Trapp’d Billing Aquadrome: 46 Below

After years of dreaming, you have finally booked your Arctic Adventure! Clambering onto the plane, you place your hand luggage into the overhead space and settle down into your seat. You were quite lucky to nab a window seat, you’ve heard the view into the Arctic is quite breathtaking! It’s a long flight ahead, a solid 14 hours but you don’t mind. Flights have never been a particular issue for you, it’s mostly the landing. However, your route does pass over the Borean Rectangle and this concerns you a little. The Borean Rectangle is a large frozen wasteland deep in the Arctic and it’s confirmed that 117 planes have mysteriously vanished over this area although no one can determine why or how. The story is the same for every plane; communication cuts out and the crew and passengers are never heard from again. No one has dared venture into this territory by foot for fear of unknown horrors... A scared man’s mind can invent all kinds of terrors. You abruptly shake these thoughts from your mind and tell yourself not to fret over trivial matters. Hundreds of flights pass this icy barren every day and only a few go missing. You’ll be fine!

As the plane ascends further into the azure blanket ahead you decide you should probably rest your eyes and recharge for this amazing expedition ahead. Your mind wanders dreamily into all the activities you have planned for this winter wonderland trip... husky safari, northern lights, snowmobiles... you’ve even planned to stay a night or two in a real igloo! Unsurprisingly, the plane experiences a fair amount of turbulence along the way, but nothing too troubling. The air hostess wakes you a few times to offer you a drink, perhaps some food? Politely declining, you return to your slumber.

You are asleep for a solid 10 hours before a large jolt startles you. You look around, the other passengers felt it too and are looking around rather alarmed. A voice sounds out above you “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. (Jolt) We are experiencing some complications with the engines. Please remain calm and stay seated.

But you cannot suppress the rising panic you feel deep within the pit of your stomach. You glance toward the lady beside you and she seems to have turned bleach white. Her eyes stare straight ahead, unblinking. A sharp pull nearly knocks you out of your seat. Suddenly, the oxygen masks drop from above you and lands conveniently in front of your face... but this makes that unnerving panic within you ring out and an involuntary yelp escapes you. Another harsh bump lurches you into the window. You make a grab for the mask and hastily fasten it over your face. All of a sudden, there is a forceful push and the plane begins to swiftly descend.

There is a collective distress happening around you but you cannot focus, you are too busy staring out of the window at the plane wing that seems to be emitting a large red flame and billowing smoke. You cannot believe your eyes. You spin around in your seat and see the lady beside you has not moved a muscle. Her flesh has disintegrated to a pasty green and she hasn’t even managed to put her oxygen mask on. The plane is shaking mercilessly now and a sinking realisation sets in... this could be the end. You grab the mask and clumsily try to help her, the wires are tangled and you cannot get it over her head. Screams plead out around you, filling your ears, your head, your brain. You know you are rocketing toward the ground and the collision will be unrelenting. You desperately fumble with the oxygen mask and just when you move the last wire out of the way, there is a deafening explosion... Black.

When you awake, your limbs are almost frozen numb. Your eyelids flitter and the pain hits you all at once. You slowly move to sit up and look around you. Your eyes meet a devastating sight. The plane is but a crumpled wreck in the snow and bodies surround you... no signs of life anywhere. The blizzard is thick and the cold is bitter to the bone. Survival is the only thing on your mind right now... figure out a way to establish communication and signal for help, but first you must find out where exactly you have landed... Hurry, before hypothermia begins to set in and your very life escapes you!