Chapter 10: The Abandoned Depot
Just as the fading light of the afternoon began to bleed into a bruised, starless purple night, the dark silhouette of an old railway snowshed loomed through the swirling blizzard. It was a massive timber structure built over the abandoned tracks of the Great Northern Railway, designed to protect trains from avalanches before the line was decommissioned in the seventies.
Mateo kicked open the rotting wooden side door of the shed, stumbling inside with Maya still clutched in his arms. He collapsed against the dry concrete floor, pulling her down with him out of the howling, sub-zero wind. The interior was pitch black, smelling of damp earth, creosote, and decades of silence, but it was sheltered.
""We're inside,"" Mateo gasped, leaning his head back against a heavy timber support beam. He was shivering violently, his body temperature dropping dangerously low.
Maya scrambled out from under the oversized suit jacket, her eyes adjusting quickly to the gloom. She crawled over to him, her small hands patting his cold cheek. ""Are you okay, Daddy?""
""I'm just cold, sweet girl,"" Mateo said, his teeth clicking together so hard he could barely form the words. He knew the signs of hypothermia; if he didn't generate heat soon, he would lose consciousness, and without him, Maya would not survive the night in this concrete tomb.
He searched his pockets with numb fingers. The cash was dry, but paper wouldn't burn hot enough without kindling. Then his fingers brushed against something hard in his coat pocket—a small, waterproof plastic case containing a box of storm matches and a tightly rolled emergency space blanket he had grabbed from Hector’s truck before they left.
""Look what I found,"" Mateo muttered, pulling the items out.
Working with stiff, clumsy fingers, he gathered dry splintered wood from a collapsed packing crate in the corner of the shed. Using his knife, he shaved off fine curls of dry cedar, piling them carefully in the center of the concrete floor. He struck a storm match. It flared to life with a harsh, sputtering blue flame, illuminating the small, dark space. He touched it to the cedar shavings, shielding the tiny spark with his hands until it caught, feeding on the dry wood until a warm, flickering orange flame danced in the darkness.
May you like
Maya held her hands out over the fire, her fingers turning pink as the heat washed over them. She pulled her stuffed rabbit close to the flames, as if warming it too.
Mateo wrapped the shiny silver space blanket around both of their shoulders, pulling her into his lap. The metallic foil crackled softly, trapping their combined body heat like a cocoon. As the fire crackled and cast long, dancing shadows across the ancient timber beams, Mateo finally allowed his eyes to close for a moment, letting the exhaustion wash over him while the storm raged harmlessly outside.
