Samantha would cross that bridge if and when the time came. Right now, she was safe and sort of warm. At least warmer than she’d be if she were back in the car.
Going back into the small room, she grabbed the broom and started sweeping. She was going to need a place to sit. And this was her temporary home for a while.
Might as well clean up a little bit, she thought.
The broom brushed loudly against the bare concrete floor. She barely heard it, lost in thought as she went about the chore. With all that had been going on, she hadn’t even realized what tomorrow was.
Christmas Eve.
She nearly sank into complete despair. The holiday was supposed to have been spent with Daddy and her new friends! Not holed up in some abandoned building in who-knows-where.
It was her choices that had led to this moment, she reminded herself. There wasn’t anyone else to blame.
The burden she carried was heavy.
Samantha didn’t know how she’d survive. The storm. And the guilt.
A shattering sound jarred Samantha awake.
She screamed and hopped up from where she’d been slumped against the wall in the back room. Her back hurt from leaning against the cinderblock. There wasn’t time to worry about that right now. Something was happening in the front of that old store.
Running through the door, she stopped just shy of the broken window.
The shelf she’d moved over it had toppled over and busted. The window’s glass had blown out further. Ice and snow were blowing in sideways, pelting everything loudly and making the already chilly temperature inside plummet to outright frigid.
Looking at her phone, she realized she’d been asleep for more than three hours.
During that time, the storm had reached epic proportions. The howling was ferocious. She shivered, as much from the sound of the roaring monster as the arctic blast.
The idea that she could ride out the storm probably wasn’t realistic. It was time to call first responders.
She dialed 9-1-1 but then disconnected the call before the operator even picked up.
Samantha had no idea where she even was! Could they trace her location? Maybe she could pull up her maps app and get a better grasp on what to tell them.
Of course, it would be hours before anyone reached her.
That was better than nothing, she figured.
“At least they’ll know where to find my body if nothing else,” she grumbled.
Her hands were trembling as she tried to pull up the app. More glass shattered. Now, it was a window in the front of the store that had blown out.
Snow was blowing in to her left and directly ahead. She’d have to retreat to the back room if she wanted to survive this thing!
She started to turn around, but stopped, hearing some sort of humming breaking through the savage wind.
What the heck was that?
It was hard to tell which direction it was coming from. The blizzard was blindingly disorienting.
More glass crashed. That wind was so sharp it was stabbing right through the brittle, ancient windows.
Screaming, Samantha put her hands around her head and crouched low as she scampered toward the back room. With the windows broken, snow would pile up in that front portion, and she might have to dig her way out when the storm passed.
If she was still alive.
Don’t think like that, Sam! Just keep going. One foot in front of the other. Survive!
