Andy McDermott - The Midas Legacy

The super jeep jolted, ice snapping malevolently beneath it. Opening the door had let him reach Nina, but the truck was now held up only by whatever parts of its underbody were caught on the lake’s edge. Its sheer weight was dragging it relentlessly downwards, inch by inch, as the frozen surface crumbled. He pulled at the seat belt. The tension lock clunked. ‘Bend your leg,’ he told Nina. ‘I need to loosen it.’

‘Easier said than done when your car’s turning upside down!’ she protested. Squirming around, she twisted her leg. Eddie made another attempt to free the strap, pulling more gently.

This time, the lock released. He carefully drew out a few more inches. ‘Okay, I’ve got it—’

Water surged around her seat from the flooded rear bed as the vehicle sank deeper. Nina shrieked as it soaked through her clothing. ‘Oh my God, Eddie!’

He grabbed her foot and forcefully unravelled the belt, then backed up. ‘Come on!’ The door pressed down hard on his back as he cleared the cabin — and the pressure kept rising. ‘Quick, this thing’s fucking crushing me!’

She slithered out feet-first, gasping as the freezing wind caught her wet legs. Spicules of ice spat at her face from creaking cracks. Eddie strained to hold fast against more than two tons of metal. ‘I can’t… keep it…’

Nina rolled clear. He tried to follow her, but the edge of the door caught his left leg as it dropped. The metal ground against his shin, crushing it into the ice. ‘Agh, fuck ! It’s got me, it—’ His words became a yell of pain.

She grabbed the door and pulled at it, a wail of her own joining her husband’s as her wounded bicep burned. But her efforts were just enough to ease the pressure, if only for a moment — and he jerked his leg free. Nina let go and fell backwards. The door thudded down flat on to the ice. Its hinge creaked as the Toyota continued to slither into the lake, bending it to its limit… then with a protesting moan of metal the vehicle jolted to a stop, held in place by the buckled panel.

Eddie tried to stand, only to stumble back to the ice as a bolt of agony speared through his leg. It was not broken, but he wouldn’t be managing anything more than a hobble for several hours.

If they lived that long. Panting, he crawled to Nina. Her face was screwed up in pain, palm again pressed to the bullet wound. ‘Get back from the water,’ he said, still hearing alarming sounds from the overstressed surface. ‘How’s your arm?’

‘I actually wish it was colder,’ she replied, grimacing. ‘That way, I wouldn’t be able to feel it!’

He managed a faint smile as she helped him stand. ‘Let me see it.’ She reluctantly lifted her hand, stifling a cry as the ragged wound was exposed. Eddie examined it. ‘It doesn’t look too deep,’ he told her with relief, ‘but it’ll need stitches. I’ll see if there’s a first aid kit.’

‘Everything in the back of our jeep is underwater,’ she said, before looking across the lake. The Yukon’s hood was completely submerged, but its rear was still above the ice. ‘That should have something inside— What the hell is she doing?’

A figure was skirting the broken hole in the ice between the two trucks: Olivia. She had lost the blanket, her clothing fluttering in the wind. ‘Olivia!’ Nina cried. ‘Get back here!’

The older woman shouted back to her. ‘I’ll get their survival gear before it sinks!’

‘No, come back — I’ll get it!’ Eddie started after her — but staggered as his bruised leg almost gave way.

‘I’ll go,’ Nina told him. Before he could object, she hurried past him to follow her grandmother.

Ahead, Olivia continued her trek towards the stricken 4x4 — then spotted something at the edge of the ragged star of nothingness blasted by the grenade.

The Crucible.

She hesitated, looking between the truck and the crystalline sphere… then changed direction. ‘No, don’t!’ cried Nina. ‘Leave it! It’s too dangerous!’

‘I can reach it!’ the old woman insisted, picking her way closer. ‘It’s right here, I can…’ She bent down, reaching out to lift the Crucible away from the water. ‘Got it!’

She turned — and the ice under her feet shattered.

Olivia plunged into the water, going chest-deep before catching the edge with her arms — by fluke rather than intent, the shock of the cold overpowering all rational thought. The Crucible jolted from her grasp and rolled across the surface.

Nina broke into a run. ‘ Olivia! I’m coming!’

Ominous snaps came from underfoot as she got closer, forcing her to slow. Pieces of ice calved away into the inky water around the flailing woman. ‘I’m almost there!’

‘Nina!’ A glance back to see Eddie limping after her. But she couldn’t wait for him to arrive. Olivia’s splashing was already becoming more feeble, her whooping breaths ever shallower.

Ice crackled as Nina dropped to her knees. Water swelled up through fractures, soaking her shins. She gasped, but knew it was only a fraction of what her grandmother was experiencing. ‘I’m here, I’m here!’ she said. ‘Grab on to me!’

Olivia clutched at her, but her hands were already numbed, unable to grip. Nina strained to raise her higher. More snaps and hisses came from the ice as it sagged under their combined weight.

The older woman’s waist cleared the surface. Nina kept pulling, squirming back from the edge—

The ice beneath her gave way.

Nina dropped into the water, the cold like a punch to her heart. She was going under—

A thud from behind — as Eddie dived and skidded on his belly across the ice to grab her beneath her arms. ‘Keep hold of Olivia!’ he yelled, dragging her out of the new hole. She managed to maintain her grip on her grandmother even through the biting chill assaulting her body. Both women collapsed on to the frozen surface.

Eddie crawled backwards, pulling them with him. ‘Come on, get up,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to find some shelter before she gets hypothermia.’

‘Where?’ Nina asked, shivering as she surveyed the surrounding emptiness.

‘The… the other truck,’ Olivia said, her voice a quavering whisper. ‘In the back, there should… be a tent.’

Anger filled Nina, its heat almost driving away the cold. ‘But you went for the goddamn Crucible first?’ The crystal sphere was only a few feet away in the snow. ‘That thing’s almost gotten me and Eddie killed half a dozen times already — and now you’re joining in as well!’

‘Nina, hey,’ said her husband, trying to calm her. ‘We need to get her warmed up, then you can have a go at her. See if you can get anything out of the other jeep before it sinks. I’ll get her back to ours, it’s the only shelter we’ve got.’ He picked up Olivia, holding her tightly as he limped back towards the Toyota.

Nina shook off freezing water, then, shivering, made her way to the other truck. It was still slowly sinking, trapped air bubbling up as its nose tilted downwards. The rising water had reached the rear bed. She pulled as much as she could out on to the ice and hurriedly examined it. There was no tent, but a waterproof bag contained a bivouac. There was also a small portable gas heater and a first aid kit; she collected them along with a few other items, then hurried after Eddie.

She passed the Crucible. A pause — then, almost disgusted at herself, she picked it up and continued towards the super jeep, the cold wind tearing at her wet clothes like the fangs of a wolf.

Sarah looked back across the snowscape with concern. ‘It’s been too long. Where is she?’

Mikkelsson followed her gaze. Beyond the light from the 4x4’s roof-mounted spots, there was nothing but darkness. ‘She must be out there somewhere.’