“Yeah. We’re checking out now. No, we got everything. Yes Pearl, even the stocking-shaped cookies with the names on them. I’m holding them right now. Alright, see you soon, bye.”
Knowledge hung up her smartphone and checked in on Brown, still debating the validity of an expired coupon to the store clerk.
“Look, man. The coupon says it expired within ten business days. You guys were closed yesterday, so that means today’s the tenth day to redeem it.”
“Sorry for the inconvenience, sir, but yesterday our employees still had to come here to take inventory before the holiday break. Company policy counts that as a business day.”
“What kind of scam is that? I don’t wanna act like a Karen or anything, but I’d like to talk to the manager about this.”
“I am the manager. Your total is $50.02.”
Brown huffed and tossed a fifty dollar bill to the clerk, to which the clerk replied, “You’re still two cents short.”
“Don’t fool your customers into faulty marketing gimmicks. That’s my two cents.”
Brown walked out of the store with his newly purchased set of candles for Leaf, shortly followed by his cloaked companion after quickly apologizing to the clerk and handing him an extra dollar. They were met with a blast of cold air from the growing snow flurry. They fastened their layers. The shopping district looked so different at dusk, especially with all the Christmas decorations put up.
“So what exactly was that all about?” Knowledge asked.
“Oh, just my credit account being squeezed dry again. You got the mini coffee machine for James?”
“What coffee machine?”
Brown stopped. “What? Don’t tell me you forgot to get it.”
“Nah, I didn’t,” Knowledge lifted her cloak with a cheeky grin on her face, uncovering the wrapped box she hid under it.
“Ugh, don’t give me a heart attack like that. It’s bad enough tha-“
“Speaking of heart attacks!” Splats shouted in Brown’s ear. He yelped like a wounded dog, dropping his bag of groceries from the supermarket.
“S-Splats?! Where’d you come from?” Knowledge jumped.
“Pearl thought you guys needed some help,” the ginger stuck out her tongue.
“You didn’t have to scare us like that,” Knowledge replied.
“Come on, Know! Who doesn’t like a little surprise now and then, right Brown?”
The poor boy in question was still controlling his hyperventilating. “Fucking… here, make yourself useful and take some of these bags!”
“Mhm, that’s what I’m here for, you big dork,” Splats smugly obliged.
After recollecting themselves, they rechecked their list Pearl gave them to bring back that night, which Knowledge saved on her phone. Some of the list’s items included holiday cards, candy canes, cookies, chocolate-covered kettle corn, cartoned eggnog, and wrapped presents for their friends, across various stores in the district. And that was half the list. It was a miracle Brown and Knowledge were able to carry it all without Splats’s help, even with Knowledge’s levitation lifting a bag or two.
Once they affirmed they got everything, the three blended into the crowd of people busy with their own shopping before winter break. Most were students, but a stray handful were several staff members they recognized. It was the busiest they’ve ever seen the place all year.
“What do you think everyone here’s up to?” Knowledge wondered.
“Why do you ask that?” Brown said.
“I dunno, it’s just that we walk past all these people, and we never consider they all have their own lives going on. I mean, what do you think they’re buying? Where do you think they’re going after this? What will they do when they get there?”
“What, you wanna ask all of them?” Splats said.
“No, I was just making a conversation…”
“Sounds like a conversation Lucas would bring up,” Brown commented.
Speaking of Lucas…
The blond-haired existentialist sat with a blank stare, in betwixt a fiery-haired teacher and her daughter’s argument.
“Just look at him, Ma! He’s having the time of his life out here! All I’m sayin’ is it wouldn’t hurt to loosen up a lil’. You’ve been tense all year.”
“If I loosened up, I wouldn’t have made it where I am today,” Abigail crossed her arms. “Besides, Jess, I can’t see why you’re all coiled up ‘bout me not celebrating this damn holiday. I never saw you make a big fuss about it before. All it is is some excuse for these soft city folk to risk getting frostbite outside every year, just to spend their salaries on materialistic goods to get people to like ‘em.”
“That ain’t true! People give each other gifts because they like ‘em! Maybe we never saw it as big a deal back in the Frontier, but I’d reckon you’d understand better if ya try to open up to the folks here at school more.”
