08:55 – Day 2

Lukas's eyes slowly opened, finding himself curled in a tiny ball on the straw-covered ground. It took him a few seconds to recall where he was, or how he got there.

He was in the shed that he found the previous evening after waking up in... pretty much the middle of nowhere. For most of the night, he had really just been sitting there, haunted by all the terrible possibilities that could have gotten him into the situation.

Lukas pushed himself up on his left arm, his right still kind of clutched to his chest. That was another thing he had painfully confirmed during the night. He's lost all use of his right hand through frostbite.

His eyes moved down to his leg, the one that had gotten soaked in the frozen lake. It was the main reason he sat awake during the night, trying everything in his power to save his leg from the cold. Whether he succeeded or not, he wasn't sure. The lower part of his leg, that had gotten wet, as well as his foot was wrapped in more than one of the old woven bags he found. His pants-leg, that was thankfully dried out already, was rolled down over the bags in attempt to save more warmth.

Lukas carefully rolled up his pants leg, beginning to unwrap the bags. He ran his hand along the cold, pale skin of leg, feeling a bit relieved that there didn't appear to be any skin damage. He wiggled his toes slightly, relieved to still be able to feel all five of them.

Letting out a slow breath of relief, leaning back against the wall. His memories of the previous night were really vague. He remembered that it was quite the struggle to stay awake at first, but he had fought the desires that would have ended up getting him killed. Only once he had properly warmed up a bit and was confident that we wouldn't die from hypothermia in his sleep, did Lukas give into his body's wishes of rest.

Lukas glanced in the direction of the shed's one tiny window. Another blizzard seemed to be picking up once again, as there was a steady – and no doubt, icy – wind blowing outside.

A part of him wanted to stay in that shed, almost too afraid of what the outside world would throw at him next. He was still exhausted on top of that, and longed for a few more hours of sleep, even on the hard ground. But Lukas also knew he couldn't stay in there forever. He didn't have access to food or water in there, and both his dry throat and empty stomach were quickly starting to remind him of that fact.

Besides, he had a frostbitten hand which no doubt needed treatment. He was hoping he could see a little further through the fog that day. Maybe he wasn't in the middle of nowhere after all?
Lukas looked down at his gloved hand that he was still holding tightly to his chest, as if his body heat could somehow reverse what the frostbite had done. For the most part, he's pulled his attention away from his hand to focus on other things. But whether he admitted it to himself or not, he was devastated.

Lukas shook his head to himself, once more pulling his thoughts away from the awful truth.

Using the wall slightly as a prop, Lukas struggled himself up onto his legs. His left leg ached beneath his weight, clearly still carrying some consequences from getting drenched in ice water. Lukas flexed his sore leg slightly, flinching as he did. He hoped there weren't any predators out there, because he certainly wouldn't be the quickest on his feet.

The wind seemed to be picking up outside, making Lukas hesitate even more about going out. But he mustered up his courage, walking over to the large wooden door. A cold rush of icy air greeted Lukas the moment he slid open the door, causing him to almost take a step back.

The wind was indeed gusting outside, wildly at that. It was starting to grow foggy as well, but Lukas could still see quite a distance. And what he did see, made his face light up in relief.

There was a cabin, not incredibly far from him. It was a still a far enough distance away that Lukas could understand how the fog had completed hidden it the previous evening.  Most likely from the same people who owned the shed he spent the night in. The thing that really made Lukas's heart soar however, was the smoke rising from the chimney. Barely visible in the fog, but there nonetheless. Whoever owned the place had to be home!

If Lukas's leg would allow it, he probably would've sprinted in the direction of the cabin. He didn't hesitate to start walking in it's direction, moving with a quite visible limp. 

He hoped that whoever lived there was at least somewhat friendly, and would be able to help him. He wanted to believe that no person would be cruel enough to just turn him away after what he's been through, but after some of the people Lukas had met in his life, he knew that was a definite possibility.

Another strong gust of wind harshly pulled at Lukas's clothes, nearly pulling him off balance. His left leg painfully throbbed as he staggered slightly, the limb begging to be given a break.

