Frostbite

Nothern winter

The winter had began earlier than most people expected.Ten days before the anticipated cold wave was abnormal for everyone and at first it had started to ruin their plans. Even the lake had started to form it's first layer of frost. Fish had started going deeper in the lake to warmer areas. Luckily they would survive due to the anomalous expansion of water .Everyone knew it was time to start winter sports ,some planned to travel to warmer areas like ducks escaping winter ,maybe to Africa or the Middle east Asia. Some would stay there throughout the winter and do various activities.Children despite the unexpected winter had anticipated building snowmen,making snow angels and even try knocking each other out with snowballs. Some would pack their snowballs too tight and hard till it was as hard as an ice sphere. A knock from one of these would easily knock out anyone.Some would use lightly packed snowballs that would break apart and spread on impact .They planned for fun inspite of the early unexpected winter .
Some families planned to try ice fishing in the lake that was just starting to freeze .The lake was very large and one would walk for long days to get across. It was roughly the size of a small country . No one dared walk on it for the first few days since it had just started freezing and walking on it would cause immediate sinking .Most people would approach the lake after 5-7 days when the ice was thick enough to even skate on .
Larry sat by the lake shore ,he had started to fall asleep when he felt a tug on his fishing rod.He quickly woke up and started to pull, the rod put up a fight and he knew he wouldn't get to it unless he pulled from a closer distance.
         He walked towards the lake and inside it , as he walked deeper and closer to the fish he felt chillier. His boots started to stick to the mud below the lake but he walked on .He stopped in his tracks when one of his boots slipped off his foot and as he bent down to get it ,the fishing rod slipped from his grip and the fish started swimming away with it .
That was his father's favorite fishing rod and he knew he had to get it .He raced after it splashing menacingly at the water and the deeper he got the chillier he felt.That cold was however nothing compared to his dad's sharp tongue or the occasional beating. He dived in and swam hurriedly after it he ignored the water that was slowly starting to form thin ice layer and swam faster .
       He soon got closer to the rod and held it ,he pulled it back forcing it to rip through the fishes gills. He wanted to swim back but his foot ,the one whose shoe slipped off ,was numb due to the cold. Nevertheless he tried to swim when he felt a sharp pain on his toes.They had started to grow cold and dark.
         He knew he wouldn't make it out on time so he swam to the surface and swung his fishing rod towards a tree that was growing out of the lake.It caught one of the branches and he slowly started to pull himself free.He pulled himself hurriedly but not as fast as the water froze .
      When he was a few metres from the tree,the hook broke the branch and it came straight for his eye.It dug deep since it came at a high speed and came out through the back of his head.He was totally impaled and too braindead to even scream.He slowly floated on the water as the frost caught up to him .Blood dripped from his eye onto the crystal clear ice and stained it .It dripped more and more as it slowly froze,His  heart stopped pumping blood and he was silent .He accepted it all without putting up a fight.
                            ****************
       "Timmy hurry up,"the bus driver shouted,"I haven't got all day here,"Timmy hastened his footsteps and tripped on the curb. He cursed the slippery curb that had ice all over it. Everyone in the bus all burst into an uproarious laughter that struck Timmy like a needle to his chest.He picked up his fallen books and ran inside the bus hurriedly.
      Without a warning the bus driver hurriedly sped off knocking Timmy who was still trying to walk to his seat off balance.He fell onto Anya's lap and quickly rose looking her in the eye with sad eyes. It was as if he wanted to apologize for what he had done but Anya couldn't let him. Filled with rage she slapped the hell out of him .He snorted quietly and grumpily walked to his seat at the back of the bus.His cheeks ached and he wished death upon everyone on the bus ,of course the ones who laughed at him.He pictured it all in his mind.
        // In his dark memory ,He had a dagger in his bag which he quickly took out and stabbed the girl beside him.He saw blood spurt out of her neck as she tried to scream for help.The boy next to him tried to scream but he quickly slit his throat and watched him gasp for air.He then went to the seat before him and kicked the boy's head untill it almost detached from his neck and stabbed the girl ,Anya ,continuously until she was dead .He cackled loudly as he stabbed her until the bus lost balance and he bumped into another girl who sat next to him. She smacked his face knocking him back to his senses.//
       The bus had lost its traction to the road and had gone through the guard rails and drove down the slightly steep hill into the nearby frozen lake. Everyone screamed their wits out until it landed on the ice skidded off a few hundred metres and got its grip on the slippery ice sheet. The driver couldn't immediately drive uphill because it was steep his plan was to drive alongside the hill on the ice lake until he got to where the road met the foot of the mountain. He would therefore join the road and drive safely to their destination.
