Quadruple Duty: All or Nothing

Instead I kept going. Kept racing…

The blizzard was blinding now. I’d already lost my red-jacketed companion — I could no longer see to my left or right. I could barely see ten feet in front of me, and at the speed I was going, ten feet would’ve been less than a half second anyway.

I screamed. It was the only thing I could do. I screamed until the rumble of the mountain drowned me out. Screamed until I could feel the cold swirl of air rushing up behind me…

This is it! Your YOLO moment!

I was going to die. In my heart I was sure of it. I could taste it even, and the taste made me angry.

C’mon, just one more run!

The taste was bitter and painful, like coffee-grinds and gravel shredding my mouth. Faith’s sing-songy voice echoed tauntingly through my skull, making me vengeful. Filling me with hatred and sorrow and rage…

Up ahead the white parted… and I could see nothing but a vast stretch of grey sky. It was too late to turn. Far too late to stop. I could only fly into it…

Fly into it as a wall of snow crashed into me violently from behind, sending me head over heels… spinning, churning…

My poles were ripped from hands.

My skis, torn from my feet.

I felt my jacket whip over my head, and then something struck me from in front and behind at the same time.

Every ounce of air was knocked from my lungs. I tried to breathe, but sucking in breath was wholly impossible.

Then even the white was taken away from me, as my entire world went utterly black.

Three

MORGAN

I woke in the cold, to pitch-black darkness.

Am I dead?

I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t standing, that was for sure. But I wasn’t lying down

either. In fact, I felt like I was floating…

I could barely breathe. Something was crushing me, pressing in on my lungs from both sides. I reached out to feel for it, but I couldn’t do that either. I no longer had arms.

Panic flooded through me. Eventually I calmed down enough to realize I did have arms, they were just pinned to my sides. I wriggled away at them, pulling hard. One popped free and I felt around.

Snow. All around me, nothing but darkness and cold and snow.

You’re underground.

I blinked hard. It didn’t make sense.

You’ve been buried... by the avalanche.

My panic turned to terror. I had to get out! Had to claw my way back to the surface, before I ran out of air!

Calm the fuck down, Morgan!

I tried taking a deep breath, only that was impossible. Most of my body was embedded in the snow. Slowly, painfully, I freed my other arm. My jacket was gone, but I still had my shirt. There was snow up my back. Down my ski pants…

My ski pants!