Chapter 9 - The Ranger Station
The brutal hike through the deep snow felt like an absolute, never-ending nightmare of freezing pain and complete exhaustion.
My thin clothes were entirely soaked through, frozen stiff against my violently shivering, heavily pregnant body.
Just as I felt my legs finally giving out completely, the dark, incredibly faint outline of the ranger station appeared through the blizzard.
It was a small, incredibly rustic wooden shack, completely dark and heavily buried under massive drifts of fresh snow.
I practically crawled up the small wooden steps, praying to absolutely any higher power that the heavy door was unlocked.
I turned the frozen brass handle, letting out a loud, heavy sob of pure relief when the door violently creaked open.
I quickly slipped inside, slamming the heavy door shut and locking the heavy steel deadbolt behind me.
The interior was pitch black and incredibly freezing, but it successfully blocked the violent, howling winds of the deadly blizzard.
I blindly fumbled along the dark walls, my completely numb fingers desperately searching for a light switch or a heavy flashlight.
My hand finally brushed against a heavy, cold metal box mounted securely on the wall near the wooden desk.
It was an old, heavy emergency radio system, complete with a massive microphone and a large, dusty battery pack.
I flipped the heavy power switch, holding my breath completely as the old radio loudly crackled to life with thick static.
"Mayday, please, is anyone listening to this frequency?" I sobbed heavily into the cold metal microphone.
"My name is Julianne Crawford, I am being actively hunted by a completely armed murderer at the north ridge mountain pass!"
The radio hissed loudly for several terrifying, completely silent minutes, making my heart sink heavily into my stomach.
Suddenly, a sharp, incredibly clear, and highly authoritative voice broke completely through the heavy, thick static.
"This is FBI Special Agent Vance, we read you loud and clear, Mrs. Crawford," the heavy voice announced.
"Elena gave us your exact itinerary, we have a massive tactical team currently clearing the road with snowplows."
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I collapsed onto the dusty wooden floor, weeping violently as the massive, incredibly heavy weight of absolute terror finally broke.
Help was officially on the way, but I had to survive long enough for them to completely breach the snowy mountain.