Abigail didn’t want to admit it, but something about those words stuck out like a sore thumb. She still remembered her warning from that ungodly beast, Lady Skyber: “Get with the times.” The Marshall held her throat. She supposed there wasn’t much good talking sense back into her daughter; she’d have to learn modern culture outside the Frontier one way or another.
“Hey, can I go yet?” Lucas said.
“Not until I get my Mama to agree to celebrate the holidays this year,” Jesse answered. “I didn’t drag her down here for nothin’.”
“Alright, kid. You ain’t gotta pester me any longer. I’ll humor you this year, but don’t expect much else,” her mother lit a cigar.
Just as Jesse was about to rejoice at her victory, a trio of kids spotted Lucas and walked over to greet him.
Took them long enough, Lucas thought.
“But guyyys, I don’t wanna talk to Lucas! He’s weird and smelly and weird!” Splats cried in the distance.
Brown ignored her practically dragging herself on his leg as he walked. Frankly, he just wanted another person to help carry the bags home.
Knowledge was the first to speak to him. “Hey, Luke. It’s been a while.”
“It’s only been a month since we last saw each other,” Lucas said.
“But Halloween was two months ago. It’s December.”
“Eh, same thing.”
“Howdy, y’all! You folks know each other?” Jesse said, referring to the three strangers carrying bags.
“I don’t think we need to be here for this,” her mother mentioned.
Splats picked herself up. “Oh, actually you guys do! Nova said something before I came here that you two had to, er, what’s the word- oh yeah! Escort these eggheads back to the dorm lobby, they said there’s a storm coming.”
“A storm? Why didn’t you tell us that when you found us at the start?” Brown groaned.
“Shh, Brownie, it was all part of the plan,” Splats said, not bringing up that she actually just forgot to tell anyone until now.
“Lovely,” Abigail said, “Walking through a snowstorm at night and babysitting a bunch of students.”
“It can’t be that bad, Ma,” Jesse commented. “Maybe they can share some stories while we walk. You like those, don’t you?”
“Whatever we do, we should get back soon,” Knowledge grabbed Brown’s wrist to check the time. “Pearl’s expecting us within the hour.”
“Is, uh, is Lucas coming with us?” Splats asked.
“Don’t be rude, Splats. It’s your call, Lucas,” Brown said.
The boy shrugged. “Hell, might as well do something useful once in a while. It is Christmas, after all.”
“And that was the time my brother tried to take out my gem eye to use for a Christmas ornament,” Knowledge finished.
Splats busted into laughter. Brown scoffed, grinning at the story. Abigail simply rolled her eyes.
Six pairs of boots trudged on in the biting snow floor below. The flurry bugging them at the shopping center now developed into the storm they were promised. The clouds in the sky were darkening, and the wind howled its bone-chilling air over everything in its path. Nevertheless, the group kept walking.
“How long is this walk, anyway?” Brown shivered.
“Ten minutes on a normal day. But with this much snow in the way, it’s hard to tell,” Knowledge said.
“I feel like you’ve been on this road enough times to know how long it takes to get back,” Lucas quipped.
“It’d be better if we had cars,” Splats imagined herself running someone over in a golf cart, leaving a rather comical human pancake behind her tracks.
“This is why I don’t go shopping,” Abigail said. “Especially during winter.”
“You don’t buy anything you need at the stores?” Jesse brought up. “What about your cigars or your coffee?”
“All I need’s my copper on my vest and my brass in my holster. Everything else is just a luxury.”
They continued their trek on the path back home. The snowflakes were big enough to collect on their coats, making them shake themselves off every minute or so.
“Hey, ain’t that the school?” Jesse pointed to a cluster of lights in the far distance.
“Looks like it,” Brown squinted.
“Perfect! Looks like we’re right on time,” Knowledge checked Brown’s watch again. He pulled his wrist away, a bit annoyed now.
“Uhh, I don’t see any lights,” Splats mentioned.
“You kidding, girl?” Abigail pointed. “They’re right in front o-”
There was nothing but darkness where the teacher pointed. The lights were gone.
“Told ya,” Splats stuck out her tongue, catching snowflakes.
