BORRASCA - Bagian 5 - Chapter 15 (English)

I pulled off my jacket and shoved it behind my lower back which was beginning to throb in pain. Kimber was in and out of sleep and I occasionally turned off the car to conserve gas, making sure to cover her with all the clothes I could find in our duffel bags. It was midnight. The woods were quiet and there was no moonlight to reveal what surrounded the car. We were enveloped by empty, black, ice cold air.

I was cold and tired and in pain. I needed to wait until a few hours before dawn to start my trek to the mine and the walk to Borrasca would be around two and a half hours from where we were.

I had to make I left Kimber enough gas to get down the mountain and out of town. Because as soon as the sheriff was dead – or I was – they would be looking for her. I watched her sleep and wondered at the madness of the world. We should all have lived normal lives: graduated together, went to college, been roommates, backpacked Europe.  But none of that could ever happen now. And what cruel irony it was that Kimber was more of a sister to me than she had ever been to Kyle. The universe was just a big fucking asshole.

I rubbed my eyes and debated braving cold outside for a cigarette. I had fourteen left and I planned to smoke them all before I reached the mine.

“I didn’t mean what I said.”

I jumped a little and Kimber laughed softly.

“I didn’t know you were awake.”

“Who can sleep?” She groaned.

“Good fuckin’ point.”

Kimber sat up and pushed twenty pounds of clothes off of her. I noted the time and started the car. “I didn’t mean it. What I said about…about wishing it had been you instead of Kyle.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I said, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. “I wish the same thing.”

“No, Sam.” Kimber grabbed me by the sides of my head and pulled me to her where she rested her forehead against mine. “There is no one I would rather have by my side tomorrow. And I know you don’t want me there. But I will be. To the very end.”

With Kimber holding me the way she was there was no way for me to hide my wet eyes. I pulled my head back and wiped my face with a ratty flannel sleeve. Emotions were so much more overwhelming when you felt all of them. Without responding to her I opened the door and stepped out into the piercing mountain air. I closed the door, leaned against it, and dug into my pocket with a shaking hand. I’d left my parka in the car in my haste to get out of it, but I wasn’t going back now. My new mantra echoed through my mind again: One bullet.

I heard the passenger door open and turned in time to catch the parka Kimber had thrown at me. “You idiot.” She said.

“Get back in the car, it’s freezing.”

“You think?” She said sarcastically.

I took a long drag off my cigarette and felt the nicotine begin to work its magic. I needed to stay calm.

“One bullet, Kimber.” I pulled my parka around my shoulders.

“And a bullet-proof vest.” She added.

“Yeah.”

“Well actually, it’s more bullet resistant depending on what you get shot with, nothing is really bullet proof, am I right?”

I gave her an icy glare. “Well, I didn’t know that but thanks.”

“Sorry.” She said with chattering teeth.

“It’s fine, it doesn’t matter. They’ll probably just shoot me in the head anyway.”

“Are you almost done? Because it’s fucking freezing out here. Don’t you want to get some sleep?”

I’ll sleep plenty soon enough. I thought morbidly. “Not really.” I flicked the cigarette away and followed its amber glow to where it settled in the fresh, still falling snow. We climbed back into the car and I checked the time. Four more minutes and I would have to shut the engine off again.

“I know you think I should stay. So tell me: what would I do after you leave?” Kimber asked as she laid both of her hands over the air vents.

“Wait until you hear gunfire. As soon as you do, get the hell off this mountain. If you haven’t heard anything by 6am, leave anyway. Ditch the car about three miles down and walk out. Do not follow the road. Just keep going downhill. Call Seth as soon as you get signal.”

Kimber nodded. “Interesting. And how will I know what happened to you?”

“I’ll contact you. Or…. or I won’t.” We both knew it would likely be the latter. The chances that I could get a shot off – especially one that my father was expecting – were less than 1%. But I knew they wouldn’t let us off the mountain until one of us was dead. I just hoped it would be the sheriff.

I checked the time and turned off the car.

“How far is Borrasca from here?” She asked.

“A couple of hours.”

“Ah.” Kimber buried herself under half the errant clothing and threw the other half over me. “You know I could just follow you, right?”

“I know.” I could already see my breath and the car hadn’t been off for ten seconds.

“And unless you tell me an acceptable plan, unless I truly believe you can live through this without me, I’m going to follow you.”

“You can’t. Kimber, I need to stop being a selfish little shit and sacrifice something for once in my life. And you- you’ve lost too much already.”

“But I need to do this, Sam.”

“I won’t watch you die. I fucking won’t let that happen.”

“Don’t you think you’re being selfish right freakin’ now? My death isn’t yours to decide. I’ve gotten us this far and I’ve been preparing for this for so long. You can’t go without me.”

“Let me do this for you, Kimber. My monsters are dead; I killed them, I’m clean, I can do this. I’ll find out the truth about Kyle and where he is and then I’ll call you. I know Borrasca has signal because Emma called the sheriff there.”

“Maybe he’ll go easy on you. Maybe his guard will be down since you’re his son. You’re the only son he has, and all.” I didn’t correct her.

“I doubt it. We did burn all of his daughter’s photos and pistol whip his wife.”

“Worth it,” Kimber said. “Ah, but what do you mean about Whitney’s photos?”

“Trust me, you’re better off not knowing.”

Kimber sighed. “One gun, one bullet, one vest. We need a motherfucker of a plan.”

“Yeah, we do.” I said.

“And I need to be a part of it.”

“Fuck no, Kimber. I’m not backing down from this.”

“Neither am I.”

“Look,” I sighed. “If I can come up with something that gives me a reasonable chance of not dying will you agree to assist from afar?”

“I’m listening. But you should expect me to argue.”

“Trust me, I do.” And argue is what we did, deep into the crisp morning hours. Before I was ready the clock showed 3:00am. I turned off the car and threw everything I could spare for the walk to Borrasca over Kimber’s sleeping form. The cold would wake her soon enough. I equipped myself with everything I needed, closed the door quietly behind me, and started off alone toward Borrasca.