The Dyatlov Pass Incident

The mountain at night wasn't necessarily a safe place. To be perfectly honest, nowhere was necessarily safe, especially at night.

But then again, that was all speculative nonsense. I had been on many a mountain before, for many a night.

That night, it was frigid.

I can hardly remember their names, now. Igor was one. Another Yuri, like me. Six others. There were nine of us. Two women. Seven men.



Still I can't understand. I know. I know perfectly well. But I still don't understand.

We stayed out as long as we could, huddled around the fire. We were no strangers to cold. We were no strangers even to this kind of cold, the kind that killed men and left their bones to be found thousands of years later, encased in chunks of ice.

We were well prepared, and would be fine.

And eventually the fire had burned down and we'd run out of things to talk about and we'd retired to out one, communal tent. We hadn't changed into pajamas to sleep. It was too cold to take off any clothes. We'd change when we got home.

We figured we'd change when we got home, anyway.

I didn't notice it when it started. I can only assume that the others didn't, either--but I've never been able to ask them. When I noticed it, I was only aware that it had been there for some time.

Then, I didn't know what it was. Now, I don't know what it was.

It was. It was and I wanted it.

The woman sat up, to my left. She wanted it, too. Igor and the rest of the men sat up. They wanted it, too. They wanted it, and I had to get it first, before they could. I had to get it first.

I got it first.

Getting it first was no easy feat. The tent was blocking me. I hit the woman in the head with something hard--to this day, I cannot say what--and sliced the tent with my knife.

My shoes were gone and the snow bit my toes. Some of men were running behind me, the rest too far out of sight. The woman was limping. She wanted it badly. So badly she'd almost let me kill her. I was in first. But there was competition, and I wasn't the fastest--I wasn't the fastest skier, and I wasn't the fastest hiker and I certainly wasn't the fastest runner.

I turned and fell on them. The men weren't expecting that. Twin blows to each of their chests and they fell. The woman, clutching her head, was no worry to me. She'd fall soon.

It made me stronger than I should have been. I loved it. I loved it.

Yes, I reached it first. It was beautiful and perfect and I couldn't see it but I could feel it all around me. And then nothing.

When I awoke we were all dead and my tongue was gone, so I couldn't even say that I was sorry.