The flight into Denver International had been fine, but your connection to Las Vegas had been heavily overbooked.  Enough so to bump you and a good number of disgruntled passengers onto a loud, bumpy, 39 seat turboprop.  The airline assured you your checked luggage made it onto the original flight.  It would be waiting for you upon arrival.  You’d believe it when you saw it.

It also wasn’t encouraging to hear through the open door of the flight deck that theirs was the last flight out of DIA before it shut down operations in the face of an escalating winter storm front.  Though nearly packed to capacity, passengers were subdued and quiet as the prop engines droned loudly through the cabin.  This wasn’t the smooth ride you’d have from one of the larger jets.  It didn’t even have a flight attendant for the short two hour hop over the Rocky Mountains.  Just a water bottle and a pack of pretzels handed out at the gate.

The only entertainment was the technical banter you could hear from the open cockpit door as the pilots conducted the routine flight from DIA to LAS.  It was either that or the in flight magazine.  Your copy seemed to be two years out of date.

"Could you make sure the deicers are on?"
"Deicers are in the… on position."

"Visibility, poor.  Let’s take it up five thousand and see what it’s like."
"Up five thousand, check.  Seems the same."

"Controls a little stiff today, must be the cold."
"Hydraulics will warm up in a bit."

"Can you see the flaps on your side?"
"Negative, no visual.  Too much snow."

"Feels like the flaps are still extended.  I’m getting some drag."
"Controls show flaps in.  Think we’re getting some ice buildup?

"Toggle the deicers just to make sure."
"Deicers off.  Deicers on.  Check."

"Better throttle up a little for this headwind."
"Throttling up."

You could definitely hear the engine drone get louder in response.  The flight was also getting a little rougher.

"Check with DIA and see what the forecast is.  See if there’s a ceiling to this thing."
"DIA, this is flight 429 from Denver to Las Vegas requesting a weather update on our course."
…
"DIA, this is flight 429 from Denver to Las Vegas requesting a weather update on our current route, please."

"Nothing?"
"No response."

"Try the other end."
"Las Vegas, this is flight 429 from Denver to Las Vegas requesting a weather update, please."
…

"Let’s try swinging a little further south.  Keep an eye on the ACAS."
"Roger, ACAS all green."

"Our altitude good?"
"We’re well clear."

"Air speed’s down.  Think it’s the headwind?"
"Wouldn’t be surprised.  Want me to throttle up?"

"Go ahead, bring up the throttle a little more, see if we can get back up to speed."
"Roger, throttling up."

Once again, the cabin drone increased.  This time, an unsettling vibration accompanied the louder drone.

"No change in air speed.  Guess we’re stuck with it."
"Current flight time is fifty minutes.  Almost halfway there."

"Check your yoke, see how it feels to you."
"That is really stiff.  Think we’re putting on some ice?"
"Sure feels like it."
"Still no visibility on my side."

"Try the tower again, send an update with our location."
"Roger.  This is flight 429, Denver to Las Vegas, to all stations.  We are experiencing possible flight control issues due to ice.  Our current location is…" He rattled off a series of coordinates accompanied by bearing and air speed.  "Any station, please respond."
…

"We’re losing altitude now.  Throttle to full."
"Throttle up to full."

The drone in the cabin peaked and the vibration became a significant rattle.  Turbulence also increased.  You were glad their hadn’t been an in flight meal.

"Folks," came the pilot’s voice, now over the cabin speakers, "we seem to be having some issues with the weather.  I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we may have to make an emergency landing.  Please make sure your seat belts are on, seats and trays in the upright position.  If we are forced to make a landing, assume the brace position.  Lean as far forward as you can with your hands behind your head and feet tucked up under the seat beneath you.  Try this now.

"In the case it’s necessary, I’ll say brace, brace, brace, before we try to land.

"Also, if anyone has a cell signal, please try to dial 911 and let us know if you get through."

Those practicing the brace position straightened up to discover that no one had any cell signal.  Some people seemed to be recording messages, text or audio, onto their phones instead.  Some were crying, but luckily, no hysterics.  Although, it would have been hard to hear anyone shouting over the drone of the engines, now at full power.

"You better send out another location, we’re losing too much altitude."
"This is flight 429, Denver to Las Vegas, to all stations.  We are experiencing severe icing and losing altitude.  Our current location…"

The copilot paused, hearing some odd thudding noise as if someone were rapping on the fuselage from the outside.  Recognizing it first, the pilot shouted without the aid of the intercom, "BRACE! BRACE! BR…" The plane jerked suddenly sideways as the right wing was torn from the fuselage.  The plane spun as a frigid wind whipped through the jagged hole and snow swept around the screaming passengers.  You could hear the copilot shouting, "MAYDAY! MAYDAY!"  He got out two iterations before a second impact separated the tail section from the remaining wing and forward compartment.  Passenger luggage and debris from the overhead compartments rocketed about what remained of the cabin before being expelled from the open end of what remained of the aircraft.  The nearest row of seats, along with their securely belted passengers, went after their luggage.

Struggling to hold your brace position, the tail section with you and a handful of passenger rows tumbled and rolled violently.  After what seemed it would never end, the tail section of the passenger compartment slid to a stop, packing the now open end of the compartment with snow and broken pine branches.  The section lay on it’s side, gravity now pulled you sideways in your seat.

It was quiet now.  The only sound, the wind whistling as the storm worsened outside.

24 February 2019, 11:38pm

"Ouch," Kristi moaned, touching the side of her head where it had bounced off the inside of the plane.  Or maybe it had been the seat in front of her.  She'd never really made it all the way into the brace position.

She was hanging sideways in her seat and it was dark.  She felt around below her and found that the old woman seated next to her didn't seem to be moving.

"Are you OK?" she asked, hopefully, as she jostled her elderly neighbor.

OOC: Kirsti Carpenter rolled 9 using 1d20.  Reflex vs plane crash!
Forgot my +2 to Reflex to make it 11.  Maybe not good.

Kirsti thought her hand was wet with something, but couldn't tell what it was in the dark.  Was it from her head or the woman next to her?  Her elderly seatmate didn't seem to be breathing as she sagged in the seat next to her.

OOC: Kirst suffered 6 damage from the crash.

Alison is dinged up, but otherwise, miraculously, avoids serious injury.

Despite the number of times he had flown, Jan could never remember ever being a comfortable flyer. Even the woman sitting beside him had asked how he was feeling as he had looked a little pale. She had been full of advice for how to overcome his nerves and those around would have heard her words. Jan was pleased he didn't embarrass easily. But in the end as the pilot had called on them to brace, he'd been the one to offer support and tell her it would be OK despite his own fears.

His body was stiff and bruised from the impact but he was still full of adrenaline  and he knew he'd feel it all later. He felt ill lying at this angle and could feel something heavy on his shoulder. With his eyes still closed, he lifted a hand to feel it, hoping it hadn't pierced too deep into his flesh. Instead of metal he felt hair and warm skin, and opened his eyes to find his neighbour hanging in his seat with her head on his shoulder. She was immobile either unconscious, dead or seriously injured.

Jan gasped as he flexed his feet and arms, and pain flooded through his body. At least he didn't pass out from the pain, and he couldn't feel any warm wetness so beyond the bruises, scratches and scrapes he didn't think he was that seriously injured. Or at least the shock and adrenalin were acting as a pain reliever - his medical training told him that much.

He grasped the seat in front with his stronger, left hand in an attempt to find some purchase to prevent falling when he unbuckled his belt. He reached for his belt...

...and heard a groan of pain - a woman, or a young boy judging by the pitch in the voice - somewhere nearby. He opened his own mouth to speak, to ask the condition of the other survivor, to tell them he was there. But his voice came out as a hoarse whisper; "Hello?? Are you OK?? Do you need help??“

OOC: 17:03, Today: Jan Dahl rolled 14 using 1d20+1.  REF roll

edit: to add REF roll and OOC section to post
This message was last edited by the player at 00:15, Mon 25 Feb 2019.

Feeling around in the dark, it wasn't difficult for Jan to unbuckle and brace himself against the now horizontal seating.  It was cold in the cabin.  The woman in the seat beside him hadn't made any sound or movement while he'd reoriented himself.

OOC: Jan suffers 4 points of damage from the crash.

Free of his seat belt, Jan steadied himself by bracing his feet on the new floor - the original wall of the aircraft. He reached for the roman beside him, checking for a pulse at her neck and looking around the gloomy compartment for further signs of movement and life. He cleared his throat, licking his bloodied lips.

"Hello?? Can anyone hear me??“ His germanic accent was prominant, betraying his Scandinavian heritage. He chose his words carefully, not wanting to tempt fate and ask whether anyone else was alive.

"Yes," Kirsti replied to the male voice in the dark.  "The woman next to me, I don't think she's breathing."

She fumbled in her pocket for her phone.  She needed to see what was going on.  Call for help.

Alison HATED flying, which was clear from the white knuckled way she groaned every time the plane shook. She couldn’t help but overhear the pilot and copilot talking about how bad the situation was and then there was the down drafts which made her feel the need to vomit. She was sweating all over and then...

They were going down. It was her worst fear. She doubled over nearly putting her head up her ass, but it worked. As soon as things stopped spinning and she tore the restraints off and started tying to get out. ”Out...OUT...OUT! I gotta get out. NOW! RIGHT NOW!”

She clawed at her seat to get her carry on.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Tue 26 Feb 2019.

"We have a lot of injured, miss," Jan said with as much confidence as he could muster, "I'll need all the help I can get. We..."

He was cut off when another voice, anxious, highly agitated, cried out. In the confined darkness the sound seemed to come from all round, and he strained to locate the source.

"Please, miss, try to stay calm." he said to the new voice, "you might hurt yourself or someone else."

He hoped one of the crew was still awake, or that someone else more qualified would be awake. He'd had training, but not on this scale.

By the light of her phone, Kirsti could see she had blood on her hand.  The elderly woman beside her hung limp from her lap belt, hanging down into the aisle below them.

As the plane was on it's side, the two seats on the right hand were up and the single seat across the aisle was down.  The row of seats in front of her was packed with snow and broken pine branches where the front of the plane should be.  The man's voice and hysterical woman came from close behind her somewhere.

OOC: Kirsti's row is closest to the snow pack, Jan's in the middle, then Alison's at the very back.
This message was last updated by the GM at 18:38, Mon 25 Feb 2019.

Alison couldn’t find anything that would get her out. Everything was dark, and feeling along the side just felt the same. Same, same, and same; the more same the more panicked she became. There were voices from all around, but her brain just couldn’t understand more than just voices. She started crying. She started pounding on the walls. ”OH GOD! Please out...please. I can’t breath. I can’t fucking breath.”

She sat. She pulled her knees to her chest and began to rock and moan. ”Out out please PLEASE out.”

Jan swore at the lack of light and, as if someone had read his mind, a dim glow of light illuminated a section of seating ahead of him throwing long shadows around the battered compartment. It took a few moments for the source of the light to register with him before realisation set in and he patted down his pockets to find where he'd stored his own phone.

Finding it in the front pocket he pulled it out and swiped the screen. Nothing. He cursed again, swiping with more pressure and force. Still nothing. As the woman behind him began losing it big time, he felt the urge to throw the phone and search for his carry on bag for his tablet.

Then he remembered he'd turned it off at take off. Holding the button down he welcomed the dull glow and, a few moments later, the familiar electronic welcome tone sang out. A few quick swipes and tge torch feature was activated even before tge phone had finished booting up.

In the new light he looked around him trying to find the woman who was losing her mind before she did something that could make their situation worse.

"It's OK miss, I'm coming to help." At least her loud antics might help rouse some of the other passengers who were merely stunned or unconscious.

Edit: remove spelling mistakes
This message was last edited by the player at 23:46, Mon 25 Feb 2019.

This was bad.  Kirsti checked her phone for signal.  They needed help.  She had no bars.  This was really bad.

With her phone in her mouth, she tried to unbuckle herself and stand on the seat across the aisle.  She had to pause a few times to overcome the dizziness that almost overwhelmed her.  She was pretty sure that blood was hers.  Her head really hurt.

OOC: Assumed we have no signal based on the pilot's radio issues.  I'll edit if in error.

It was dark.  Slowly uncurling himself from the crash position, Jordan carefully assessed his condition: bruised, hurt, but not dead...as far as he knew.  Pretty sure purgatory (or whatever the heck Lost was) didn't extend to Colorado.  Voices began to intrude, so he carefully reached out forward and backwards to assess where he was.  "OK, I'm OK, give me a second to figure it out..."

OOC: Reflex save of 19, so pretty sure I should be in decent shape.

Jan could see a blond woman curled up in her seat against the wall/floor of the plane in the row behind his.  He could also see someone with long hair and a baseball cap climbing out in the row ahead of him.

There was also a new voice, male, directly behind him.  The guy must have been in the window seat by the sound of it.

He'd made it through the post-crash checklist without finding anything obviously broken, which meant he could move safely.  Ish.  Fortunately, being in the window seat with the window side underneath him meant it was easy to unbuckle and regain something akin to a vertical orientation.  Planes being what they were these days, it also meant crouching in the dark while stepping on something soft that was either a body or someone's valuables.

Recognizing that at least one of the voices he'd heard had come from in front of him, Jordan tapped around on the shoulders of everyone in that row, declaring, "I'm free, give me a second and I'll get you out."

He moved as best he could around the upright and locked seatbacks, starting to shiver now that the cold air was settling in.  Good thing he'd left his jacket tucked under the seat in front of him...which was now somewhere.

"Don't look directly at the light." Jan said to the male voice as he positioned himself to shine his phone's light behind him to help the newcomer orientate themselves. He took the few moments to look around at his own surroundings; at the other passengers, at who was moving, who wasn't and who looked injured. Without medical supplies he could do much beyond bandaging or strapping of open wounds or fractures. He'd have to locate the medical box.

He ran through what he believed was located at the back of a plane. The kitchen. Possibly stores for blankets and pillows. Hopefully the med kit. He'd need his own jacket as he was feeling the cold already. And didn't planes have other emergency kits like oxygen in the overhead compartments - or rather the cupboards on the walls in their current orientation,??

He offered his hand to help the man behind free himself, keeping the light from dazzling him too much. "Here, let me help you."

Alison continued to clutch her knees, mumbling a mantra to herself over and over.  "It's just a dream.  It's just a dream…"

The turboprop was too small for a kitchen, but aft of the last row, there is an obvious soft sided case strapped to a wall with a bold red cross emblazoned on it.  There's also a fire extinguisher that managed to remain strapped to the wall.

From Jan's phone survey of the tail section, he determined there were eight people in their section.  Four of them were conscious.  The others were of indeterminate status.

Jordan nodded at Jan as he stood.  "I'm fine, I'll go help," he jerked his head back towards the blond mumbling to herself, "her."

He clambered over the seats and approached Alison's position, tapping her lightly on the shoulder.  "Are you OK?  Can you move?"

