Adrian Hayes's Arc

Chapter 1 of 5

Adrian Hayes wanted a husband, a house, and a child of his own someday. Right now he wanted the storm to stop. It had buried the road out of the barrens under three feet of snow. He crouched in a cold cabin, the last phone line dead in his hand. The nearest settlement lay two hours away in good weather. Tonight no truck could cross. No one knew he was stuck here alone. He pulled on two coats and forced the door open against the wind. Snow stung his face. His truck sat dead in a drift, hood already white. He tried the engine anyway. It coughed and quit. He slammed the wheel and breathed hard against the panic. Then he remembered the bar down the slope. A traveler's stop, strung with maps and phones for people passing through. If any line still worked, it worked there. He grabbed a lantern and started walking. The wind fought him the whole way. His legs burned. When the sign finally glowed through the snow, he almost cried. He shoved inside and shook the cold off. Phones lined the wall. He grabbed the nearest one. Dead. He grabbed the next. Also dead. "Storm took the lines an hour ago," a voice said behind him. "You're not calling anybody tonight." Adrian turned. A man stood by the counter, dark hair pushed back, a wrench in one hand. He wore a thin blue shirt like the cold didn't reach him. He set down a mug and studied Adrian the way you study a lost dog. "I'm trying the radio," the man said. "No promises. Sit before you fall down." "You live here?" Adrian asked. "Stuck here. Same as you now." He offered a rough hand. "Maxim. Maxim Holland." Adrian took it. Maxim's grip was warm and sure. Something in Adrian's chest loosened, then tightened for a different reason. Maxim ducked behind the counter and worked the radio. Static hissed. He turned a dial, waited, cursed under his breath. Adrian sat and watched his hands move. On a shelf near the window, two white rabbits pressed together in a wire cage, noses touching. "You keep rabbits?" Adrian asked. "Found them half frozen. Couldn't leave them." Maxim shrugged like it was nothing. It wasn't nothing to Adrian. The radio spat one clear voice, then died. Maxim leaned back and wiped his face. "Line's gone. Tower's down too. We're not reaching anyone until this passes." Adrian's stomach sank. No call. No rescue. Snowed in, no way out. But Maxim only smiled and pushed the warm mug across the counter. "Good news. There's food, heat, and company. You could do worse." Adrian wrapped his cold hands around the mug. The storm had trapped him. It had also handed him a stranger with kind eyes and rescued rabbits. He was stuck here for the night, and he wasn't sure he wanted the road to open too soon.