Chapter 3 - By Another Person's Side

14:25 – Day 1

"Olivia!"

"Olivia, wake up!"

Olivia could hear her name being desperately called. It sounded very distant, very faint. She couldn't even make out who was calling her.

"Come on Liv, don't do this to me, wake up!"

The desperateness in the person's voice was the thing that came through to her. Hearing the frightened, almost heartbreaking tone gave the engineer a new will to try and open her eyes.

Her mind was foggy, everything numb. But the more she began waking up, the more the numbness faded. The more pain she felt.

Her entire body was stiff and ice cold. Pain throbbing through her head. Olivia gritted her teeth, blinking open her eyes. All she could see was a blurry mass of grey.

"Olivia? Olivia, can you hear me?"

Axel, that was Axel's voice! Olivia realised with shock, weakly turning her head to the side the voice was coming from. Now white was starting to mix with the grey, as well as the fuzzy shape of Axel a few feet away from her.

"Are you with me?" He repeated anxiously, visibly desperate to get her attention.

"I think so." Olivia muttered weakly. She reached up both her arms, rubbing her eyes to try and clear her vision. As she did, she realised her hands were in fact covered by woolly mittens. "What... what happened?"

"I don't know." Axel replied. "I woke up barely ten minutes ago, just like you."

Olivia opened her eyes again, blinking heavily. She could now tell that the greyness was actually a cloudy sky above her. And the white ground beneath her, a thick layer of snow...

"Where the hell...?" Olivia muttered, stiffly rolling onto her side and starting to sit upright.

Despite still being a little hazy, her thoughts had already begun working overtime. What had happened to her and Axel? Where were they in the first place? It couldn't even be remotely close to home, could it? Or had some natural disaster caused snow to fall in Beacontown?

"Are you hurt?" Axel asked Olivia as she managed to heave herself up onto her knees.

"I'm a little stiff, other than being f-freezing." Olivia replied, feeling herself start to shiver. "And my head hurts like hell. But everything seems to be working for now..."

"I'm glad to hear one of us is doing better than the other then." Axel replied grimly.

Olivia stiffened slightly, almost dreading to look back over at Axel, now that her vision was clear. Was he hurt?

Olivia turned her head in his direction, her eyes widening almost immediately, clasping her hands over her mouth.

Axel was half sitting, half lying, his body pushed up on his right arm. His usually dishevelled black hair was sticking to his skin with blood, the red substance smeared all down the side of his face, over his one eye. His brown eyes pained, but alert.

"My god, Axel." Olivia breathed, struggling up to her feet. The landscape swayed slightly as she staggered over to Axel, dropping to her knees beside him. "How did this happen??"

"I don't know." Axel replied as Olivia examined the wound on the side of his head. He glanced over slightly at Olivia, seeing a faint, but visible bump on her forehead, skin bruised blue. Not as severe, but it still must have been quite the hit considering she couldn't remember anything either.

"This isn't too deep." Olivia said, shuddering slightly at the sight of the open wound. "And it's not bleeding any more, which is good... Are you hurt somewhere else?" She asked him, anxiously.

Axel didn't reply. Olivia turned to face him, giving him an expecting glance to which he only avoided eye-contact.

"Axel?" She asked uncertainly, still not earning a response. An unsettling feeling found its place in the pit of Olivia's stomach.

"You are hurt somewhere else... aren't you?"

Axel was silent for a few more seconds, giving a faint nod. Olivia watched in horror as he moved his one leg off the other, revealing the thick grey fabric of his pants to be stained a dark red, right above his knee.

"Oh god." Olivia breathed, clasping a hand over her mouth, seeing the wound through the ripped fabric.

At first sight of the blood, she had expected a severe cut or gash – maybe even a broken bone. But what she saw, was even more frightening.

Metal. Sticking through the skin on Axel's leg, was a piece of silver metal, it's shining surface crusted with blood.

"It goes right through." Axel said, almost as if he knew what Olivia was thinking. "Sticks out the other end as well."

"God." Olivia breathed, closing her eyes and leaning her forehead into her one hand. "Just how... how did this even happen?!"

