Everyone's nerves tightened, and our steps grew more cautious.
Walking into the glacier, I was struck dumb by its peerless beauty.
Rolling glaciers stretched across the landscape in a seamless expanse of gemstone blue, like a slumbering dragon frozen beneath the earth, stretching on for miles.
An overwhelming sense of insignificance washed over me.
Face to face with nature, even we humans — lords of all creation — had to acknowledge that we were nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust in the cosmos.
In the blink of an eye, something seemed to dart across the glacier in the distance.
It moved on all fours, its whole body stark white, skittering across the ice like an enormous ground spider before vanishing into a crevice.
---
I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
The glacier was nothing but white snow and ice. Nothing there.
Was I seeing things?
I walked over to Serena and pointed at where the shape had crossed, frowning. "Did you see something run by over there?"
Serena glanced over. "No. Don't try to scare me — I'm not falling for it."
She turned and walked away.
"Something wrong? What did you see?" Professor Marshall came over, looking at the area I'd pointed to.
I hesitated. "I thought I saw something white skimming along the ground."
He examined it carefully. "Probably a sea lion or seal. Or maybe you imagined it."
---
I didn't say anything.
The thing I saw was definitely not a sea lion or seal.
It had four limbs. If anything, it looked more like a person... crawling on the ground.
But how could there be a person who was entirely white? Yetis and urban legends like that were the kind of nonsense only someone as muscle-brained as Marcus would believe.
Probably just tired, I told myself. Staring at white snow for too long — must be my eyes playing tricks.
"Spread out and search — it's got to be around here!" Professor Marshall bellowed.
We fanned out carefully. There were plenty of holes in this area, but most were too small for a person to fit through.
The glacier's cavities came in every shape and size. I checked them one by one, growing anxious.
How long would this take?
I was about to tell Professor Marshall when Marcus suddenly shouted, "Professor, could this be it?"
I followed the sound. Marcus and Kevin were standing before an opening hidden behind a raised ridge of ice.
The cave was roughly big enough for two people to enter side by side. We all hurried over.
"Oof." I stumbled on something. Looking down, I saw the edge of something black poking slightly out of the ice.
"What's this?" Serena crouched and tried to dig it out with her fingers.
"It won't budge."
"Let me!" Marcus strode over, pulled out his ice axe from his pack, and swung it hard.
Crack! A few chips of ice flew up. Nothing happened.
We all stared at Marcus, deadpan.
He looked a bit embarrassed. He spat and said, "One more."
Being six-foot-three had its advantages. Marcus swung with all his might — a few more strikes and the surrounding ice cracked and shattered, revealing the object in full.
Kevin bent down and pried it from the ice, brushing away the frost.
"Donkey meat, donkey meat, Nanchang..." The characters below were illegible. Kevin frowned at the container. "It's a can."
---
A can from the research vessel!
Finding a twenty-year-old can right outside this ice cave meant this was almost certainly the cave the expedition had explored.
I frowned at the dark, bottomless opening before us, suspicion growing.
This whole trip had been too smooth.
With nothing more than coordinates and a few vague lines, Professor Marshall had somehow led us straight here.
And now we'd found a can at the entrance, as if someone had left it to guide us.
The only thing missing was a sign that read: "Right here. Come on in."
From the start, this Antarctic expedition had been one problem after another, nothing going according to plan.
Yet somehow, it felt like an invisible hand had been pushing us toward this exact destination.
---
Professor Marshall was showing his age. He stood panting at the cave entrance, staring fixedly inside.
He yanked off his goggles. I could see the veins bulging on his forehead, pulsing faintly.
"...Let's go. Take a look inside."
If we'd had any experience, or any shred of reason left, we should have known that going in was the last thing we should do.
But we knew almost nothing about Antarctica. Our minds were clouded from two days of chaos, and we could only follow the most authoritative person among us — Professor Marshall.
Unlike the white emptiness outside, the cave interior was a world of cold blue ice, translucent and crystalline, like a massive natural crystal formation.
Near the entrance, some daylight filtered in, and the glittering ice took on an otherworldly beauty.
The deeper we went, the darker it became. Our flashlights cast distorted shadows on the ice walls, warped by the concave and convex surfaces into grotesque proportions.
Small holes dotted the ice walls — black, fathomless, leading to who knows where.
Every sound carried deep echoes, bouncing off the walls from every direction like the whispers of countless monsters lurking in the dark.
The temperature dropped steadily as we descended, and my feet started aching from the cold.
Behind me, Serena rubbed her arms and whispered, "Professor, I'm scared. Maybe we should go back..."
"Go back... back... back..."
Her fearful voice echoed back from all directions, cold and mocking. Goosebumps erupted across my body.
Professor Marshall said nothing. He pressed ahead as if possessed.
We had no choice but to follow.
---
At least the path was relatively level. Though it sloped downward, it wasn't difficult terrain.
The ice cave was surprisingly deep. After walking for about an hour, my flashlight still couldn't penetrate the darkness ahead.
Under extreme stress, we were all exhausted. Serena finally couldn't take it anymore and plopped down on the ice. "Professor, I really can't walk anymore. Let's rest for a bit — we still have to walk back out!"
I leaned on my knees, panting. "I'm done walking too. Professor, can we rest for ten minutes?"
In the flashlight's beam, I could see fine sweat glistening on Professor Marshall's forehead.
I'd just been thinking he was too old for this, but he was tougher than he looked.
We twenty-somethings were exhausted to the bone, and he hadn't made a peep.
Professor Marshall turned and looked at us, probably realizing we'd reached our limit.
He hesitated, then said, "All right, ten minutes. But we need to move fast — we still have to find the research station and get out."
I sighed heavily and sat down next to Serena.
In the grip of extreme cold and terror, the petty friction between us had dissolved. We could only huddle together for warmth.
The cave was utterly silent. We sat in mute isolation, no one speaking.
I leaned my head against the ice wall behind me, my thoughts a tangled mess.
How had we ended up here?
We were supposed to just collect some lake water samples with the expedition team and go home. Instead we were trapped in this godforsaken ice cave, not even knowing if we'd make it back to the research station tonight.
If we couldn't get back, we'd be sleeping in that derelict ship again.
Serena whispered, "Chloe, are you cold?"
Was that even a question?
I wasn't a penguin — of course I was cold.
I nodded. Serena shifted closer, pressing tight against my side.
I felt her trembling faintly and wrapped my arm around her.
Time crept by. In the quiet darkness, I started feeling drowsy and couldn't help closing my eyes.
"Hey, wake up." Serena pinched me hard on the waist. "Don't fall asleep! If you sleep out here, you won't wake up."
The pinch hurt like hell. I nearly jumped to my feet.
I was annoyed. "Serena, could you wish me something good for once? I'm just tired—"
My words caught in my throat.
The flashlight beam illuminated the path ahead. In the darkness behind us, a black shadow flickered past Kevin.
My spine froze over, inch by inch, ice rushing straight to my brain!
Serena looked puzzled. "What's wrong?"
I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
Behind Kevin, the passage was empty. Nothing there.
I let out a shaky breath. My forehead was damp with sweat that quickly crystallized into frost.
"Nothing. Just tired. My eyes are playing tricks."
"Let's move." Professor Marshall stood and brushed himself off. "Pick up the pace. Let's try to get out by noon."