SSSD - Marit and Julie

Ro goes to Marit and Julie.

“Let’s go,” she says. That’s good enough for the Norwegians.

Julie hauls the door open and Niv has to help her as the powerful wind nearly smashes her into the wall. Together, they plunge into the storm.

It’s every bit as dark as it looked through the icy windows under that gray sky. The howling wind is painfully loud, and visibility is a few meters at most. Ro is almost grateful for the deep snow; without it, she feels as though she might be blown away entirely.

She wades desperately after Julie and Marit, who struggle forward against the wind.

Golda and Niv are already gone; they went left, so they’re headed around to the other side of the outpost, where the coring sites and the big garage are.

Ro follows Marit and Julie straight out only for the three of them to be knocked flat by a dark shape that snaps out of the blizzard in a flash.

Ro tumbles to the snow with her heart in her throat, terrified as she thrashes. Marit and Julie yank the object off her: a heavy tarp. Julie pulls Ro to her feet, and the three of them work together to roll the tarp and stuff it into the snow before proceeding. Ro is confused, but that’s cleared up a moment later: the helicopter looms ahead. That tarp had been covering it and the storm must have blown it free.

Julie points and they follow her toward the chopper, where she cups her hands and peers inside.

“You see anything?” Ro shouts as the wind batters her, sneaking in through any gap in her protection. She’s frozen from head to toe despite wearing what feels like a full suit of armor.

Julie shakes her head at Marit, who thumps a gloved fist on the side of the helicopter.

Ro looks back. She can’t even see the outpost from here. It’s like being in outer space. What lies beyond the swirling snow might as well be infinite. She feels the first hints of tightness in her chest, which she knows well: a panic attack is coming.

“What?” she shrieks when someone grabs her arm. It’s just Julie.

They wade out to the electrical building, finding it locked up with a massive padlock. There is a ton of ice, so it hasn’t been opened recently. The small structure provides a little protection from the wind and they huddle there. They haven’t gone about this in a very clever or methodical way; the outpost has several small buildings apart from the main structure. Storage, the two garages, the shack, and this building. There’s more stuff out back that Ro doesn’t even know about. If Birgitte isn’t in the main structure, she must be in one of these.

Ro thinks about stuff that happened back at college: it wasn’t unheard of for someone to get drunk and stumble into the swamp and pass out or something. Fortunately, in Florida that was rarely fatal. Here? 100% fatal.

Ro focuses on keeping up and gets a respite at the Snow Cat that’s in the open. Birgitte isn’t in it, and why would she be? But they have to look.

Julie and Marit hesitate. Ro can see them holding hands and leaning close. There’s no romance in this; they’re shouting at each other to be heard over the weather. Ro can’t even dream of making out any of those words, but they seem to be struggling to agree on something. Probably where to look next.

The shack is directly south, but it’s a good thirty meters away and a little up a slope. Ro doesn’t know what that place is for.

The garages are west, and they’re a little closer. They house vehicles and supplies.

They’ll have to check all of it, obviously.

Julie and Marit shout at each other a little more. Marit nods and appears to clap Julie on the shoulder. She turns as if to head south. Julie’s going toward the garages. Ro is pissed that they’re splitting up, but even if she wanted to voice an opinion, no one would hear her in this. She needs to go with one of them because she sure as hell isn’t going anywhere by herself.

Go with Julie to the garages?

Or go with Marit toward the shack?