You know all those stories where the character's life 'flashes before their eyes' upon realizing their impending doom? Well let me tell you that is a load of bullshit. All I got in those moments before I lost consciousness was an incoherent mess of panic and metal smashing against other metal. It was a surreal experience you know; dying. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't exactly dead...
I woke with a start breathing in a few deep breaths of cold winter air. The first thing I noticed was that I was currently lying under a large piece of the fuselage. It was a decently sized rectangular piece of metal that was curved allowing my body to fit underneath it and also providing a cocoon to prevent me suffering from frostbite. I had ended up alive, and for that I was grateful. My limbs weren't exactly functional due to me being in shock but I was alive dammit.
I sat in the warm cocoon wandering if my friends had been as lucky as I had. They were the only family I really had left and I couldn't handle going to any more funerals. Makar and Sergei were my two best friends and losing them now would not do me good. Heck I still wasn't sure I would make it out alive considering I was stranded in Siberia in the middle of winter.
Eventually I regained control of my limbs and began to work on getting the fuselage fragment off me. It was light due to the aerodynamic nature of the aircraft so I was able easily slide it off me and stand up. Around me was what I can only describe as utter destruction. The plane itself was ripped into at least six pieces, not including the wings, and bodies of poor souls not as fortunate as I littered the ground.
A black plume of smoke rose up into the sky from the countless jet fuel fires whose flames engulfed the largest sections of the cabin still intact. The cockpit of the plane had skidded at least fifty meters off to the side of the plane and was mangled beyond belief. I sincerely doubted any of the pilots survived considering the condition of the flight deck.
The sun was beginning to creep up over the horizon and was shining an orange glow down on the burning wreck. As light began to litter the landscape more objects came into view. Countless articles of clothing from people's suitcases were scattered as far a the eye could see along with assorted papers that businessmen carried around in their briefcases. What I saw next not only a huge relief but also restored my hopes that I would be alright.
About thirty meters to my right were Makar and Sergei huddled around a fire burning from leaking jet fuel. I quickly strode over happy to see my friends. It was hard walking at first due to being pinned under the sheet of fuselage but I got the hang of it after a few steps. "Makar, Sergei! Thank god you guys are all right!" I exclaimed upon reaching my friends.
Both of them looked up at me with disbelief in their eyes and I could see both had been crying. "Holy shit Yegor is that you?! We thought you were dead!" Sergei exclaimed.
"What?! really?" I asked.
"Yeah, when we woke up still in our seats and you were missing we assumed the worst. Its great to know you're alright." Makar said still a bit shocked from my sudden appearance.
We all pulled in for a quick 'glad your alive' hug and then began to plot what we should do next. "Are there any other survivors?" I asked.
"None that we've seen, I think we just got extremely lucky," Makar remarked.
"Well in that case we better try to find some shelter and soon," I replied looking around.
"I managed to snag an emergency kit from the plane. It has rations as well as a GPS, we could use that to find the nearest town." Sergei said pointing to a red bag.
We immediately opened the bag and began to rummage through it. There was a few packages of freeze-dried food, a couple bottles of water, the GPS, as well as first aid supplies and a flare gun. "This is great, we'll be able to live off this for at least a week!" I exclaimed.
I picked up the GPS and turned it on. It spent several minutes calibrating and locating the satellite but it eventually came up with a map. "Guys were in luck! A town called Noril'sk is only about twenty kilometers north of here. We could probably reach it by nightfall if we hurry," I said pointing in the direction the GPS was showing.
"Well then let's get movin'!" Sergei announced before striding off in the wrong direction.
"Sergei, its the other way..." I said flatly.
"I knew that!" he replied before taking off in the right direction with us in tow.
We began walking across the frozen tundra chatting as we went. We were acting quite casual for being in an airplane crash just hours ago but we could care none the less. We mainly talked about what we would tell the authorities upon reaching Noril'sk and starting acting out what the police would say when we came up and said, 'Hey, we were in an airplane crash and hiked 20 kilometers across the frozen tundra to your town. Mind if we use your phone?' Most of the scenarios ending with us laughing our asses off.
I looked over my shoulder occasionally to try to see if we could still see the burning wreckage. They would probably send out a search team to look for other survivors once we reached Noril'sk so I wanted to make sure they could find the wreckage easily. I guess the smoke plume would be a great beacon because we could still see it long after the plane itself went out of sight,
I looked over to the GPS again and determined we were still around 6 kilometers out. Even at this distance we should probably be seeing the town soon due to the flat expanse of the Siberian tundra. My prediction was soon proved correct as all of a sudden Sergei stopped and shouted out "Look!" and pointed off into the horizon. Sure enough, what looked like a small town nestled by a frozen river came into view. "Thank god, I'm starting to lose feeling in my toes," Makar said.