"Fair enough." Jan responded, and looked over the woman beside him again. He moved cautiously through the debris of seats and luggage, using his torch to ensure he had suitable footing before stepping again, heading to the first aid kit at the rear of the cabin.  With that in his hand he begins to check each person still unconscious for their vitals, to see who is the most injured and in need of any treatment - performing a basic version of triage.

All the while his heart hammers in his chest. He desperately wanted someone else to volunteer, to say that they were a doctor or nurse and to take this responsibility away from him.

He spoke to the lady in front, "are you sure you're ok?? Can you check to see if the people closest to you are still breathing for my while I get the medical kit??"

"I feel dizzy, but I can check," Kirsti replied to the man.  She started with the woman that had been seated next to her.

An assessment of the remaining passengers with them was not encouraging.  The elderly woman next to Kirsti was barely breathing with a shallow pulse.  Jan's talkative neighbor was breathing better, but also suffered from an obvious broken left leg.  There were two other men, one with a severe head wound and another with a piece of aluminum strut protruding from his abdomen.  This last was the worst off and bleeding profusely.

They may be suffering from other injuries not apparent, but it was bad enough as it was.

"No, I'm not fine!" Alison blurted back at the man trying to calm her down, pushing his hand away.  "This wasn't supposed to happen!  Flying is safe!"

Other than her state of mind, she seemed to have fared better than most.  She returned to her mantra in a futile attempt to rectify their current state of affairs by sheer force of will.

"OK. He's critical and I'm not sure I can do anything for him with what I have here." Jan says to anyone who might be listening, more to calm himself and give him time to make a decision. He indicates the man impaled with the steel.

"Her breathing is shallow, so she's my priority for observation. She has a broken leg, which makes head injury my priority." he gestures to each in turn with his torch beam.

"Before we do that, we need to be sure we're safe here. Can anyone see outside?? Are we near the wings, engines or any fires?? Are we safe here??" He was thankful he'd watched those air crash investigation programmes on TV as well as a plethora of emergency service fly-on-the-wall documentaries and docu-dramas. He knew that they needed to be safe before they started treating anyone regardless of their condition.

Kirsti kicked at the snow barrier blocking their way to the front of the plane, or whatever was left up there.  "I'm not sure we have a choice of leaving right now.

"What can I do to help?" she asked, giving up on the snow.

She looked up to see if the windows above them showed any sign of fire light.

Not knowing what to do, Jordan grabs the shaking blond's hand.  "You're safe, that's what's important.  Can you tell me your name?  I'm Jordan, I'm here to get you out."

"You're not here to get me out!" Alison retorted.  "You were on the plane, too, braniac!  How hard did you hit your head?"

However unhelpful the man's words, his uselessness kickstarted her brain back into gear.  The plane wasn't moving anymore and it looked like she'd have the best chance of getting out of this alive if she saved herself.  She took a deep breath and released her seatbelt.

"Get out of my way and save someone else."

Taken aback, Jordan gives a short, "soyoureokthem" and backs off to give her room.  He looks around at the other passengers and Jan's analysis, then turns back to the lady and replies, "I think you're it.  I don't think there's much I can do for the others."

The snow pack Kirsti kicked was solid and it did indeed look dark out the side windows now pointing skyward.  Other than the movement and breathing of those within, they couldn't hear anything outside beyond the sound of the wind.  It had felt like the tail section had traveled some distance after it had been torn from the rest of the plane.  It also seemed to be getting colder rather than warmer.  If there was a fire nearby, they couldn't feel it through the fuselage.

With the plane on it's side, there wasn't enough room for wounded to be laid down flat.  The best they could do was to perch them on the edge of the seats now on the bottom of the plane.

"OK. I need more light, some blankets and as much water as you can find." Jan says as he opens the medkit and looks inside. Grabbing the gloves he begins to pull them on.

"I'll also need help lifting the injured out of their seats. Head wound here is priority, as I think I can do something for him and he needs attention quickly. After that I'll look at the other man to see if I can do anything. Unless anyone else is a medic or doctor??" he adds hopefully.

"If you want to help," Alison said, looking around for her bag, "find us a way out of here."

[Private to GM: Let me know if she finds anything useful in addition to whether she finds her bag.]

"You mean besides out that gaping hole into the winter night?" Jordan replies, sarcastic irritation creeping into his voice at the woman's acerbicness.  He turns away and replies directly to Jan, "Just let me know what needs doing.  I'm no doctor but I'm not afraid of a little blood, or lifting."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:11, Wed 27 Feb 2019.

Kirsti checked to see if she could find any blankets or pillows in the overside storage compartments.  She then held her phone while the doctor looked after the injured.

Kirsti finds that the formerly overhead compartments have had their contents scattered but managed to find one thin airline blanket and a loose bottle of water.

She didn't have time to search the entire cabin section, so there could be more with further searching.

[Private to Alison Candlewell: Alison, you don't find your bag, just a couple of wrinkled magazines.

[Private to Jan Dahl: Jan, after spending a round examining the older man's head wound, you determine that, although unconscious, he is stable at 0 hit points.]

Jan chuckles as he begins treatment of the head injury; unbuckling the man out of the seat, positioning him as best he could then cleaning away blood, checking for severity of injury, treating and closing the injury with adhesive strips before applying a compression bandage and wrapping it up tight.

"I'm no doctor either. I work with psychiatric patients, and have a good deal of first aid experience. Not on this scale. Fractures, lacerations, the occasional stabbing or self harming incident.

I'll be going for a doctorate hopefully, but it won't be the emergency medicine kind." he added, making conversation to keep his thoughts away from the grisly task he was performing.

"The others need to be removed from the restraints and made comfortable. But not him," he indicates the impaled man, "not by yourself."

While the blond woman searched around, the other three maneuvered the unconscious old man with the head wound into a relatively comfortable position on the bulkhead wall, now floor, between the seat backs.  The plane was obviously not designed for this orientation and space is very tight.

"So...once we're done with the triage, we just wait?  Wait for morning and then try to dig out?" Jordan wonders aloud after they have the old man settled.

"I don't think anyone knows where we are," Kirsti added.  "Unless someone could hear the pilot's radio, but we couldn't hear anything back.

"I think we should stay inside until the sun comes up.  It's probably colder outside than in here at night.

"Who do we help next?"

Jan checks the vitals of his next patient, and determines what he can do for her after lowering her from her seat.

"I'm hoping we've come down close to a settlement, and they saw us crash even if our radio broadcast wasn't heard." Jan says as he works.

"But we can't assume anything, especially our own safety. We could be a few miles from a town, in which case we can expect help of some kind relatively quickly. If we're further away..."

He paused for a moment, neither tending to his patient's wounds or speaking. Then, just as suddenly, he became animated again and continued his work.

His voice was quieter this time, "Well, if that's the case we need to give ourselves more options, at the very least. We need to know what's outside, if we're in danger here or not and if we have shelter other than this compartment close by.

Without the electrics powering the heaters thus metal cannister will freeze, and we currently it have the one blanket."

"Airplanes are insulated, I thought?" Jordan counters, "And with the, er, cabin plugged we at least don't have freezing wind coming through.  Snow's a good insulator too.  Better to stay in here tonight and then head out once it's warmer.  We should be able to tell when the sun rises through the windows."

"When in flight the plane has heat from its engines and powered heaters," Jan says matter of factly. "On the ground, stationary and without power its a metal box. It will get cold eventually. It will be warmer than outside, I'll admit, but we'd still have to figure out a better way to keep heat in.

I'm no expert but I do like watching documentaries, especially those on airplanes and air crashes amongst others. It was supposed to help with my... Err... Discomfort with flying." he adds.
[Private to GM: I honestly have no idea if this is true or not - it sounds right to me, and I am refusing to Google the answer!!]

Jan moved on to the man with the aluminum strut in his abdomen.  It looked to have been part of a tray table that may have dropped down during the crash to impale him.

[Private to Jan Dahl: Although it looked bad, the strut hadn't penetrated very far and the man was already stable at -1 HP.  You can describe how you handle it and then choose your next patient.  You're handling 1 patient per round with the help of the others.]

OOC: You'll find out how well insulated your shelter is.

"Huh, I thought that would make things worse," Jordan replies, "I had a buddy who was a paratrooper and he swore he wasn't afraid of flying until after he got out.  Could be PTSD I guess."

He squats next to the impaled man.  "I think...we leave this alone?"

OOC: so long as it's not Fort save or die, I guess I look forward to seeing how it works out :)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:58, Wed 27 Feb 2019.

The blond woman continued to search through the debris for useful gear.  She was disappointed at how little luggage remained in their section.

"Doesn't the plane have a transponder to tell everyone where we are?" she asked.  "Someone has to know where we crashed."

"Hmm, let's see." Jan says looking at the man's injury. "He's lucky, but to stand a chance it needs to come out. Normally we'd leave it, but under these circumstances, and because it's not too deep, I think we can..."

And with that Jan puts one hand on the man's chest, his left hand he grasps the metal tray and pulls it out, quickly putting a clean dressing on the injury and applying pressure.

"There you go."

His attention returns to the conversation. "Look, we need to know what's happening out there. There could be fuel everywhere and flames from the crash, or a house a few hundred meters away. Whether we stay here and wait for help or not doesn't change the fact we need to know.

In the meantime, there is luggage, bags, coats and I'm sure more blankets to be found. I'm sure there will be some tools or..." he motions to the metal tray, "We could improvise shovels??"

With what looked to be the worst wound stabilized, Jan returned to the older woman and the other with the broken leg.

[Private to Jan Dahl:
I actually missed that you were addressing one of the women in msg#40.  Which one had you planned on checking prior to the abdomen puncture?  We'll say you lowered her down, but hadn't treated her yet.]

"Let's take stock of everything before we talk next steps," Jordan states flatly, leaving Jan to his trauma work and helping the ballcapped lady with gathering scattered items.

OOC: I assume enough time has passed for us to gather everything?  Or should we make a Search check?

While Jan decided which of the two women to address next, Jordan joins the blond woman currently scouring the section they were in.  Checking seat backs, formerly overhead compartments, under and around all of the seating.

Kirsti was holding her phone to help with the injured.

OOC: With the cramped quarters and irregular seating, it will take a while to do a complete search of the section.  Also assuming that both searching pull out their phones for light.  No Search rolls required if you're using a light to search, but it will take a few minutes to check everywhere.

Kirsti checked on the old woman still hanging from her seat.  She felt bad they hadn't gotten her down yet and released her seat belt to lower her down.  How heavy could an old lady be?

Jan deals with the woman with breathing problems first as tge next serious, though quite what he could do beyond making her more comfortable was uncertain. He did wonder whether the plane had oxygen masks, and whether they would work without power but it was a moot point until the woman had been checked over anyway.

As Jan worked, the old woman's breathing became more difficult and raspy.  He did what he could, but her breathing stopped.

OOC: on behalf of Jan Dahl, rolled 11 using 1d20+4.  Treat Injury, Old woman.

"She stopped breathing!" Kirsti said urgently.  "Can't we do CPR or something?"  Without waiting for an answer, she tried desperately to get the woman breathing again.

OOC: Can I try an untrained Treat Injury in the same round as someone else?

Kirsti instinctively attempts the "R" portion of CPR.  As hard as she tries, the woman does not respond.

OOC: The two of you are right there so Kirsti can give it a shot.
on behalf of Kirsti Carpenter, rolled 9 using 1d20.  Treat Injury, Old woman.

Unaware of recent events, Alison continues to collect magazines and whatever else she can find.

Jan's face pales - this was what he feared. Thankful for the extra assistance, he continues pumping her chest conscious that, with the force he was using, the woman's ribs would break under the pressure.

As he continued the compressions, he counted out loud so the woman in the cap knew when it was her turn to give rescue breaths.

The two men had worse injuries than this, he was damned if he was going to lose this woman.

Jordan keeps quiet and busies himself with fetching spilled clothing and sundries from the over- and underhead compartments...in the cramped confines of the cabin there was hardly space for two to triage, and he'd just get in the way.

With a bit of luck, perhaps something sharp-edged could be produced and they could chop up the seats for additional insulation and cloth.

Jan knew that CPR at this point wasn't going to bring the woman back.  She must have had some internal bleeding they hadn't been able to detect in his preliminary assessment.  Perhaps if he'd gotten to her sooner, but there was only one of him.  He'd done what he could.
[Private to Jan Dahl:
The old woman had not stabilized on her own and was at -9 when you attempted a Treat Injury.
There is still the unconscious woman with the broken leg to look at.]

Kirsti couldn't accept the old woman may have died.  She'd been alive and talking to her less than ten minutes ago!  She kept breathing for the woman as Jan counted.  "You can do it," she coaxed.  "Fight for it!"

Jan raised his hand to the woman's neck and checked for a pulse. Finding none he paused with his compressions.

Kirsti continued giving rescue breaths whilst he looked at the woman solemnly.

"She's gone, there's nothing more I can do. She's gone." he said with a whisper.

The scroungers come up with the following:

15 magazines and a paperback (romance)
1 thin airline blanket
2 bottles of water
1 emergency med kit (Jan is using it)
1 fire extinguisher
9 inflatable life vests
9 removable seat cushions that you were told would float

OOC: Everyone (not just the searchers) roll a d20 with a note for a single item they're looking for.  The item must be able to pass through a TSA carry on search and may not be a container of more stuff, such as a winter hiker's backpack full of high tech winter survival gear.

[Private to Alison Candlewell:
Alison: You may not choose your carry on at this time.]
[Private to Jan Dahl:
Jan: How long do you spend convincing Kirsti there's nothing more to be done for the old woman?]

Realizing a sudden solemnity in the cabin, Alison paused to see the girl continue with mouth to mouth as the other man explained there was nothing more to be done.  The plane crashed.  People died.  They weren't going to save everyone.

Alison was going to make damned sure she saved herself first!

OOC: Alison Candlewell rolled 16 using 1d20.  sat phone.

Jan places a hand on Kirsti's shoulder, softly, sympathetic to her need. The expression on his face showed his own pain.

He opened his mouth to try to explain; her wounds were internal and only a trained surgeon could have saved her, or the crash had been too much for her heart and she'd died earlier in the crash itself and there was nothing more that either of them could do.
"We can't help her anymore. She's gone. There's nothing more we can do." he said with utter despair in his voice. He'd saved a man from a more serious injury than this, but he'd been responsible for this woman's preventable death.

He couldn't let anyone else die and he checked on his last patient, the woman with the broken leg. Havubg checked her twice before he was certain she was in no immediate danger, but his confidence had taken a knock and he was questioning his own ability now.
[Private to GM: That's all Jan's willing to do - he's going to hide his personal despair and guilt by attending to his last patient and double check everything to make sure he doesn't make any mistakes...]

Jan moves on to the woman with the broken leg.  Realizing that she too has been suffering from complications, he attempts to stabilize her condition, but is unable to do so.

