Beneath the Surface

chapter 47: search and rescue failed

Sarah is now on the site ...

Ice Climbing Site – Snow-Covered Mountains – Afternoon

The icy wind howls through the towering mountains, sending chills through Sarah as she stands at the base of the ice climbing site where Lucas was last seen. The area is vast, desolate, and unforgiving. Snow blankets the ground, and jagged ice walls rise in the distance. It's hard to imagine that this serene, cold landscape was the scene of such tragedy.

Sarah pulls her coat tighter around her, her breath visible in the frigid air. Her eyes, puffy and red from days of tears, scan the area hopelessly. She knows Lucas is gone, that the search and rescue teams have given up, but something inside her can't let go. She needed to be here, to see it for herself.

Sarah: (whispering to herself, voice trembling) "Why didn't I come sooner? Maybe... maybe I could've done something."

The overwhelming silence of the snow-covered mountains is deafening. The search had been called off days ago, with all hopes of finding Lucas—or even his body—fading with each passing moment. All of his climbing team members had been found dead, but not Lucas. There was no closure, no finality, only this endless uncertainty.

Tears well up in Sarah's eyes as she walks closer to the base of the mountain, where Lucas had been before the avalanche struck. Her heart aches with every step, her chest tight with a mixture of pain, anger, and helplessness.

Suddenly, the weight of everything crashes over her. The grief, the frustration, the sheer devastation of losing Lucas without a goodbye. Her legs give way, and she collapses into the snow, sobbing uncontrollably.

Sarah: (crying, voice hoarse) "Lucas! Please... please come back..."

Her voice echoes off the mountains, but the only response is the cold wind whistling through the peaks. She pounds her fists into the snow, her sobs growing louder, more desperate.

Sarah: (shouting through tears) "Lucas! Lucas, please! If you can hear me, just... just give me a sign! Anything!"

Her voice echoes back to her, but there's no answer, no sign. Just the empty, indifferent mountains standing silently around her. The outburst of her grief fills the air, her cries almost swallowed by the vast, frozen expanse.

She screams his name again and again, hoping, begging for some miracle, but all she's met with is the eerie quiet of the snow-covered wilderness. Her tears freeze against her cheeks as she falls silent, her body shaking from the cold and her sobbing.

Sarah: (whispering now, broken) "Why did you leave me? Why...?"

She sits there for what feels like hours, her body too tired to move, her soul too crushed to think beyond the pain. The biting cold cuts through her, but it's nothing compared to the hollowness inside her heart.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, Sarah forces herself to stand. Her legs feel weak, and her body trembles, but she knows she has to leave. There's nothing more she can do here. No answers. No Lucas.

With one last glance at the mountain, she whispers a final, tear-filled goodbye.

Sarah: (softly, voice cracking) "Why you leave me... and Stan... You don't care for us anymore?"

She turns, walking slowly back through the snow, her footsteps heavy with sorrow. The wind picks up, but in the quiet, she swears she can almost hear his voice, just for a moment, calling her name. But when she turns around, there's nothing. Just the endless, icy landscape.