well! They'll make it out, you have to trust them!"
My heart pounding inside my chest and my lungs seemed to shrink.
I have- I have to make sure they come out okay. I have to make sure they're behind us.
Why do I get the feeling that I'll never see them again?
A bone-rattling chill rushed through my body.
In a sudden daze, my hands dropped, causing the dirt to collapse inwards.
The storm continued to scream around us.
"Someone is here." I muttered, looking absentmindedly into the distance.
"What?"
My body seemed to be taking me in the direction of the massive energy, struggling as it did. The energy was strong enough to create the terror we were in and a bad premonition caused my heart to race.
Then I saw it.
A figure in the storm, walking slowly towards us.
"Snow! Let's go!" They reached for me but failed as I escaped their grasp and ran towards the figure
When I was close enough to see that they were tall and thin, I raised my hands and swung them in front of me.
The storm between us cleared instantly and I was able to see the figure more clearly.
My heart dropped as my blood went cold.
The tall man was no longer a blurry figure in the distance. He was no longer a stranger in the distance. His figure became recognizable, his features suddenly appeared in the memories inside my mind. The color of his eyes. His warm and loving smile. I thought I had forgotten it all.
"D- Dad." I whispered.
My eyesight began to blur and my body grew heavy.
It was him all along.
It was him.
He killed my friends.