OOC: on behalf of Jan Dahl, rolled 8 using 1d20+4.  Treat Injury, woman with broken leg.

[Private to Jan Dahl:
Jan: Like the older woman, she had been deteriorating and you attempted to stabilize her at -9 and failed.  You had the opportunity because you didn't delay before moving on from the old woman.  It takes a Treat Injury attempt and a standard action to assess a patient's current HP and status.  There just wasn't enough time and you happened to choose the two stable patients first while the other two continued to deteriorate.]
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:49, Sat 02 Mar 2019.

Kirsti gave up CPR and just stared at the woman's chest, willing it to rise and fall on it's own.  Had she done it wrong?  Was there something more she could have done to save her?  She just sat and let the tears run down her face.  She wanted to wake up now, please.

OOC: Kirsti Carpenter rolled 14 using 1d20.  sleeping bag.

"What the holy fu-" Jan curses, throwing the medical kit aside in anger as his fresh assessment of the woman shows that she was already dead.

He steps further away from the others before punching the headrest of the closest seat in anger.

He kept his back to the others,[Private to GM: OOC: He's fighting back tears and his sudden overwhelming sense of grief and guilt] and fought the urge to light up a cigarette.

OOC: 20:52, Today: Jan Dahl rolled 15 using 1d20.  Item roll - cigarettes and lighter

Jordan looks up at Jan's outburst; his own disappointment in coming up empty felt cheap by comparison.

17:34, Today: Jordan Ein rolled 5 using 1d20.  item: waterproof poncho.

Inspired, Alison looked for one of the emergency pamphlets that were tucked into the seat backs.  She wanted to see if they provided any information on the location of emergency supplies or perhaps some survival options.

Finding an airline safety card isn't difficult.  Those searching had been ignoring them as most seasoned airline passengers did.  In this case because the card couldn't be burned easily due to it's lamination.

The card identifies the locations of the fire extinguisher and medical kit you've already found in the tail of the plane.  It also indicates the life vests and seat flotation pads you've already collected.  It also designates an emergency survival kit at the font of the plane as well as a wall mounted flash light, at the front of the plane.

Alison kept her mouth shut.  She didn't know either of the two women, or anyone else for that matter, but pushing for them to get over it wasn't going to win her any friends.

She just hoped they'd get over it sooner rather than later.  If they could find the front end of the plane, and the survival kit labeled on the safety card, it might save all their lives.

Kirsti took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her face.  She'd never seen anyone die right in front of her before.  From the doctor's reaction, it sounded as though the old woman had been the only one.

She felt as if she'd failed them both, somehow.  Like she should have been able to do better.  It was a horrible feeling.

At least the girl seemed to be getting a hold of herself.  Rather than putting her foot in her mouth, Alison carefully climbed over the seats to reach the snow pack blocking their only exit.  She began to dig herself a tunnel out of there.

Leaving the other man to get it together, Jordan snapped off a tray table and carefully climbed around near the woman digging in the snow with her hands.

"Here," he said, handing her the tray, "try this."

Digging in the snow wasn't easy, it was really packed in and reinforced with broken branches that needed to be pulled free as she went.  The hole wasn't big, but once she broke through, it would be big enough to crawl through.  However, she was a foot into the snow and her bare hands were getting very cold with no end in sight.

Jan swore again, his body visibly shaking as he vented. He repeatedly clenched and opened his fist, and whispered some silent mantra in a strange yet somewhat familiar language as he calmed himself.

Removing the bloodied latex gloves from his hands, he rolled them together and paused looking at the two dead women.

He spent a few minutes searching the bodies; clothing, purses, nearby handbags. He looked for personal effects and ID - passports, jewellery that looked expensive or personalised, anything that could be used to identify the bodies when they reached safety. He then looked for a small travel bag to store them in, hoping to find his own but not caring whst he found first.

He needed a cigarette.[Private to GM: OK it's not what the others want, but Jan feels responsible for the deaths and uses this time to calm himself and focus. It also gives the others time to start to dig them out... ]

Seeing the lack of progress in breaching the snow barrier, Jordan reconsiders.  "Slow down," he tells the blond woman, "Conserve your energy and don't freeze.  It'll get even colder once you get outside."

Alison dug with the tray and pulled out branches.  Digging with the tray was better, but she stopped and backed out before her hands were totally numb.

"Let's switch out," she said, rubbing her hands together to warm them up.  She left the tray for the next person and got out of the way.

"I'm beginning to think we should just call it a night and pick this up in the morning," Jordan says, "if it's that thick who knows where you might come out.  Could be a strong wind coming in that direction too, which means we all die frozen and...well, frozen."

"We could always plug it back up with snow," Alison said.  "We have to know how bad it is out there.  There could be an abandoned cabin or something we could use.

"I'm also not dressed for it to get much colder than this," she added, indicating her current attire.  The jeans and blouse were serviceable enough, but the open topped shoes she'd thought so cute that morning were not made for cold weather hiking.  She was dressed for Vegas weather, not skiing.

Kirsti looked down at her own outfit.  She was in only slightly better shape than the blond woman.  She'd chosen sneakers.  Her feet would probably get soaked in the snow, but better for hiking if she could keep them dry.

"My name's Kirsti," she said, realizing no one had introduced themselves in the dim light of their phones.  "I can dig for a while."

She took up the tray and resumed scraping snow out from between the horizontal seats where the aisle used to be.  She just needed something to do right now.

Jan couldn't find either of the women's purses and neither seemed to be carrying any personal identification.  The old woman was wearing an expensive silver watch with an engraved message on the back, "Loving you, forty years and counting."  The woman with the broken leg did have a locked smart phone you suppose would identify her at some point.

His search for a small bag produced no better results than the earlier scrounging of the others.  He could probably stuff them into the emergency med kit for safe keeping.

The cabin temperature had dropped to around 45 degrees by this time.  Even if the fuselage were insulated well, one end was entirely composed of cold snow.

Kirsti adds another foot to the tunnel, still pulling and breaking branches laced into the snow like reinforcing rod.

As she dug, Kirsti tried to angle the tunnel upwards.  If she cleared the upper seats, she should be headed for daylight, or starlight.

The digging became more difficult the further Kirsti dug.  She kept having to back out dragging loose snow and branches with her.  Her shirt and pants were getting wet as she melted the snow with her exertion.  Even with someone trying to hold a phone into the hole, it was more feeling about than seeing what she was doing.

Kirsti was able to determine there was only one row of seats ahead of them as she curved upwards.  She was now climbing entirely into the tunnel, more than the length of her body to dig.

Alison looks over the two women's bodies to see if their footwear and clothing might be better suited to cold and snow than what she has.  Or if any of it would even fit her.

Kirsti backed out of the lengthening tunnel and said, "We're really packed in here. I haven't punched through, but I needed to warm up."

She flexed her hands and tried to dry them off on her pants only to discover how wet she was getting. "I've started to dig up. There's only this one row of seats on top and then just snow and branches." She tapped the row of seats she'd just climbed out from underneath.

"Anyone else want to dig?"

Putting the identifiable belongings into the medical kit for, Jan thinks for a second then makes sure the two women's face look peaceful. He then takes a photo of each on his phone before turning it off to save power.

It is only then he seems to refocus and return to the problem at hand. Removing one of the cushions that could float he examines it in the dim glow of the others'  lights. He looks how flammable it is then another thought dawns on him. If they float they're probably water resistant. At least they would provide a barrier to the wet and cold if used to lie or kneel on.

He takes a few more, then offers to dig for a bit. "I'll dig, and these might help keep us warmer if we put them under us."

He offers to take the digging tray from Kirsti. "The name's Jan," he pronounced it Yan.

Using the cushions, Jan finds that not lying directly on the snow is keeping him dry and doesn't allow the snow to directly suck the heat from him.

Digging and breaking through branches, Jan is finally able to break through to fresh air.  The upward sloping tunnel reaches almost ten feet before emerging into a tangle of pine branches still attached to the tree.  it seems as though the tail section bulldozed the last of it's energy into this copse of trees.

The air is definitely colder outside.  Definitely below freezing.  In the trees, he couldn't tell how windy it was, but he knew that any wind would just make it worse.

It was also very dark.

---

Alison determines that the older woman is smaller than both Kirsti and herself.  Neither her footwear nor suit jacket would fit either of them.  The woman who'd sat with Jan, however, was about Alison's size and wearing a pair of canvas flats that might fit her.  The dead woman was also wearing a blue knit sweater that would fit either of the two women.

"OK we're through," Jan says as he returns to the others, breathing life and warmth into his cold hands.

"It's dark out there and freezing, but I can't see any fires nearby. Or any other lights for that matter. This section of the plane is embedded in a copse of trees with hardened snow piled up around us." His tone was sombre, and he reached for the blanket they found wrapping it round his shoulders and arms and hugging it tight, trying to warm himself quickly.

"Good news is that there's lots of wood we can use for fire, and the tunnel there will act as a chimney so we could light one down here and not suffocate from the smoke. But the wood will be damp and it could take some time to collect and dry enough to do that.

In the meantime, the two of you look cold and wet, and you'll never warm up in wet clothing. Here..." he offered the blanket out, realising that his predicament was far better than either of the girls.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:45, Thu 07 Mar 2019.

"Thanks," Kirsti said, accepting the blanket. "Do you think one of you could go out and see if there's any loose luggage or anything out there?"

She looked to the two men as they were both dry and better dressed than she and the blonde woman. "Just a quick look around."

[Private to GM:
Kirsti would like to examine the seat cushions to see if they can be opened or somehow used as insulation stuffed under a shirt or something.  Maybe torn like a garbage bag just to wear the cover or something.]

Kirsti looked to see if there were any scissors or a sewing kit in the medical kit.

Kirsti is able to find medical scissors in the kit, but no sewing kit.

[Private to Kirsti Carpenter: The cushions are vinyl covers over thick foam pads.  The covers are zippered to pull out the pads.  You might be able to cut holes in the seat covers, and try to stuff the pads under your shirt, but it doesn't look like it will be very effective.]

"Try cutting up the cushions," Jordan suggests, grabbing the blanket with an apologetic look and a mouthed "windbreaker" before he squirms up the tunnel to take a peek.  Knowing the dangers posed from wandering too far in the cold, he sticks to within just a couple yards of the tunnel exit.

"I think this sweater will fit you," Alison said, indicating the woman's sweater to Kirsti. "We can return it when we find something better, but we have to survive that long. It won't matter if we all die."

Alison didn't want to have any hysterics about looting bodies while they were still warm. At the very least, it would get the others thinking about survival.

"I'm Alison, by the way."

Jordan reached the end of the tunnel by the light of his phone and discovered it wasn't as easy as just climbing out.  The tunnel ended in tree branches.  It was fresh air, but not quite an exit.  He spent some time digging, bending, and breaking tree branches until he could squeeze through and slide out of the tree.

Clutching the thin blanket about his shoulders, the dim light of his phone didn't reach very far when most everything was just white and pine tree.  He walked back along the tail section and could see the long slide it had made, mowing down small trees, and gouging a deep trail in the snow further than the reach of his phone.

He didn't see any luggage or debris in the immediate area.  Nor did he see any lights or hear anything other than a light wind.  It was enough to remind him of how poorly dressed they all were.

Even a light wind was too much.  Jordan shivers as his wet clothes wick away body heat, and he started cursing the male ego that drove him outside.  He picks up some of the larger pieces of wood and starts back down the tunnel, pausing briefly at the entrance to look up.

OOC: is there a moon in the sky?  clouds?

"I'm not cold enough, yet," Kirsti replied to Alison, a shiver threatening to undercut her resolve. "Let's see if he finds some luggage out there."

Kirsti spent the time pulling the flotation seats apart.  They had a zipper to pull out the foam seat inside.  However, the seat cover itself was vinyl and wouldn't be good for keeping warm.  The foam seats would be good for sitting on, but less than useful for creating winter wear.  They really needed luggage.

Kirsti used the scissors to cut a foam seat in half.  Then cutting seat belts for straps to fashion snow shoes.

[Private to GM:
She can put slits in the foam to feed the straps through and then find a way to wrap straps around the foot and ankle.  Then clip the seat belt and snug it up.  I suppose this might need a craft roll?]
This message was last updated by the player at 02:29, Sat 09 Mar 2019.

Jordan can't see much of anything in the wintry sky, overcast, with a light snow still falling.  He grabbed a few pieces of snapped wood and squirmed back into the tree and down the hole.

---

Kirsti manages to fashion a single snow shoe using the scissors and a seat belt.  It seems serviceable and it looks like she can make a pair out of one seat and two seat belts.  They'll help if they need to hike their way out.  Probably help keep their feet drier as well.

[Private to GM: Secret Roll: GM, on behalf of Kirsti Carpenter, rolled 13 using 1d20+2.  Craft snow shoes.]

"I'm going to trade shoes with her before my feet freeze," Alison said to Kirsti.  "Mine will look good on her."

Hopefully without protest, Alison swaps footwear. She'll also offer to help with the snow shoes if she can. They needed to keep busy.

Inspired by Kirsti's crafting, Alison examined the life vests. Could they be cut in such a way to make tubes or pockets? Maybe overshoes, gaiters, mittens? They wouldn't be well insulated, but they might be wind and water proof.

Seeing the reluctance in Kirsti despite the obvious need, Jan steps towards the dead women. "I am so sorry ladies," he says, "But without these we all might die."

With a noticeable amount of compassion and tenderness, despite the women being dead he removes what remains of their shoes, socks (if they have them) and checks to see what else they are wearing. Provided they have sufficient layers to not be left naked or lose their dignity, he will remove the item of clothing.

Their situation is not yet desperate enough for him to consider stripping away the remainder of the dead women's humanity.

He then checks on his patients ensuring that their condition is not worsening.

Kirsti reluctantly accepted the blue sweater from Jan and put it on.  She was really still hoping for luggage.

She worked with Alison to make two sets of snow shoes and explore how they could use the life jacket material.

Given fifteen minutes, Alison and Kirsti can complete their two sets of snow shoes.  They can also cut up four of the life vests to create overshoes, gaiters, and thumbless mittens.  They'd keep hands, feet, and legs dry in the snow, but do nothing to prevent heat loss.

---

Jan checks his two remaining patients to find them both still stable.  However, surviving the night was tenuous given the still falling temperature within the cabin.  The temperature was probably now around freezing.

"We're going to need to set a fire to warm this place, or we're all going to suffer from hypothermia." Jan states factually. "Our two sleeping friends there won't survive the night without warmth, and with one blanket between the four of us and the two of them, it's going to be difficult as it is."

He begins to look at the foot of the chairs to see the screws and mechanism that hold the chairs in place. "Did anyone find a toolbox or something that we could use to move the chairs?? We're going to need to a space where we can all stay close together, close to a fire, what with the limited resources we have at hand."

