Inception - Mind over matter

Cold Failure

The white light blinded Tiffany, piercing her eyes like hot knives. She patted the many pockets of her puffy white snow suit, desperate for her shades. The person next to her plucked them from the top of her head and gently pushed them over her eyes for her.  

Robert was next to her, standing far too close. He smiled as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She held her breath until he stepped back. They all stood on the side of a mountain. Pine trees stuck out of the snow. It looked fake. Miles below them was a huge concrete complex. Dom surveyed it through the scope on his rifle.

"What's down there?" asked Ariadne.

"A whole army," he replied.

He lowered the gun and chewed his lip. Eames glared at Fischer. Tiffany shifted nervously between them, the fresh snow crunching under her boots.

"Right," said Dom, "Ariadne and I will make our way to the east guard tower," he pointed to the far end of the complex, "We can cover your entrance from there; Tiffany, Saito and Fischer. Eames if you lead the projections off and keep them distracted, we can hopefully get inside before they notice,"

"Ok," with one last glance, Eames fitted his goggles over his eyes, picked up his sticks and skied away.

Dom and Ariadne took the right slope. Tiffany adjusted her shades.

"Ready? Saito?"

He coughed, spluttered and spat blood onto the snow, tainting it, "Let's go," he said.

Tiffany led them down the left slope at a steady jog. The frosty air bit into her cheeks. She could already hear echoes of music on the wind, signalling the kick. It wouldn't be long and she didn't want to miss it.

In the distance, Eames popped a flare. Red sparks shot into the sky.

"We need to get off the slope at the next bend," Tiffany told them, "Quickly!"

Ropes were already fixed to the cliff face. Tiffany couldn't get her frozen fingers to work fast enough as she strapped Fischer and Saito in to their harnesses. Finally the last clip snapped into place. She could hear shouts and snow mobiles revving; they would round the corner any minute. She swung herself over the edge, hanging onto the rope with only her hands, and hugged the cliff face. On the slope above, not even a foot from Tiffany, dozens of projections rushed past. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying they passed quickly. Her arms and shoulders burned from the effort. Sweat beaded on her brow despite the freezing temperature.

As the noise faded, she twisted her ankle around the rope, creating a foot hold for herself. Secure as it was going to get, she let go of the rope with one hand, and used it to clip herself on properly. Saito and Robert had already abseiled a dozen feet below her. The music grew louder as she caught them up. A voice cackled over her radio,

"Do you hear that?" said Ariadne.

"I thought it was the wind up here," replied Eames.

After a pause, Ariadne spoke again, "Tiffany," she said, "You need to take a short cut, we're running out of time,"

Her hands were too occupied to reply. Right now, there wasn't much she could do until they reached the bottom of the cliff.

They almost made it. The ground began to rumble. Tiffany's breath caught in her lungs; her throat closed in panic. She struggled to reach the knife tucked in her belt. Leaning back dangerously in her harness, she grabbed hold of it and slashed through the rope.

Screams from the three of them were lost to the crashing sounds of the avalanche. Tiffany quickly became disorientated as she tumbled down the mountain at break-neck speed. Snow, branches and rocks flurried terrifyingly close around her. She couldn't breathe. It seemed to last forever.