“That can’t be good,” Lucas said.
“W-Wait, what happened to the lights?” Knowledge quivered.
“Maybe a blackout,” Brown suggested. “I’m sure they’ll come back on in a few seconds.”
They didn’t. Even worse, the more they walked, the darker it got. The storm above them grew stronger and colder. The snow caught on their coats began to seep in, dampening the inner layers.
“S-should I call someone? Maybe Pearl can tell us what’s going on,” Knowledge pulled out her phone.
“I don’t wanna die in a snowstorm!” Splats pouted.
“Nobody’s dying today,” Brown assured. “It wouldn’t hurt to try calling, Knowledge.”
Lucas sneezed. “Good luck. In this weather, you’d be lucky getting a bar of reception.”
He was right. Once the girl turned on her phone, the battery was basically eating itself trying to get cell reception. The other students tried their phones as well — no luck.
“We can’t just signal for help from anyone else on this road?” Splats said.
“I think we were the last to leave,” Brown answered. “Everyone else in that place probably stayed to work there. Besides, Splats said this path was a shortcut.”
“It was! Or, is! Or, maybe it was the other one, but who cares?!”
Lucas couldn’t help but shake his head at the sheer level of inconvenience throughout the whole scenario.
“If the school was straight ahead of us, I’d reckon we just keep walking straight,” Jesse brought up.
“Not that easy,” her mother shut down, “I know this land better than anyone, and without our sight to guide us, this area gets real unforgivin’ real fast. Especially without any light.”
It was just about pitch black now. The group could barely hear each other over the blasting wind. The snow was all the way up to their boots. And now, their path was hidden underneath it.
“Well, we can’t just sit here,” Brown spoke up.
“W-we’re not stuck here, are we?” Splats shivered.
“Not unless our escorts can get us out of this storm,” Lucas mentioned, turning to Jesse and Abigail.
“What should we do, Mama?” Jesse also turned to Abigail.
The teacher kept her head down in thought. If only she never met Skyber or Nova, she wouldn’t be freezing her ass off for a bunch of brats right now. She racked her head for anything useful in the forest they were in. Finally, she perked up.
“There’s only one place I could barely consider shelter ‘round this trail. But it’d take a miracle to find it in this darkness.”
“Wait, m-maybe I can find it,” Knowledge offered, sliding off her eyepatch. The emerald gem inside her socket shone just as brightly as it would on a normal day. She slowly scanned the area, much to the impatience of a freezing Splats, ultimately finding nothing.
That is, nothing but the figure of a run-down school bus, the body painted pink with a golden-yellow trim.
“All I see over there’s a school bus.”
“The pink and yellow one?” Lucas clarified.
“How did you know that?”
He shrugged. “Educated guess. Fits the school colors.”
“That’s the one,” the Marshall verified. “Didn’t know it was a vehicle, though…”
“You sure it’s gonna be warm enough?” Brown said.
“It’ll beat standing out here,” Jesse retorted. “Let’s get a move on!”
The bus’s tires were half-buried in the snow when the six freezing companions stumbled across it, led by Knowledge. Brown and Splats tried to bust open the rusty door, ultimately letting Abigail shoot out the door window. Jesse brushed away the broken glass and opened the door on the other end, letting the others inside. Lucas opted to hop through the wide-open emergency door at the back, closing it shut afterwards. Brown locked it so it wouldn’t fly back open.
Once they were all inside, they set their bags down. They almost forgot they were carrying them all the way through the storm. It was like a fifty ton weight was lifted from everyone, aside from the cowgirls. The seats were taken out—which they deduced from the leftover foam from their insides—so they sat on the floor.
“Everyone, check for frostbite,” Abigail instructed.
The students did so with apprehension; they forgot that existed until she reminded them. Luckily, nobody came up with anything numb. But just like Brown predicted, it wasn’t much warmer in the bus. In fact, it was just as cold. Fortunately, he had an idea.
“Splats, you still have your spray can?” Brown inquired.
“What kinda stupid question is that?” She pulled her master can from the lining of her inner jacket.
“You think you can spray some of the windows into metal?”
“What would she do that for?” Knowledge wondered.
“Maybe for insulation,” Lucas figured.
