Sophie’s eyes opened to a white sight. She was unsure of what it was. Until she remembered what had happened. Sophie didn’t know how long she had been unconscious. But she knew that Mia was still out there. Sophie slowly reached her hand out around her. All she could feel was snow. Remembering what she had read somewhere, she spit. It landed right back on her face. So she wiped it off, put her shirt over her nose, and started clawing her way out. It didn’t take long for her hands to reach into the cold air. Sophie made the hole big enough for her to climb out of and pushed her way up. She crawled far away from the hole she had dug so she wouldn’t fall in, and then she sat. She sat for a couple of minutes to regain her breath and settle her mind a bit. After a while, she stood up and started searching for her little sister. It didn’t take long. Sophie found Mia unconscious on an abandoned sofa. She sighed in relief after she felt a pulse on her sister’s neck. She slumped onto the couch and rested her eyes.
Milan, on the other hand, could not rest his eyes or his mind for even a second. He was given a cot and a blanket and a pillow for the time being. Everyone was given hot drinks to keep them warm and those who had been in the snow for a long time were monitored for signs of hypothermia. Milan was bundled up in his blanket sitting on his cot. He had finished his tea already and was sufficiently warmed. His mind kept on flashing images of Mia and Sophie falling. He couldn’t get the look of horror on Sophie’s face out of his mind. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. It was the rescue crewman that was on the helicopter before.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Milan. Milan Schmidt” Milan responded, pausing before revealing his full name.
“I’m Joey, Joey Johanson” he mimicked Milan with the pause.
“So, who’s still out there? A girlfriend, sister?”
“My best friend and her little sister”
“Well, I will personally try to find them. In the meantime, you need to get some sleep” Joey left Milan with a friendly pat on the back and a reassuring nod. And with this, Milan finally felt all the exhaustion drop onto him. He fell asleep just as his head hit the pillow.
Milan was shaken awake by a woman who offered him some bread, butter, and more tea. After eating his breakfast, he laid down again. But this time he listened to the chatter around him. Kids ran around while parents talked with each other. Whispers could be heard to his right because the family that occupied the next three cots were talking.
In the snow, Sophie had opened her eyes. But instead of seeing a sky, she saw a ceiling. A few people had found Sophie and Mia and brought them to a small cottage that hadn’t been touched by the snow all that much. There were only 4 people but they had managed to light a fireplace and warm up a little. Mia had woken up a bit before Sophie and was huddled into a blanket. They stayed there for a while and started introducing themselves as Dean, Margarethe, Peter, and Landon. Margarethe was an older woman with greying hair. Peter and Dean were middle-aged men whom Sophie had seen at the grocery store occasionally. Landon was a college student, graduating that year. After a while of talking and helping each other, Landon went outside but quickly came back telling everyone that they needed to get outside because he had heard a helicopter flying a couple of miles back. Everyone ran outside and sure enough, 10 minutes later a helicopter emerged. Landon, Dean, and Peter started hollering and waving their hands. Margarethe cried out in happiness. Sophie hugged Mia closer as tears rolled down her cheeks. Mia just smiled and cheered. The Helicopter came to a halt and a ladder dropped down. Margarethe went up first. Then Mia went with Sophie right behind her. Dean, Peter, and Landon went up last. As they all got situated, a man asked them a few questions and then introduced himself.
“Hi, I’m Joey. Who are you?”
“I’m Margarethe, this is Dean, this is Peter, that’s Sophie and her little sister Mia, and that’s Landon” Margarethe replied, pointing to everyone as she went.
“How long have you been put here?” Joey asked
“For what seems like forever” Dean voiced everyone's thoughts.
“I see. Well, we’re on our way to the base we set up. We’ll get you guys taken care of over there”
The rest of the helicopter ride was silent.
Milan was still laying down in his cot when he heard a bunch of commotion. He got up and walked over to the crowd forming. He heard parts of conversations
“-survivors?” “not many of them-” “-survived” “-family” “can’t believ-”
Everything mixed into a jumble of words that Milan couldn’t understand. All he got out of it was that there were survivors. He watched and waited as people go off the helicopters and were brought into medical tents. But even after the last helicopters had left, there was no sign of Sophie or even Mia.
He gave up hope after 2 hours of waiting. It wasn’t until the sun started going down that another helicopter approached. He got up with the rest of the people, but he stayed in the back. He didn’t want to get his hopes up. A middle aged man with brown hair got down first. He looked to be around his late forties and early fifties. Next, another man. He looked to be about the same age if not a bit younger. An older looking woman with greying hair climbed out after them. She looked to be in her early to mid sixties. A young man, in his twenties Milan guessed, climbed out too. Next was the crewman, Joey. Milan lost hope. But then, Joey stuck his arms into the helicopter and pulled out a girl. A young girl. She was missing a sock. But she had the same hair as Mia. A teenaged girl stumbled out of the helicopter too. She looked a bit green in the face and looked as if she was about to throw up. He realized that they were Sophie and Mia. He laughed in relief and pushed his way out of the crowd, calling their names. Joey set down Mia when she started squirming around to be set down. “MILAN!!” she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. Milan scooped the little girl up and hugged her tightly. Sophie made her way to them as well, hugging them. Joey smiled at the sight of the group hug because it was clear how much they meant to each other. He didn’t want to break up the moment but Sophie and Mia had to be checked out. He whispered into Milan’s ear and Milan nodded. He led the girls into a tent and stayed with them the whole time. Mia and Sophie were diagnosed with hypothermia and were ordered to stay as warm as possible. Milan swore to keep them safe and warm. He gave up his cot by the small family to an elderly man and instead, helped Sophie and Mia get two cots and himself a chair. They ate a meal together and then stayed with each other the entire rest of the day and night. The next day, Mia and Sophie were nice and warmed up. They were getting much better. Milan walked outside to look at the view and to get a breath of fresh air. Sophie joined him.
“I don’t think my mom survived. I don’t think Aaliyah and Amara survived either” he mumbled.
“I’m sorry Milan. I am so sorry” Sophie had tears in her eyes. So many people had been lost to this tragic event. Yet she was grateful that she was able to be alive with Mia and Milan. She was trying to look at the positive things.
“I’m happy you’re alive Soph. I don’t know what I’d do without my best friend” He looked down at her. She smiled up at him and then looked back into the horizon.
“I’m happy you’re here too. You mean so much to me”
He smiled at her statement.
“But I definitely would have kicked your ass if you had left me” she added smugly.
“Annnnd there goes the mood. You little bastard” Milan laughed. It was just like old times. Just them against the entire world. And neither of them would trade that for anything. Because best friends stick together through thick and through thin. Through ups, downs, and loop-de-loops. Forever and always.