But Lukas was determined to get to the cabin before his body temperature could drop dangerously low.

"Almost there. Almost there." He kept telling himself beneath his breath, even though he still had quite a distance to go.

Lukas gritted his teeth slightly, feeling himself start to properly shiver in the cold. He'd do anything to go just a little bit faster, if only his leg would work with him.

However all of sudden, Lukas stopped dead in his tracks. He took a step back, staring down with wide eyes at his footprints in the snow. The surface beneath the snow had all off a sudden gotten a lot more solid, in the course of one step...

Lukas tentatively extended his one leg, brushing some of the snow away with his boot. And just as he feared, there was ice below the snow.

Lukas bit his lip, glancing up at the cabin. It was barely visible, covered in a thick blanket of mist and fog. He had to get there, and soon. But he couldn't bear the thought of stepping foot onto frozen water again.

"Come on, you can do this..." Lukas breathed, raising a foot slightly, but not actually putting it down on the ice. He hated to admit it, but he was terrified.

Violent gusts of wind tugged at the blonde's clothes, his teeth beginning to chatter. But overcome by his fear, Lukas couldn't make himself step onto the ice.

Come on, the cabin is only a short distance away... if I get another leg wet, I could hopefully warm it right by a fireplace.

Wait wait, but if I fall all the way through it's game over immediately!

Stop being so afraid, just because you fell through once-

-Means it can totally happen again!

Lukas groaned through his shivers, internally arguing with himself over what he should do. He glanced back over his shoulder in the direction he came from. Turning back to the shed would be foolish plan, he's made it that far!

"O-Okay." Lukas said through his chattering teeth, taking a deep breath. "You can d-do this."

Shutting his eyes tightly, Lukas took a step forward. After standing still for a bit, his left leg ached painfully at being used again.

Lukas opened his eyes, keeping them glued to the ice as he slowly walked over the dam, one hesitant step at a time. Almost expecting to hear the ice cracking at any moment, waiting for himself to plunge through the ice into a watery grave.

Lukas's eyes flickered up to the cabin, before looked back down at the ice he was walking across. He was so close, he could practically feel the heat of the fire. He just had to make it.

All of a sudden instead of stepping on the hard ice, Lukas's boot sunk back into the snow. A heavy weight lifting off of his shoulders, causing Lukas to let out a long exhale.

He glanced back at the stretch of ice he had just cleared, a nervous chuckle of relief leaving his lips.

Then, completely ignoring the dull throbbing in his leg, Lukas broke into a jog towards the cabin.

___

Ya know, it really ruins the effect of things if I keep forgetting the headers. Luckily I had a Lukas header on my phone from when I posted it to Instagram (that's why it's watermarked), so I put that up for now. Tomorrow I'll quickly add a header with the chapter number on it as always.
Moving on to the proper A/N!

And we're back on Lukas's side of the story! He's down a hand and was nearly down a leg as well, but against all odds he's made it through the first night. Now on his way to a cabin, is it the one we're all hoping it is? 

Apologies for this chapter being a tad short, this one and the next one are two of the only chapters in this book where writer's block had hit hard enough to actually damage the quality of my writing. I had little bits of information that I wanted to sort into their own separate chapters, due to plot reasons.

But, no worries, because these two chapters will have passed before you know it! I screwed up with my schedule, meaning this chapter was meant to come out earlier... and then forgot to post it earlier. So you guys are actually getting the next chapter in THREE days instead of five!!

I'm pretty excited for the next few chapters to move past, because we're getting closer and closer to finding out more about what got the characters into this situation...

...while simultaneously getting closer and closer to the real sad chapters of this book. If you think we started off roughly, that's nothing compared to what is to come in the future. I hope you're all ready!

Anyhow, enough rambling on my end. I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, even if it was on the short side! Feel free to leave any more theories if you have them!

I'll see you all in three days with chapter 11!.... Chapter 11 already, dear lord we're speeding through this book.