A Frozen Fate

[Alien Ship – Time: 20th Century, Earth] Aliens from lightyears away had received alerts that one of their most prized planet-tests was backfiring. The humans they had previously put on these planets exceeded their expectations at first, becoming too smart for their own good by inventing things to make their lives easier and more carefree. All of these inventions created heat while releasing carbon into the atmosphere, trapping it, and creating a gas-coat over the earth. These aliens had to act fast if they wanted to save this planet.

Back on Earth, Zach lived in Whitehorse, Canada, 180 km away from the mountain he was preparing to climb, Mount Martha Black. Though he had been climbing and hiking mountains for more than 15 years, this one frightened him, it was one of the highest elevations that he would ever climb, and he also wasn’t very fond of snowy or icy mountains due to the tragic accident of his father’s death. Zach was used to hiking up the rocky and dry mountains of Colorado and Montana, but he rarely hiked up snow. His father died climbing the snowy Rockies in British Columbia along with his brother Rain. Zach was always wondering about what really happened to his father. Rain would always tell him the same story, but every time Zach asked the details, they were always different. From the place they were at when his dad fell, or what they were even talking about. Each time Rain told the story, details like these changed. Rain lived with Zach for a while during and after his dad died, he was homeless from time to time but managed to keep his job down at the corner store making him low-income.

As he was packing, Zach felt like something was missing, though he packed everything the day before, double, no, triple-checking his bag to make certain he had everything he needed. Rain looked up from his magazine, taking a pull from the two cigarettes that hung from his mouth.

“Oh quit your worrying Zachary, you sound exactly like your father, always worrying if he forgot something,” he said in his raspy, pack a day voice.

Zach felt the anger pressure up inside of him as if an elephant stepping on his chest. 

“I don’t need you telling me what to do, and don’t ever bring up Dad in front of me again. I don’t know what happened back at the Rockies, but I know you won’t tell me the truth. He could’ve been standing here with us if it wasn’t for you and your selfishness. You could’ve saved him! I still don’t think I fully trust you.”

 Zach bolted out the door and finally set out to begin the climb because each second he wasted at the house was a second of sunlight wasted in order to safely climb the frozen and misty mountains. Zach had made sure to eat a big plate of potatoes and eggs that morning but still felt like there was a never-ending pit in his stomach during the whole ride there. One of his co-workers down at the local brewery told Zach about this mountain, saying it was the most beautiful climb he’d ever taken, from the beginning hike and the later climb to the beauty felt after reaching the summit. Zach wanted to see this beauty for himself since he rarely ever climbed up snowy mountains. 

After finally reaching the bottom of the mountain, he looked up to see it’s hight. It was five times bigger than he could’ve ever imagined. He put on his hiking boots and set on his way up the steep, long mountain. He was hiking and hiking for hours, stopping to eat granola and drink water every 30 mins. The closer and closer he got to the summit, the more the pit in his stomach grew. He tried to ignore it, not letting it make him lose his focus. He was walking along the side of the mountain when he heard crackling noises coming from beneath him. At first, he thought it was just snow getting pressed down under his feet. As he stopped, he looked to his side to see the wall made of thick ice splitting fast. Zach started running up the side of the mountain but the ice was cracking faster than he could run. The next thing he knew he started feeling like his stomach was floating up to his chest, then to his throat. The glacier had broken off the mountain, creating an avalanche that sent Zach right into the snow. Zach had already blacked out before he even got thrown off of the glacier, so there was no chance for him to be awake to try to get out of the snow that kept piling on top of him. After minutes of the avalanche coming down on Zach, at least 60 feet of packed snow sat on top of him.

[Alien Ship – Time: 20th Century, Earth] They decided their best option is to shoot a frozen gas ball right at earth in order to cool it down along with breaking all of the carbon out of the atmosphere and releasing it into space. This would reset the planet and all life that lived on it.The problem was that they over-predicted how much time it would take for the gas ball to reach Earth. By the time it would reach the planet, the world would turn from a man-made pool of water due to the melted ice caps into a giant ball of ice.

Back on Earth, Zach’s body was being kept alive due to the sheer temperatures of the mountain. While his body was inactive, Zach’s brain still conscious, keeping him awake only from the thought of his father’s face. As months came and went, so did the years, even decades, and eventually centuries. Global warming would begin to take over due to all the harm humans were causing to the earth and the snow slowly around Zach’s frozen body began to melt away, and his body started to regain its strength. He tried to think of how he got there, how long he’s been here frozen in place, but his brain couldn’t reach the memories. It seemed as if the thoughts in his brain had frozen over. The more he worked to remember, the more he felt his brain thawing out. He kept blacking out and coming back, each time getting closer and closer to remembering, but all he could remember was this old man’s face. It was so recognizable, but he couldn’t figure out who this man was. 

At this time, the iceball finally reached Earth, freezing over all that remained on its surface: animals, plants, people, life, including the awoken Zach from his long sleep under the snow. All that remained of Earth had been frozen and stopped.