Page 147 of The Heart of Winter

Sariel was counting on me.

Wading back through the stream, I made my way to the cave. The fire at the entrance had burned down almost completely, with only faint embers left. Sariel had used up some of the wood. But inside, I saw that all the cans and mineral water bottles had been filled! So he had been busy boiling water, trying to help as much as he could instead of just sitting around and waiting. That only convinced me more, since he was doing everything he could, I had to do the same.

When he looked up and saw me, I watched pure joy spread across his young face, lighting up his features, brightening his minty eyes.

Something tightened in my chest.

I couldn’t remember the last time someone had been this happy to see me. Maybe my dad, when he used to pick me up from preschool or school. The thought of him stung, so I quickly pushed it away.

"I found a clam," I said, knowing how pathetic it sounded.

But Sariel didn’t let it show. He smiled again.

"That’s amazing! One?"

"Unfortunately. But maybe there are more. As soon as I found this one, I brought it straight back. I’ll go look for more in a bit," I promised, forcing a smile.

"The fire’s almost out, but maybe we can at least roast it a little?"

Sariel crawled over, took the lid from a metal cream container the omega had had, and placed the clam on it. It just barely fit. Then, he carefully slid it onto two stones inside the makeshift fire pit, the same stones he must have used earlier to heat water.

The meat turned slightly opaque after a moment.

"Unfortunately, no salt. And definitely no lemon juice."

He tried to make it sound like a joke, but I could tell it didn’t come easily.

We both stared at that tiny piece of food.

"You have the file?" he asked.

"I do."

I handed it to him, and instead of breaking the clam in half, he carefully divided it into two portions, then split the ten pretzels between us, five each.

"Well then, let’s enjoy our little feast," he said, trying his best to keep up the mood.

At least we had plenty of water now, so I smiled, playing along. Of course, we were both playing, and we knew it.

At the same moment, we each put a piece of clam into our mouths.

God.

I was never a big fan of seafood, but that clam? It tasted amazing. Even without salt. Even without lemon juice.

And in a second, it was gone, disappearing into my shrunken stomach.

"I’m going to look for more," I said.

"Winter, rest a little. You’ve been gone for hours. You must be exhausted."

I hesitated, but then nodded.

A moment later, we both slipped into our little warm pool.

Sariel moved closer to me, unexpectedly resting his head on my shoulder.

"Thank you for your persistence, Winter. You’re a hero. Let’s stay hopeful. Maybe if you found one, you’ll find more?"

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