As Ice
Written for@flashfictionfridayofficial 121 prompt:Cold Body
Shivers The icy wind whipped through their clothes. But it isn’t just the wind that cause the shivers. Standing, they look down at the bodies that their climbing has disturbed.
“Ah hell!” One says miserably.
“Do you think they may be, still alive?” She asks. The men look at her like she is crazy. “Extreme cold slows down body functions. A cold body is more likely to..” She kneels down carefully beside them. Her hands run over the ice cold bodies. Even through her thick gloves, she can feel the cold.
“Anything?” She has reached the necks and mouths. Silence greets her attempts to find a pulse. With a sigh, she slowly shakes her head.
“Damn. It was a good thought. What now?”
“We call the cops, right?” the other man asks.
“Yeah. And we will need to stay here until they get here. That may take awhile, unless they copter in.” She looks up at the sky. The white flakes still fall. “Not good weather for flying.”
The call is made, the coordinates given. Now they wait. She stands and stomps around, trying to bring warmth back in her freezing feet and legs.
“How do you think it happened?” He nods to the two frozen people at his feet.
“They were probably hiking and got caught in an avalanche.”
“Yeah. Poor buggers.”
They all three turn away from the bodies as they await the police. A mistake. For they are very cold and want the warmth of the hikers. They reach up to grab at their legs. Screams echo around the mountain but no one hears.
Curses. Pleading. All fall on death ears as they are pulled under the snow. Snow is quiet. When their screams are swallowed by the snow, quiet reigns again. Deep under the snow cover, the warm bodies grow cold.
“These are the coordinates given.” One of the police officers said.
“Well, I see no bodies and no hikers.” His partner says.
“Kids playing tricks.”
Deep under the snow, they try to scream but are unheard.
“A waste of our time.” He mumbles. They leave.
The next time they are discovered, there will be five cold bodies awaiting warmth under the snow.
