Jake swore under his breath and turned towards the front half of the plane. He crossed the path of the blizzard and disappeared into the cockpit.
The documentary maker emerged from the boxes, triumphantly waving the first aid box in the air. Her name was Neeta, Ellen suddenly remembered.
Neeta and her camera man, Pete, busied themselves seeing to the minor injuries, handing out antiseptic wipes and bandages as needed. She had also retrieved torches from the supplies.
Neeta came over to Ellen with the first aid kit and a torch. “Let’s take a look at that wound,” she said.
Ellen reluctantly peeled away her many layers of clothing to reveal the bare patch of flesh on her side where the glass had penetrated. She was relieved to see, in the torch light, that the wound was about two centimetres across, but did not look deep enough for stitches.
Neeta dabbed at it with antiseptic wipes. Ellen bit her lip and tried not to scream. “It should be fine as long as we keep it clean,” Neeta said. “It’s already started to clot.” She taped a large pad of gauze securely over the wound.
Jake emerged through the blizzard into the back of the plane, carrying Andres over his shoulder. The pilot was tall, but the marine carried him easily.
Jake laid Andres down in the aisle. Andres’ chest and face were covered in blood. He was unconscious. Jake stood up and said, “OK, we need something to use as a splint for Dan’s leg. Two straight pieces of wood or metal.”
“What about Andres?” Ellen said.
Jake frowned. “I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do for him. We can patch up the external wounds, but he might have internal bleeding.”
For the next hour, the priority was tending to the wounded. Jake and Allison used two metal poles to splint Daniel’s leg. Ellen watched Jake make use of his field medical experience as he improvised, attempting to set Daniel’s leg by forcing the bone back into place. Neeta found a piece of wood for Daniel to bite down on while this happened, but his face was white, and it was obvious he was trying not to scream. With his leg splinted and bound, Jake and Pete carried Daniel to the back of the plane where he rested on a couple of blankets. He was whimpering in pain, but eventually he settled down to sleep.
The pilot was a far more serious case. Upon closer inspection, Ellen saw his foot had been crushed. Jake said the bruising on Andres’ chest indicated internal bleeding. Jake and Neeta did what they could, but to Ellen, who had no medical training, it was obvious that without proper medical treatment he wouldn’t survive.
Everyone else had minor injuries, so as first aid was going on, the others unpacked luggage in search of warm clothes. They bundled up in as many layers as possible to protect themselves against the cold and huddled together to wait out the storm that raged around the ruined plane.
CHAPTER 3
Ellen blearily blinked sleep from her eyes, emerging from her cocoon of sleeping bag and blankets. She wore three sweaters over a thermal base layer and two pairs of thermal socks, a pair of gloves, and a hat. Through the shattered window, came freezing air that was silent and still. The storm was over.
It was dark. She squinted at her watch, expecting it to be broken. She bought it two weeks before the exploration mission was due to leave. It was a hard-wearing traveller’s watch meant to endure extreme heat and extreme cold, and immersion up to two hundred meters.
It seemed to be living up to its promise as it was still working. It was just after six in the morning. That it was dark outside was meaningless. In the Arctic, in October, it would never get light.
Ellen shuffled and stretched, her neck cricking painfully after several hours spent hunched in the seat. She looked around her to see if anyone else was awake and saw movement beneath the other cocoons of blankets elsewhere in the plane.
She stood up, stamping her feet to try and bring life back to them. Despite the many layers they still felt frozen.
She shuffled to the back of the plane to see how Daniel was doing. As she bent over him, his eyes fluttered open and he smiled weakly at her. “Hey, limey,” he said.
“How are you doing, Yank?”
“I’ve been better, but this nice lady here found some drugs, so I’m OK for now.
Neeta sat next to Daniel with the first aid box. “It’s only paracetamol,” she said. “But it will take the edge off the pain.”
On the other side of Neeta lay the injured pilot, still unconscious in a makeshift bed of sleeping bags and blankets. He still looked in a bad way.
Jake stood over them. “OK people. The storm has ceased, and hopefully everyone’s had a bit of sleep. It’s time to get organised.” He scowled at the video camera in his face. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” Neeta’s camera man, Pete Tennant said. “We’re making a documentary.”
“I thought you were filming the polar ice caps melting or something,” Jake said.
“Now it’s a human drama of survival. Don’t look at the camera. Just ignore it.”
“Keep it out of my face. Look, people, this is serious,” Jake said. “Let’s take stock of the situation. First, and most important, the plane is fucked. So is the radio. We’re not going anywhere, and we can’t call for help.”
“What about using mobiles?” Ellen asked.
“I’ve already checked. There’s no signal out here.”
“What about the satellite phone? I thought that’s why we brought it. For emergencies.”
Jake held up a piece of mangled electronic equipment. “That was the first thing I thought of. Unfortunately, it was in the cockpit and took the brunt of the impact in the crash. It’s useless.”
“What the hell was it doing in the cockpit?” Nathan demanded. “Surely the point of bringing it was to keep it safe somewhere in case we should need it.”