“Whatever you say, Brownie.” She scrounged the bus for any stray bits of metal, soon enough picking up a small handful and dumping it into the can. After shaking, she sprayed the new paint on top of the glass and any significant crack around the group, filling in the open spaces with a metallic surface. Brown then suggested taking the seat foam and using that for further insulation. Soon, every bit of the walls and ceiling were covered in a thick, foamy substance.
“Damn, I gotta say, y’all are resourceful when you need to be,” Jesse remarked.
“We ain’t saved yet,” Abigail reminded, “all we did was buy us some more time.”
“More time to freeze and die?” Splats argued.
The teacher stared her down. “More time to wait for rescue. Listen. I know a guy who might get us outta here. He’s one of the officers who patrol the perimeter ‘round campus. He’s real literate, likes to spend his time off at the library. I’d say if we have any chance of being found here, it’d be if one of y’all’s friends found him first and told us we were stuck.”
“So…” Knowledge began, “we’re basing our rescue on faith?”
“Looks like we can’t do much else,” Brown realized.
Splats stood up. “Wait, wait, we’re gonna what? You mean we’re just gonna sit here twiddling our frozen thumbs off and ‘have faith’ that maybe this officer will find us out in the middle of fucking nowhere?”
“I apologize, kid, you wanna step outside and try finding him yourself?” Abigail pointed to the door. “We’d be glad to have one less person hogging up our air.”
Jesse turned to Splats. “I have to agree, this might be our best bet. Now I don’t know about y’all or what holiday y’all celebrate, but for the time being I reckon we pick a god and start prayin’.”
The room got quiet. Despite the howling outside, nobody seemed to hear it. For a while, everyone sat still. Waiting. Contemplating. Praying. Brown checked his watch periodically. He saw that they were stuck in the bus for over an hour when Abigail reached into a bag and started chugging the eggnog straight from the carton.
“Woah woah woah, what the hell are you doing?!” Knowledge exclaimed. “That’s for the party tomorrow!”
“There won’t be a party if y’all don’t make it back with these here bags. And the way I see it, if the cold don’t get us, the thirst will.”
She was right. Everyone soon realized they were utterly parched. And starving.
“Any left in the carton?” Lucas asked, to which Abby handed over. He wasn’t actually that thirsty, he just liked the taste. Splats finished off the rest of the carton after him, taking out the other one. She offered it to Brown.
“Fuck it,” he gave in, “what else is in that bag?”
Jesse tossed the bag over to him, who picked out a box of sugar cookies decorated with green and red frosting. He wolfed down two and passed the box around, finally getting to Knowledge.
“B-but…” she started, yet finally gave in herself when she felt her stomach growl harder than the wind outside.
They finished the box in no time. The second carton of eggnog was emptied by whoever didn’t drink the first one. Then, Knowledge started to chuckle.
“What’re you laughing about?” Brown said.
“Ha ha, nothing much. This all just reminds me of my Christmas last year with my family. Our car got stuck in snow when we were driving home for Christmas Eve. Then, when we waited for Triple A to help us out, we turned on the radio and jammed out to holiday songs the whole time!”
The group snickered a bit.
“Must’ve had a lot of fun outta that,” Jesse said.
“We did, we did. I think if we weren’t with each other when it happened, it wouldn’t have been nearly as funny. Heck, if I was alone when that happened, I probably would’ve had a panic attack. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I was glad I was with my family, even through all that crap. Reminded me what Christmas really was. I wonder what they’re up to right now…”
Abigail glanced over to her daughter, invested in the story. She wondered where she would be if Jesse hadn’t been there. She thought of all the days her daughter came by, whether it was to save her from going primal or just asking about her day. Maybe she thought about Christmas the wrong way after all.
“Hey, Jess?”
“Hm? Yeah, ma?”
“…You fixin’ to share a smoke?” She held out a cigar.
Jesse took it, surprised. “You never up and gave someone else your own cigar before.”
“We’re about dead anyways,” Abigail handed her daughter the lighter, then pulled out her last one. “Might as well savor the moment.”
Lucas wafted away the smoke. He was about to say something, but waited for Brown to notice Splats being a lot more fidgety than usual. It didn’t take long.