He wouldn't let that stop the school trip as they had to get to the mountain before evening. The teachers had started their journey guided by the tour guide earlier in the day and we're to pick the appropriate camp site and set up the tents before the childrem arrived . No one anticipated this tragedy but they surely wouldn't let it ruin their journey.
     "Don't worry children we will be alright,as long and I drive safely, and you all maintain a safe composure because we are on a frozen lake .If we mess up we're dead!" The bus driver ascertained before carefully starting to drive.Everyone was quiet and sat on their seats ,no one was allowed to stand on the bus, that would heighten the center of gravity of the bus and it would make it unstable over ice .Everyone was so scared that they didn't ask any questions,they instead sat back on their seats breathed lightly and hopped for their safety. Anya looked behind at everyone and her eyes landed on Timmy who was looking at her straight in the eye.
"What are you looking at nerd ?"She asked obnoxiously .
"Shut up woman !"yelled the bus driver.
"Who are you calling woman ?"
"Quiet !"yelled Timmy ,"you will get all of us killed ,"
"So you think that makes you sound heroic?" Asked Anya .
"You are getting on my nerves the both of you ,"said the bus driver .Before he could finish,Anya had already stormed out of her seat and was running to wards Timmy .She wanted to knock the words out of his little mouth. She sprang on Timmy and started slapping his face causing a commotion. Everyone screamed the children seated closer tried to stop her .
Timmy wouldn't fight back ,he just sat there and took the slaps .Michelle who had just about had enough of the commotion jumped in between held Anya and pushed her off Timmy and onto the wall of the bus.They felt the bus shake as the ice around that wheel gave in to the weight on that specific part of the bus.The ice carpet broke and the wheel fell through.
"Everyone to the front ,quick !" Shouted The driver .
Everyone quickly got out of their seats and scampered to the front placing the bus in balance enough for the driver to drive out of the ice hole.
They all then quickly raced to their seats as soon as the bus was in balance."Now listen here you mangy little rascals ,Anya you won't kill us all just because you're a spoiled little brat ,sit your butt down and remain quiet !" yelled the bus driver
"But it..."Anya started before she was cut short,"no buts ,just sit down and be quiet any more noise and I'll throw you out of the bus ,"
Anya frowned and slouched back in her seat.Everyone remained quiet as the driver slowly drove through the ice sheet .
" Two more miles children,and we'll be joining the main road where you can all start your shenanigans once again ,"said the driver before continuing with the driving.He drove moderately,not too fast as he would erode the ice and make it weaker making it crack and swallow them all,if he drove too slow ,he would risk focusing the weight at one place on the ice sheet which would make it break and sink the whole bus to its ice cold depths.
   The road was within reach as the children could see it over the horizon.The driver started driving faster towards it ,not long before he could reach a few hundred meters from it ,he spotted Larry frozen and half his body submerged into the ice.Presuming that he was alive,he tried to miss him but the bus lost its traction and skidded a long distance away from the road .The driver tried hard  to stabilize the bus but he couldn't,the more he tried the more it drifted away from the road until it was an even  further distance away from the road .
    As soon as the bus stopped ,the ice started cracking, "everybody out now!"shouted the driver prompting everyone who started scampering helter-skelter outside the bus as soon as the door opened.Timmy stood up to leave but stopped in his tracks when Anya knockedhim in the eye with her elbow. He fell down and writhed in pain as he tried to look around for help.His glasses were stepped on and crushed as everyone quickly ran past him until the bus driver noticed and rushed to his help.He grabbed him by his shirt and started to run towards the door.As soon as he reached the door,the ice sheet gave in to the weight and the bus started to get submerged .
     Mustering his strength ,the bus driver threw Timmy all the way to the other students who caught him.They ran towards the bus to save him but they stopped when it started to crack around it .They all said short prayers as they searched for their phones to try and call for help.
Their phones were all inside the bus that was now submerged.Anya started screaming,when Kenneth who was quiet the whole time came to her and hugged her .
"Hey hey relax ,we will all be out of here in no time." He said soothingly as if to a little child.
"Hey guys quick this way ,"shouted Michelle with a tone of hope.Everyone carefully walked towards her so as not to break through the ice and sink to their deaths.Timmy was still trying to ponder on what happened when one of the girls, Sonya, smacked him lightly on his back and pulled him to his feet .
"Lets go nerd,unless you want to wait for the wolves to come drag you off the ice,"she said and slightly giggled pulling Timmy along with her. He was afraid of wolves and quickly walked along her fast without asking.