He looks across to the two injured me, a frown on his face. "Yes, we'll need a space where we can all sit or lie close to a fire. Share the blanket, put it at our backs to keep two of us warm at a time. Or even better, somehow hang it across the compartment to make the are we're trying to keep warm smaller and easier to manage.

The fire would need to be close to the entrance way, so that any smoke can use the tunnel as a chimney. But we need it to be far enough back that too much heat isn't lost that way either. Keep the fire between us and the tunnel, and the blanket across the compartment behind us." Jan's gaze is darting about the compartment while he talks, making his inner thoughts verbal as he thinks them. [Private to GM: A sickening thought has occurred to Jan - by removing the clothing of the women he's offering the girls a better chance of survival, and there's a good chance that one or both of the injured men will die during the night. If their clothes were taken, it would improve the survival chances of Jan and Jordan, but would definitely kill the person they have removed the clothing from.

He's verbalising his thoughts to shake the idea from his mind - they're desperate, but their not savages... yet...]

"Regular or Phillips?" Jordan asks, bending down for a closer look at the screw heads.  "Any thing piece of metal ought to do for regular...the runners from the tray take ought to do.  Anything else and we're, ah, screwed."

"Looks more like an industrial monkey wrench will be needed." Jan replies looking to see if it was possible to make an area for sleeping in amongst the chairs.

"Has anyone checked our two patients for anything that might be useful?? Matches, a lighter. God knows I could use a smoke or two. Anyone carrying?? Be useful to help light the fire too."

"What was it like outside?" Alison asked of the lean man who'd gone outside.  "Did you see the rest of the plane?"

She was sure everyone was waiting to hear what he'd seen.  All of their lives depended on it.

A quick search of the two unconscious men discover wallets on both of them.  The older man, his driver's license identified him as Stan Stevens, 62, also has a cheap metal watch, a pocket full of change, and a gold pen.  The younger man, 34, was Robert Glenn.  Neither of them have any matches or a lighter.

---

The airline seats are bolted to the floor.  It would take a socket set or wrench in order to remove them.  Or a hack saw.

"I don't smoke or have a lighter, but we're almost done with these snow shoes," Kirsti said, pulling a strap through the foam foot.  "Then two of us can go out and look around.  I think it's obvious we need more than we have here.

"I want to go out and look around."

"Short, small trees, cloudy sky, some snow coming down, light wind," Jordan recites to Alison, "you can see the trail the, uh, tail made when we hit the ground.  I didn't see any lights or anything, which to me says no fires and no cabin.  I wouldn't venture far without some way of marking your trail.  Depending on how deep the snow is we might only be seeing the treetops, or we're at a high enough elevation only small trees are around."

Kirsti started strapping on the finished set of snow shoes along with their makeshift life vest accessories.

"If it's snowing," she said, clipping the belt buckle around her ankle to secure one of the snowshoes, "we'll need to get out there before everything gets hidden in the snow.

"We can follow the plane's trail back as far as it goes.  It's the most likely place for us to find anything else thrown from the plane and gives us a good trail to follow back.

"Maybe we'll find some more survivors," she said hopefully.

[Private to GM: If there's no protest, she'll wriggle out and follow her plan.]

"We're the rear of the plane, the front won't be behind us. I don't think you'll find anyone behind us, and you'll get cold which, without a fire, may just be too much." Jan says, the guilt obvious in his eyes.

"We need a fire, somehow. Hit something against the metal to create a spark, cut some wires that still have a charge and use that, hell... anything.

Other than that, we can huddle together and use body warmth. The more of us together the warmer we'll be. Not ideal having just met you all, but possibly the only way without a fire."

His voice grows softer, "without help or a fire our sleeping companions won't last the night.

But if you're still intent on going outside, take the blanket, keep yourself covered and put one of the torches on top of the plane facing where you're going." he smiles, showing his concern but at least trying to be helpful. "That way you'll have a beacon to return to provided you don't go too far. Put it somewhere the snow won't cover, in a tree perhaps."

"Someone else can wear the blanket. Maybe cut a hole for your head and a belt to hold it closed," she suggested. She then wriggled her way out through the tunnel and tumbled out through the tree branches.

[Private to GM: She'll stick with her plan of following the plane's trail, using her phone to look at dark objects in the snow.]

Shaking his head, Jan let Kirsti go without another word. He wasn't going to cut the blanket as it could be used to wrap two of them sitting close rather than just one of them.

He returned to check on the condition of the two injured men, sizing them up to see how they could be moved to better fit the compartment.

Kirsti began following the trail, looking for dark spots in the snow she thought might be luggage... or bodies.  The snow shoes had to be adjusted a few times, but otherwise, they were working well.  It was still very cold and still snowing lightly with an intermittent chilling breeze.  Much colder than in the plane.  If it got any windier, no one would last long outside the plane.

The trail was easy to follow with broken tree debris and snow gouged up.  It looked as though the tail may have tumbled end over end a few times before the long slide into the copse.  She was hiking up through loosely spaced pine trees.  There were probably different species, but they were all pine to her.

After about six hundred feet, she found a medium sized, soft-sided, black suitcase.  The kind with the wheels and extendable handle.  A luggage staple for the frequent flier and the largest of the approved carry-on models.

[Private to Kirsti Carpenter:
Please include how long you plan on being out before turning back.  You're moving at half speed and been out a little less than five minutes.]

"I'm going after her," Alison said, finishing up the second set of snow shoes and strapping them on. She ignored the blanket and put on two life vests, one forward and one backward. Hopefully it would cut the wind and help keep in some heat.

"If we're not back in 10 minutes, climb out and shout so we can find our way back."

Both Stan and Robert remain stable.  Removing the seats would make a lot more room, but they stayed in place during a catastrophic stress test and weren't likely to be removed without tools.

The downward side overhead compartments actually created a shelf with all of the doors closed.  It might be possible to lay one of the stable survivors on this shelf, but it might be more efficient to reduce the number of bodies in the cabin first.

"I don't like it, but we're going to have to remove the dead bodies and put them outside. We need the space inside, and the freezing weather will help preserve them as they are." Jan says to Jordan before adding,

"It would help preserve their bodies outside. For when the rescue team come.

Can you help me??"

Kirsti dragged the bag to the main trail and dropped it. She'd grab it on the way back.  She wanted to push out a little further to find as much as she could before the falling snow covered everything up.

She'll spend another 5 minutes hiking out and stashing bags and such in the trail, or until she reaches the end of the trail, whichever comes first. Then she'll return and collect everything she put on the trail. If the cold really starts to get to her, she'll turn back earlier. Trying to avoid a Fort save with 1HP.

Jordan had already taken a piece of stray fabric and covered the faces of the dead.  It wasn't much, but at least there wasn't a human face looking emptily back at them.

"I'll go outside first and pull; you push," he suggests faintly.

While the two men wrestled the women's bodies outside, Alison followed the crash trail.  She could see that Kirsti had dropped a bag onto the trail and kept going.  She could see the snow shoe trail by the light of her phone, but not Kirsti in the darkness surrounding it's dim glow.

A light snow was still falling with a steady breeze that sometimes gusted a swirl of snow through the trees.  Alison's makeshift vest was definitely better than nothing, but it was far from Kirsti's sweater or a decent jacket.

[Private to Alison Candlewell: The snow shoes allow you to travel at half speed through the snow and keep your feet dry.  It would be tough going without them.  She'd come about 600' from the tail in a little less than 5 minutes.]

Pushing forward another hundred feet, Kirsti pulled out a colorful cloth bag.  She dropped it on the trail and pushed on, picking up a loose water bottle that had yet to freeze along the way.

After two hundred feet more she spotted another black carry on bag and slogged off the trail to retrieve it.  Dropping it on the trail, she continued on a bit further.  The trail became less of a skid and more erratic after another two hundred feet or so.  It must have been spinning or rolling sideways at this point in the crash.

At the furthest point of her self imposed reach, maybe over a thousand feet away from the tail section, she spotted the largest bag yet leaning up against a tree.  It was a large brown suitcase that must have been in checked luggage.

It looked as though the trail went further, but she couldn't tell how much further by the dim light of her phone.

[Private to Kirsti Carpenter: Kirsti is ten minutes out and getting pretty cold.]

Alison folded her arms around her and followed the snow shoe tracks. She wasn't looking for luggage, just for Kirsti. She wanted to make sure the girl was all right. Then they could both return with the suitcase.

Dragging the large suitcase, Kirsti followed the trail back, picking up bags as she went. She would definitely keep the large one and whatever else she could carry.

Alison met Kirsti on her way back with the large suitcase.  The two women returned, dragging the three larger bags.  The smaller bag thrown over a shoulder.

Jan and Jordan had completed their grisly task and deposited the two bodies a short ways from the copse and out of sight.  They were trying to rewarm themselves inside when the first of the carry on bags was shoved through the tunnel with Alison close behind.  She reached back to pull a small bag and another carry on out of the tunnel.  A pair of women's boots also tumbled down the tunnel followed by a few bundles of hastily tied clothing.

The brown suitcase hadn't fit into the tunnel, but Kirsti had thrown the more useful items down the tunnel in bundles of clothing.  She then followed with the remainder of useful contents.

OOC: See the Lost Luggage Inventory thread.

Kirsti slithered in, pushing the last of her bundles before her, and awkwardly got her snowshoed feet back under her. "I couldn't fit the suitcase into the hole," she explained. "It's just outside. If anyone needs some high heeled shoes and underwear, I left them in the bag."

She looked around, noticing the two women were no longer in the cabin. Kirsti guessed what had happened and didn't have anything to say. The best they could do for them now was to make sure their bodies were found.

"There was also this," she said, pulling a multitool from her pocket. "Would this work on moving the seats?"
This message was last updated by the GM at 00:49, Thu 14 Mar 2019.

Kirsti put the multitool on one of the bags and pulled her phone back out. "I was thinking," she said. "Since these are our only lights and no way to charge them, I think putting them in airplane mode saves energy." She made sure she still didn't have a signal and changed the settings.
This message was last updated by the GM at 00:49, Thu 14 Mar 2019.

"Why are these clothes all so small?" Alison asked as she opened one of the black bags.  She pulled out a teen magazine as an explanation.  "And bacon?"  She held up a big package of bacon.

"Kristi, let's find some more layers and go out and look for more."

Alison handed Kirsti the boots, she'd survive with what she had. "Take the jacket, too.  At least one of us will be well dressed.  Socks for gloves," she said, tossing her a pair of socks.  She was ignoring the question of whether these were clean clothes on the way out or dirty on the way home.

She pulled off her life vests and duplicated the effort using two of the warm looking long sleeved shirts, tying them about her neck.  She put on both of the blouses from the clothes bundle with a skirt over her head like a wrap around cape.

"Here," she said, handing Kirsti a skirt, "put this on over your pants, it'll help with the wind." She did the same.

To top off her outfit, she put on one of the teen tshirt like a hat and socks for mittens.  However, before the mittens, she agreed with Kirsti and put her phone on airplane mode.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:03, Thu 14 Mar 2019.

Kirsti accepted Alison's wardrobe selections and checked to see if the boots would fit her.

"I went out pretty far," she explained as she put on the additional clothing, "but I didn't reach the end of the track the plane made. We could go to the end, you could stay there, and I could circle out to see if I can find anything.

"We could shout, too. Maybe someone could hear us.

"Then we'll backtrack to the plane and try the other direction for a short way and shout. Maybe find the front of the plane."

OOC: Swap to the boots if they fit.

Alison agreed with Kirsti's plan to look for more luggage and survivors. Jan and Jordan could see about using the multitool to remove seats and figure out how to make a safe fire.

"These should work for more blankets," she said, handing over the two towels they'd discovered. "Keep those guys from freezing a little."

She really hoped they could get a fire figured out.  Even if they did find some men's clothes, the unconscious pair needed a real heat source.  And they needed something to cook bacon on.

"Give us 30 minutes this time," she said, crawling back out through the hole.  "We'll let you know when we come back to head in the other direction."

"We'll start with the formalwear," Jordan suggests to Jan, pulling the (knife?) attachment out of the multitool to start cutting to fit.  "Insulate head, pits, groin, right?  We can think about starting a fire after that...the stationary is probably flammable."

"Were there any sets of ladies tights in the bags??“ Jan asks as he rummaged through the contents hoping to find something of use.

He looked longingly at the cigarettes, before explaining; "Worn under normal clothing, tights are good at keeping in the warmth. It's something the Norwegians do quite a lot, and we Danes never let them forget that fact.

And the heat from burning tobacco is substantial. We can use them to help light the fire if we use wet wood. Speaking of which..."

While Jordan begins to cut women's clothing into... Well, whatever he was making, Jan returns to the tunnel and starts collecting the roots and branches that they excavated. While damp from the snow, he hopes there is enough flammable material available to create a fire that could at least dry off or cause the wood to combust. His preference is small, thin pieces of wood over large, thick sections - but he will collect whatever he can as it can all be used.

"Did you check whether the multitool had a tool that would fit the seat bolts??“ he called to Jordan as he worked.

Although the multitool doesn't have a wrench feature, the pliers can be used to remove the seat bolts with some significant effort.  Jan estimates that it might take up to ten minutes to remove one of the lower seats.

Without removing any seats, it's going to be tough building a fire on the "floor".  As it is, the fire is going to be sitting on the plastic molding and windows of the "down" side of the plane.

"Hadn't thought of that..." Jan says as he gathers the sticks.

"We'll have to put the fire on something, raise it from the ground. Put it on one of the metal trays?? Then put that on top of one of the suitcases or spare clothes. Keep it off the plastic of the plane. We'll also need some chairs moved with that multitool when you're done."

Kirsta and Alison, both warmer this time, though Alison's feet were still pretty cold, hiked back along the way they'd come.  It was still snowing and they could see it filling up the tracks they'd made not too long ago.

They reached the point where Kirsta had found the brown suitcase and kept going, flashing their phones around to spot any loose luggage.  The track was becoming sporadic now, close to sixteen hundred feet from the tail section.  It looked like this was where the tail section first touched down.

Following Kirsta's plan, Alison stayed at the end of the trail to anchor their search while Kirsta circled out, shouting for anyone to respond.  She kept Alison in sight as she moved.  Over the full circle, she found four more bags, but no response from her shouting.

She dragged them back as she could.  Two large suitcases from checked luggage, a small red sports bag, and an airport shopping bag.  They hiked them all back to the tail section and dumped them next to the tail.  Alison shouted to let the two inside know they were headed in the other direction.

This direction was a little more dicey.  The slope dropped off more steeply and they didn't have a track to follow.  Without the snow shoes, they wouldn't have even been able to come in this direction, but it certainly wasn't easy.

OOC: The two inside have thirty minutes for activities before they catch up to the search party, time wise.

Jan asks for the multitool from Jordan, and will set to work removing as many seats as possible.

Once one is done, he'll ask Jordan if he could make a start on the fire or swap jobs.

