A Choice of Two

That is what it all started with. We had a plan, and we were going to stick to it. And that plan was...

"RUN!"

I screamed after Zach, who was already on his feet. I had already been following my own advice and was moving my legs as fast as they could possibly go, which was quite a bit, if I do say so myself.

You see, me and my buddy Zach, are not the type of people who can find entertainment sitting around all day on a computer or some other "device-ee-thingies." As Zach calls them. We were hikers. We loved just getting out there and doing whatever we felt the need to do. It was a passion we had both shared as kids and as we went into our 20's.

On no day in particular I presented the idea to Zach to go hiking in the Siberian Mountains. He agreed, and after months of careful planning we were ready to go. Our confidence and excitement was at an all time high, considering it would be a huge challenge and neither of us had ever been there before.

When we left for the mountains after arriving in Siberia, things were going pretty well. No major storms, no animal problems, and a clear and obvious trail to follow. It was only 8 days after we had begun that things started getting a little hectic. A massive storm blew in while we were on the move, no time to set up a camp or shelter. We were blown off course and into the rugged part of the mountain range.

"M-man, this really blows." I said through trembling teeth.

"Tell m-me about it." I could tell Zach was just as cold as I was. I thought about pointing out the stupid pun I had just accidentally made, because y'know... we were on a snowy mountain, but decided against it. Now wasn't the time to be making dumb puns.

We had been off the trail for a good 3 days, but we still had enough rations to last us another... week? Maybe, if we conserved it well enough. What I was really worried about at that moment was hypothermia. The past few nights we were able to get a fire going using the supplies we had brought with us, but those were beginning to run low. Damn, if only I had spent the extra $40 for a bigger bag.

We trekked on through the snow, practically freezing our lower body to the point of numbness.

"We really n-need to get out of this snow s-somehow." Zach said, as if on queue.

"Do you th-think we could find some shelter out here?" I pointlessly inquired.

"Doubt it." Yeah, that's what I figured.

We trudged on in complete silence, other than the near deafening howls of the chilled winds. At one point I told Zach to stop and we rested under an overhang of rock and ice, which protected us from the wind.

"How are we going to get out of this mess?" I asked both to myself and to Zach.

"I don't know how, but we will. I'd bet my life on it."

"Well, at the moment that's not much of a bet." There I went again. Zach is the type of guy that tries to see the bright side of things, an optimist, so to speak. Myself on the other hand... not so much. A pessimist.

"We'll get out of this. Trust me." Zach tried reassuring me, to no avail.

"Yeah, well what do you think we should then? Huh? Cause' I don't hear you thinking of any ideas." I was nearly shouting at this point, I was so frustrated, not with Zach, but with our current situation.

"Look, I don't know what we're going to do but we will figure it out, now sit down and calm yourself, before you do something stupid." That knocked some sense into me. I sat down without saying anything else.

We had been sitting there under the overhang for probably 15 minutes before I heard something over the shrieks of the wind.

"Do you hear that?" I questioned Zach.

"Hear what..." He listened carefully.

I sort of sounded like thunder, a deep rumble that came from every direction at once. Suddenly, we heard an ear splitting Crack!

"Oh no..." I knew what was about to happen "Get up, now!" We stood up and took off.

"RUN!"

We sprinted down the mountain in the growing darkness, as the avalanche that had started at the peak picked up speed behind us. I don't think I ever sprinted as hard in my entire life the same probably goes for Zach. Then the worst possible thing happened.

I tripped. Since we were going at such high speeds my momentum still carried me down the mountain, just in a more... tumbly kind of way. I wasn't able to give Zach any sort of warning and I slammed into him as he let out a surprised yelp. Now we were both tumbling down a mountain with an avalanche not far behind.

I didn't think that day could've possibly gotten any worse.

I was wrong.