It didn't take much work. After about ten minutes, I'd managed to pull a few strands of the barbed wire free and wrap it around the bottom of my boot. Luckily, my shoes were thick enough that the barbs didn't pierce the sole. With them on my feet, I could actually walk.

    Chance's paws were wrapped with fabric to protect them, but I didn't dare put the barbed wire near him. Instead, I watched him adjust to the ice. It didn't take long before he learned how to dig his toes into the ice to walk. He was mostly husky, anyway. Snow was in his blood.

    The shield had worked really well. The ice shards – some as long as my forearm – slammed into the shield and slid off. I wasn't so lucky. Every time a large shard hit me, I grunted and felt my skin throb. It appeared that the Earth had managed to concoct the worst storm in history: an electric storm with giant sleet, except the sleet was sharp and massive.

    Walking took three times the energy and patience. I dug my feet into the ice and pushed forward against the wind. My eyes were mostly closed out of an instinctual fear of the ice hitting them. Despite all my protective gear, I was colder than ever before. Frost began to form on my eyelashes through the numerous scarves. I lost feeling in my fingers within half an hour.

    We could only walk for about four hours before the sun began to disappear for the night. Luckily, Chance and I were in a region where there were houses scattered around nearby. We holed up for the night. I started the fire and had to take off my gloves to examine my hands. They were blue. Way, way too blue. I flexed my fingers and hissed between my teeth. A sharp pain, like wasp stings, rocketed through my fingers. My lip split as I cursed quietly. A drop of blood welled and I wiped it off before it could freeze.

    Shit. The cold was worse than I'd realized. That storm had dropped the temperature dramatically. I wasn't sure my hands or feet were going to survive this storm without getting frostbite. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't already frostbit anyway.

    Chance – free from his shelter contraption – slept near the fire. I left my gloves near the flame to warm up while I worked my hands through exercises, trying to get the blood back into them. Once I was able to feel my fingernails, I put the warm gloves on and then promptly examined Chance's paws for any damage. There was one cut, but nothing too bad. He started gnawing on my wrist anyway.

    My gut sank into my shoes as I prepared our stew for the day. As if the cold wasn't enough, we were low on supplies, too. We had enough food for maybe two weeks. Originally, that one week between the end of our food to finding the Equator. But at this pace? It would take twice as long to reach our destination.

    I had to figure out a way to make us move faster. Walking would kill us. Inside, we ate our stew. I sipped it slowly, savoring the lukewarm broth. My stomach had quit grumbling weeks ago, as if giving up on trying to convince me to eat more. Regardless, I felt the relief of giving my body more energy to work with.

    After setting the bowls aside, I emptied my backpack onto the floor. Chance watched as I scoured the whole house, dragging anything of use to the living room. Pieces of wood, a toolbox, knives from the kitchen, picture frames, even a whole mattress. I dropped it all in the one place and stood back, examining it critically.

    I needed transportation. Again, I mentally cursed myself for allowing Tonya to steal that bike. It just might be the death of us. But I had to figure out how to work without it. Chance's life depended on me.

    By the time I finished, the sun was nearing the horizon to rise. I had worked all through the night. Luckily, the strenuous work had brought some blood back into my hands, but they still ached. The greenish color had given way to blisters.

    Without having a motor or pedals, making a mechanical piece was pretty much impossible. Instead, I'd taken the tin sheet and unfolded it. The edges were crimped upwards to make a small boat. With wire, duct tape, and rope, I'd managed to get a piece of metal to pierce through the bottom of the tin. Five sheets had been sewn together into one and acted as a sail. I'd fashioned a makeshift rudder at the back that would dig into the ice and turn the sled in case I needed to.

    Yesterday, I'd tracked the winds. From when the sun rose to when it peaked, the winds headed south. After the peak to sunset, the winds pushed north. I had a three-hour period to use the winds to push the sled. It had to be more than twice the speed of walking to be worth using, but I hoped it would. With the ice coating the snow and the slick bottom of the tin, we should be able to move at good speeds.

    After eating, I hurried us outside to test the sled. Time was of the essence. I prayed that by sewing several sheets together that the ice wouldn't be able to pierce the sail. I'd sewn wire between the layers in a mesh.

    Chance still didn't like his shield, but he allowed it as I sat him onto the sled. I gingerly sat behind him, sitting him between my legs. The moment my center of mass moved over the sled, the winds caught the sail and it shot forward. Chance yelped as it slid. The momentum almost threw me off of it. I caught myself on my elbows, alarmed, and saw that we were heading straight for a tree. I hadn't had time to test to rudder, but it was now or never.

    I twisted to the side and punched my fist down on the stick of the rudder. The moment it pierced the ice, I pulled it to the side. The sled jerked to the side so fast that Chance hit my leg. The slid nearly tipped over from the velocity. I threw my weight to the opposite side to keep it upright.

   We shot across the ice. It took a moment to catch my bearings before a startled chuckle left my lips. It turned into a gleeful shout as I realized that it had worked. We were traveling at five times the speed of walking. With short, small adjustments, I could keep us on the road. Because we moved with the wind, the cold wasn't nearly as bad.

    I'd somehow found a silver lining on that storm.

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