The snow was everywhere, everything was covered with a thick layer of soft white powder. The road was practically gone, the only instances of it still being there were the guard rails running along the edges of the forest and the absence of trees where the road had been built. Besides the trees and the guard rails, nothing else survived the snow. There was also silence, absolute silence. It was the kind that could drive someone insane.

The silence was broken, as a white truck plowed through the snow covered road, passing tree after tree. No more than three miles away, a blizzard followed the vehicle, eating the trees and hills it passed over. The trucks engine purred as the driver drove over another hill. At the bottom, a small car was blocking the road. The truck drove down the hill slowly as it approached the car, then came to a complete stop. The driver was knee deep in the snow, with his arms crossed to stay warm. His face was covered by the top of his jacket hood and his scarf.

“What happened to your car?” the truck driver asked as he rolled down his window.

“The engine couldn’t handle all this snow,” replied the man in black. “Where’re you heading off to?

“We were on our way to Deer Ridge, but on account of that storm behind us, we’re just trying to get to civilization at this point.”

The man in black looked back at his car and then to the truck. The blizzard was crawling closer.

“Well since my car ain’t working and that blizzard’s only getting closer, could I ride with you? I don’t care where we go, as long as it’s out of this cold.”

“Ya know, they say it’s dangerous to give or take rides from strangers. But, seeing that if I don’t take you with us you’ll freeze to death, I’ll let you in.”

“Oh thank God!” the man in black shouted relieved. “I’ve been waiting in my car for the past hour and a half. There was another fella that drove right passed me, as if I didn’t even exist! So, I pushed my car into the middle of the road so the next person would have to stop. Sorry for the inconvenience, I just want to get warm. Anyway, I’ll get my bag and then we can move the car out of the way and get outta here.”

“Not so fast,” shouted a passenger in the truck. “We don’t know who this guy is! We can’t let some stranger drive with us!”

“We can’t just leave him here Lisa!” replied the truck driver. “That blizzard will kill him!”

“Great, John, he knows my name now,” Lisa replied irritated. “And that blizzard will kill all of us if we don’t get moving!”

“Why don’t we just put his stuff in the back and have him take off that jacket hood?” asked another passenger. “That way, we’ll know what he looks like and if he has anything dangerous it’ll be in the back of the truck.”

Lisa’s tone did not change. She responded angrily:

“Does he not look sketchy to you? What if he has something on him? Who drives in this kind of weather in a car like that?”

The man in black took a step back, pulled back his hood and took off his scarf. He was white, bald with a ginger beard. He had light green eyes with a hint of blue. His face was turning pinkish from the cold air, he looked tired.

“Look, my name is Lucas,” the man in black responded as he pulled something out of his pocket. “The only ‘dangerous’ thing I have with me is this pocket knife. I don’t have any intention to cause you harm, I just want to get outta this cold before that blizzard gets to us.”

“You happy now Lisa? We know his name and he’s got a tiny little pocket knife,” John said.

“This is ridiculous, we’re wasting our time!” she shouted.

“Well I don’t see any problem with letting him come with us,” John said. “Lucas, go ahead and put your stuff in the trunk. Mike and I will help you move your car out of the way. Lisa, you can stay in here and complain.”

Lucas and Mike pushed the car to the right side of the road while John gently drove into it with the truck. They slowly moved to the guard rails, out of the way. Lucas threw his bag into the trunk and went into the truck with Mike. They continued driving away from the blizzard, which was now less than a mile away from them.

John drove the truck quickly through the snow, however the blizzard wasn’t getting any further away. Lisa was sitting in shotgun, she was quiet and only looked out her window as they drove. Directly behind her, Mike was searching for nearby towns on a map with Lucas, who sat directly behind John. They discovered the closest town to them was less than sixty miles away from where they were. Upon hearing this, Lisa looked as if she were going to pop a blood vessel. However, there was a ski resort a little more than ten miles from where they were. The ski resort was called The North Hotel. Mike wrote directions on the map and gave it to John.

The remainder of the drive was uneventful and quiet. By the time they got to the North Hotel, the blizzard had caught up to them.

To be continued