Dawn on the Ice

Your boots crunch onto the frozen river just as grey light spills over the gorge's rim. Behind you, the cable groans one last time — then snaps. The empty cabin plummets, shattering against the ice where you stood minutes before.

Halvor squeezes your shoulder. The boy is still roped to your waist, shivering but breathing. Everyone made it. No one speaks. No one needs to.