WHITE OUT

The first thing Lily felt was the cold.

Cold against her cheek.

Against her hands.

Cold everywhere.

Her arm hurt like hell, even more than when she wrote two pages for history.

Lily opened her eyes just a crack, frost settled on her eyelashes.

An endless sea of white lay in front of her.

Jagged pieces embedded in the white.

Where was she? Lily thought.

She opened her eyes fully, and almost wished she didn’t.

Snow stretched in every direction.

Twisted metal jutted from the snow like broken bones.

A few meters away, a row of seats were scattered across the slope.

Huh? Seats aren’t supposed to be in snow.

For a second, her brain refused to connect the pieces.

Then, she saw an oxygen mask fluttering in the wind.

Her stomach dropped.

The plane.

Her breath started coming out in short ragged puffs, white clouds erupted from her mouth with every breath.

She should get up. Look around to see if anyone survived.

Lily planted her arms into the snow, and dug her shoes into the ground.

Her arm gave out just as she tried to put weight on it. Pain shot up through her arm and into her body.

Lily gasped and collapsed into the snow.

OK…She thought.Something’s definitely broken.

Then—something shifted in the debris.

“HELP!”

Lily’s head snapped towards the sound.

It came again, fainter this time.

“PLEASE! ITHURTS!”

She had to move, now.

Lily looked at her injured arm. Putting weight wasn’t an option.

“HELP ME!” The voice came again.

She needed to hurry. Lily looked around. There had to be something.

Lily tried sitting up again. It resulted to her arm jutting out in a weird angle and her hitting the snow again.

“URGH! WHY?!” Lily screamed indignantly.

The voice answered almost answered immediately.

“HELP ME!”

“I’M TRYING!” Lily yelled back, pissed. Her arm throbbed.

She gritted her teeth and looked around wildly.

Snow.

More snow.

More ripped luggage. Some debris.

A lot of twisted metal.

Then, she spotted it.

A detatched air-plane seat buried halfway in the snow.

It wasn’t much, but it would do.

Another cry echoed across the crash site.

“PLEASE!”

“Can you wait?” Lily muttered.

She dug her boots into the snow and started dragging herself towards the seat.

Every movement sent pain shooting through her shoulder.

Halfway there, she slipped.

Lily spat out a mouthful of snow, scowling.

“Worst—day—of—my—life.” she grunted between crawls.

Finally, she reached the seat. Lily reached out with her uninjured arm, and grabbed it.

“Gotcha!”

She hauled herself up. Pain shot up her ankle, and it twisted under her weight.

She thumped down onto the ground, her arm still grabbing the seat.

Lily rolled her eyes. “Ugh,why?”

"HELP!”The voice yelled again.

“I’M TRYING! JUST WAIT!” Lily yelled.

She tightened her grip, and hauled herself up again. This time she made it.

“Yes!” she looked down. Her ankle was swollen, but not broken, by the looks of it.

It hurt. A lot. But she could walk.

Lily took one step forward, her joggers sinking into the snow. She unstuck them, and took another step forward.

Towards the metal wreckage of the plane.

Lily walked forward, wincing every now and then.

The screaming had stopped.

That wasn’t comforting. If anything, it made her walk faster.

“Hello?” she called out.

No answer. The wind howled in response.

A torn suitcase lay split open nearby, it’s contents scattered across the snow. A bright pink sock fluttered from a broken branch.

Lily frowned.

“Well, at least someone packed fashionably.”

Still nothing.

Then—

A weak groan drifted from somewhere ahead.

Lily froze. There it was.

Closer now, behind a jagged piece of metal.

“Hello?” she shouted again.

“Oh thank God.”

The relief in the voice sounded so genuine that Lily’s shoulder’s relaxed for the first time since she woke up.

She rounded the wreckage and stopped.

A girl was half buried under a piece of debris. Her face and arms were sprawled across the snow.

“Thank God, you took forever!” she said. Lily rolled her eyes.

“Look girl. I have a broken arm and swollen ankle. Be grateful I even came for you.”

The girl blew her ginger hair away from her face, and chuckled.

“Well,girl,I am half crushed by a part of an air plane.”

Lily didn’t find that very funny.

“Do you want my help, or not?”

“Fire away, mama coco.”

Lily limped forward towards one end of the metal. It looked like part of the cockpit.

Her stomach churned.

Lily grabbed the edge, and locked her muscles. Her broken arm hung limply at her side.

“OK, let’s do this.”

She lifted. It came up a few inches, and then fell back.

Onto the girl’s back.

“SON OF A—”

"Sorry!”Lily said, wincing in sympathy.

She bent to lift it again, but the girl stopped her.

"NO, no please.For my life. Please don’t.”

“Anyone wants my help?” someone said from behind.

Lily looked around.

It was a boy, standing a few feet away.

Unlike her, he was standing straight.

Lucky him.

“Well,” he said, looking over to the girl cursing under the metal. “Looks like you do.”

Lily immediately feigned a bow with her uninjured arm.

“Yes, Prince Charming.”

Lily hoped he sucked at detecting sarcasm, because those eyes were enough to tell her that he didn’t like to be messed with.

“Ethan.”

“What?!”

“My name is Ethan.”

“Lily shrugged.

“Prince Charming worked just as well.”

Ethan walked forward to the girl.

“Please tell me you’re stronger thanher!”The girl snapped.

Ethan stopped. “…What?”

The girl jerked her head towards Lily, who was shaking her head in annoyance.

“I HAVE ONE BROKEN ARM WOMAN!”

“I HAVEN’T EVEN TURNED EIGHTEEN!” Lucy fired back.

“Stop.” Ethan walked between both of them.

“And who are you to—”

“She needs help, not you.” Ethan grabbed the edges of the metal.

“Come help me lift.”

“What…I thought you were supposed to be strong.” Lily scoffed.

Ethan looked at her, chewing the inside of his cheek. He raised his arms.

“Do I look like a bodybuilder?”

“My arm’sbroken!” Lily protested.

“The other hand?”

Lily stomped over and aggressively grabbed the metal.

“This is the kindness I get! My saviour being forced to help me by someone who thinks he’s tough. Oh Lucy, where has your value fallen?” The girl—or Lucy, sighed dramatically.

Ethan stopped Lily from talking back. “Just keep quiet.”

“On the count of three, OK?”

Lily nodded. Ethan was taken aback. It was the first time she agreed to something.

“OK..one, two, three, LIFT!”

They both hauled it upwards.

“COME ON! DRAG YOURSELF OUT OR ARE WE GONNA DO THAT TOO?! Lily grunted.

“Shut up…please?”

Lucy dragged herself through the snow, now stained a bit with her blood.

“OH MY GOD! I’M DYING!” Lucy gasped, looking at the bleeding from her forehead and leg, where a piece of metal was stuck.

Lily averted her eyes when she saw the slash on Lucy’s back. “Oh God…” she muttered awkwardly.

Ethan sighed. “No, you won’t. Come on, Cindy will patch you up.”

“Who the hell is Cindy?”

Ethan looked at her.

“There are others.”