Sleeping Dogs by Gordon Carroll

Author:Gordon Carroll [Carroll, Gordon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-10-19T04:00:00+00:00

Billy was freezing to death—and not figuratively.

He was dying.

Searching his pockets, he found a lighter and dragged it out with numb fingers. He found something else in his pockets too.

The transponder.

He slid the casing back, pushed the button to indicate his position, and saw the red lights circle and blink.

Maybe they would find him.

But who, and how long would it take?

He knew there was a way for him to track the others with the device, but his numb mind couldn’t put all the pieces together to remember how.

He put the transponder back in his pocket, gathered some twigs and pine needles, and piled them into a small teepee, the way he’d learned in Boy Scouts. Then he tried to start a fire with the lighter, but the needles and twigs wouldn’t light. And when he tried to warm his hands with the lighter, he found the wind too much to battle, and the flame kept blowing out.

After finally giving up, he pulled his gloves back over fingers that felt as frozen as icicles. He forced himself to stand, clenched his teeth and started walking.

He stayed on his feet and kept moving for as long as he could, but eventually, he fell to his knees. Lacking the strength or the will to get back up, he told himself he would just rest for few minutes. But a few minutes stretched to fifteen, and he found himself curled up in a fetal ball.

He didn’t even remember lying down.

Closing his eyes, he felt the snow cover his face, the cold rushing through him.

The wind howled, and the ice felt like tiny bullets smacking any exposed skin they could find.

He thought of trying his cell again, but it had proved useless the dozen or so times he’d tried before. And besides, he admitted to himself; he just didn’t have the energy. Not yet. He needed to rest.

He was so cold that he was starting to feel warm, and that scared him. He’d heard how people going into hyperthermia sometimes took off their clothes because they felt hot. But that wasn’t going to happen to him. He’d just rest for a couple of minutes and then get going.

Billy thought of his grandfather, father, and uncle, and a strange sensation of guilt invaded his mind. He felt like he was somehow letting them down.

But he wasn’t—he wouldn’t.

He just needed a few minutes. He promised himself and his family that he would get up after that—like hitting the snooze on his alarm clock when he was back in school. Just five more minutes, Mom, I promise. And how did that work out? How many times had he been late? How many times had his mother had to drive him because he missed the bus? But not this time, he promised—just a little longe —

And then he saw Gil Mason looking down on him with contempt.

Only he wasn’t really there; Billy knew that much.

He could see the snow slicing through him—and the trees. He could see the trees as though Gil were a ghost.

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