After about ten minutes of wrestling with one of the lower chairs, Jan is able to pull it free.  As soon as he gets it free, it creates a new problem.  What was he going to do with it?  There was only so much room in the cabin as it was without removing even more of them.

Jan's intent was to remove at least one section of seats to give them a tight area to rest. And if possible use the seats themselves by lying them across the plan to create a barrier to reduce the compartment size to help keep the limited heat from the fire contained in a smaller area.

The free seat creates a two by five foot space along the side of the plane.  With the plane on it's side and the smaller size of a turboprop in the first place, it just didn't create much new room when it was piled on the remaining lower seats.

There didn't seem to be a way to remove the seat back from the seat base with the tools available.  It wouldn't fold and the rails couldn't be separated from the seat.  It was a complete unit and entirely awkward.  The double seated side that was currently above them would probably be worse as it looked like the two seats couldn't be separated from one another.

OOC: There are three rows of seats in the back of the plane not packed with snow.  In each of these rows there is a single seat against the ground side, an aisle, and then two more seats on the ceiling side.  For maximum space, for lying down, the seats need to leave the plane.  If the single seats on the bottom of the plane were all unbolted, they could be shoved back, but would only create a six by five foot square on the floor.

Remember, this is not a big plane and not designed to be on it's side.  It's like climbing around in a jungle gym right now.

"Kirsti," Alison called out, "let's stay away from the slope and just sweep around.  We don't want to twist an ankle out here or worse in the dark. Let's just stick with the easy ground."

She looked around to see if there were any lights from this new vantage.

"Hello!" she shouted. "Is anyone out there!"

OOC: Assuming the slope is dangerous, in the dark.

Kirsti avoided anything that looked dangerous, agreeing they didn't need any more injuries. "Is anybody out there!" she shouted as well.

She circled out and around to the left. She expected to come back to the trail on the other side of the plane. She also looked for dead branches to bring back to the plane.

Alison and Kirsti hear no replies from their shouts and see no lights.  The trees are just too dense to see very far.  The slope is steep enough to be dangerous with rocks protruding through the snow.  As they've found the snow to be more than a few feet deep, they must be very large rocks.

They circle around to the left in a wide arc and do come back to the main track without further discoveries.

"How does this look?" Jordan asked, turning to face the other man.  While Jan had been struggling with the seat, Jordan had been fashioning one of the dresses into something for either of them to wear.

He had successfully found a pattern of wrapping a dress around himself that looked like a saggy diaper.  In theory, he figured it would help them keep up their core temperature.

"You look like a Roman citizen, if their toga was fashioned from a colourful dress." Jan laughs for the first time since the crash.

"Hang on... is that for me?? No, you look positively fantastic. The wrap around dress really suits you!! You should keep it!!“ he adds in mock shock. Smiling and chuckling, he then adds; "I'd prefer one in royal purple if you have one. Red clashes with my eyes, and I'm not a goth so anything in black will be a last resort!!“

Using one of the tops for comparison, he measures the tunnel size and notes the changes in direction to see if there were any points that the chair's bulk might cause it to get stuck.

Top in hand measured to the size of the tunnel width and height, he measures the chair to see how it would best fit when he came to remove it from the cabin.

"I'm not making the mistake of rushing through things unprepared again," he explains to Jordan but more to justify it to himself and help him focus.

It's obvious to Jan that they'll need to make the tunnel larger in order to remove even the single seats.  The double seats will need an even larger opening.

Finding no new luggage or anything to fry bacon on, Alison began helping Kirsti look for dead wood. She pays particular attention not to lose track of the trail.

With an armload of dead wood, Kirsti calls to Alison and heads back to drop it off at the plane.  While they were out, and the best dressed, they should stock up for the night.

With the measurements of how much additional excavation needed, Jan uses the tray to scratch the size required (with a bit of additional wiggle room, just in case) into the compacted snow. Widening the tunnel wouldn't be as difficult as creating it, but it would still be a time consuming project.

"At this stage, do we really need to move it out??" he ponders out loud.

Jan and Jordan had little problem widening the exit.  However, they did make a grisly discovery.  Widening the tunnel exposed more of the seats they were tunneling between.

Still fastened within each of the seats was another passenger that hadn't survived the crash.  They'd been in the closest remaining row exposed to the open cabin as it tumbled and slid into the copse.  They were now packed in with snow and broken branches.

---

Alison and Kirsti weren't having any trouble finding dry dead branches to snap off pine trees.  They were creating a nice pile and with a little more effort would probably have enough to last until morning without a problem.  The movement and additional clothing was also staving off the worst of the cold.

"Hey!" Kirsti called back down the tunnel. "We have more luggage. Probably the last of it for tonight.

"We're getting wood for the fire. Do you need anything else from us?"

Alison didn't let Kirsti get too far away from her and waited to hear how the other two were doing. It would be great to hear they had a fire going.

"A snow plow or electric drill would be nice." Jan calls back up the tunnel, his voice uncertain at the revelation of the forward compartment and its occupants. His mind wandered, thoughts flashing by. Did they die on impact, or might they have been saved if they'd expanded the tunnel sooner?? Should he stop the women from re-entering the tunnel and witnessing the gruesome sight??

He decided on an alternative approach. "Careful when you come back down. We've widened the tunnel and found more of the plane and it's... err... occupants." Forewarned was forearmed, he supposed. And they'd already seen enough and not broken.

"If you wait a few moments, we're bringing up one of the seats. It'll be easier if we have the extra space to move the chair, and you can help remove it when it gets to the top.

Then we can see about getting a small fire started."

He began the process of shifting the chair, moving it out of the compartment. As he passed the dead he had a grim realisation - there were more bodies to collect evidence from to move outside - and more clothing that could save their lives.

Kirsti and Alison helped widen their end of the tunnel and then helped pull the chair through.  They then slid the new suitcases down into the tunnel for inspection before heading out to gather more wood.

OOC: New suitcases to open in the luggage thread.

Kirsti went back out to look for more wood.  She couldn't take seeing anymore dead passengers at this point.

Rummaging through the luggage, Jan removes the lighters and cigarettes and places them close to the dry sticks. Rubbing his hands together and blowing on them, he begins to separate the items he thinks will fit him and Jordan.

Putting on one of the large female T-shirts from the sad looking case, he puts that over the top of his current linen top. He puts on the male sweater and takes one of the jackets, offering the other to Jordan.

He also takes the towel and blanket and puts them to one side, wanting the fire up and running before worrying about using them to keep the heat concentrated in an area. He isn't yet sure about how he will hang the towel across the tunnel entrance and blanket to the rear of the cabin, but he'll think on it as he works on the fire.

Taking the metal tray he uses the multitool to cut kindling from some of the branches brought in, telling Jordan that he'd seen it on a documentary he'd watched."I know the theory, but I've never needed to do it. Paper on bottom, kindling on top then form a pyramid of progressively thicker sticks. Use a cigarette to light as it burns hot and for a few minutes." he demonstrates as he talks, making the wooden structure.

"The theory is sound, I'm certain of it. What do you think??

Use the tray to hold the fire, rest it across one of the open suits of luggage so it doesn't touch the bottom. Preferably leather or something that won't melt. Keep it off the plastic. Yes??"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:14, Wed 20 Mar 2019.

Alison sticks with Kirsti gathering wood.

"Are you sure that tray is metal?" Jordan asked skeptically, looking at the other seat trays still attached.  "And maybe get the other two chairs out of here, first?

"I think we're going to need as much room as we can get."

Jordan had put on both of the remaining men's jackets in addition to his diaper.  Jan could freeze his balls off, but he wasn't going to.

Jordan confirms the seat trays are indeed plastic.  Looking around, pretty much everything in the cabin is either flammable or plastic.  Burning plastic in an enclosed space would be less than healthy.

"We could." Jan replies, annoyed that he'd mistaken the tray as metal. He must have hit his head harder than he thought.

"It's getting colder, and I thought it best to try to get a fire started to begin to warm things up before it gets too cold in here... Hang on." he shakes the chair closest to him. "These things are mostly plastic, but don't they have a lightweight metal frame inside them??" he asks.

The seats do have aluminum frames, but a saw would be needed to separate them from the rest of the chair.  The seat removed was the closest one to their exit.  If a fire were built in that spot, people would have a problem entering and leaving the cabin.

Kirsti continues to collect wood as long as she isn't getting too cold or wet.

Alison switches to looking for any metal fragments or a loose sheet of the fuselage that could be used for cooking bacon.  She makes sure to keep track of Kirsti and the trail.

Jan makes a start on removing the remaining seats to create a floor space for them to move around on.

He'll look at the other, larger seats later. They'd require a wider tunnel and he didn't want to spend time in the front section anymore than he had to.

Manipulating the screws with the multitool, blowing on his fingers to keep them warm. Glancing over at Jordan, "you want to swap when this one's done?? I want to look over the other dead see if there's any ID or anything."

"Why don't you take a look now," Jordan replied.  "I'll unscrew these while you see what you can find.  Then we'll drag these two seats out and take another swing at not asphyxiating us."

He stepped in to take over with the multitool.

Jan can only reach the two bodies sitting on the aisle.  He supposed the second seat above him next to the bulkhead might have another body if he dug upward, but that would require more digging.

Of the two he could reach, one was a large black woman and the other a man in his mid twenties.  The woman didn't have any obvious injuries, but the man looked to have been struck in the head as there was a significant dent caving in the one side.  He couldn't immediately find a purse for the woman, but the man did have a wallet.  His name was Eric Vogel, age twenty-six.

---

Kirsti returns with another load of wood.  Alison, miraculously, does find a loose piece of aluminum fuselage that could be used as a makeshift frying pan.

Alison brushed the snow off the metal as she walked back to the plane. Wasn't is bad to cook with aluminum? Probably less bad than starving. Or dying in a plane crash.

Who packs bacon in their carry on?

"How are we doing?" she called down the tunnel once she'd arrived. "I don't see any smoke."

He collected the man's ID and any items that looked significant and easy to identify. He placed these in the first aid kit

"We're still making room," Jan calls back up, "and unless we want to melt plastic and poison ourselves, we have nothing yet to put the fire on."

He imagined placing some of the wood down and lying another object on top of it to create a buffer between the fuselage and the fire.

"Don't suppose that there's any metal wreckage up there we could use??" he asked again as he looked at the leather luggage, wondering how long that would take to immolate if used to support a fire.

"I found this," she replied, sliding the aluminum sheet down the tunnel. "I thought we could use it as a frying pan for the bacon. Probably not big enough to put a fire on though, and it would still melt anything underneath.

"Kirsti and I can take a look around out here. Maybe we can find some rocks or something."

Alison backed out and explained her rock idea to Kirsti. "We're never going to find any under the snow, and they're probably frozen solid in the ground, but maybe the plane loosened some up as it slid through?"

Unless Kirsti had any other ideas, she would begin searching the track for rocks or anything else non-flammable to build a fire on. Maybe someone had a hibachi in their checked luggage.

Alison grabbed a broken branch and began sweeping away the new fallen snow from the plane's track.  After about fifteen minutes, she had only a few rocks the size of her fist to show for her effort.  She'd covered about a tenth of the track and her biggest disadvantage was the lack of light.  The phone could only light so much and it was hard to discern the difference between a chunk of dirt or snow from a rock.

Unfortunately, if they waited until daylight, the disturbed ground would probably be frozen in place and immovable.

Kirsti will help look for rocks.  Finding them so scarce, however, she considers filling one of the large suitcases with dirt and using it as a base for the fire.  She'll collect clods of frozen dirt churned up by the plane to work on the two plans in parallel.

Between the two of them, Kirsti and Alison can fill one of the large suitcases with frozen dirt chunks and a few good melon sized rocks.  It took two of them to carry it as they slid it into the tunnel, thirty minutes after they'd begun looking for rocks.

---

Within the cabin, Jordan was able to remove the last two seats.  The two of them then dragged them back up the tunnel and out of the way.

Kirsti tried to ignore the new bodies as she crawled back down the enlarged tunnel. It was a lot roomier without the lower seats.

"We filled this with dirt and rocks," she said, opening the suitcase. "Will this keep things from melting if we build the fire on the dirt? It's kind of like building a fire on the ground, isn't it?

"Will we need a chimney?" she asked, looking up through the remaining seats.

Seeing the dirt filled suitcase, Jan's brow furrows before realisation sets in. He smiles broadly, "Now that's an idea and a half. Well done. Now let's get a fire going before it gets too cold in here. We can use the blanket and towel to keep heat concentrated in an area, and use other clothing as mats to keep us off the uncomfortable plastic. The tunnel should serve as a natural chimney provided we don't block it, but a more direct channel wouldn't hurt either.

And to reduce heat loss from our bodies to the plane's skin. Now since I've never done this before, I'd appreciate any and all offers of help to build the fire."

Jan begins the process of building the fire; moving the case close to the tunnel so fumes can escape, yet positioned so that it wouldn't block their exit, then ripping paper from the magazine and tearing small pieces of bark and wood off sobe of the branches to create kindling. He'd seen it on TV and thought he understood the theory. Small items that are easy and quick to burn at the base. They in turn light larger pieces which in turn light larger, creating a pyramid of wood whilst making sure there was enough space for air to flow into the small pyre.

When ready - and the others are happy that the pyre is complete and happy that any chimney is finalised and ready - will he light a cigarette, take a lungful of the warm drug before using the slower burning time and higher temperature of the burning tobacco as a fire lighter.

"I do think we need somewhere for the smoke to go," Alison added, also looking up. "The smoke isn't just going to go out the tunnel because we ask it to. It's going to rise with the heat.

"Kirsti, grab one of those rocks.  I'll boost you up outside and you can break one of the windows to make your chimney.  We'll lose some heat, but we won't get smoked out."

Nodding to Alison, Kirsti picked up a good sized rock and crawled back out to execute the plan.

Outside, the taller Alison boosted Kirsti and her rock up onto the plane.  There, Kirsti picked a window to knock out and began bashing it with her rock.  After a good number of whacks, she manages to break out the double plexiglass pane.  Some of the shards rained down harmlessly on those inside.  The cacophony of her smashing her rock down on the window had been the worst of it.

---

With their makeshift chimney, suitcase of dirt, and Jan's carefully crafted fire structure, he carefully lit the paper and hoped for the best.  Hovering over the small blaze, he fed it carefully with small dry pieces gathered by the others.  Surprisingly, the fire grew and he was able to add larger pieces.

The smoke did rise in the cabin to find the hole just created by Kirsti.  In hindsight, without the chimney, they probably would have been smoked out of the cabin.

The cabin temperature does begin to rise with the active blaze.

[Private to GM:
GM rolled 14 using 2d20. 6,8 Injured survivor Fort saves cold.
Both Fail even with +4 Kirsti's survival bonus.  DC 15
GM rolled 10 using 2d6. 6,4 Fort save failure damage.  Nonlethal]

Leaving the rock behind in case they needed to break another window, Kristi slid back down to land beside Alison. "That was a lot harder to break through than I'd thought," she commented.

