Disclaimer: The following chapter is the non-edited draft of what was written during NaNoWriMo 2018. My apologies in advance for plot holes and other inconsistencies.

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After the shocking discovery that Marie's father had been the last person to access the shelter, and therefore a suspect in the death of the residents, both Marie and Lincoln had been exhausted. They agreed that before they did anything else, they needed rest. Marie remembered where the sleeping quarters were that had been used before the shelter had been closed and before long, they both fell asleep.

A solid eight hours of fitful sleep later, Lincoln woke up to find the bed Marie had laid down in empty. He got to his feet and looked around. The room they had picked to sleep in was one of several in the temporary use dorms that had been used during the time of the design and prepping of the shelter. There were hundreds of other rooms like it, ten bunks to a room. It wasn't comfortable or private, but it was all that would have been needed to sleep between shifts. It fit Lincoln's and Marie's purposes well.

Lincoln picked up his jacket and checked the restroom. Marie wasn't in there and it showed no signs of being used recently. He exited the sleeping quarters and entered a shared common area, where he was greeted by the smell of coffee. H

He saw Marie by a stove inside a kitchen area.

"You actually found coffee?" he said as he approached.

Marie jumped and shrieked and then turned with a laugh. "Lincoln! You scared me half to death!"

Lincoln laughed. "I'm sorry, I thought you'd hear me."

"Well, I didn't," Marie said and slapped his arm. "Here, have a cup of coffee."

Lincoln took the mug from her and sat down at one of the tables. "Did you get any rest of have you been looking for coffee the whole time?"

"To be honest, I really couldn't sleep. I just kept thinking about all those...people. They never even had a chance."

"Yeah, it's terrible," Lincoln said and took a sip of his coffee. "The more disturbing part is that someone faked your father's credentials, somehow."

"Maybe not," Marie said after a short pause. "I went down to his cry-pod. It was empty."

Lincoln looked up. "Empty? Empty, as if he got out before the others died or empty because his body was removed?"

"I can't even be sure he was actually in it in the first place," Marie said.

"Why would he not? Wasn't that the plan all along, that he'd be here?"

Marie nodded. "Sure, but with me not there, who knows what actually happened? Maybe he was trapped on the outside looking for me?"

"Looking for you? Why would he be looking for you?"

Marie looked at Lincoln for several seconds. "Isn't that obvious? I was supposed to come here with him before the doors closed. Instead, I disappeared and ended up in some distant future. If I wasn't there, he'd be looking for me."

Lincoln looked down on the coffee in his mug. He couldn't help but feel partly responsible when she put it that way. If he hadn't forgotten the portal key, Marie wouldn't be here and not only would her father be alive, but likely also all the other inhabitants of the shelter.

"Marie, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"No, of course you didn't. You just meant to kill him, didn't you?" she said and gave him an icy glare.

Lincoln didn't respond. She was right, of course. The irony of this whole situation was that if he had succeeded, it was even less likely the shelter inhabitants would have died but he also realized that telling Marie that was pointless.

"So you understand why I need to get back, as soon as possible?"

"Of course I do," Lincoln said and nodded. "I've been thinking about that a little too. At this point, Hastings is not a concern. My worry is more about actually getting back to the transfer station so we can take a shuttle back into orbit. We really can't just waltz in there like we belong in our current condition. We'll have to find a way to sneak in."

"How?"

"I don't know. At least, not yet. That's also the problem. We may get there and have trouble actually getting in."

Marie looked at Lincoln with a concerned look. "We can't stay here," she said. "I have to get back."

"Perhaps a better idea is to go through the landing site. That's the one place Hastings isn't expecting us to return to."

"But then what? It's not like we can go back up into orbit from the landing station. Or did I miss something while we were there?"

"No, you're right. We can't, but at least we have access to computers and hopefully we can find a way to get into the transfer station from there, without having to battle the elements at the same time."

Marie frowned and cross her arms. "I'm not sure I like backtracking but I agree, it's better than going in blind."

"It's settled then. Let's finish eating, repack our backpacks and then get out of here. I'm sure we can find water and rations here to take with us. I'm thinking we check out the airport facilities and see if there's anything there that can help us too."

For the next hour, they busied themselves with finding the supplies they would need for the return hike. They collected enough food and water for a couple of days, just in case, and also took anything else that might come in handy on the trek back to their truck.

After a somber good-bye where Marie tried her hardest to keep back the tears, they left the shelter behind and began to retrace their steps. A detour to the airport facilities proved fruitless. Most of the buildings and their contents were unusable or beyond repair. They were suitable as a shelter from the elements but not much more. They continued across the tarmac towards the far side of the facility and then followed the same ridge back up into the mountains.

