Complicado (Queen of the South, My Season 6)

Part 7 - Survival Mode

They were trudging through the heart of an avalanche field, Christoff insisted, and Tony was getting mad because there was nothing he could do.

A hissing wind lifted powder from the crest and continued down the slope.

"Snow is at its least stable immediately after a storm, as now. And it's particularly erratic on north slopes, like this because they get less sun, the guy kept talking as if it could change anything. "North side snow is hoar and loose and slippery as grains of sugar. Any include above 35 degrees makes a mountain avalanche prone, and this slope ...is easily that."

"Then we should be ready to die soon!" Tony concluded, not looking at his best new buddy.

"Not true!" Christoff was panting but still walking: "Of fatalities in avalanches, the majority are due to suffocation...less than 30% to blunt force trauma from falling ice and stones...no one dies from sliding snow powder." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself they were safe.

They kept plodding along the difficult slope in their ungainly shoes. Then Tony heard a faint grunt and realized that his friend had lost his balance.

He turned to watch Christoff's legs go out from under him, and he began sliding on his back, arms splaying to stop the descent. He seemed like he was doing his best to slow down, but it was clear that the slope was steep and the snow unstable. Tony held his breath.

But the massive ledge held. Tony moved hesitantly towards the safety outer bank, or so he thought. His glance down revealed the trickles of snow accelerating from beneath his feet. More and more of them. He looked up and saw more trickles coming slowly in his direction.

He panicked and charged forward, falling and getting up in the restricting ski boots on his feet. Just as he scrambled to the ledge, literally to diving to safety, a shelf of snow broke away and cascaded downwards. It was only about 10 feet wide and shallow, but he had seen on National Geographic that avalanches were a chain reaction.

Christoff had scrambled to the ledge as well when Tony heard his say: "Any solid object on you, toss it...in the turbulence, even small solid objects can main and kill. Hear me, man?"

Tony glanced at the crest ward and estimated they had about 30 seconds until the slowly moving snow mass got to them.

Christoff kept talking: "Listen to me, Tony. When it hits, don't fight it! Pretend you're swimming, just kick with your arms and legs. Swim with it, like you're surfing. Got that?"

No answer. Second time he was staring death in the face in his 16 years of life!

"Have you got it?" Christoff insisted.

"Yes, swimming". Tony mumbled, the fog in his mind not lifting.

20 seconds till the tide slammed into them.

"When you feel yourself slowing, curl up and ...ahh...take a deep breath, as deep as you can, man! And the most important: with one hand clear a space around your mouth and nose for air. Got it? Lift the other arm up as high as you can, man, so the searchers can spot you from afar...It should last for an hour at least!"

Tony was watching the approaching white wave getting bigger and taller, his brain frozen, his whole being mesmerized.

"You'll do fine. Hand to mouth, arm up. Be ready!" Christoff shouted and disappeared in the white wave.

When the white mass engulfed him, it carried him, it didn't hit. His brain suddenly clicked, and he started making swimming movements.

It's a slough avalanche – more loose snow than slabs, he realized. If we die, it will be of suffocation, not because of a blow to the head.

===

He felt a spine tingling rush of revelation sweep over him. He was alive and nothing felt broken! It was a strange exercise in sensory deprivation to be in total darkness and silence under the snow.

He couldn't say how much time had passed and he wasn't able to move. His arm was sticking up, he was certain as he mentally examined every part of his body. A slight pain in the shoulder was all. Then he heard the distant rev of engines...snowmobiles. He hoped his hand in his bright red ski glove was sticking high enough!

He couldn't force himself to take small shallow breaths to save the oxygen any more as he heard loud voices in German and then recognized his father's voice in English shouting that they 'needed to dig right here!'.

A minute later his father pulled him out of the snow, hugging him tight as his tears came down and all he could say was how sorry he was. As another group dug out the unconscious Christoff and started performing first aid, Tony finally got a grip of himself.

===

'I got him. He is okay.' James's text was brief and at that moment Teresa felt the torrent of emotions accosting her brutally. The tears overflowed and the raking sobs of the tension being released took her over.

Obviously, Suzie had heard her and rushed in, followed by Kelly Anne, who grabbed the phone from Teresa's hand and looked at the text. After realizing it had not delivered bad news, she hugged her friend and patted her on the back until the sobs slowly died down. Then she pulled her cell from her back pocket and dialed James.

When she hung up, she told them that Tony had a dislocated shoulder and was being taken to a clinic. Then she sent Suzie to prepare a cup of tea for her mom, while she helped Teresa get into bed and insisted, she took a melatonin pill with the tea to help her fall asleep.

Teresa was falling asleep when Suzie tiptoed in to tell her Tia was taking her to a movie, burgers and bowling in the village as she needed out of the house so as not to think about Tony's troubles! Teresa mumbled in agreement and was glad when her daughter shut the door behind her.