Perhaps for the last time that night, she shouted into the darkness for any other survivors. "Hello! We're over here! Can you hear us!"

The only reply to Kirsti's last call is a swirl of snow and the sound of the wind through the trees.

In the glow of the fire, Jan rummaged through the suitcases to gather together all the food and drink that was available into one place and admired the pack of bacon.

"We should conserve our phone batteries whilst we have the fire here. It's not much, but it's what we have.

And who packs bacon for a journey by plane??" he mused.

"Is anyone here a vegetarian??

And other than the bottles here, did anyone find a way to melt snow do we can drink it and store it?? Don't fancy burning off limited body heat to melt snow when we have a fire that can do it for us."

"Vegetarians don't survive plane crashes," Jordan said sardonically.  "I suppose we'll just have to refill the water bottles with melted snow."

Jordan takes the multitool and starts to remove some of the double seats he keeps hitting his head on.

"I'll eat anything," Kirsti volunteered, crawling back in. "Oh, it's definitely warmer in here already.

"How are the other two doing?" she asked, looking at the two unconscious men lying furthest from the fire, not covered by the towels they'd found and suggested as blankets.

"Our friends there were fine when last checked," Jan answers honestly. "But you're right, I was so caught up with making space here and getting the fire going I've neglected their comfort.

If you'd like to help me we can bring them closer to the fire once we've covered the floor here with the clothes we won't be using to make it more comfortable for us all, and insulate us from the cold."

He inwardly cursed that he'd been so wrapped up and focused on his own warmth and survival that he'd neglected the two men. And tgst triggered a surge of guilt over the two women who now lay outside in the cold, dead, because he had not been quick enough to help them.

Jan checkede on the two men, finding them both shivering in the cold and worse off than when he'd last checked.

"Oooh, boots!" Alison exclaimed as she crawled back inside and saw the pair of women's boots. Kirsti already had a pair, so she stripped off her snow shoes, life vest slippers, and borrowed shoes to try them on. She felt like Cinderella's step sister trying to get her foot into the glass slipper. They fit, sort of, but they were not going to be comfortable. Why were her feet so big!

"Kirsti," she asked, peeling the boots off. "Could we try swapping boots? These are a little tight on me."

She'll also sort through to put on one of the sweaters, Kirsti can take the winter jacket.  "You should put these pajamas on under your pants, too," she encouraged as she took the larger pajamas for herself.

The temperature inside the cabin seemed to level out at around fifty degrees.  Given the size of the fire and the amount of wood they'd gathered, it should easily last them the rest of the night.

It was less than seven hours until sunrise.

---

Jordan managed to remove a double seat, but there wasn't enough room to get it out of the cabin.  There just wasn't a large enough opening without also removing at least the single foremost seat, still occupied.  If they didn't remove the newly released seats, they could set them upright in the rearmost of the plane to sit on.  It would take up some horizontal sleeping area, but it was feasible to sleep upright in the seats as well.

"Are we done outside for now?" Kirsti asked. She took off her show shoes and swapped boots with Alison. It wasn't often that she enjoyed being shorter, but it seemed on this flight, she represented the median size.

She also accepted the pajamas and winter jacket.  She'd try them out in the morning.

The fire was nice.

After creating beds using clothes for the injured men, Jan moved them closer to the fire and covers them in the blanket and towel. It wasn't great, but was the best they could do.

He then examined the bottles of water and checked the thickness and quality of them. He wanted to know whether he could place at least done if them close enough to the fire to warm snow to drinking water without melting the plastic itself, or whether they'd need to find another, more resilient container.

Jan guessed the water bottles would melt if they were put too close to the fire.  He did think setting them on the open lid of the fire pit suitcase would be safe, but it would probably take a while for any snow stuffed into one to melt.

At the very least, they'd probably each need to drink at least five of these small water bottles a day.

Seeing Jan examining the bottles, Kirsti volunteered, "I think we should drink all 3 bottles now, fill them with snow, and they'll probably be melted by morning.

Can we split a candy bar and each eat one of those cereal bars? Save the bacon for breakfast?"

"Good idea. But we'll need a better way of getting water. I reckon we need what, two litres per day so five of these each. And we have three.

Re-use each one, melt ice in them will take time." he paused to think as he passed the bottle out, taking a mouthful of one before passing it over to the others.

"That's twenty bottles a day, with another ten if our friends survive the night. But what's on my mind is food. Six mouths to feed. We can melt water and while time consuming it's possible to provide that, but food??

Hell, I don't even know where we are, so I've no idea what animals or plants are out there to look for."

He looks pale an drawn for a moment. "Sorry. I'm usually such an optimist too!! Tonight we have shelter, warmth, food and water."

"We can look around more outside when we can see more than 10 feet," Kirsti suggested as she peeled open a cereal bar. It was ironic. They needed calories and they were eating diet bars.

"There has to be something around.  Right now, I think we should just keep the fire going and get some rest.

"Somebodies out there looking for us."

Alison agreed with the others and tried to find a place to sleep until sunrise once she'd finished her share of food and water.

Following Kirsti's diet plan, they refilled the water bottles with snow and tried to get some sleep.  As no one was very comfortable, someone was always on hand to add wood to the fire, keeping it going through the night.

---

Morning light shined down through the upper cabin windows.  It was quiet.  Very quiet.

The water bottles were two thirds full of melted snow.

Stiff and sore, Jan stretches from under the jacket and clothes he'd been using as blankets. He absent mindedly pulled out the packet of cigarettes and had already put one in his mouth when realisation dawned on him and he remembered where he was.

He groaned before checking on the two injured men, hoping for some improvement but fearing the worst.

Both men were still alive and seemed to be doing better, though still unconscious.  Jan could see two water bottles near the fire, but no sign of Jordan.  Kirsti and Alison were both asleep.

Having not slept well, Kirsti woke up and felt her head. There was a lump, but she felt a little better than the day before. At least it was light out this time. She'd woken up a number of times during the night hoping the sun had come up.

Sitting up, she could see that Jan was up as well and Jordan must be out looking around already. She watched Jan check on the two men and hoped they hadn't died during the night.

"Anyone up for bacon?" she asked softly.

Jan makes sure the blankets are covering the unconscious men and makes a mental note to check their wounds for signs of infection later. Right now he wanted their wounds to remain covered and tight.

He checked the fire, making sure all it needed was more wood. "Bacon would be great. I'll stick my head outside to see if I can see... Erm, what's his name... Jordan??

If we're having breakfast, I don't think he'll want to miss out."

Jan crawled out while Kirsti set about preparing breakfast.  It was still snowing outside, but visibility was much better than the previous darkness.  He wouldn't call the area heavily wooded, but there weren't any good sight lines more than fifty feet in any direction.

Looking around on the ground, he couldn't see any recent snow shoe prints.  A fresh coat of snow now masked all of their previous activities.  Even the track created by the plane was practically gone.  The only sign of their plane's calamitous landing were the splintered trunks of trees further back along the track.

"Hello, Jordan??" Jan called out for the other survivor. Sudden realisation kicked in and he returned back to the plane interior.

He checked the number of bottles as he was certain there were three the night before, and had a search of the food having collected all the food together into one place earlier that night himself.

"We had three water bottles yesterday,didnt we??“ he asked Kirsti trying to confirm he wasn't going mad.

"What's going on?" Alison asked, stretching awkwardly in the confined space. She'd ended up trying to sleep in one of the chairs.  She really needed to find one of those neck rings.

"We did have three bottles," Kirsti replied, pulling opening one of the bacon packages.  "Did Jordan take one with him to scout around?"

She had the aluminum sheet metal pan balanced on the coals and a magazine ready to use as a platter when they were done.  She was going to use the multitool pliers to manage the bacon while it cooked.

"He's gone, yes. But scout around?? His tracks are covered already by snowfall meaning he's been gone a while, so why would he leave without telling us so early??" he continues looking through the food and other luggage to see if anything else had been taken to inform of how long Jordan was planning on being gone - or if he planned on returning at all.

Jan discovered they were missing three candy bars and three cereal bars as well as the bottle of water.  He couldn't tell if any additional clothing had been taken.

Jan said something loud in Danish, and anyone listening could tell he was sweating.

"He's taken six bars and a bottle. Must have decided he was better off alone. Fewer mouths to feed. Aj, for fanden. , the guy might have just killed our two sleeping friends with this act. He should have just strangled them in the night and been done with it."

"It can't be that bad," Alison said. "We're not going to be here long once they start looking for a missing plane. It isn't like we've crashed in the Andes. This is the United States.

"We're going to see airplanes and helicopters before we know it."

The bacon smelled good.

"But I'm not a doctor!!“ Jan said angry with the situation. "I'm a social science researcher who knows some first aid!! I've patched them up but they're slowly dying. They need fluids and medicine, food and water. And taking all that stuff for himself means less for us, less that I can mash up and feed them. Either we eat or they do, and if we die so do they."

"You're not a real doctor?" Alison asked. He seemed to know what he was doing. Then again, two of his patients had died.

"I never said I was a doctor. Well, I'm not a medical doctor, no." Jan replies, visibly calming after his outburst.

"I'm a researcher of social science, specialising in non-neuro typicals and those with social or learning difficulties, in particular how technology can influence and change lives."

He looked at the two girls. "In America, it is still known as retarded. In Denmark we do not use such a barbaric word.

And I'm not sure we'll be found from the air anytime soon. The snow has completely covered our trail, and this compartment is well snowed in."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:33, Sun 31 Mar 2019.

"Oh," Alison said, realizing a rescue wasn't going to be as easy as she'd hoped. "I'll make another pair of snow shoes. Then we can go look for Jordan and whatever else we can find.

"Maybe we can find the front of the plane and that survival kit."

She began to take apart another seat cushion.

"Please, eat the bacon first." Jan said. "We're all going to need our strength today, it would seem."

"Yes, we're eating the bacon first," Kirsti said decisively. "Can we leave Stan and Bob here with the fire going while we look around outside?"

She finished making the pound of bacon she'd opened and pulled the hot sheet metal off the coals with the multitool pliers. The finished bacon was stacked on a very greasy magazine. They had yet to find any luggage with cleaning supplies more robust than diaper wipes.

"Breakfast is up," she announced, dropping a few pieces of wood on the fire to stoke it back up.

Jan drank some of the water, passing the two bottles to the others. Once they'd eaten breakfast he would collect more snow and replace the bottles by the fire. They were going to need the water.

The three of them finished up the water and bacon while crafting enough snow shoes for each of them.  With the two remaining water bottles repacked with snow and the fire at what they believed to be a safe level, they were ready to go outside.

"If we think he's looking for the front half of the plane," Alison suggested, "then he probably went forward. We didn't go that way in the dark because it looked like it was getting pretty steep that way."

She pointed in the direction they hadn't checked very far. It looked a lot different in the daylight, but still trees and snow.

"I'd like to see if we could find that survival kit, anyway. As long as we turn back before the snow fills our tracks, we can't get lost."

She headed off in the direction of the front of the plane to see if there was an easy way down the slope.

Alison discovered by daylight that the slope before them was indeed steep and dangerous.  The slope was studded with trees blocking visibility and masking any sign of the foremost portion of the plane, if indeed it had remained ahead of the tail section.

If they did manage to safely descend, it would be extremely difficult and tiring to return up the slope.

"Let's try sweeping out to the right from here," Alison proposed. "Skirt the slope looking for a way down or anything else.

"If Jordan went down this way, I don't see any sign of it."

They could look for animal tracks, or any tracks.  Not forgetting to look up for plane debris in the trees.

"Do they have wolves and bears and stuff out here?" Kirsti asked, suspiciously looking around. "Maybe we should make some long walking sticks with pointed ends.

"We could use them to check snow depth."

"Or fight bears."

Trudging through the snow in the direction Alison indicated, they skirt the slope for about fifteen minutes without seeing any debris or luggage.  They do spot a number of saplings that could be manufactured into "long walking sticks with pointed ends" if they put some time into it.

It is apparent that any luggage, or bodies, ejected from the plane would definitely be covered with the snow that continues to fall.  It's not a blizzard, but it's steady with an occasional breeze stirring it about.

Jan discerns an odd pattern in the trees he can't quite put his finger on.

[Private to GM: Kirsti Day 1 survival 9
Jordan Day 1 survival 15 (survives the night on his own but becomes lost)
Jan Day 1 survival 20 <<<<<<<<< Spots the road
Alison Day 1 survival 15]

Kirsti spends the time to make herself a pointed walking stick about 8 feet long. She borrows the multitool to sharpen the end and trim off branches.

"Keep going," she called to the others, "I'll catch up and not let you get too far ahead." She would whittle for a while and then try to catch up before working some more on her stick.

If Kirsti's spear turns out well, Alison will make one of her own. If they put flags on them, maybe part of a tshirt, they could place them as markers in the snow. Now that she'd thought of it, they should be marking their path with strips of cloth as they went.

"I think we should turn back to the plane after we've hiked 30 minutes," she suggested. "Make sure we don't get lost and see how well the fire is doing."

"Sorry, Kirsti, I don't have it. Jordan was the last to have the multitool. If he left it behind it's back in the plane." He says with grim resignation.

Noticing the tree he points directly at it. "Hang on, that tree is... odd, somehow. I can't quite discern why."

He leaves the girls with their spears and goes to investigate the odd shape in the tree.

As he gets closer, Jan sees that what drew his attention wasn't a single tree but how the trees seemed to be arranged.  The older trees seeming to flank a long narrow swath of brush and saplings about ten feet wide.

OOC: Kirsti had been using the multitool to make breakfast, though Jan may not have noticed.  So it must have been lying around when they woke up.  No need for editing.

"I have it here," Kirsti said, holding up the multitool. "I found it this morning and stuck it in my pocket.

"What are you looking at? They just look like trees to me."

OOC: She'll hand the first walking stick to Alison and make another for herself. The second one will probably turn out better anyway.

"Thank God for small mercies," Jan says as he leaves.

Looking at the tree formation he wonders whether it could happen naturally or whether it had been cultivated... And cultivation meant civilisation.

He moved cautiously, not wanting to step into a snow covered gully or pot hole, and made his way to the bank of brush and saplings to investigate.

Edit: spellings. Jan moved not loved
This message was last edited by the player at 07:14, Fri 05 Apr 2019.

The area definitely looked to have been cultivated in some fashion.  Once standing near the swath of younger vegetation, he could see the older trees flanking it in either direction, parallel to the slope.

While Jan examined his discovery, Kirsti worked on her second walking stick as the light snow continued to fall and swirl around them.

"Why are the trees growing like this?" Alison asked, seeing what Jan was looking at. "Could this have been caused by another plane crash?"

Recalling the trail their section had gouged into the landscape, she looked for similarities and tried to gauge how long it was. It didn't look recent.

