My nose was runny, as my skin invited goosebumps as a sign of my sickness and decreasing body temperature.

I couldn't help but imagine being in a lukewarm cabin, snuggling up to the fireplace as I was able to get proper food and rest.

What was I thinking.

I felt helpless, like a run over deer waiting for that sweet death, to finally let their soul rest from the harsh reality.

My cheeks were rosy pink, snow had frozen my eyelashes as my eyebrows were collecting each drop of snow as if they were thirsty for moisture.

At least I had kept the alcohol theromometer I had bought from my previous visit to a town I stumbled across whilst searching for food.

I sniffled, looking at the theromometor, my hands frozen as I couldn't feel anything.

-70°C.

In other words, I was basically living in the Antarctic.

My vision blurred, I felt restless and hopeless; Knowing I wasn't going to make it out of this place.

My stomach growled with hunger, each noise louder than the last, with more begging. It gradually gave up as I felt myself faint.

No,

I couldn't.

I'd die right here if I let myself faint.

"Hang on.. We'll get food in a couple miles, Nash.." I reassured myself whilst forcing my legs to reach their limit, it felt like I was walking for days.

My breath came out in shallow, ragged gasps, each exhale forming small clouds in the frozen air.

The cold bit at my semi-exposed skin, gnawing away at the last bit of warmth my body could muster. Every step I took felt like dragging lead, my legs stiff and heavy, protesting with every movement.

The snow beneath my boots crunched, the sound almost mocking in the silence around me.

I looked around, but there was nothing, just the endless white horizon and the occasional howl of wind swirling the snow into flurries.

No signs of life, no shelter, no salvation. Only me and the merciless cold.

"Keep moving," I muttered, though my voice cracked, barely a whisper. My throat burned, dry and raw from the icy air.

My feet ached, blistering from the cold, but I knew stopping meant death. And I wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

I thought again of that cabin; a cozy illusion, the warmth of the fireplace, the smell of bread baking, soft blankets waiting to wrap me up. It was a cruel fantasy, but one I clung to like a lifeline.

My mind drifted to it every time my body screamed to stop, to lie down, to give in.

"Just a few more miles," I told myself again, even though I had no idea how far I'd gone or how much further I could push.

My vision wavered, snow blurring into my periphery, and I stumbled. My knees buckled, and I crashed into the snow, its coldness seeping through my clothes and into my bones.

For a moment, I let the snow cradle me, feeling its numb embrace as exhaustion tried to claim me. It would be so easy to stay here, to close my eyes and let the world fade away. To let the cold take me.

But something inside me flickered, faint, but still there. I couldn't die like this. Not like some forgotten body buried in the snow, no one to know or care. I couldn't let it end here.

With a shaky breath, I forced myself to my feet, legs trembling as I steadied myself. The cabin was gone from my mind now, replaced by the desire for survival.

One step. Then another.

The world was a blur of white, but as long as I kept moving, there was still hope.

But the hope was as thin as the air I struggled to breathe.

I could feel my body wanting to cry, to release this anger and frustration I let build up within me.

How could life be so cruel?

With a stronger force, I kept pushing my legs to their limits.

Rumble..

I felt the ground beneath me start to roar out, as if it was about to fall with me clinging for dear life ontop of it.

And then I heard it,

Thrum.... THUD!

Snow. An avalanche of it fell right on top of me.

But I didn't feel scared, or fear..

No,

For once in my life, I felt warm as if I was in that illusion I kept imagining it.

I felt at home.

The weight of the snow surrounded me, enveloping me in a cocoon of white, like a beautiful butterfly about to spring out next second.

The noise of the avalanche soon then came to a stop, I felt a gentle whisper reassuring me that maybe, just maybe, I wasn't as alone as I had thought.

With my eyes closed, I allowed it to surround and tighten around me whilst my heart's rhythmic beat deepend, my breath escaping my harsh, cold body as I let myself rest.

I heard as my brain spoke to me, as if a person was reassuring me with their soft, gentle words.

Goodnight, Zoe.

For once you can rest. Rest like you're in that beautiful lukewarm cabin, rest like you bad stayed up for days,

Rest as if you're safe.
But you're not.