Finding Refuge

Shivering inside, Bella yells from the passenger side window of the old 1992 GMC Yukon truck, "what's wrong?" How did she allow herself to be talked into moving halfway across the country? And why did she trust that Carlos's old beat up truck could make it? Now the truck has stopped in the middle of nowhere. No gas station or even any houses in sight! Just a long desolate snow covered road, which appears to lead nowhere.

Carlos appears from under the hood, babe! try and start it. As Bella slides into the drivers seat, she rolls her eyes and lets out a deep breathe to display her shear frustration. As she turned the key there was a small hesitation, then nothing. She steps out in the freezing cold to look under the hood with him. What could she possibly do? She knew nothing about fixing cars. Carlos could see the frustration and the look that said he was a failure...again. Babe. I'm sorry, we'll be okay, I promise. He wrapped his arms around her. She wanted him to know how upset she was with him, so she pulled away and pouted as she walked back and sat in the passenger seat, arms folded and in complete silence.

It was beginning to get dark and their cell phones were dying. They had packed only enough food for a 2 day journey. Hours had gone by and no one had driven down this isolated road. Carlos began to fear that maybe help would not come soon. But, he didn't want to let Bella know how concerned he was. He had to make a tough decision. Babe, I think we should get some rest and when dawn breaks we can grab what we can and start walking until we see a house or something.

Tucked between the luggage and wrapped up tightly in blankets in the back of the truck they held each other through the night and relied on their body temperature to keep them warm as the temperature outside dropped to what must have seem like below zero. Bella could hear the winds whipping by as she drifted off to sleep. Somehow though they were stranded she felt safe tucked in his arms.

Awaken by the sounds of what seemed to be the howls of a coyote or wild animal, Bella woke Carlos with panic and fear. Carlos attempting to calm her began to wipe the frost from the windows of the truck to see if in fact there was a coyote near by. This would not be a good sign if they intended to walk to safety. But, he could not see anything in the distance.

As they prepared themselves for their journey, they made sure to bundle up and take whatever food with them. Their cell phones were powered off to try and save what little battery life they had. no cell towers could be seen for miles. Carlos powered his cell phone to check the time and it was just after 6 a.m. They hope to find shelter soon. He grabbed the tire iron for protection, slung on their back packs and headed straight on what appeared to be a driven road.

They had walked all morning taking small breaks in between. Bella was growing tired and her hands and feet were numb. Carlos grew more worried about her as time went on. He was big and pretty good physical shape, but Bella was a petite girl. Although she had layered up she was beginning to feel frozen to the bone.

In the distance Carlos spotted what appeared to be a small house. They both began to get excited! And they started to almost run towards the home hoping someone would be there, although they couldn't see any vehicles around! As they got closer they realized it was just an old barn. As they peered inside, they noticed steel barrels, some bales of hay, and enormous cobwebs. Which told them no one had been there in quite some time. Not a good sign. Also not a good sign was the fresh coyote footprints just outside. But there was no other shelter in view. So Carlos made a plan.

Carlos had gathered wood from the wooded area just beyond the barn and started a fire in one of the barrels. With the other barrels he close the barn doors and barricaded them inside for fear the coyotes may return. They huddled together on a bed of hay and prayed that someone would come looking for them.

In the middle of the night they could hear scratching outside the barn. They weren't sure what kind if animal might be out there. As they began to move they heard growing noises and scratching at the outside wall.

"Carlos I'm scared!!!" Bella shouted! which only made the coyote more riled up. Carlos grabbed hold of the tire iron. Then he began to look up toward the rafters. "We're going to go up there!"

He began to stack bales of hay. It seemed like the coyote would break through the weakened wood. Hoisting their bags and then themselves on top of the rafter, he knock the stacks of hay to the ground just in case the coyote was successful they'd at least be safe up there.

Their cell phones had completely died and the only way to tell how long they had been in the barn by this time was to count each night. They couldn't believe no one had come looking for them. They had eaten all the food they had. And Carlos gathered as much wood as he could while the coyotes were apparently away, and barricaded the door each time.

Two days had gone by and no one had searched for them. Carlos held Bella in his arms. We must try to walk tomorrow, we can't just stay here and die, we've got to try and save ourselves. Bella agreed, after all she had trusted him this far.

Carlos stood up and reaching in his pocket, and came out with a small box. Dropping to one knee in front of Bella, he said; "I wanted to do this on the beach in Miami, and I should have do it when you agreed to come with me. Bella, will you marry me?"

Bella could hardly believe this moment! Tears welled up in her eyes, and she nodded her head yes!

He slipped the ring on her finger, and said "lets say our vows now, because as far as I'm concerned if we die out here, we will die as Mr & Mrs Carlos Hernandez."

After their self imposed wedding and honeymoon, they decided it was all or nothing! Armed with nothing but their empty back pack and a tire iron, they set out when the sun began to rise. They hoped to find shelter or another road before nightfall.

They couldn't believe it! they had only been walking about an hour when the came upon a farm. There were dogs barking, and smoke coming from the chimney and two trucks pulled up along side it!

Running up to the home, they called out hello for the owners. They had reached the porch and knocked on the door, and the door flung open! The old man standing in the door was a sight for sore eyes!

Imagine that! They said, if we had walked just an hour longer we would have come across this place three days ago! They explained to the old man where they had been. He chuckled, and said; "that's my barn, haven't used it in years!"

They made it to safety. What a story they'll have to tell their children! Bella said, as she looked on in Carlos eyes.