"That wasn't my first thought, but now you mention it that's plausible. The treeline looks to have been modified, and that means man-made intervention.

We can follow it and see where it takes us as its a feature we won't get lost in if we're careful." he says but then a sudden thought occurs.

"If it is another crash, then two crashes this close to each other is somewhat worrying..."

"I think we should head back to the plane and make sure the fire hasn't gone out," Kirsti suggested as she whittled on her walking stick. "Plus it would ensure we can find our way back before our tracks are filled with snow.

"Then we'll have an idea of how long we can stay out with a good fire still going as well as get some flag material to mark our path."

"Hello!" Alison shouted for good measure. "Is there anyone out here?"

Turning back to the others, she shrugged and said, "Just in case."

She scooped up some snow into a snowball and slapped it onto one of the trees.  Taking another two scoops, she left three marks on the tree.

"Hopefully we'll be able to see this as a marker if our tracks get covered up."

She turned back to follow their tracks back to the plane to check the fire and drink some water.

Only the wind replied to Alison's cry.  She began to make her way back to the tail section.

OOC: Post whether Kirsti and Jan head back as well or other.

Seeing the women creating their walking sticks, Jan collects his own stick and decides to whittle it back at the plane. It would help with creating more kindling and he'd have more time.

He smiled as he watched Alison throw the snowball, mistaking her intention completely. He resisted the childish urge to throw one at her - but realised the feeling was his mind's attempt to normalise the situation.

He trudged back to the plane, conscious his shoes - the kind of training shoes used by urban walkers or amateur hikers - were only water resistant not water proof, and that he'd need a fresh pair of socks or two to keep his feet warm, dry and still have all his toes at the end of the day.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:12, Sat 06 Apr 2019.

Kirsti trudged along behind Alison and kept her eyes peeled for bear tracks. She was ready for them now.

They made their way back to the tail section without much difficulty.  Their trail had begun to fade in the falling snow, but not enough in the hour they'd been out to have faded entirely.

The fire was low, but strong.  Neither of their charges was awake and the two remaining water bottles were ready for consumption.  It was close to 9AM.

Alison drank some water and handed the bottle off as she dug around through the clothes for something to make marking flags out of.

"No one fits into these jeans, right?" she asked, holding up a pair of teen sized apparel. "I'm going to cut them up to use as marker flags. Not the best color, but expendable."

"Not unless Jan can fit into them," Kirsti joked. She added wood to the fire and then pulled a pair of sunglasses out of the colorful cloth bag.

"These are actually mine," she said, putting them on before also retrieving a small bottle of suntan lotion. "I was just taking a study break in Vegas. Sit by the pool, relax in the sun. We're a long way from bikini season here."

Her CU towel with the emblazoned buffalo covered one of the unconscious men.  She hoped it would bring them luck.

Resignedly, she applied lotion to her face and emptied the water bottle in one long swig. "I'll go refill this one."

She crawled out to pack the bottle with clean snow.

"If we keep eating like we are, I'll fit in those just fine in no time." Jan smiled back.

"When you're finished with the multitool I'll need it from you."

He looks at the seats above and the stick beside him. There's a lot of work to do if they were to remain comfortable here. But would it be worth it?? They couldn't stay here for long, not as it stood.

Alison cut the jeans into strips she could tie to branches and then handed the multitool over to Jan.  "How long before we head back out to check out that strange treeline?"

Jan added to the fire, making sure it wouldn't die on them while they were out. "Give me a few minutes," he answered turning his attention to creating a spear.

Against a bear they'd have to stand together, but he was more hoping for a rabbit or smaller animal to skewer.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:08, Mon 08 Apr 2019.

Jan ensured the fire would last a while once he'd finished whittling his spear tip down and the three of them headed back to the tree line.  Once again, they could follow their tracks, but did observe they would disappear quickly if the snowfall got worse.

They reached the strange growth of trees after about fifteen minutes and had a decision to make.  Would they choose to follow it away from the crash, or towards it?

"That was easy to find since you marked the tree," Kirsti said to Alison. "Let's hang a strip from a branch so we know where we started from."

She surveyed either direction before suggesting they head back toward the plane. "We might find other parts of the plane or more luggage."

They might find more survivors, but she wasn't betting on it after last night. If they hadn't found matches and got a fire going, they probably would have all froze.

Alison tied one of her strips to an obvious branch and looked in either direction. One way was as good as another.

"I'm OK with heading back toward the plane," she agreed.

"With this snow fall, that would be wise. If it clears up we can travel further agield tomorrow, but I'd rather not lose sight of our only shelter and food." Jan says.

"Toward the plane, then," Kirsti said, stomping in that direction, following the old treeline.  "Could this be an overgrown road?"

The path between the older trees was easy to follow and level.  They just had to weave around saplings and small bushes.  Off the path, the way would have been much slower.

They traveled in a relatively smooth arc that seemed to gently rise.  After about thirty minutes of travel, they hadn't seen any signs of wreckage or luggage.

"How far along are we going to go?" Kirsti asked.  She'd been trying to gauge how close the new trail went to their crash site.

As they hiked, she started eating snow to stay hydrated and keep her from overheating.

Jan was relieved when Kirsti spoke after they'd been trudging through the snow without luck for what seemed like eternity in silence.

"Not sure quite what we were expecting following this, erm, trail," he answered. "I'll be wanting to head back soon. I've not really checked on our two friends inside, and I've waited long enough for help to come. I'm going to have to start giving them fluids and figuring a way to give their bodies something to eat to keep them alive, but I'm not sure how I'm going to do that with the food we have available."

He really didn't want to admit to himself that with no outside help the two men would die sooner rather than later, even with his assistance.

"And try not to eat too much snow," Jan advised. "Seem to recall it lowered core body temperature and increased likely hood of hypothermia."

"I think it's an old road," Kirsti replied to Jan. "Maybe an old logging road. I don't know about this area, but maybe they had a camp for the loggers with a building or something.

"If it's a road, it has to lead somewhere."

She kept walking, looking for anything out of place.

"How soon before you need to head back? It seems safe out here. Alison and I can keep going, see how far this goes."

"I'm game for that," Alison said of Kirsti's plan. "Kirsti and I could hike out two more hours, then turn back. Even if the snow fills in our tracks, this path is easy to follow and we'll look for the flag on our way back."

She wasn't thrilled with Jan walking back on his own, but the fire would go out if they left it too long. Someone had to make sure Stan and Bob were warm enough.

"I'd rather not stay out too much longer. We don't have much water, and we haven't given our two friends anything to drink or eat since the incident... And while I hold with your optimism, I don't see this trail going anywhere quickly.

No, I'd like to return, make sure that the two of them are doing better, feed and water them. And make sure we have enough water for the two of you when you both return. I'm also wanting to look into ways of increasing our water production." Jan says.

He turns to head back to the plane, "Stay safe the two of you. Do you need this??" He offered the long, wooden stick he had sharpened.

"I think we're fine with two sticks," Alison said, holding up her own sharpened stick.  She really didn't think they were going to see any bears.

"I've been thinking about the water," she went on. "See if you can bend that frying pan a little. Maybe give it a spout so you could balance it on an empty water bottle and melt a snowball directly into it.

"That should speed it up, but we still only have two water bottles. I suppose you might be able to fill up a life vest somehow.

"Take the multitool if you want to experiment."

OOC: Not sure who had the tool last, but Jan should take it with him.

"sounds like a plan," Kirsti said. "See you in about five hours. Stay safe."

She lead the way along the trail. Still watching for bears.

[Private to Jan Dahl: Jan heads back to find the fire down to a bed of hot coals.  Enough to keep the cabin from dropping below fifty, but probably a good idea he turned back.  Both men are still breathing steadily and seem to be doing better.]

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Alison and Kirsti trudge their way along the wide tree trail without incident.  They do spot some tracks that could be deer, but otherwise spot nothing of interest.  After two hours, the trail continues on further, seemingly without end.

They have determined that it doesn't look like a logging trail as the trees beyond on either side seem not to have been harvested.  It's possible, however, the logging was done further up the trail in a different region.  There are no signs so far and the trees are still too dense to see any distance.]

Alison pulls out her phone and turns off airplane mode to check for a signal. She also notes the time to gauge how long it will take them to get back to the plane before dark.

"Since we've come this far," she said to Kirsti, "I think we should push on as far as we can. Just making sure to turn back in time to reach the plane about an hour before dark.

"That will give us some leeway if the weather gets worse."

OOC: Check time and signal.

After ensuring his two charges are still alive, Jan turns his attention to back to the fire. Setting it up again as he had before, using the embers to help reignite it.

With the fire lit again, he drinks one of the bottles of water and looks at the food available, trying to decide how best to get food into the two men.

He checks on their vitals, checking pulse and breathing and tucks them back into their blankets to ensure they remain warm.

"If we don't find anything in this direction, we'll try the other direction tomorrow," Kirsti said. "So we should go as far as we can today because if we think we need to go further, it'll be a few days and we'll have to cover most of the same ground over again.

"I vote for pushing as far as we can while we're out here."

Out on the trail.

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter:
Alison and Kirsti pushed on, following the trail.  It wasn't more than fifteen minutes later before it looked as though the trail opened into a clearing and disappeared.  They hiked the perimeter, part of which climbed up a slope that continued up into the trees, and determined there were no other paths than the one they arrived on.]

"Maybe this was a mine or something," Alison said, poking her stick horizontally into the snow to see what the contour of the slope felt like. "It could be boarded up and have some tools or something inside."

She walked along hoping to hit something solid rather than earth or snow.

It's been a few hours since Jan left the others to further explore the trail.

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Almost immediately, Alison is able to tell there is a flat vertical surface beneath the drifted snow against the slope.]

OOC: There is still no phone reception.

Jan continues to tend the fire and the two sleeping men. He becomes more concerned with each passing hour that neither have stirred or woken up.

[Private to GM:

In the last couple of hours, Jan will have tried to get the two unconscious men to swallow small amounts of water.
He'll also have drank another bottle himself before collecting and melting more. He'll time home long it takes for the water to melt so he can calculate how many bottles can be produced each day.

He's also getting to the point where he's beginning to wonder if it isn't better that the men died peacefully in their sleep - with the two draining resources, and still unconscious, they aren't providing anything at a time they have precious little.

His guilt and conscience are the only things keeping the men alive...

To distract him, he'll look through the luggage again to look for waterproof items (even the luggage cases themselves) that could be used to help melt snow into potable water.

He hasn't turned his phone back on as he's conserving it's battery,but the weight of deciding whether the men live or die is consuming him.
]

"I think I may have found something," Alison called out to Kirsti. "Help me clear away the snow."

She began clearing away the snow to see what she'd discovered.

Kirsti climbed down to help Alison clear away snow.

"Do you really think there's an old mine way up here?" she asked.

[Private to Jan Dahl: While he's waiting, Jan determines that it takes about two hours for the snow in the bottles to melt near the fire.  Sorting back through the luggage, he doesn't find anything, other than the plastic shopping bag the snow globe had come in, that would hold water.]

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Kirsti and Alison sweep snow away from the hill to discover a pane of glass.  A very large pane of glass.  As they continue to sweep through the drift, they uncover what looks to be a large window frontage and glass door.  Almost like a storefront thirty feet wide, set into the side of the hill.

The door is locked.  Looking inside, they see what looks to be an office break room?  It has a number of round tables with chairs as well as a couple of couches against the side walls.  The back wall of the room is dominated by a long counter top and refrigerator.  A coffee machine, toaster oven, and microwave can be seen on the counter top as well as a sink.  Cupboards below and above the counter top are white with chrome handles.

What?]

"This is weird," Alison admitted, dumbfounded by their discovery. Tentatively, she tugged on the door.

Jan looks at the clothes and luggage available, and tries to rig together a way to hold the bag upright when it was full of snow or water. He'll use belts, socks, anything to tie the bag open and place it inside one of the smaller cases. It doesn't have to be near, it just has to stay upright when the snow melts into water. Hell, even if it stayed as much ice he could use it to reduce the time needed to melt the bottles water.

It's only then that he turns his attention to the improvised bacon pan. The girls wanted him to bend it into a bowl for water, but instead he bends it by placing it at an angle against the cabin wall and stepping on it. He shapes it into a more effective shovel and begins to clear the passageway to gain access to the other, dead passengers and widen the tunnel. He piles the snow outside the tunnel and uses the vests to avoid getting too wet or too cold.

[Private to Jan Dahl: Jan is able to secure the plastic shopping bag in an upright position that could hold water.  The thin sheet metal isn't really an improvement for moving snow, but Jan is able to widen the passage and discover a third seated passenger.  She was seated against the bulkhead on the upward side with two seats.  She doesn't seem to have any ID on her and there's no sign of her purse.  She looks to have been in her mid twenties.

Based on the time, Jan figures the other two have already turned around and are on their way back.]

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kristi Carpenter: Alison tugs on the door to find it locked.  She can tell it's not frozen shut, just locked.  There is a standard lock set above the handle.  Probably some kind of deadbolt.]

With time getting on, Jan checks on the fire, adding more wood to ensure that it will get through the night, and making sure that the water bottles are full with water for the girls' return.

He then checks on the condition of the two unconscious men, Jan's concerns remain over their refusal to wake up. [Private to GM: The reason he has spent the couple of hours working hard, without thinking about the unconscious men, is that he's guilty for not being able to save them, and truly believes that it might be in the interests of the group if the men die - but he is not willing to kill them, so has purposely left them alone in the hope that their condition might worsen and they will die of natural causes.

He has justified this mentally to himself by saying that if they don't improve they will be a burden to the survivors. He has blocked out the thought that, if it was him unconscious, he'd want the others to do as much as possible for him despite the odds...]

"Should we head back or try to break in?" Kirsti asked peering in through the glass. "Can you see if they have a phone?"

The place might have some supplies they could use, but she wasn't sure it was worth moving up here. It was away from the crash and any chance of rescue.

"We're here," Alison replied.  "Let's take a look. I don't want to trek back out here again to discover it doesn't have anything useful inside."

She looked around to find a rock to break the glass door near the lock.  If she could create a hole without shattering the entire door, she could reach through to release the dead bolt.

[Private to Jan Dahl: Even as injured as they were, Jan did think at least one of the men should have regained consciousness by now.]

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Alison found a good sized rock and tentatively began tapping on the glass.  She got progressively more aggressive until the upper pane of the door completely shattered into pebble sized chunks.  At that point, it was relatively easy to reach in and flip the deadbolt within, allowing the door to be pulled open.]

"That was more destructive than I'd expected," Kirsti commented on the mess. Kirsti stepped in and headed for the back counter to see if there was water pressure at the sink and to see if the coffee maker worked.

Alison followed Kirsti in and looked around for a light switch before starting into the cabinets. If there wasn't any electricity, opening the refrigerator might get dicey.

"Keep an eye out for some tape and something to replace the window like cardboard or a garbage bag," Alison advised.

