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.