They had just began their ascent up the ridge when dark clouds began to appear up ahead. Before long, they stretched across the horizon from left to right as far as the eye could see.

"I'm thinking we're going to have a storm," Lincoln said as they paused to catch their breath.

"Rain?"

"Probably," Lincoln said and nodded. "And we're walking straight into it."

Fifteen minutes later, as they continued on towards the looming darkness up ahead, they were hit by the first drops of rain. Soon, it was a light sprinkling of rain but a mere five minutes later, it was raining so hard it was hard for them to see where they were going.

The trek across the ridge, already treacherous, suddenly became deadly. The ridge, covered with shale rocks in places, became slippery not just to the foot but also to the material around it. The risk of stepping in the wrong place and sliding down the mountainside became very real.

As the wind picked up and began to whip the rain against their faces, they took temporary shelter against a large rock outcropping that gave them shelter from the wind and the driving rain.

"Should we stop for a minute, see if this blows over?" Lincoln said directly into Marie's ear in order for her to hear him over the noise of the rain and wind.

Marie nodded. "As much as I want to continue, this is crazy," she said and made a sweeping gesture.

"I agree. At least these rocks give us a bit of shelter from the wind."

They removed their backpacks and extracted rain gear from their backpacks. Lincoln also brought out a self-contained portable heating device and a couple of soup rations, which he proceeded to heat up. He was thankful that technology had advanced to the point where an open flame wasn't needed to heat up food, especially in poor weather conditions. Minutes later, their backs against the rock overhang behind them, sitting on their backpacks, they sipped warm soup while the wind howled around them. Lincoln activated the heating elements in the rain gear for both of them and soon, warmth spread throughout their bodies as they waited for the rain and wind to subside.

It wasn't until thirty minutes later that the wind had subsided enough that they felt comfortable continuing on. The rain had also let up, changing to almost a misty fog. Although still treacherous, the lack of wind made the continued trek more bearable and safer.

They continued on along the ridge, from peak to peak, backtracing the trail they had followed the day before. By the time they made it all the way across the top of the ridge and began their descent to the valley on the other side, they were both exhausted from the tense traverse of the ridge. As they reached the tree line, they paused and sat down on a downed tree.

"I'm exhausted," Marie said and chugged water from her bottle.

"Me too," Lincoln said and wiped his face with his sleeve. "At least we only have this section through the woods left before we reach the bottom."

Marie nodded and smiled. "Yeah, almost there. We can make it."

Fifteen minutes later, they resumed their descent into the woods. It didn't take long before they realized that the final leg of their trek would be as exhausting and dangerous as the mountain ridge behind them. The rain had muddied the trail significantly, causing them to slip and slide with each step down the sloping trail. They were forced to walked through the brush on the side of the trail, sometimes cut through the woods to avoid the worst of it.

With the parking lot in sight across a bend in the river, Lincoln felt a sigh of relief. They had almost made it back. Marie had seen the same thing and turned to Lincoln as she pointed and promptly slipped and fell. The wet mud, the descending trail and their forward momentum caused her to immediately start sliding down the trail. Lincoln, without thinking, ran after her and threw himself forward, reaching for her arm. He caught her hand as he landed in the muddy mess behind Marie and followed her down the slope with increasing speed.

Lincoln struggled to turn his body around so he'd be sliding down the hill feet first instead of head first and as he did so, he caught sight of the river. He felt his heart skip a beat as he realized it was straight ahead. They were heading right for it.

Marie, having seen the same thing, glanced desperately at Lincoln as she screamed at the top of her lungs, then frantically looked for anything that could slow their momentum. Roots and grass gave way or slipped through their fingers, the muddy ground itself provided no grip for their boots and moments later, they found themselves in the air, ejected from the edge of the river on a trajectory that would take them directly into the river flooded by the recent rains.

The impact with the cold water knocked the air out of Lincoln's lungs but somehow he managed to hang on to Marie's hand. They both surfaced at the same time, gasping for air. Lincoln pulled Marie closer and somehow, as the river pulled them downstream, they managed to lock hands. Their eyes met for a moment as they spit water and struggled to stay on the surface. Lincoln was about to shout something encouraging when he saw Marie's eyes widen and something hit the back of his head hard enough to make stars dance in front of his eyes. He felt his fingers slip from those of Marie's and her scream pierced through the air, fading with his consciousness until the world around him was dark and the undercurrents pulled him down under the surface.

~~~ 

Almost back to safety and now this. A cold, violent river. Lincoln is unconscious, separated from Marie. Will they survive or is this the end of the road for one or both of them?

Vote and comment if you like Lincoln and Marie's adventures so far!