“I don’t know what the fuck it was doing in the cockpit, but this is where we are. We have, at present, no way of calling for help, and with no imminent chance of rescue, the most important thing is survival. That’s the bad news. As for the good news, we have all the supplies we were taking to the base. We have plenty of food and cold weather gear. But we need heat and we need shelter.”
“Isn’t the plane safe enough?” Nathan said. “You said it wasn’t going to explode.”
“This place is adequate but not if we have to stay for any length of time. However, we’ve also got two injured people who can’t be moved. I suggest we send out a scouting party to do a reconnaissance of the area. Try and find someplace else to make a better shelter.”
“What do we expect to find?” Neeta asked. “Where are we?”
“We have no clue where we are,” Jake said. “The radar’s fucked. All the more reason for having a scout around. So here’s what I suggest. Three of us form a scouting party and go out. The rest stay here. We’ve got a generator and an electric heater amongst the supplies. We’ll get that going, so those of you that stay have some heat. You need to keep an eye on the wounded. The scouting party will load up some supplies on one of the sledges and go out for a look around.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to split up,” Nathan said. “That never ends well in films. And besides, what if a plane spots us?”
“Planes are not going to come,” Jake snapped. “We’re way off course.”
“How do you know? You said the radar was broken.”
“We can sit here waiting for rescue until we run out of food and starve to death or the generator runs out of power and we freeze to death. The first rule of survival is to exploit all your resources. We need to find out what resources we’ve got. We have no idea what’s out there. So I’ll lead the search party. It would be useful to have you along, too.” Jake pointed at the engineer.
“Me?” David had been sitting at the back of the plane minding his own business.
“You’re good at fixing stuff, yes?” said Jake. “If there’s been anyone here before us, there might be parts lying around we can cannibalise for something usef
ul. Besides, you’re not injured.”
Ellen raised her hand. “I’ll come along on the scouting party as well.”
Jake frowned. “I thought you were wounded.”
“It’s a minor injury. I’m fine.”
“We could be out for a couple of days. Are you sure you’re up to it?”
“I’m a geologist. I’m used to crawling about in inhospitable climates.”
“We’ll be walking a long way.”
“I used to be a long-distance running champion in my school days. I can handle it. Trust me,” said Ellen.
“I’ll come too,” Neeta said.
Jake looked her up and down. “Sorry, honey, three’s enough. Besides, you’re more useful here with that first aid kit.”
Neeta rolled her eyes at Jake, hands on hips. “Who are you calling honey? Anyone can use that first aid kit.”
“But you’re so good at it.” Jake started rifling through the supplies.
“It’s not as if I’ve got any medical training,” Neeta said. “What, you think because I’m a woman I’ve automatically got nurturing instincts?”
“Something like that,” Jake said.
“You sexist pig!”
Ignoring Neeta, Jake retrieved a sledge and tossed it down onto the snow outside the plane.
Neeta sat down between Andres and Dan, arms crossed and glowered at Jake.
“OK, those in the scouting party,” Jake said. “Make sure you’re wearing several layers, including at least one pair of thermal socks, and appropriate footwear. I would suggest your snow boots. We’ll take some tools for cutting and energy rations, enough for three days. We don’t know how far we’ll have to travel to explore the environment. I’ll take care of these items, along with one of the sleeping tents. You both need to find your cold-weather sleeping bags. And maybe some extra clothes. If you fall over in the snow and get wet, you could freeze to death.”
“What are the rest of us supposed to do?” Nathan said.
“Set up the generator and try and keep warm. Look after the injured. And ration the food – we don’t know how long it has to last. OK then.” Jake emerged from the hole in the fuselage that allowed access to the cargo hold, laden with supplies. “We’ve all got jobs to do. Let’s get to it.”
CHAPTER 4
Ellen, David and Jake set off with the supplies tied to a sledge which they pulled along behind them. As well as all the layers she’d already put on, Ellen now wore Daniel’s parka. She felt very bulky with so much clothing on, but she hoped it would keep her warm.
Despite their grim situation, Ellen thought the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful. Unbroken snow covered the landscape, with nothing else for miles. The three of them cut a path through the virgin snow, leaving in their wake three sets of footprints and a flattened path where the sledge had passed.
Jake pulled the sledge but he said they would take it in turns, to preserve energy. He was far stronger than David and Ellen put together. He was swathed in layers now but when the plane had first taken off he’d stripped down to his t-shirt, and Ellen had noticed his overdeveloped biceps, covered in tattoos.
For a while they walked without speaking, steadily moving forward, the only sounds the soft thud of their footsteps in the snow, the huff of laboured breathing and the snicking noise the sledge made as they dragged it over the snow. Despite the beauty, Ellen found it disconcerting to be in a place so silent. There was no birdsong; no sound of any life at all. For all Ellen knew, they could be the last people left in the world.
It seemed they walked for hours, with no change in the landscape. Every once in a while, Jake paused to check the compass reading, and light up a cigarette, but they didn’t speak to each other. Ellen focused on putting one foot in front of the other and traversing through the snow. She tried not to think of the seriousness of their situation.
David gave up first. His breathing had become increasingly laboured. He stopped walking. “It’s hopeless. There’s nothing out here.”
