"SAMANTHA!"
Flynn dove forward, shoving her away from the widening crack in the ice.
But only her.
"ARGH!!"
The other woman slipped through, falling into the gap.
She flailed, arms reaching upward in blind panic—
"I got you!"
A hand caught hers.
They were already deep down, only a few feet above the deadly, churning ice water. The woman dangled in open air, her only support being the man gripping her with one hand.
That man was Jason.
"Argh…" he groaned, teeth clenched, straining to keep hold of her while his other hand clung to a jagged edge of ice.
"Jason!" Samantha scrambled forward—but the two were hanging on the opposite side of the gap. "Someone help them up!" she cried out to the others.
The man who had earlier predicted the cracks rushed over, extending an arm, but Jason was too far down.
"Damn it," he hissed, pulling back to search for another way down.
"Arghhh…" Jason grunted again. His limbs screamed under the pressure. His muscles trembled, overstretched and burning.
"Hold on!" the man called, trying to carefully navigate a descent down the crevasse.
But the ice beneath them kept shifting, growing wider with each passing second.
Suddenly, a figure flew past Samantha—leaping the growing chasm and barely landing on the other side.
Flynn.
"Head back! It's too dangerous!" Flynn barked, pushing the man who'd been climbing down back to safety.
"Flynn, what are you doing?!" Samantha cried from the opposite side. The gap had grown too wide—there'd be no jumping back now.
"This is a two-man job!" Flynn shouted. "Grab my wrists—lower me down to him!"
"No way," said the man. "I can't pull all three of you up alone!"
"Tsk." Flynn glanced down. "You still hanging in there?"
"I'm alright!" Jason's voice came from the pit—gravelly, strained, his entire body drawn taut. Every fiber of him was fighting not to let go.
"Just let me go," the woman whispered.
"Hell no."
"You could climb up if you let me go—"
"Can you shut up?" Jason's voice wavered, but his grip didn't.
"…Why?" she asked, through quiet sobs.
"I don't know!" Jason growled, veins bulging, jaw tight. "I don't know, dammit!"
Samantha and Flynn both shouted for help. Finally, others responded.
"Come on, guys! We need hands!" Samantha pleaded.
"We've got four now!" Flynn said as more players gathered. "Alright."
"I'll pull—you guys lower him," one man volunteered.
"I'm strong enough too," said another. "We've got this."
Flynn took charge. "You two grab my feet. Lower me. Once I've got him, we all pull."
"Let's go!"
Flynn was hoisted by the ankles and lowered into the chasm, upside down. Cold air whipped around them, the ground unstable beneath.
"Got you," Flynn said, gripping Jason's wrist tight with both hands. "Pull us up!"
"HHRAGH!!"
Together, they hauled the trio back up. Muscles strained, lungs screamed, and finally—
**THUD.**
They collapsed onto solid ice.
Jason lay flat in the snow, arms still stretched out unnaturally, as if they couldn't retract.
His face had gone purple. Veins throbbed visibly across his neck and forehead. He stared into the gray sky, unmoving, breathing hard.
Samantha dropped to her knees, overwhelmed. "Thank God…"
"Samantha."
She turned. A stranger—another player—was calling to her.
"Yeah?"
"Stand up. Stay on guard for more cracks. Your own words, remember?"
"…Right."
On the other side, Flynn offered Jason a hand. Jason accepted, shakily pulling himself to his feet.
"That was insane, man," Flynn said, patting his shoulder.
"You too," said the ice crack predictor, giving Flynn a firm slap on the back. "That jump—crazy."
"We need to stay sharp," Flynn said, heading toward the woman who'd been rescued. She was still lying in the snow.
"Get up."
He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her up—not unkindly, but not gently either.
"These cracks aren't that dangerous if we stand ready. They come slow. You okay?" He tapped her cheek lightly.
She didn't respond.
Flynn slapped her—not hard, but enough to shock her awake.
"Do you not wanna live?"
Her eyes widened. She was still dazed.
"He"—Flynn pointed to Jason—"risked his life for you. Probably tore a few muscles doing it. You gonna let that be for nothing?"
The words stung—but they worked. She blinked rapidly, trying to come back to herself.
Flynn gave a nod and walked past her, heading toward the edge of the gap again.
The landscape had changed.
Countless smaller ice islands had split off and were now drifting away from the mainland—each carrying players, including Samantha, Heather, and others.
Flynn watched them disappear slowly, carried by the current.
Seven remained on the main landmass.
Flynn.
Jason.
The rescued woman.
The man who predicted the ice cracks.
And three others—including an older woman.
"What's your name?" Flynn asked the man who predicted the ice cracks.
"Connor."
"You said something else might happen… Avalanches, right?"
"Yeah."
Flynn turned back to the floating ice islands drifting farther out.
"Then they're safe for now," he said grimly. "We're the ones who need to start worrying."