be dried out a moment later. Snow billowed all around us, covering our jackets and pants, falling around us like mini tornadoes, not the cute snowfall that sometimes happened in Paris.
This snow was spiteful.
“We shouldn’t have left!” Melanie shouted to me, her voice carrying on the wind.
“Don’t say that. We’ve got this. Come on!”
She continued to lag behind me.
It grew lighter along the horizon because sunrise had arrived.
They probably knew we were gone by now. “We gotta keep moving.”
Minutes later, we reached the edge of the forest. Out in the open was a plain, a plain that reached far into the distance. It was totally open…totally vulnerable. With the snow as high and lumpy as it was, it would take us hours to get across. If they followed our tracks, they would probably get here before we made it across.
Melanie caught up to me then put her hands on her knees as she leaned forward and caught her breath. “Oh Jesus… We’re gonna cross that, aren’t we?”
I decided to steer clear of the Alps because the closer we got, the more dangerous the terrain would become. There might be lakes underneath the snow, dangerous animals, and the closer to the mountains we came, the less populated it would be. We need to stay on the flat lands. “Take a short break. But yes, we’re gonna cross that as quickly as we can.”
She slumped against a tree and sat in the snow, still breathing hard because the endurance we’d built in the camp wasn’t enough to prepare for the journey. She opened a bottle and drank from it before digging her hand into a bag of nuts. “How are you not tired?”
“Never said I wasn’t.” I leaned against a different tree and sat in the snow. It felt like a cold pillow. The second I was on the ground, my legs ached from the exertion. I’d always been on the slender side, but living here for over a month had turned me into a strong machine. My legs were toned and tight, my arms too. I even had a six-pack, which I’d never had in all my life. I turned my head and looked at the plains, seeing the snow blowing across, the visibility poor because snow was everywhere. The world was white.
Melanie’s hair kept flying around, so she tucked it inside her shirt then pulled up her hood. “Why aren’t you drinking?”
Because we had to conserve as much as possible. “I’m fine.” I expected this journey to be long. I didn’t expect to get to the finish line quickly. It would take work, perseverance…and hope.
She put the bottle and snacks away but didn’t get up to start moving again.
I gave her another minute.
Then she started to cry. “I’m so sorry—”
“We don’t have time for this.” I knew she needed to absolve herself of the guilt, but I wasn’t ready to give it to her. I loved her with my whole heart, but all of this happened because of her stupidity, and I just wasn’t ready to forgive her. I might never be ready to forgive her.
“Raven…” She wiped her tears away with her gloved hands. “I just—”
I got to my feet. “We’ve got to keep moving.” I extended my hand to hers to help her rise.
She didn’t take it. “You’re never going to forgive me, are you?”
I stared down at her, my hand lingering. “Melanie—”
“We’re probably going to die out here. I need you to know how sorry I am.”
“I do know you’re sorry.”
With her arms crossed over her chest, she looked up at me, her eyes always dried from the wind. “I need you to forgive me…”
My hand shook as it remained extended to her, and not because of the cold. Then I pulled it away entirely and got moving, stepping into the open on the snow that was piling higher and higher by the minute. I’d been beaten. I’d been hanged. I’d been starved. I’d had to watch an innocent woman on the guillotine like this was 1789. No…I wasn’t ready to give it to her.
The trees had given us cover.
Now, we had none of that.
I stayed in the lead, making a line in the snow that made it easier for Melanie to traverse. But we were walking against the wind, which made this so much harder. But it would also make it harder for them.
Freedom pumped in my veins, and that kept me pressing on.
I was fighting for so much, and I wasn’t going to stop.