Chapter 5: A Sundress for Winter

"I'm dead. I'm so dead." Natalie turned around one-hundred-eighty degrees, desperately searching for a way out of this alien-induced nightmare.

She pounded her fist against her head in frustration.

Right to this cave. I led him right to this cave.

And why, oh, why did she hit him? He could have just wanted to talk. Not likely, but it was a possibility. Technically, he had saved her. But no, she'd clubbed him in the head and effectively signed her death warrant.

Natalie stared down in horror at his unconscious form. Her hand cupped her throat as the pulse in her neck beat madly. Now he'd kill her, the way he killed those raiders.

She grabbed the backpack and survival jacket she always kept ready near the entrance of the cave, then, giving the alien a wide berth, hurried outside. Shivering from shock and cold, she dropped the backpack and shrugged on the red jacket. It took several tries before she could get her shaky hands to zip it closed.

Scooping up the backpack, she raced down the mountain path as fast as the loose dirt and gravel would allow. For the first few minutes, she kept looking back, scared he'd awakened and was following her. She bit off a scream when she stumbled, her momentum carrying her several feet down the mountainside. Skidding to a halt, she lay on her back for a moment, waiting for her dizziness to clear. Her body already felt like it was covered in bruises from her ordeal that morning, and now she'd given herself fresh ones.

Pressing her lips together, she crawled back to the path and forced herself to focus on the rocky ground in front of her.

After fending for her life and running all the way back to the cave, she was exhausted. The few moments of rest she'd had before she hit the alien weren't nearly enough to replenish her strength. Her lungs burned and, no matter how hard she tried, her body refused to move as quickly as her fear demanded.

Please let him stay unconscious long enough for me to get a good head start.

Surely, she could elude him. She knew this mountain like the back of her hand.

She stopped and looked back in the direction of the cave. What if she'd killed him? Killing anyone, even a dangerous alien, didn't sit well with her. And there was still the possibility that he'd saved her. And she'd repaid him by potentially clubbing him to death.

She nearly slipped again and grabbed a jutting rock to steady herself. Her cold hands stung at the contact. She frowned down at them. Each finger was stiff and clawed from the cold.

This morning she'd put on a sundress, optimistic when she'd woken to a brilliant, sunny day. How could the temperature have dropped that quickly?

With mounting panic, she turned in a slow circle. Very light flecks of snow sifted down, settling on the dry ground.

She'd seen this before. If the snowfall continued, the path down the mountain would become a slippery death trap in no time. She darted her gaze around. The sparse pine trees and gray boulders were already transforming into an icy landscape.

The wind had picked up, whisking her hair into her face. Natalie sat down on the nearest boulder with extreme care and dug in the pockets of the jacket, her fingers so cold she couldn't feel anything. Finally, her hands fisted painfully around her gloves and drew them out, along with the woollen cap she always kept in the pocket. With shaking hands, she pulled them on, pushing her hair under the cap.

She had to keep moving. Without the shelter of her cave, she was vulnerable. On the mountain, temperatures could drop drastically in a matter of hours. If she could get to the truck, there was a chance she could make it to town before the snow blocked off the pass.

She'd been worried about her first winter in the cave, doing everything she could think of to prepare. Still, it was safer than moving to town. Apart from regular attacks by raiders, the locals had formed vigilante groups, spurred on by the pastor's fanatical sermons.

So what was the lesser of two evils? Being trapped on a mountain with aliens and the dead bodies of raiders? Or living under martial law and in constant fear of being raped and murdered?

Her foot slipped on the loose pebbles scattered all the way down the mountain path, now hidden under a coating of snow. Natalie slowly righted herself. Her shoulders bowed as she pressed her cold hands against her body, under the jacket, in a desperate bid for warmth.

***

Zgaaaachrrr, third son of Zyghrczryn stood looking down at the human. She didn't have the odd smell of other humans. And she was female. When she'd lifted the club, his first instinct had been to kill her. But she'd attacked a Zyrgin warrior and that showed great courage from someone born of such a weak race.

He'd been curious to see what such a courageous woman would do with an unconscious male. And she had acted with honor. She didn't attempt to harm him while she thought he was helpless...

His lip curled. She was courageous but not that intelligent. A piece of wood wielded by a female could never fell a warrior of Zyrrggghnnnn, he thought with an amused snort, observing her some more.

***

Natalie desperately searched her mind for a way to get to safety faster. The only way to reach the shed housing her old pickup was to hike out. But it was at the bottom of the mountain, on the other side of a massive rockslide. In true paranoia, her father had blown up the pass leading up the mountain.

In the years since, no one had tackled the climb, until today, when the raiders showed up. Usually, being cut off from the outside world had made her feel safe. But now, she was trapped. If the alien didn't kill her, it was only a matter of time before Murdoch came looking for revenge.

The snow was falling heavily now, the wind whipping it up into a frenzy. She vaguely remembered a broadcast she'd seen on the TC a few years back, where they'd discussed theories behind the radical weather changes. Her father had always said the government had done too little too late and now the people were paying for polluting the earth. Not long ago, New York had a blizzard and a heat wave in the same week. Even this morning, the fall sun had burned her fair skin; yet now she was shivering, despite her red, down jacket.