"C'mon guys, lets get us a nice warm cup of coffee!" I yelled before charging in the direction of the town.
We quickened our pace as the sun began to lower on the horizon and the already cold temperatures began to drop even further. The average temperature in Siberia during the month of December is around 9 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and -10 or so degrees at night. We were already pretty cold from walking across the Siberian plains but subzero temperatures were definitely a no-no in our current situation.
Now the actual time of day was around 12:30 pm according to the GPS, but we were so far north that the day only lasts around an hour and a half this time of year. We happened to be lucky enough to set out in the warmest part of the day as the record low for this area of Siberia in December is something like -60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Today was a surprisingly temperate day though. According to our one-of-a-kind GPS,it was a decent 18 degrees for this time of year plus the fact that we had grabbed some discarded garments as we departed the crash sight to keep warm. Luckily there wasn't much snow cover in this area because we would've probably frozen to death by now if that had been the case.
"So guys, are we still gonna take that trip?" I asked jokingly.
"Fuck yeah! No plane crash is gonna get me down! Lets just take the train this time..." Sergei replied much to our amusement.
"That's the spirit!" I replied with mock enthusiasm.
"So guys," Makar started, "It looks like we'll be spending the next few months shielded by the feds while they investigate the crash. I think in all seriousness that we should postpone our Christmas trip till next year OK? It wouldn't be a very fun vacation if we had the government trying to hunt our asses down every chance they got."
"Agreed, but I'm still getting a nice cup of coffee and a whole bottle of vodka once we reach the town. Ain't nothing like gettin' drunk to quell PTSD." I replied with a shit-eating grin.
"Speaking if PTSD, what are the fucking odds that we are the only three guys to come out of that burning wreck relatively unscathed. We must be the luckiest guys in the world! We should go gambling!" Sergei exclaimed rubbing his hands together while we rolled our eyes.
"Don't come crying back to me when you waste your life savings away in a casino," I retorted.
"Shut up Yegor, I ain't gonna come grovelling to your loaded ass for money," Sergei replied.
"That's what they all say..." I replied with a smirk while Makar looked on with disapproval.
About a kilometer out from the city, we ran across a paved two-lane road heading our direction so we decided to follow it. There were absolutely no cars but that wasn't much of a surprise considering where we were. Siberia isn't exactly a very inviting place during the winter...
"So... Do you guys have any emergency contacts or anything cause all I've got is my bitch of a cousin Maria and I'm not callin' her" I asked.
"I've got my brother and my overprotective parents," Sergei replied with a shrug. "I'm not looking forward to calling the latter though. They'll probably never let me leave the house ever again."
"And I've got my mother and my two sisters. It's not like your in need of an emergency contact Yegor, you have more money the both of our families combined. I'll bet you could buy the deed to this entire town up ahead if you wanted to," Makar remarked.
"And don't you forget it!" I said with a lopsided grin.
After about twenty minutes of following the road a sign came into view. It read;
Норильск Город Предел
Высота над уровнем моря: 76 метров
Население: 1000
(Noril'sk City Limit
Elevation: 76 Meters
Population: 1000)
"We made it guys," I said with a sigh of relief, "Now how about a drink or two."
"Sounds good to me!" Sergei said before we strolled onward into the town of Noril'sk...
3 Days Prior... In Previously Mentioned Siberian Town...
My heart was pounding out of my chest. This whole situation was getting out of control and I didn't know what to do. Several others had already fallen before me and HE was now chasing me down. "C'mere you little pest...! C'mere and see the present I got you...!" his low pitched sinister voice called out to me.
"Stay away from me you monster!" I cried back in desperation and blind fury.
"That's not how you should talk to your savior you wretched human!" he replied in a mocking tone.
In a momentary lapse of judgement, I looked back over my shoulder to try and get a glimpse of my assailant. That, unfortunately was the death of me. I felt my shoe hit something in front of me and my body began to topple over onto the frozen tundra. I landed with a grunt and skidded along a bit before coming to rest against a small tool shed. My body was unresponsive as I tried to get up and my eyes turned back to where I came from. Standing in the shadows of the early dusk was HIM. "You ran well human, but I'm afraid you fell just like your comrades..." he hissed with delight.
He slowly approached my frozen body and I could see the vile in his hand. "No, no ,no please!" I begged through painful breaths.
"It's to late for that now... I'm afraid your going to have to join your friends..." he replied coolly.
He took the final step towards me and through some unknown force pushed my jaw open. He then proceeded to shove the vile in my mouth and force me to down a least a pint of the foul tasting substance. Almost immediately after it went down my throat, I began to feel drowsy. My eyelids were drooping and my vision was blurring. Here I was, useless to fend HIM off like countless others before me.
My last vision before blacking out was HIM walking away to find his next victim...