Crosshair and Mayday
••In the aftermath of the avalanche, Crosshair catches a glimpse of who he thinks is Hunter coming to save him.
Crosshair could hear nothing above the howling wind—not even his pounding heart. It stung his face and made his eyes water. The surrounding snow that had him trapped in its frigid grasp sucked the heat straight out of his body, making him lose feeling in his fingers and toes. His mind itself had frozen over and he couldn't string a single coherent thought together.
But he did remember the avalanche.
He remembered hearing its monstrous roar as it tore down the side of the mountain. He remembered running for his life and catching a glimpse of Mayday before he too was swallowed whole by the tidal wave of snow and ice.
Had Mayday survived? Or had he been consumed by the mountain, never to see the sun again?
Crosshair clenched his jaw. This suicide mission had been for nothing more than a few crates of supplies that should've been given to Mayday and his squad. It was too late now. Bright and shiny armor meant nothing to dead men.
"Crosshair!"
Crosshair heard his name travel on the howling wind.
"Crosshair! We've got to get out of this storm!"
He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelashes had frozen together. Wrenching his arm free from the snow, he furiously wiped at his eyes with a trembling hand. The bits of ice and snow that were caked on his eyelashes eventually began to melt away, allowing him to finally open his eyes.
At first, he saw nothing but white. Then, through the swirling blizzard came a dark figure wearing clone armor and sporting a long haircut that Crosshair would recognize anywhere.
"Hunter?" Crosshair croaked, squinting harder.
"Crosshair!"
It was Hunter's voice. He could hear Hunter's voice.
"Hunter! I'm here! Help me!" Crosshair cried out to the figure as he struggled to free his other arm.
However, as the figure came closer and a windstrewn beard appeared on their face, it soon became clear that it was not Hunter, but rather Mayday. In his delusion, Crosshair had thought he heard Hunter calling his name as he came to finally save him from this hell. Alas, it was not. Hunter hadn't come to save him. He was still halfway across the galaxy with the others and probably hadn't thought about him at all.
Tears began to spill from Crosshair's eyes as he succumbed to the cold and let his body fall slack. "Hunter.. please..."
His vision darkened as Mayday approached and he barely felt him working to pull him out of the snow.
"Hang on, Crosshair. I've got you."