"However it happened, we're smack in the middle of this crap right now." Axel responded. "I hate to say this, but... I don't think we're going to make it."

Axel's words were like a stab to chest. Olivia's never heard Axel say something like that, not out loud. Like Jesse, he was usually overly optimistic. She looked up at him with a frightened gaze, her brown eyes beginning to show the glaze of tears.

"You might." Axel said softly. "But not me."

"No." Olivia whispered, shaking her head. "We have to find a way out of this!"

"Olivia, look around." Axel said, gesturing to the abyss of snow and wind in front of them. The only thing that provided shield against the wind for them, was the large rock face they were up against.

"We don't know where we are, this is as good as being in the middle of nowhere. Maybe, maybe if you went looking for something – a house, a cave, any type of shelter, you could save yourself. But there's no way I can move."

"I'm not leaving you, you hear me?" Olivia said with a gasp, grasping Axel's arm. Trying to blink back the tears in her eyes. "S-somehow, some way... we gotta make it."

"C'mere." Axel said gently as the tears starting running down Olivia's face, pulling her slightly closer to him and wrapping his big arms around her. Olivia buried her face into Axel's thick green sweater, giving way to the tears and starting to sob.

The frosty wind blew over them again, tugging at Olivia's long black hair. Axel pulled her slightly closer, holding her tighter, trying to offer some of his warmth.

He glanced up at the snow spiraling down around them, trying to find the sun in the clouded sky. If night fell, it would be the end for the both of them... he had to convince Olivia to save herself.

"Hey, listen." Axel said, pulling slightly away from Olivia, so they were looking each other in the eyes. He reached up, carefully brushing her tears away with his gloved hand.

"You need to go, you hear me?" Axel said firmly. "If you don't find a shelter before night comes, we're going to die of hypothermia out here."

"But what about you?" Olivia asked desperately.

"You can't focus of me right now, Olivia." Axel said softly. "You have to save yourself."

Olivia choked back another sob, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't..." She whispered. "I can't leave you!"

"You have to."

Olivia desperately shook her head. She clasped both her hands around Axel's, desperately clutching his hand.

"I-I'll come back for you." She choked out. "I promise... I'll check out the s-surroundings, and if I f-find a place, I'm coming to get you o-okay?"

"Okay." Axel replied, knowing nothing he said was going to change Olivia's mind. "But please... put your own life first."

Olivia gave a shaky nod, wrapping her arms back around Axel's neck. He returned the embrace, tightly hugging her. Silently accepting that it might be the last time they would ever hold each other.

Olivia wasn't sure how long the hug lasted, only that it wasn't long enough. Turning her back and walking away from Axel, was positively one of the hardest things Olivia had ever needed to do. It wasn't long before thick fog absorbed her, and she could no long see him upon glancing back.

Olivia wiped her eyes on the long sleeves of her red coat, trying to focus on what she had to do. She tried thinking back, trying to force through the haziness in her head and remember what had happened to them.

But the memories she found were old. Nothing came to mind that could possibly have let up to their current situation.

Olivia stopped walking, her eyes scanning the surroundings. She could just about make out a shape, lying against the mountain's slope.

Olivia wiped her eyes on the back of her mitten again, walking up to the large shape. As soon as she got close, Olivia felt a blanket of dread getting draped over her.

Because what she was seeing, was in fact the remains of what once was a car.

Olivia wouldn't be surprised if the car had fallen all the way from the cliff above them, considering the state it was in. It was impossible to even tell what type of car it used to be.

Olivia took a deep shuddering breath, walking up to the wreckage. The smell of petrol hitting her nostrils – for the first time relieved that she was in a frozen wasteland and not a desert, with sun scorching down on her.

The front of the car had nose planted into the snow, so Olivia slowly circled around to the back. Reaching out and cautiously wiping the snow and frost off of the license plate.

She shook her head, not recognising the number. Slowly she circled the car again, desperate for some indication of where she was. But it was hard to tell what part of the car used to be what at that point, and Olivia soon gave it up for a lost cause, starting to feel a little hazy from the strong petrol fumes.

Olivia slowly walked away from the wreckage, wrapping her arms around herself for some warmth. Her thoughts drifted back to the memories she did have.

