Chapter 72 — Frozen
The truck door slammed shut with a metallic BANG that echoed like a gunshot inside the steel container.
Then—
Darkness.
Complete.
Heavy.
The kind of darkness that feels thick enough to touch.
For a moment neither Care nor Cole spoke.
Only the sound of the truck engine roaring to life outside.
Then the vehicle lurched forward.
And the cold began to breathe.
A mechanical hum started somewhere above them.
A deep industrial vibration.
Cole's stomach dropped instantly.
He knew that sound.
His voice came out low.
"Care…"
She shifted beside him in the dark.
"What?"
He exhaled slowly.
"This isn't a cargo truck."
The air around them began changing.
First cool.
Then colder.
Then freezing.
A blast of icy wind pushed from vents in the ceiling.
Cole's medical instincts snapped awake immediately.
His hand shot out, searching in the darkness until his fingers found her wrist.
Her skin was already cooling.
"Shit."
"Cole?" she asked quietly.
He forced calm into his voice.
"It's a freezer truck."
Silence.
Then Care laughed once.
A short nervous laugh.
"You're kidding."
"I wish I was."
The temperature kept dropping.
The metal walls around them already felt like ice.
The truck bounced violently over the road as it accelerated.
Care hugged her arms around herself.
Her breath began fogging.
"Oh… my god."
Cole moved quickly through the darkness.
His hands found a stack of ice containers strapped to the walls.
Frozen cargo.
This truck was transporting something that needed sub-zero temperatures.
And they were trapped inside it.
Cole's mind started calculating instantly.
Temperature.
Time.
Body heat loss.
Hypothermia stages.
He grabbed Care's shoulders.
"Listen to me."
She nodded even though he could barely see her.
"We can't sit still."
"Why?"
"Because if we stop moving, your body temperature drops faster."
She swallowed.
The cold was already biting.
He shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it tightly around her shoulders.
"Cole—"
"Wear it."
"But you—"
"I run hotter than you."
That was a lie.
But he didn't care.
He grabbed her arms and started rubbing them hard, forcing blood circulation.
"Keep moving."
He stood her up.
"Walk."
"In circles."
She obeyed immediately, stumbling slightly on the icy floor.
The truck bounced again.
Metal rattled around them.
Outside the engine roared through empty roads.
Inside—
The temperature kept falling.
Minutes passed.
Then more.
Their breath turned thicker in the air.
Care's teeth began chattering uncontrollably.
"C-Cole…"
"I know."
He kept talking.
Non-stop.
He had to.
Silence meant sleep.
Sleep meant death.
"What's the dumbest thing Percy ever did?" he suddenly asked.
Care blinked at him in the darkness.
"What?"
"Answer."
She shivered violently.
"Uh…"
"Think."
Her brain struggled through the cold fog.
"Once… he tried to microwave ice cream because it was too cold…"
Cole snorted.
"Of course he did."
"And Honey yelled at him for ten minutes."
A weak laugh escaped her.
Then another shiver hit.
Harder this time.
Cole felt it immediately.
Stage two.
Not good.
He grabbed her hands and rubbed them aggressively.
"Keep talking."
"About what?"
"Anything."
Her voice trembled.
"Do you remember… the first time we all met at the airport?"
Cole nodded.
"You yelled at JJ for stealing your coffee."
"She did steal it!"
"You left it unattended."
"That doesn't mean theft is legal."
Even through the freezing air, a tiny smile appeared.
Care leaned weakly against a metal crate.
"Lyra almost got arrested that day."
Cole laughed softly.
"Alex talked their way out."
"Of course he did."
The cold air roared louder through the vents.
Cole's fingers were beginning to numb.
But he ignored it.
Care's body suddenly jerked violently.
A severe shiver.
Then another.
Her breathing started becoming uneven.
Cole's heart slammed.
Her skin felt colder now.
Her voice grew faint.
"Cole…"
"I'm here."
"I'm really tired."
His grip tightened instantly.
"No."
"Care look at me."
She struggled to focus.
"Stay awake."
Her eyelids drooped.
"It's so cold…"
He grabbed her face between his hands.
"Care."
His voice turned firm.
Doctor mode.
"You fall asleep, you don't wake up."
That snapped something in her.
Her eyes forced open.
"Okay."
"Good."
He rubbed her arms again.
Harder.
"Talk to me."
She inhaled slowly.
"You know… Kevin used to say something weird."
Cole stiffened slightly.
She hadn't spoken about Kevin in a long time.
"What?"
"That storms feel alive."
Another shiver ran through her.
"He said thunder sounds like the sky breathing."
Cole listened quietly.
She kept talking.
"After he died… I hated storms."
The truck bounced violently over a pothole.
Metal chains clanged.
"I used to think…"
Her voice cracked.
"…that if I listened carefully enough, maybe the thunder would bring him back."
Cole didn't interrupt.
The cold was creeping deeper now.
His own fingers were stiff.
But he forced himself to stay alert.
Care looked up at the invisible ceiling.
"You know the weird part?"
"What?"
"I don't feel that way anymore."
"Why?"
She looked at him.
Even in the darkness he could see the softness in her expression.
"Because now I have people who are alive."
The words hit him harder than the cold.
She smiled faintly.
"You idiots."
Cole chuckled quietly.
"Fair."
Another shiver.
But weaker this time.
That scared him more.
Weak shivering meant danger.
"Care keep moving."
"I can't…"
"You can."
"My legs…"
He pulled her upright again.
"Lean on me."
She did.
Her body was trembling but her movements were slowing.
Cole forced himself to stay calm.
He kept rubbing her arms.
Her lips were starting to turn pale.
"Care."
"Yeah?"
"Stay with me."
She nodded weakly.
"Cole?"
"Yeah."
"If we die in a frozen truck…"
"Not happening."
"…Daisy will kill us for missing dinner."
That made him laugh despite everything.
"True."
Then suddenly—
The truck hit a massive bump.
Everything inside the container lifted off the floor.
Care screamed.
The vehicle swerved violently.
Outside the driver shouted something drunkenly.
The truck skidded.
Metal screamed against asphalt.
Cole grabbed Care and pulled her against him.
"Hold on!"
The truck tilted sharply.
Then another violent turn.
The driver had lost control.
The entire container flipped sideways.
Crates smashed.
Ice blocks shattered.
Cole slammed into the wall, shielding Care with his body.
The truck rolled once.
Twice.
Everything became chaos.
Metal crushing.
Glass exploding.
Cargo flying.
Then—
A final deafening crash.
Silence.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Cole groaned softly.
His head spun.
Somewhere nearby a piece of metal clanged to the floor.
His first instinct kicked in immediately.
"Care?"
No answer.
His heart jumped.
"Care!"
A weak breath answered him.
"…Cole…"
Relief flooded through him instantly.
"I'm here."
He forced himself upright despite the pain in his shoulder.
Cold air still poured through the broken vents.
But the truck had stopped moving.
He crawled toward her voice.
His hand finally found her.
She was barely conscious.
"Stay awake."
Her fingers weakly grabbed his sleeve.
"I'm trying…"
Outside—
Far away—
Thunder rolled across the sky.
The storm had finally arrived.
And inside the broken freezer truck—
Two freezing figures fought to stay alive in the dark. ❄️⚡