The seat belt snatched me back against the seat, narrowly preventing my face from bouncing off of the steering wheel when the airbag didn't deploy. I sucked in a deep breath in the sudden silence after the engine died with aclatter.
Panic clutched my throat, making my ears twitch and jaw clench. I was a half-hour drive from my destination. It was below zero outside, and while I had the right clothing for extreme weather, I had no training for surviving the harsh Alaskanwilderness.
I opened the door, unlatched myself, and fell out of the seat into a snowdrift. Reaching back in for my parka was painful. I was pretty sure I bruised a rib, maybe even cracked it. The cold seeped into my bones within seconds. I’d prepared the best I could for winter, but I apparently had no idea what I was in store for. My clothes felt like they were no help atall.
The road was behind a huge snow mountain, taller than I was. The spot my SUV plowed through had settled low enough that I hoped I could climb over. No one would be able to see the vehicle from the road, so I had to move in hopes of another car comingby.
I climbed in the back seat and layered as much clothing as I could before putting my parka back on. It helped until the wind hit me, cutting straight through like I was naked. My face was covered, eyes hidden behind snow goggles I’d bought just to go to North Dakota. I swapped my sneakers for tall, warm, boring snow boots. The day I’d shopped for them, the store had been out of the brightly colored ones in my size, and I’d had to settle for darkpurple.
Gloved, booted, and with a backpack containing both of my handguns, a knife, and battery-powered hand warmers, I began the short, arduous trek over the snow mountain back to theroad.
The snow was hard and slick, causing me to slide backward repeatedly. I made headway, but at great pain and exertion. By the time I crested the drift, I was sweating and my ribs were screaming atme.
Reaching the top had me giggling in relief, and I started down the other side. Rolling like a child had its merits, but I didn't want to get myself any more snow-covered than I already was, so I went with boring oldwalking.
I soon realized the trip down was almost as difficult as up. I fought hard to stay on my feet until I tripped about six feet from the bottom and ended up rollinganyway.
The middle of the road, where I stopped moving, seemed as good a place as any to take a breather. The sky, pitch black and star-speckled, laughed at me, in the middle of a white Alaskan road, in the winter, during the endlessnight.
Only I could get into so much trouble trying to go help a man with broken legs. I spent a few moments resting, but not long. I was afraid of my body temperature dropping or of some Alaskan wild man running me over in his hugetruck.
The moose was long gone, of course— not that I wanted to be face to face with a moose. I'd heard they were fearsome creatures. I carefully waddled my way in a circle, too bundled up to be able to turn my neckmuch.
I jerked back around when I saw what was directly across from the spot where my SUV went off the road. The snow-covered ground reflected what tiny bit of light there was from the stars and made the darkness bearable, giving me a modicum ofvision.
A mailbox. There was a mailbox at the road. I was near a house. I jumped up and down, laughing. “I’m saved!” I shouted into the thinair.
I hurried over to the mailbox and made out a driveway beside it. It hadn't been shoveled or cleared and would be difficult to walk on, but it was my best shot at surviving the night if the house wasn't too far from theroad.
The journey up the driveway began with a smile and a spring in my step. Adrenaline masked the pain in my ribs, and I trudged along in my hot pink parka, black snow pants, and knee-high purple snow boots in highspirits.
Then the adrenaline wore off. Slowly my ribs twinged, then ached, then sharp pains stabbed me in the side. It would’ve been a lot worse if I hadn't been so bound up by my snowclothes.
I stopped once to stuff a hand warmer in each boot and glove. The cold had seeped in until my toes and fingers werenumb.
The only indication I was still on the driveway was the gap between trees. The ground was entirely covered and getting deeper the farther Iwalked.
I grumbled, convincing myself to pick up my feet and keep going. Of all people, of course a wreck in moose-infested Alaska would happen tome. I must’ve been the unluckiest personalive.
My desire to find the house was waning quickly, until noises in the night plagued me. My imagination ran a little wild, and I found a second wind to find shelter. The thoughts of the varied ways I could be killed by the wildlife lit a fire under mybutt.
I carried on, making trudging progress up the inclining driveway for a while longer, growing more and more tired and achy. The thought of stopping for a short rest trickled through my mind. I argued with myself. I was afraid if I stopped walking, I’d never startagain.
I had no idea how long I'd been walking, but the forest around me was pitch black. My toes and fingers cooled, so I knew it had been about two hours since I’d put the warmers in. They had a two-hour lifespan in extreme cold, according to theirpackaging.
When I couldn't stand the temperature anymore, I stopped again to replace the warmers in my feet with the last two I had. I’d make do with my hands by sticking them inside mycoat.
Walking with them bound inside my shirt and coat made me move slower. The white expanse of icy torture in front of me grew longer with every step I took. Tears threatened to fall, but I knew they’d freeze to my face and cause more damage. I'd be beyond lucky to escape with no scars orfrostbite.
My feet slowed, no matter how much I wanted them to speed up. I was so tired. Freezing. I needed to sit for a minute. Then I could start again with renewed energy. Just a short minute. I dropped to my knees, the need for rest overwhelming me. I didn’t even feel the cold when I collapsed face-first into thesnow.
The smellof bacon and coffee tickled my nose, luring me awake. My mind cleared, and I realized I was burning hot, sweating. Pain shot up from my toes. I moaned as I opened my eyes then immediately squashed my eyes shut again. My head hurt too much to openthem.
“Good. You're up. Now you can get the hell out of my house.” A grizzled voice behind me gave me incentive enough to brave the pain and open myeyes.
I was on my side in a bed. I rolled onto my back and flexed my fingers and toes experimentally. Pain from my toes, fingers were fine. My back gave no issue, besides some soremuscles.
I needed to look at my feet, but they didn’t hurt enough to indicate anything terrible. “Hello?” I asked, trying to figure out where the voice had comefrom.
