The wind howled relentlessly, as if determined to swallow everything in its path, devouring the white expanse of the Antarctic wilderness. Jack Winter struggled forward, half-carrying Sarah Foster with each step, their progress slow and agonizing. Every movement felt like a battle against the ice and snow, the cold threatening to seize their very bones. Their breath turned to white mist, vanishing almost instantly in the frozen air.
They had no time to stop, no time to rest. Jack knew that if they didn't find shelter soon, the freezing temperatures and Sarah's injuries would claim them both.
"How are you holding up?" Jack asked, his voice low as he glanced at Sarah.
"I can still walk… Don't worry about me," she replied, her voice weak, though her eyes remained steady and determined.
Jack nodded, his eyes scanning their surroundings. The landscape offered little hope—nothing but snow and jagged pieces of wreckage as far as he could see. They needed to find shelter, something to protect them from the wind, maybe a crevice or a naturally formed ice cave.
"We can't stop. We have to keep moving," he urged, more to himself than to Sarah, as they trudged forward. His legs felt like lead, stiff and unyielding from the cold, but he gritted his teeth and pressed on, refusing to let exhaustion take hold.
The light was beginning to fade. Darkness crept in quickly in the Antarctic, and the wind seemed to grow fiercer with each passing minute. Jack risked a glance back at the wreckage of the helicopter, the twisted remains of their only means of escape. The image of that strange rune flashed in his mind once more. What had it been? He couldn't dwell on it now. Survival was all that mattered.
Suddenly, Jack's foot slipped, and he nearly tumbled to the ground. He caught himself just in time, glancing down to see what had caused him to lose his footing. Beneath the snow, a thin crevasse had opened—a crack in the ice, hidden by the fresh snowfall.
"There's a crevasse here," Jack called out, his voice laced with caution.
Sarah looked down at the crack, her face tense with fear, but she quickly regained her composure. They carefully navigated around the crevasse, continuing their slow journey across the frozen wasteland. However, they hadn't gone far before Jack stopped abruptly, his eyes narrowing as he stared ahead.
"There's something up ahead," he said, pointing toward a shadowy outline in the distance. Amid the blinding whiteness of the snow, there appeared to be a dark opening—a cave, perhaps? It looked like a natural ice formation, a potential refuge from the relentless wind.
Jack and Sarah quickened their pace, the promise of shelter giving them a small burst of energy. As they approached the entrance, they saw that it was indeed a cave, carved into the side of a snow-covered ridge. The mouth of the cave was dark, the interior hidden from view, but at the very least, it would offer protection from the elements.
"We should go inside," Jack said, his voice laced with urgency.
They entered the cave cautiously, the walls closing around them, bringing instant relief from the howling wind. The temperature inside was still frigid, but compared to the outside, it felt almost bearable. Jack helped Sarah to sit on a flat section of ice, then he took a moment to inspect their surroundings.
The cave walls were covered in a thick layer of frost, shimmering faintly in the dim light. The ice reflected an eerie blue glow, casting strange shadows that danced along the walls. Jack ran his hand along the frozen surface—it was as cold and unforgiving as he'd expected. They needed a fire and something to keep warm if they hoped to survive the night.
Reaching into his jacket, Jack pulled out a small lighter, one of the few useful items he had managed to salvage from the wreckage. He rummaged through his pockets and found a few scraps of material, enough to start a small fire. With trembling hands, he sparked the lighter, carefully coaxing a tiny flame into life.
The firelight flickered in the cave, casting long shadows across the icy walls. It wasn't much, but it was something.
Sarah stared into the fire, her eyes heavy with exhaustion. "At least we're alive," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the crackling flame.
Jack nodded, though the knot of unease in his chest hadn't loosened. That same sensation—that they were being watched—continued to haunt him. It was as if something unseen lurked in the ice, just out of sight, observing their every move. The feeling gnawed at him, even as he tried to focus on their immediate survival.
Night was falling, and the firelight flickered weakly as it struggled to stay lit in the cold. Jack leaned back against the cave wall, his body aching with fatigue. He needed to stay awake, to keep watch, but the exhaustion was overwhelming. His eyelids drooped, and soon, he was drifting in and out of sleep, the weight of the day pulling him under.
Just as Jack was about to succumb to sleep entirely, a sound echoed through the cave. At first, he thought it was the wind—just another gust howling through the entrance—but this was different. It was deeper, more deliberate. A low, rumbling whisper, like the earth itself was speaking to him.
Jack's eyes snapped open, his heart racing. He sat up, straining to listen, but the sound had faded. Had he imagined it? His breath came in short, shallow bursts as he glanced around the cave. Nothing had changed, yet the air felt heavier, charged with an unseen energy.
"What was that?" Sarah's voice was faint, but there was fear in her tone.
Jack shook his head, his mind racing. "It's just the wind," he said, though even as he spoke the words, he didn't believe them.
The cave grew colder, the air thick with the weight of something ancient and unseen. Jack's thoughts returned to the rune he had seen near the wreckage, the strange symbol that had glimmered beneath the snow. He had pushed the thought aside before, but now, it clawed its way back to the forefront of his mind. What had that symbol been? And why did it feel like something had followed them from the crash site?
The fire flickered again, casting long shadows across the cave walls. Jack glanced at Sarah, who had already drifted back into a fitful sleep, her face pale against the dim light. He wished he could find the same reprieve in sleep, but he knew that something was wrong. They weren't alone out here. Something had been watching them since the crash, something far more dangerous than the cold.
Jack leaned back against the wall again, his body trembling with cold and fear. Outside, the wind howled, but inside the cave, it was the silence that terrified him most.