“You good, dude?” He said to her.
“Brown are you cold because it’s very cold in this bus,” She blurted all at once.
“What? Slow do-“
“I said are you cold, dumbass?”
He felt his frigid, numbed face against the back of his winter glove. “I mean, I guess? Isn’t everyone freezing right now?”
“Well yeah but, you don’t have anything on your head to keep you warm!”
“I have my hair.”
“UGH, you’re so dense! Here, just take this!” She reached inside one of her back pockets, pulling out a crumpled mass of blue wool.
“What is it?”
“Figure it out, you fucking dork.”
Brown took the wool, folding it out to find the shape of a navy blue beanie. He put it on his head, matching his down jacket.
“Wha… where’d you-”
“I-it’s one of my spares, don’t think too much into it.” She turned away. “It was collecting dust in my drawers, so I was gonna give it to you as a gift anyway…”
Brown didn’t know what to say. “…Thank you, Splats.”
“Whatever, moron.”
Now it was Lucas’s turn to speak. “I dunno about you guys, but this kinda reminds me of something else.”
“Like what, Lucas?” Knowledge tilted her head.
“Have any of you read Into the Wild before?”
Everyone shook their heads.
He shrugged. “I guess the bus gave it away for me. Anyway, I was reading it in some literature class I dropped not long ago… or maybe I didn’t, I can’t keep track of my classes anymore…”
“We’re listening,” Jesse urged.
“Oh yeah. So basically, what happened was there was this guy, Chris Mccandless, who ran away from home one day to live some hedonistic life out in Alaska or something. True story by the way, back in the nineties. He found this rusted old bus in the National Park one day, and that’s where he lived for like half a year.”
“What happened to him?” Brown asked.
“Oh, he ate poisonous wild seeds and died.”
“Oh, God,” Knowledge covered her mouth.
“Couldn’t he have found a park ranger?” Abigail butted in.
“Eh, he was kind of a dumbass. He tried to reject civilization, but kept a journal to connect himself back to it anyways.”
“What did he write in the thing?” Splats said.
“Not much, other than some events he came across. A couple philosophical quotes here and there. But here’s what I’m getting to. Even on the brink of death, and even as his body got weaker and weaker, he kept writing. In a way, you could say he was still growing. I guess the real takeaway from all this analogy shit is when he wrote in one of his last entries something along the lines of, ‘True happiness can’t exist if you have nobody to share it with.’”
“So, what are you getting at?” Brown asked.
“I’m saying even if we all died a frozen death in this bus, I wouldn’t mind at all. At least I got company.”
Everyone bowed their heads in silence, but moreso in respect to one another. He had a point. If they froze together, they would die a lot happier than freezing alone.
Something knocked on the door.
Jesse shot up. “Who’s there?!”
The rest followed. Was there finally someone who came to rescue them?
Their question was answered when a voice sounded from the other side. “I take it there are some students in this bus who don’t want to freeze today?”
“And a teacher,” Abigail piped up.
The voice exhaled. “How could I forget that voice? Some mess you got yourself in, Abigail.”
“Likewise, Walker.”
Knowledge opened the door for their savior. He stepped in, somehow completely dry. He had a prosthetic leg which gave him a limp as he walked. His helmet hid the glint of his ocean-blue eyes, staring across the unfortunate inhabitants of the bus. His heavy-duty flashlight was bright enough to blind them.
“Right. Before we go anywhere, I’ll need to see your clothes. They’re soaked.”
“At least take me out to dinner first,” Splats joked.
Brown elbowed her. “Sorry about her. Also, I don’t think we got your name?”
“Officer Charles Walker. Just call me Charlie. And again, I’m going to need to see your coats.”
Lucas was the first to hand his over. The officer took it with his bare hands, exerting some energy on the fabric. The coat began to let off a cloud of steam, floating to the ceiling before freezing back into ice particles. He tossed it back to Lucas, completely dry. After seeing this spectacle, the rest followed suit. Quite literally. The entire process only took about two minutes.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Charlie,” Knowledge said. “We could’ve turned into popsicles without your help. But if you don’t mind me asking, how did you find us here?”
The officer grunted. “It’s a long story.”