Lightning crashed in the air above us, and I turned to look back at my struggling companions.
‘We have to make it down the mountain!’ I yelled over the roaring wind, snow whipping against my patches of exposed skin.
‘It’s impossible!’ Ivan yelled back at me, propping up a half-fainted Yvonne. ‘We’ll never get there before the avalanche hits!’
As if to prove his point, a huge crash rocked the earth underneath us, and the mountain above us seemed to shake an avalanche loose.
I dropped to my knees, the pack sinking into the snow. He was right. We weren’t going to make it.
Unless… what was that?
‘Can you guys hear–’ I started to say, before vroom!
A ute skidded in the snow next to us, the doors flying open before it had even come to a stop. ‘Get in!’ the driver shouted at us.
We didn’t waste any time, throwing ourselves towards the car.
‘Who are you?’ I asked, as my door slammed shut behind me.
‘I’m the guy who’s gonna get you home,’ he said, face hidden behind a balaclava and snow goggles. ‘Now strap in.’
He gunned the engine, sending us hurtling down the slope faster than I thought possible.
‘Are you sure this is safe?’ Ivan asked, gripping the seats.
‘Do you even know where to buy a ute toolbox near Melbourne?’ the driver asked with a grin.
‘No?’
‘Then sit back and trust me.’
He jerked the wheel to the right, narrowly dodging the first saplings that made up the treeline, then to the left. Yvonne started to groan, and even my stomach started to turn a little.
‘What happens if we don’t outrun the avalanche?’ I asked, looking nervously at the side mirror.
‘Then you’d better pray I have one of the best 4×4 aluminium canopies on the market,’ he chuckled, seemingly at ease. ‘Which I do.’
‘It’s almost here!’ Ivan screamed, pressed up against his window.
‘Brace for impact!’ our driver whooped, foot pressed down, engine protesting.
And then it all went white.