Jake stopped and turned around. “There’s a long way to go yet.”
David sat down in the snow. “What are we expecting to find?”
“No idea. This island is uncharted.”
“We should have stayed with the others.”
“We won’t survive very long sitting around. There’s no shelter.”
“The plane is shelter.”
“The plane is in pieces. We’ve no hope in Hell getting out of here in that.”
David groaned and rubbed at his boots. “My feet feel like they’re about to fall off.”
Jake picked his way through the snow and inspected David’s boots. “You’re wearing the right footwear. How many pairs of socks are you wearing?”
“Three. Two cotton, one thermal over the top. What has that got to do with anything?”
“Then your feet are not going to fall off.”
“We’ve been walking for miles, and there’s bugger all out here.”
Jake checked his watch. “We can stop for a few minutes. Have some water and some food. But then we have to press on.” He rummaged around amongst the supplies on the sled and brought out a thermos and some energy bars, which he handed out. “You may as well sit down, give your feet a rest for a few minutes,” he told Ellen as she took the energy bar.
Ellen cleared a space on the edge of the sledge and perched on it while she ate the energy bar. It did feel good to sit down, if just for a few minutes. Her feet were so cold, she had lost all feeling in them. She knew the many layers of thermals would prevent frostbite, but it was difficult to stay warm out here.
Jake handed round the thermos. The water in it was tepid but clean, and it tasted pretty good to Ellen, who hadn’t realised how thirsty she was.
She wiggled her toes in her boots and clapped her hands, clad in thick mittens, together to try and bring some feeling back to her extremities. “So,” she said to Jake, “what’s the plan? I mean, is there a plan? David’s right – we’ve been out here for hours and we’ve seen nothing.”
Jake squinted at the horizon and pointed. “There’s a ridge over there. We can’t see beyond it. I’d like to go check it out, see what’s on the other side. I don’t think it’s all that far away.”
“But what are we expecting to find?”
“Our only shot at long-term survival is to find something, anything, we can use. If there’s ever been a base here there’ll be parts we can scavenge. Even a crashed plane will help us, if it has a radio or supplies.”
“But you said this place was uncharted,” Ellen said. “That means no one’s ever been here.”
Jake looked at her. “It just means it’s never been reported, not that no one’s ever been here. And the truth is, I don’t know where the fuck we are because the radar’s broken. We could be someplace where there was once a base. If we are and we find it, it would be a way better place to shelter than the crashed plane.” He packed the thermos away with the rest of the supplies and re-secured the tarpaulin covering the sled.
Somewhere in the distance, a lone wolf howled. The sound floated across the snowscape. Ellen looked up. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. After so long in a landscape apparently devoid of life, the noise unnerved her.
“I thought there weren’t any wolves in the Arctic,” Ellen said.
“You must have heard of the Arctic wolf,” Jake said.
“Well yes, but they’re mostly in Alaska and Northern Canada. Not out here. Wherever here is.”
“Evidently they’ve come this far.” Jake struggled with the final fastening on the tarpaulin.
“How can it survive out here? We’ve seen absolutely no other signs of wildlife.”
“Which probably means it’s hungry and might view us as a food source.” Jake straightened up, stepping away from the sledge. “We should get moving.”
David climbed reluctantly to his feet and squinted up at the twilight sky. “What time is it? Why is it so dark?”
“At the North Pole at
this time of year it never really gets light,” Ellen said. “It’s a permanent state of twilight. We knew that when we set off on the expedition. We were supposed to be leaving in September, you know, but various corporate politics delayed things. I was the one who said if we couldn’t go in September we should delay until next spring, because of the lack of daylight.”
They set off again, Jake ahead pulling the sledge, the other two falling into step behind. Ellen found it easier to step in the trail left by the sledge where the snow had been flattened.
“I did wonder why there was no confirmed date,” David said. “I was told I was going on the expedition, they gave me all kinds of details except when it was going to be. Then suddenly I got told by my boss, pack your stuff, you’re going in three days.”
“I was over-ruled in the end,” Ellen grumbled. “What do I know about perma-frost and perpetual twilight in the Northern Hemisphere? I’m only a geologist.”
David grinned. “Not that you’re bitter.”
Ellen snorted. “In the end it was all about money. The powers that be got a sniff of all the oil that’s supposed to be out here, and they only saw pound signs. Or maybe dollar signs is more appropriate. Anyway they couldn’t wait to tap the well and start making money off it. Nathan was one of the people pushing for us to start as soon as possible.”
“You mean Nathan the finance guy? On the plane?”
“That’s him.” Ellen sighed. “He’s here to protect the company’s investment. Make sure none of us do anything to jeopardise the oil well.”
“And we’re not going to reach the oil well now. We’ve crash landed in the middle of nowhere. What’s he going to do now?”
They moved onwards, the ridge getting ever closer. Ellen thought about the trick that used to get her through endurance runs in her school days. Get into a rhythm, get your feet moving automatically, and then focus on something else. Think about something nice. The reward you give yourself when it’s all over. A hot bath. A glass of wine. Settling down to read a Peter Hamilton novel. Preferably all at the same time.
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