Page 103 of The Heart of Winter

I sighed, eyeing my sandwich.

"Well, lucky guy. Unfortunately, that’s not an option for us." I couldn’t help but strike a bitter tone.

After we ate, we faced the issue of how to get to the cave with the mattresses. In the end, we decided that I would take them first, and then I would return for Sariel.

Back in the cave, I went to the spot where its width almost doubled, and I spread the three mattresses out, side by side on the ground. They made a pretty comfortable, wide-enough bed. Even if we had to lie curled up together, it… well, probably wouldn’t be a problem.

When I returned, Sariel had already packed up the rest of the stuff, forming a bundle by wrapping the bottles and cans with a charging cable. He had also tied together our carry-ons and the other passenger's toiletry kit.

I took the bundle in one hand, and Sariel leaned on my shoulder. I didn’t let on that the closeness of his body was affecting me in any way because these weren’t the circumstances for that. But it was. Sleek, and supple, it smelled faintly of body wash. Oh, my luck.

SARIEL

My leg hurt like hell.

Seriously, it was pure torture, though I really tried not to show it. I hoped with all my heart that nothing was broken inside, that it was just a sprain.

Fortunately, after Winter had immobilized it, it was a little more bearable. And I could now walk, supported by him, awkwardly jumping and limping.

Before we started down, when Winter was out scouting the area, I’d taken a painkiller to survive the trek to the cave. I didn’t want to take too much, I had no idea what the next few days would be like. Would the rescue team show up? Maybe I’d need more pills later.

While we were making our way down the slope, I didn’t say any of this out loud, but the longer I thought about it, the more I became convinced that the search teams wouldn’t be looking for us anytime soon. Why would they need to hurry? A plane explosion at such a high altitude, probably nobody expected any survivors. But I didn’t want to be too pessimistic in front of Winter.

Thankfully, with the painkiller kicking in, my mood improved slightly, and we finally reached the ravine. I was pleasantly surprised. In the gentle canyon, there was indeed a hot spring outlet, and the water was wonderfully warm!

When we entered the cave, the hot temperature almost hit me in the face. It turned out that the cave was wide enough, almost like a broad tunnel, that we could move around freely. The mattresses were already on the ground in one of the farthest sections, where it was nice and cozy. I could easily toss off the blankets, and I immediately lay down on one of the mattresses with a neck roll that Winter had found in one of the cupboards.

Winter stood for a moment, looking at me from above, then said, "I think I should go wander around the meadows during the day, just in case anyone’s flying by."

That meant he wouldn’t be here. I felt a wave of anxiety at that prospect.

"There’s a cold wind, the temperature is probably around freezing, and you shouldn’t be out there for too long," I said, studying him carefully.

Winter was still wrapped in blankets, just like I had been before, and his pale silver eyes rested on my face. It was hard to read what he was thinking, but on some level, I just sensed it.

He was worried, uneasy, and he seemed to be taking the whole situation even more seriously than I was. At the edge of my subconscious, there was also a nagging feeling that things weren’t looking good, but I just didn't want to dwell on it right now.

"It’s the first day. The teams may be close, actively searching. It’s just a matter of how far from us the plane crashed," he said.

I hesitated, but before I knew it, it slipped out: "Winter, they might know the plane exploded midair. After the explosion, we didn’t fall straight down. The pilot must have had time to notify air traffic control that something happened. If so, they know it happened at cruising altitude."

Winter’s face was seemingly calm, but I could tell he was hiding something.

I continued, my tone grim and almost masochistic. "35,000 feet. No one could have survived that."

Winter closed his eyes for a moment, then said, "There will definitely be teams searching for the plane wreckage. They’ll try to access the black box, collect parts of the fuselage, figure out the cause of the crash."

"There’s no point in looking for people in January temperatures in the northern waters. How long could they last? Half an hour? I doubt even that. And they know it too."

Winter exhaled and looked away toward the cave entrance.

"Let’s focus on the positives and stick to the plan: scouting, and looking for the rescue team. I’ll try to climb the slope of this volcano. That’ll give me a better vantage point. Maybe we’ll be able to figure out if this is an island or the mainland. If we’re on the Kamchatka Peninsula, we might eventually reach regions with stations or cities."

We both fell silent for a while.

"Have you thought about them?" I had to ask.

"The passengers?"

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