Silent Night

THIRTY SEVEN

All conversation in the freezer had stopped. Maddy was huddled in under Archer’s arm, wrapped up in the folds of her coat. All their movements had slowed, the cold making them sleepy. Archer was feeling warmer which he knew was a bad sign. It didn’t matter that they had cheated the virus. If they didn’t get help, they would both be dead in fifteen minutes.

Suddenly Maddy spoke.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘For what?’

‘For being…so hostile to you today.’

Pause.

‘I just…’

She paused again. The cold was fragmenting her sentences. Talking was becoming harder and harder.

‘He died…And I wanted it to be…someone’s fault…other than his.’

Silence.

‘And I never…got a chance…to say…goodbye.’

Pause.

‘He must have been…so scared.’

Every time she exhaled, her breath turned to mist as the temperature condensed the water vapour.

Archer didn’t reply.

He just hugged her close, both of them shaking.

A long moment of silence followed.

‘Tell me…about you.’

He looked down at her. ‘What…do you want…to know?’

‘Anything. Tell me about your family….Do you have…any… brothers or sisters?’

‘A sister.’

‘What’s her name?’

‘Sarah.’

‘What about…your parents?’

‘They’re gone.’

Silence.

‘How?’

‘My mother had cancer. My father was…murdered.’

Pause.

‘I didn’t get to…say goodbye either.’

Silence.

Frost had gathered on the edges of their clothing and in their hair. There was a rustle as Maddy tilted her head, looking up at him. He met her gaze.

She was pale.

‘I just…realised something.’

‘What?’

‘I don’t even know your name.’

He forced a smile. ‘Archer.’

‘No…I mean…your first name.’

He looked down at her. Her lips were looking blue.

‘Sam… it’s Sam.’

He felt her move into him slightly closer. He felt warm, and sleepy.

Talk, idiot.

Stay awake.

If you fall asleep, you won’t wake up again.

‘Hold on,’ Archer whispered. ‘Won’t…be long now.’

They sat there in silence.

Shivering.

Waiting.

*

Having pulled up outside the building, Josh and Marquez moved into the lobby seventeen floors below. The night security guy was at his desk, engrossed in a New York Post. The guy flicked his eyes up from the rear pages then looked back down.

‘What floor is Flood Microbiology?’

’17 and 18,’ he said, not looking up from the paper. ‘You got an appointment?’

Annoyed by his attitude, Marquez pulled her badge and showed it. ‘We don’t need one.’

That got his attention. He snapped up in his seat, putting the paper away. ‘I’ll buzz you in.’

‘Thank you.’



Inside the freezer, Archer’s eyes were just about to close when he saw movement the other side of the lab in the main corridor.

It looked like Josh and Marquez.

Both figures were staring at him, pressed up against the glass, Marquez with her phone to her ear. Josh was up close to the glass, shouting something, but Archer couldn’t make out what he was saying.

Shit, I’m dreaming, he thought.

It can’t be them

They’re downtown.

Under his arm, Maddy had gone quiet and still. She wasn’t shivering any more.

I’m dying, he thought.

No, you’re not. Keep your eyes open.

I’m about to die in a damn deep freeze.

I’ll just close my eyes.

Just for a second.