Silent, I did as he instructed, and the two of us managed to get it rigged up in half the time of the guys working on the other section. When it was done, though, I bit my lip and frowned.
"Is that it?" I asked.
Ben laughed. "Yup. Bare essentials, Lawson. Gives all you spoiled brats a swift immersion into reality." His grin was wide and teasing, but he was serious about the scarce shelter from the incoming snow. It was literally just a couple of thin waterproof sheets suspended over the clearing where thin foam mats had been rolled out to sleep on. Nothing would stop the wind or snow coming in from the sides, so whoever was stuck on the edges would have a rough night.
"Don't worry, Brooklyn," Ben said with a smile as Matthew reappeared from out of the trees near us. "I'll happily volunteer to keep you warm tonight. It's the least I could do after you saved me from wolves."
Matthew gave Ben a sharp look of warning. "Not a good idea, bro. Sorry, Lawson." His eyes turned apologetic as he looked at me, then he shoved Ben in the direction of the other guides, leaving me all alone.
With a sigh, I moved over to one of the rolls of foam closer to the fire and started to pull my sleeping bag out of my pack like the other guys were doing. A tight hand closed around my upper arm, though, and I stiffened.
"Not here," Dylan told me in a rough voice. "There." He pointed to a mat that'd been moved slightly away from the rest. It wasn't even fully under the shelter, for fuck’s sake.
My lips parted in disbelief, but Dylan wasn't fucking around. He gave me a small push in the direction of my mat, and I stumbled a little.
"Dylan—" I started, but his fingers tightened on my arm, making me squeak more from shock than pain.
"Save it, Brooklyn," he hissed in a quietly furious voice, "this isn't the time or the place." I flinched at his tone but locked my lips together. I was so used to following orders and keeping my mouth shut that I didn't even protest when he released my arm and stormed away to speak with the rest of his guides across the clearing.
I just heaved a sigh and knelt down on my mat to roll out my sleeping bag. Maybe I'd be in luck and it wouldn't snow after all.
8
My luck was as shit as always. It was nearing dawn, and the snow had just started to fall.
I was freezing, huddled down in every article of clothing and bedding they’d provided in the backpack—which was really not much at all. The wind howled around us, and despite our slightly protected camp, the trees nearby were flapping noisily, and with each new gust, another shiver wracked me.
Curling up tighter, I knew that if I stayed like this, I would probably find myself dangerously hypothermic, and surely, this camp would be in trouble if that happened. I just needed to drag my ass out and find someone to let them know I was about to freeze to death.
Only I couldn't seem to move.
Just as another shiver shook me violently, a wave of heat washed across the top of me, and it was so unexpected that I just lay there, stunned, trying to figure out what’d happened. When the heat sank further into my skin, allowing me to ease out of my clenched position, I lifted my head to see a new, thickly padded sleeping bag over the top of me.
What...
Pushing up further, I tried to catch sight of who'd helped me out, but there was no sign of life. In the low light of the barely lit fire, I could see that the far side of my sleeping bag had snow on it because I’d been pushed out of the shelter. More continued to fall, but at least I was reasonably warm with the new cover.
The torrents of anger that often swirled in my gut surged up as I once again found myself in a bullshit situation through no fault of my own. Why the hell was I even here? I was an adult. I’d finished school. I should have just walked out the damn door of my brother's house and never looked back. Surely, I could have taken Mary with me, not to mention enough jewelry to pawn and get me through until I found a job. Even