• Mari moaned as she opened her eyes. She tried to figure out when she fell asleep because she never recalled even closing her eyes. The only reasonable explanation was that she'd managed to pass out. She frowned slightly as she stared at the man she looked at as a father figure. She'd been leaning on him when she woke up and, again, she'd figured this was just because she passed out.

    He was kind of warm, but he was too tall to really use as a pillow considering they were sitting up. He really wasn't that tall, but he was taller than her. That was all that really mattered. The small girl shifted slightly to turn toward Stew...

    Or not.

    She stared blankly at Sue for a second, trying to figure out when she and Stew had switched places. Wouldn't she have felt them moving around? And, on that note, why had they even switched to begin with? That pretty boy of a thing had come all the way down that darned cliff just to use Mari as a heat source so he wouldn't die. Even though she was as useless as a fly right now, she doubted he would have put himself on the outside of the group of four.

    It was far too cold for him to not want to be in the middle. But that's what the tiny brunette thought of him, anyway. Maybe he just wanted to be nice to Sue and let her stay warm. The funny thing about that idea was the fact that it bothered her so much. Stew wasn't that nice!

    He was a total jerk. A very pretty jerk, but a jerk no less. She frowned again and pushed the thought of him actually switching places with Sue out of kindness out of her head. She wanted him back in the middle with herself so he didn't freeze, even if this meant making Sue colder.

    No! Why would you even consider that?! Sue is your best friend!

    Even so, the older girl could probably take the cold a little better than Stew could. He got sick from just being out in the rain for a few minutes. She didn't want either of them to be on the outside, really, because it put them both at a risk of freezing. It was the same way for Gerry, actually, but it made no sense to try and have him move because he was keeping the wind away from them. Mari froze for a moment.

    Was she really that selfish? But Gerry would be harder to keep warm. And, yet another frown spread across her face. She'd just switch places with Stew, herself, and give both he and Sue a chance to warm up. It would make up for the fact that she failed everyone when she used up all her energy.

    She sighed, then, and finally decided to wake the young man up and make him move. He was a heavy sleeper, though. She remembered that from before when Gerry made her wake him up. She didn't want to wake anyone else up, though.

    "Stew..." She said quietly. "Hey, you! Get up."

    No response. She figured. And, with another sigh, she reached over Sue to try and shake him. Her already cold hands felt even colder, though, when she touched him. It was almost like sticking your hand in a freezer immediately after took a shower, or worse.

    She panicked and attempted to scramble over Sue to shake him. Maybe he was just cold as ice because it was cold as ice. But he wasn't shivering at all.Sue and Gerry both shivered every-so-often so it would only make sense for Stew to as well. Was he even...

    Don't even think that!


    She wanted him to wake up. She wanted him to be okay and fine and dandy and alive. She didn't hate him and she didn't have a good enough reason for him to die. He and Sue and Gerry, they were everything to her right now. She couldn't lose him.

    "Wake up!" She screamed. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake! UP!"