The Fourth Wall Is Broken Twice

8th December, 8:01pm, Frozen Dune

Ashton was driving his car through the snow. 'It seems the storm is beginning' he thought, 'I need to wait this storm out at a shelter. Wait a minute. There was a shelter in the previous scene, where was it?... yes, Ice Lake Basin. I could go there and wait with those people. Yes, I break the fourth wall too. Maybe that car in the previous scene is mine—was mine?—will be mine?... Whatever'

A moment later, in the light of the car's headlights, he saw a man standing on the roadside, asking for lift. 'Poor guy! He might get stuck in the coming blizzard. I have to help him. However, the second person who stepped out of the car might be this guy' Ashton thought and stopped his car. The man asked Ashton for a lift to the village. Ashton nodded his head and the man got into the backseat of the car. The car started moving again.

"I'm Ashton"

"Oh, I am Gustavus" said the man comforting himself from the cold, "Thank you"

After a few moments of silence, Gustavus asked, "Are you new here? I've never seen you around"

"Um… yeah" Ashton said, eyes still fixed to the road.

'My friends were talking of an escaped prisoner. This guy seems suspicious' Gustavus thought.

'This guy is suspecting me, even though I'm not what he thinks I am. I should do something to remove that suspicion on me' thought Ashton. "But I visit my father's house here once in a while. I think the storm is getting worse. There must be a shelter here somewhere, right?" he said.

"Yes, that's a good idea" Gustavus replied. 'This guy knows the old coffee shop here, which means he isn't lying. He might not be the prisoner after all' he thought.

 'That settled' Ashton thought again, 'Actually, this Gustavus guy must be the actual prisoner- what was his name? Nathaniel, huh. But Nathaniel might not have known this place clearly as Gustavus does' he accelerated the car as the snow howled louder, 'Or what if Nathaniel was native to this place and he escaped right here because he could hide among the people?'

Ashton stopped as he reached the shelter. 'Oh this looks darker than the way the author narrated it!' he thought. He honked the car twice and got out. "Come on!" he screamed to Gustavus.

Gustavus got something in his hand and got out of the car. They both started running to the shelter, stumbling on their way as the snow was thick. Ashton could see a few men running out from the front door and looking at them. One of them moved towards Gustavus and offered him a hand. But as Gustavus leaned forward to hold his hand, the man moved away backwards, probably in fear, falling into the snow.

James helped Madhav stand, while Nathan pulled Ashton and Gustavus from the snow and they hurried inside for warmth. Nathan shut the door behind him.

Ashton and Gustavus gasped for air and shook the snow off their coats.

"Damn, that's fierce!" Ashton exclaimed.

Madhav quickly took down Gustavus and pulled his hands back. Gustavus fell down on his knees and grunted in pain. All the others gasped and moved away. Madhav looked at Gustavus's hands. It was a cap – a black cap. Nathan dragged Madhav away as he let go of Gustavus's hands.

"What are you doing?" Nathan asked.

"Nothing, I'm sorry, I thought I saw something else in his hands" Madhav moved away.

"What did you think you saw?"

'A gun' Ashton told himself.

"Umm… a gun" Madhav said slowly.

"What?" Gustavus exclaimed.

"I don't know! It was dark outside and something was in your hands and I thought it was a gun!" Madhav started to look panicked.

"Why would you think I had a gun?" roared Gustavus. He was definitely angry about it.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have acted like that. I apologize" Madhav said and calmed Gustavus down. "I'm Madhav"

"Gustavus"

Everyone came back to ease.

'Okay, this Madhav guy looks suspicious' thought Ashton, 'Could he be the prisoner? He might've thought it was a gun, as he was afraid of the detective. Or could he be the detective himself? No, a detective wouldn't take such sudden decisions, thinking the suspect is indeed the prisoner. Or he could be a common man, afraid if Gustavus could be the prisoner. It could also be that he might have really seen the gun, which Gustavus really has. But I have so far not noticed something like a gun with Gustavus. However, Gustavus seems to be native. But he came out of literal nowhere, asking for lift. I need to observe each person more carefully'

'This Madhav is not so nice. He offers me a hand outside and suddenly pounces on me like I was a runaway thief' thought Gustavus, 'Or maybe he is a police officer trying to catch the escaped prisoner? I'm not sure about that'

'I shouldn't have acted like that. I don't care about the embarrassment. What concerns me more is that now they may suspect me as the prisoner, who is being cautious of the police' thought Madhav.

'Alright, this silence is creeping me out' thought Nathan. He said, "So, Ashton and Gustavus, you are both friends?"

"No, we actually just met a few minutes ago" replied Ashton.

"He gave me a lift in his car" said Gustavus, "What about you, Nathan?"

Nathan said "Oh, I've come here before any of you. This once was owned by my grandfather. It was a coffee shop. I used to play as a child here…"

'Nathan is the only one with a cool head here' thought Ashton, 'Maybe he is naive or he is a good actor'.

At the same time James was also thinking the same. 'Everyone here is only suspecting that the others could be the prisoner, except Nathan. Also no one has implied that they are the prisoner in their thoughts, or at least in the thoughts that the author decided to mention'

"…. and so, I come here sometimes to relive few good memories…" Nathan was continuing.

'And there is this other fourth wall breaker in the room' both thought it at the same time and looked at each other suddenly. Their eyes were fixed, not a blink.