Where were Jesse, Lukas and Petra? Out there in a similar cold nightmare? Or safe back in the warmth of Beacontown? Olivia prayed for the second option.

As the minutes slowly ticked by, the fog cleared up slightly while the wind picked up more.

"J-just g-g-great." Olivia said shakily, as she felt her teeth beginning to chatter. She could only pray that the cliff face continued to shield Axel from the wind...

With clearing fog, Olivia began to get an idea of where she was heading. There were some trees dotted along her left side, packing closer and closer together in the distance.

The idea of a forest was scaring Olivia. Most animals in that type of place would be in the forest, right? Where there's the possibility of food?

The mere thought made Olivia slowly begin veering off towards the right. She didn't even want to begin thinking of all the scary possibilities out there... Wolves? Bears? No, they'd be hibernating, right?

She shuddered slightly at the thought, shaking her head to herself.

The light was beginning to fade fast, while the terrain was getting almost slightly rougher, rockier. It was impossible to know when you're taking a step, whether your foot would sink into the snow or meet solid stone. Olivia only barely managed not to fall through her various stumbles.

"Crap..." She murmured, realising the rocky terrain lead to nothing but a drop off.

Olivia carefully peered over the edge, her eyes scanning the drop below. It wasn't a long way down onto the snow, but from there it kept sloping down very steeply. She could jump down, but the momentum could easily send her rolling down the slope.

"Oh boy." Olivia muttered. "Do I chance this?"

She looked back over her shoulder. It was getting dark, there wasn't time to turn back and start over. Maybe there was something at the bottom of the hill – if there wasn't, she should be able to climb her way back up.

Very carefully, Olivia swung her legs over the edge, praying that her arms would be able to hold her weight. She carefully lowered herself down, feeling for the snowy ground with no success. It were times like that, she wished she was as tall as Axel or even Petra...

Then finally, the tip of Olivia's boot touched the ground. She carefully let go, staggering slightly on the steep surface, battling to keep her balance.

"Okay, you got this." She breathed, carefully beginning to edge her way down the slope. Slipping and sliding ever so slightly.

There had better be something at the bottom to make that journey worth it, even if it was just a cave. Anything...

Finally Olivia managed to slide down to the bottom, another small leap down, and she was on a flat surface again.

The last light was quickly fading, the wind picking up even more. Olivia began looking around anxiously, feeling her entire body start to uncontrollably tremble.

Her eyes landed on a slight dip in the rock face, a tiny spot that could be shelter against the wind. Small, she'd barely be able to fit in, and Axel wouldn't even begin to. But right at that moment, it needed to make due.

Olivia was about to break into a jog towards the little hole, when something caught her eye. She glanced back, her gaze coming to rest on something dark, nearly buried beneath the falling snow.

Turning back, Olivia slowly walked over to it. Her hands raising to her mouth, her eyes widening as she realised what she was looking at.

Blood.

___

Oh boy, what a start for Axel and Olivia!

Before I say anything, let me apologise for how watered down this chapter sounds. I still remember when I wrote it, I was starting to get frustrated with the fact that I still have so many characters to go through, before I can make progress on what's going to be happening next for Jesse and even Petra. So it seems past me got a little lazy XD

I tried to kind of fix it all up again before posting, so hopefully it doesn't sound too watered down!

I'm having so much fun posting this story though, you guys' theories have been blowing up in the comments and you have no idea how much I've been loving it! And even just reliving this story is, ah! So much fun!

Deep breaths, back to talking about the chapter.

So we got some insight for Axel and Olivia! Injury wise, I'd say Olivia probably got off the lightest of everybody - and we'll of course learn why in the future. But Axel... eh not so much.

And we also have a little bit of a clue at the end there... I won't spoil anything.

Also, fun fact, notice how much better the quality the header of this chapter is then the previous two? Yeah I forgot to make it XD I only realised that today and was like CRAP, so I quickly made it. Oh my lord it makes the other headers look even worse than they already are, right next to present day art. 

Anyhow, this A/N is so long, what am I doing?

Be sure to share how your theories and thoughts have evolved throughout this chapter!I'll see you all in five days with chapter 4!