[Private to Jan Dahl: Jan hears a groan from the cabin as he's digging out the tunnel.]

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Kirsti finds the faucet does indeed work, but as Alison also discovers at the light switch, there isn't any electricity for the coffee maker.  The cabinets contain coffee supplies, tea, microwave popcorn, a couple cases of Ramen Noodles in various flavors, plastic utensils, napkins, paper towels, paper cups, drain cleaner, window cleaner, sponges, dish detergent, and plastic garbage bags.  Stacked besides the refrigerator are three cases of bottled water.

They also see a short corridor off the back of the break room that leads into darkness.]

"What do you think the temperature in here is?" Alison asked as she pulled out a garbage bag to see if she could cover the broken door.

"If it's warmer in here than the plane, we might think about moving up here.  We could leave a note in the plane to come look for us if anyone finds the plane.

"Also look for anything with a company name or paperwork of any kind.  This place looks like it's in the middle of nowhere."

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Alison is able to secure a large black garbage bag over the door and tied it securely around the hinge side.  She figured it would keep the wind and snow out, but wasn't airtight.  She'd need to find some duct tape or something to seal it better.

Kirsti is unable to find any paperwork, labels, or anything identifying where they were.  The room is warmer than outside, but still not heated.  However, the water lines hadn't frozen and the windows hadn't been frosted over.  At a guess, she'd say between forty and fifty degrees. ]

"I wish we had radios," Alison confessed. "Then we could let Jan know what we've found."

She finished with her plastic bag and asked, "Did you find any pots or pans? Something we could boil water in for the noodles in."

She returned to look down the darkened corridor and turned on her phone light to see if there were any tack boards or notices near the break room.

"Would a coffee pot work?" Kirsti asked. "It's made to be heated."

She looked around for any pots and pans as well.

"I think we should look in the refrigerator as well. We could see what the expiration dates are to see when this place was last used."

Holding her breath, she opens the refrigerator to quickly grab a jar or carton that might have a date on it before quickly closing the door again.

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Alison does not see any boards, posters, or notices in the short hallway, but does find an elevator.  It has only a down button and no indication of how many floors there may be below.

Kirsti doesn't find any pots or pans, but does come up with three pyrex coffee pots.  Her delve into the refrigerator is as she'd suspected, revolting.  However, she was able to pull out a small carton of cream with an expiration date seven years prior.]

Alison pushed the elevator button without expecting it to work. She was just covering the bases. Why is any of this even here?

"I think it's time to head back," she declared without waiting on any results from the elevator. "Let's each fill a garbage bag with a coffee pot, a case of noodles, five water bottles, plastic forks, and some of those paper cups. I think that will keep us for a few days if we don't come back this way."

"The expiration date was seven years ago," Kirsti told Alison as she packed up one of the garbage bags. "What do you think this place was?  It's out in the middle of nowhere."

She made sure to pack the coffee pot in a way that it wouldn't easily break if she dropped the bag or banged it into a tree.

Jan slowly and carefully returns to the cabin, not wanting to startle anyone if they were waking up and groggy. [Private to GM: Actually, with his. mind being distracted from morbid thoughts he's feeling guilty and wants to compose himself before introducing himself. He'll approach the cabin quietly and observe what is happening.]

[Private to Jan Dahl: Jan peered in to see the younger of the two men stirring.  He wasn't quite conscious, just moaning.  Perhaps a step up from comatose?]

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: As Alison and Kirsti packed their bags, Alison noted that, as she suspected, the elevator never responded to her call.  Once their bags were packed, they braced themselves to return to the plane and began the two hour trek back.]

"The obvious answer is secret government facility," Alison finally said, answering Kirsti's earlier question. "Or it could be an abandoned research station, ski lodge, prepper hideaway, or just some rich guy's house.

"Whatever it is, it looks expensive and hasn't been used in seven years."

She was glad she'd packed some snow up against the door before they'd left to keep it closed. It was easier than trying to lock the door and she hadn't wanted to disturb her plastic window.

"If that was a break room," Kirsti said, "then it belonged to a company or an organization of some kind. It wasn't a full kitchen so probably not a private residence.

"But it did seem like they may have left in a hurry by not emptying the refrigerator before they left. Do you think it's worth trying to see where that elevator goes?"

"Leaving in a hurry might be a reason not to check out the elevator," Alison said.  "We have food and water for a while. It also seems to reason that this path leads back to a main road in the other direction.

"The question is, how many miles are we from that main road?"

[Private to Jan Dahl: Jan continued to watch, but the younger man stopped moaning and returned to a fitful slumber.]

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Alison and Kirsti trudge along through the snow.  Their previous tracks hadn't filled in, but they still had a ways to go.]

"This path is probably the fastest and easiest way down the mountain," Kirsti said. "We could try hiking in the other direction tomorrow as far as we can get in half a day. If we don't find anything, we can try the elevator. Maybe they left something behind or there's a phone line still hooked up."

She was just glad they'd found something that would at least keep them alive.

"The alternative is to just keep hiking the other direction until dark," she added. "Hoping to find a road or something before dark. Make a shelter and do it again the next day.

"If we're fifty miles from anywhere, that might take us three days or more? I'm not sure we can scrounge enough to last one night without the cabin and a fire.

"It may even be farther.  We just don't know."

"That's a good argument to check the elevator," Alison replied. "Just to see if there's a map showing where we are and how far we need to go.

"The question is whether we give the other direction a go first, out and back? We'll see what Jan thinks."

Jan quietly steps forward, checking the man's pulse and temperature. He repeats the action with the second man, quietly going about his business.

He collects together all of the food they have, placing it in the first aid kit and glancing longingly at the bottles of water, melting by the fireplace.

"Why do you think we haven't seen or heard any search planes around?" Kirsti asked. "I know we were a little off course, but it's not like we're lost in the Amazon. This is the United States!"

"I don't know why we haven't seen any sign of a search," Alison admitted. "They may be searching the route from either end and just haven't reached out this far. Or maybe the weather is keeping them away."

Alison shrugged and tromped on. She didn't have any answers.

[Private to Jan Dahl: Jan finds the younger man's pulse strong and breathing steady.  The older man isn't quite as good, but seems stable.]

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Kirsti and Alison tromped along through the snow.  It was still falling with the occasional gust of wind, but didn't seem bad enough to prevent a rescue effort.  At least as far as they could see on the ground.]

"So, were you returning to Las Vegas or visiting?" Alison finally asked as the silence stretched through the creaking forest. They may as well keep themselves occupied while they hiked.

She pulled out a water bottle and took a drink. These would definitely help Jan loosen up.

"I was just flying in for a break by the pool," Kirsti admitted. "Seems stupid now. My friends are sipping margaritas by the pool and I'm here.

"I should have just stayed at school. Same weather, better accommodations."

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty," Alison said. "I'm supposed to be covering a conference as a freelance photographer.  I've flown all over the world on the most rickety planes you could find, and the one that finally crashes is a short hop to Vegas.

"As it turns out, so far, crashing in the US doesn't seem like it's any different than crashing in the Andes."

"At least we won't have to eat anyone," Kirsti commented. "I can't wait to get back and make some of this soup. I've always liked ramen noodles.

"I think this is going to blow Jan's mind."

She was starting to get a little tired and hoped they didn't have much further to go.

Jan spends time trying to get the two men to drink something with mixed feelings, before returning to the tunnel and keeping himself occupied. At the very least he'd free the dead that were trapped and potentially give the survivors access to more clothing. At worst he'd widen the tunnel, make it more secure and easier to access.

Well, that was what he told himself as he worked to occupy his mind from the predicament they were in.

[Private to Jan Dahl: While Jan is trying to get the younger man to drink, the man starts coughing and actually wakes up.

"What's going on?" he asked groggily.  "Where am I?"]

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Alison and Kirsti get steadily more tired as they hike.  They're both pretty sure they haven't seen their marker flag yet, but all previous tracks have been erased by the blowing snow at this point.]

"Easy, easy..." Jan says calmly, lowering the water away to avoid spilling any, and slowly lowering the man's head back down to the floor.

"My name's Jan," he pronounced it Yan, "and you'll be fine. What's your name?? Do you know where you are??" he wanted to see how much the injured man remembered before worrying him with the details of the crash

[Private to Jan Dahl: "My name's Bob," he said unsteadily, looking around at the cabin and fire in a suitcase.  "The plane was crashing."

He gasped as he tried to sit up and he pressed his hand to stomach where he'd been speared by the tray table strut.  "Ahhh!"]

---

"Did we go past the flag?" Alison asked worriedly. They'd been hiking an awful long time.

"Like I said, easy. You were hurt in the crash, but you made it and I've patched you up. You'll be OK provided you don't try to move too much or too quickly." Jan explains, moving his hands to support Bob if he needs it.

"I didn't check my phone for what time we left the breakroom," Kirsti admitted. "I think it was a little over two hours on our way out."

She pulled her phone out now to check the time.

[Private to Jan Dahl: "How long before help gets here?" Bob asked.  He fumbled around patting his pockets for something.  "Can I borrow a phone to call my wife?"]

---

[Secret to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Kirsti sees that it's 4:35 in the afternoon and she still has no signal.]

"Just keep an eye out for the flag," Alison said, looking back behind them. "I don't want to miss it. We don't need to get lost out here after dark."

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter:
After another twenty minutes or so, Alison and Kirsti finally spot the flag and head off the trail.  Their earlier prints are gone, but with daylight, they can follow the now familiar slope in the direction of the plane.]

"I'm going to keep better track of time tomorrow," Kirsti said, turning off her phone and putting it away. She trudged along, breaking trail and keeping an eye out for their next landmark to find the plane.

"I'm sorry, but the phones don't have any signal here. I've tried but it's no good. Perhaps we could try again later." Jan smiled warmly.

"How long have you been married??" he asks, starting small-talk to get the man's focus. "Just you and her?? Or are there any little Bob's??"

[Private to Jan Dahl: "It's just us," Bob admitted, trying to see how bad he'd been injured by peeling up his blood encrusted shirt.  "They're coming, though, right?  Help is on the way?  They know where we are?"]

---

Alison followed Kirsti quietly, it had been a long hike and it had been a while since she'd had this much exercise.

"There's a few of us, not just us." Jan replies wishing he'd been able to move more of the dead outside.

"I'm sure they're on their way. We're in the snowline here, so it might take them some time."

[Private to Jan Dahl: "What's a few of us?" Bob asked.  "What happened to the others?"]

---

[Private to Alison Candlewell; Kirsti Carpenter: Kirsti and Alison look up and spot the plane where they expected to find it with a thin trail of smoke emerging from the top.  They guess there's maybe an hour before dark.]

"We're back!" Kirsti called out as they approached the plane. She tried to ignore the bodies still strapped into their seats as she crawled in, pushing her garbage bag ahead of her.

"You won't believe what we found," she started before seeing that someone had woken up. "Oh, glad you're feeling better.

"My name's Kirsti."

"I'm Alison," Alison added her own introduction.

"Bob," the man replied reflexively to the two women.  "Did you find help?  Is anyone coming for us?"

"We didn't find anyone," Kirsti replied, "but we did find something strange."

She paused to pull a coffee pot and some noodles from her garbage bag.

"We found an abandoned break room in the side of a hill with an elevator. It looks as though no one's been there for seven years and they left in a hurry."

"It was at the end of that trail we found," Alison added. "I'm pretty sure it was an old overgrown road and it does match how old the contents of the refrigerator were.

"No power, but it did have running water. Not sure if it's leftover pressure and will run out or if it's self sustaining. However, we did bring back a lot of bottled water.

"We were thinking the coffee pots might be used to melt snow and heat up water for the noodles."

She pulled out her own pot and poured a few of her bottles into it to get it started on the fire.

"A break room?" Bob asked, incredulous. "We're that close to a town? Why isn't help here now?"

Jan looked relieved at the return of tge girls, and remained quiet as they introduced themselves.

"Fresh water is good, we were... ah.. short. But Bob's right. If we're that close surely there must be something out there close by?? Lights we could head towards...??"

He sounded hopeful but knew the girls would have already said something if they'd found more.

"No town," Alison explained, "just a break room built into the side of a mountain. We didn't see anything else and the trail ended there.

"We looked around inside, but there wasn't anything we could find that said what it was for. No poster board, no work notices, nothing.

"Just a break room and an elevator going down. No level numbers, just a button going down."

"Just a break room in the middle of nowhere with an elevator that only goes down?" Bob asked.  "It has to be something!  Did they have a phone we could use to call for help?"

"No phone," Kirsti answered. "We were thinking we'd hike in the other direction tomorrow to see if there were any signs of this road going anywhere.

"Failing that," she shrugged and looked at Alison, "maybe see if we could get the elevator doors open and see where they go?"

Kirsti added some more wood to the fire to help heat up the coffee pot of water. They should probably collect some more wood before it got dark. She was really looking forward to noodle soup.

Realising how thirsty he was having only sipped at melted snow, Jan opens two of the bottles. The first he offers to Bob, the second he drinks himself.

"I'm not sure hiding beneath ground would beneficial if there are rescuers looking for us." He still felt there was a slim hope of being rescued.

But the thought of exploring a disused mine or something else would be a welcome distraction. And a shelter would be better than this... Tomb.

"We'll need a sled or something to carry our sleeping friend there. To prevent re-opening his wounds. How far is this shelter??"

"It was a little over a two hour hike for us," Alison replied. She tried to picture the hike pulling a makeshift sled through the snow and it didn't look easy.  A litter didn't look any better.

"We were thinking about the same thing if we moved there," she admitted. "Anyone looking might find the plane, but not us if we moved. We could leave a note on where we went, but it's not like we have a new address we can use. It looked like that place hadn't been found for at least seven years.

"That's why we thought checking in the other direction might be a better first step."

"I want to stay with the plane," Bob said resolutely.  "Anyone looking for us will be looking for the plane, not some shack in the middle of the woods.  I'm sure there's some kind of transponder or black box thing on the plane they can track."

"That sounds like a good plan," Alison said, agreeing with Bob. "We can continue scouting around while you watch out here for rescuers and keep the fire going. If we find anything, we'll come back for you. If rescuers appear here, you can tell them where we are.

"In the morning, Kirsti and I, and Jan if he wants to stretch his legs, can scout in the other direction for a major road."

Putting aside discussions of exploration until morning, they collected more wood, ate hot soup, and refilled water bottles with melted coffee pot snow.

Bob explains that he's the regional distribution manager for Budweiser.  He's flown into Las Vegas at least once a month for the past seven years and he's still coming to terms with what's happened.

He's resolute that unless they have some concrete solution, he's sticking with the plane.  He'll keep an eye on Stan as long as you leave him with enough soup noodles to last three days.  This would constitute about half a case of the two cases you'd brought back with you.

The night passes restlessly, but uneventfully.  Now is the time to decide your next moves.