As I stumble over the bunk, I hear the hollow thunk of the poker as it smashes into the doorframe. I lunge at Edward, hitting him in the lower back with my shoulder just as if this were a football game. He grunts and falls on his side.
“Come on!” I pull Josh outside. It’s dawn, and the sky is lightening. But the wind and snow are swirling around us, making it hard to see. At first, I’m just running blind. Just trying to get away. I see the main hall in the distance. Maybe there’s a door we can lock. A phone to call for help with. “This way!”
I look back and see Edward coming at us through the snow. Gaining ground. I grab Josh’s arm again. He’s panicking, stumbling. We hit the doors of the main hall, but they don’t budge. Locked. I rattle them. They’re too heavy to bust open.
“Around the corner,” gasps Josh. “Loading dock.” We run again, sliding on the snow-covered lawn. Up the steps leading to the rolling metal door. Josh shoves a hand into his jacket pocket and pulls out a ring of keys. I look over my shoulder as he rattles through them, trying to find the right one. No sign of Edward. Yet.
Josh finally finds the right key, and a moment later the rolling door clatters upward. We slip through and lock it down again. Then we both slump to the floor. The kitchen is still dark. Just a little gray dawn light seeps through the windows.
“We’ve got to find somewhere to hide,” I say. I shine my headlamp around the kitchen, the light reflecting crazily off the stainless-steel counters. I stop at the big walk-in cooler. “What about that?”
Josh uses one of the keys to unlock the padlock on the handle. We push open the big door. There’s a slight smell of something rotting—with the power outage, the temperature inside the cooler is the same as it is outside. Not great. But maybe we can hide in here for a minute. Figure out what to do. Josh goes in. I’m about to follow when I hear a noise. A door being unlocked. I click off my headlamp and crouch to the floor.
“Josh—stay quiet,” I whisper. I hear muffled footsteps somewhere in the darkness. A flashlight beam wanders around the kitchen.
And finds me.