Alive and Alone by W. R. Benton

Author:W. R. Benton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: airplane crash, survival, Alaska
ISBN: 9781939812179
Publisher: Loose Cannon Ent.
Published: 2013-05-23T06:00:00+00:00

David, less than two miles in front of Sergeant Banks, was very cold and knew he’d have to find shelter shortly if the wind didn’t die down. He suspected it was forty below with the wind chill and he was already shaking. He’d eaten the last of his meat, what little the wolves had left him, the night before and only had hot water for breakfast. He’d spent a cold night in his shelter and more than once woke shivering from the intense cold, but he’d survived. When he checked his feet this morning he noticed the cracked skin under his toe was better, but he’d have to watch it closely to avoid frostbite. His father had once told him that injured body parts were more susceptible to cold related injuries than healthy ones. The last thing David wanted or needed while walking to safety was to have his feet go bad on him. Bad feet or hands will get me killed, he thought as he pulled the casualty blanket around his shoulders tighter.

He had a headache and noticed his vision appeared to be blurred, but he suspected it was from the wind. As he struggled through the deep snow, it dawn on him that he was in serious trouble. Someone had explained the symptoms of hypothermia to him once, it may have been in school, and he realized he had the injury. I’ve got to get out of the cold and warm up, he thought as he came to a stop and started digging in the snow. In just a few minutes, he had another snow trench constructed and as he crawled inside, he remembered to make a ventilation hole too.

As the small twigs and sticks he’d collected on his crude sled burned near the mouth of his shelter, he tried to remember what he could about hypothermia. He knew it was the lowering of the body’s core temperature and it killed in little time. The treatment, if he remembered correctly, was to warm up from the inside and keep his outside warm, as well as dry, at the same time. He wrapped the casualty blanket around his body tightly and then made a cup of hot water. As he sipped the water, he could feel his body heat returning. I came close to dying a few minutes ago. I have to start paying attention or this weather will kill me, he thought as he raised his cup to his lips.

Once the water was finished, David fell asleep. Never in his young life had he ever been so tired, sleepy and hungry.

Banks discovered David’s tracks in the snow quickly once back on the trail and realized the young man was near. Sergeant Banks was wearing aluminum-framed snowshoes, but he could see where the survivor had sunk in the snow up to his knees as he moved. I’ve got to find this guy quickly; because walking in this snow will either fatigue him to the point he’ll get hypothermia, then he’ll just lie down and go to sleep.

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