The Wilderness

Chapter Three

​Chris was running for his life, and he knew it. Being a member of three sport groups, he was used to running, but this was nothing compared to the many days he spent in practice. From the corner of his eye he saw some snow passing him on his right, and than felt himself fall backward as snow smashed into his legs. He barely had time to take a breath before he was encircled by snow.

​The sound of rushing snow and human screams were becoming louder as Jason got to the tree. Without a second thought he leaped onto the highest branch he could reach, and wrapped his arms around the tree's trunk. He felt another pair of arms wrap around the tree, but had no time to see who it was before his vision was blurred by snow.

Shaking his head to get rid of some of the snow, Stephan looked around with shock. Everything was silent, only the sound of the soft mountainous wind could be heard. He had made it to the tree but just barely in time. The snow had almost covered him completely, and only his head and shoulders were free from it. I should've picked a higher branch, he thought to himself.

​With a bit of effort, Stephan managed to get out of the snow, and had to lie on his stomach to keep himself from sinking too deep into the white ground. He looked around to see who else had made it, but he couldn't see anyone. Quickly, he glanced over at the tree where Ally and Jason had taken cover. At first he didn't see them, than two figures jumped down from a branch right above the snow. With a sigh of relief, Stephan carefully got to his knees. He sank a little into the snow, but it had stiffened following the avalanche and was firmer than what he had been expecting. When he got to his feet the snow came up to his knees, and it took some effort for him to walk over to the tree Jason and Ally had sheltered in. Ally saw him coming and gave him an uncertain half smile before turning to look at the slope where moments before they had been running from an avalanche.

​"Stephan! We need to see who else survived," Jason said. Stephan nodded, and for the first time noticed how breathless he was. He gave himself a few moments to get his breath back; meanwhile Ally was already digging in the snow, looking for survivors. Jason wasted no time in joining her. To cover more ground, Stephan dug separately from the pair. At first he almost let out a shout, to see who could hear him, but than remembered that that was what had caused the avalanche in the first place.

​"Hello? Anyone here?" Jason asked as he dug yet another hole near Ally. He made sure to keep his voice low, not wanting to cause another avalanche. There was no reply and he went over to another area to dig. In his stomach he felt sick, and felt a balloon of anxiety growing in his chest at that thought of finding no one alive, being left with only two kids to find the city Chris had talked about.

​"Look over there!" Ally suddenly exclaimed to Jason, though Stephan heard. The two boys looked to where Ally was pointing, and saw an arm waving above the snow. They weren't sure who it was, but they both were quick to crawl, since running was difficult, over the snow to the trapped person.

​"Hurry! We gotta get 'em out!" Jason exclaimed, though Stephan needed no encouragement. It took the boys some time, but eventually they had cleared the snow around the person: Chris.

​"Chris! You're alive!" Jason said happily. Chris's face was a ghostly white, and his lips slightly blue, but he was alive. Stephan knew, though, that unless Chris got warm soon he could get hypothermia. He might have it already.

​"Jason, we got to get him someplace warm," Stephan told Jason. When Jason looked around, apparently unsure of where to take Chris, Stephan said, "Take him to the tree and get him on one of those branches. Tell Ally to stay with him, maybe hold him till he warms up." Stephan wasn't sure whether or not Ally would want to help Chris warm up, at least not by holding him, but at the moment it was all he could think of. Without hesitation Jason helped Chris to the tree, and told Ally what Stephan told him. If Ally was unhappy with the job Stephan assigned her, she showed no sign of it.