The terrifying howl of the blinding blizzard only got louder. Stella sensed something wrong and stepped in front of the men. âWhatâs wrong with you?â
Only then did the man seem to realize something and took off their masks.
One of them said intermittently, âI donât feel right. It is as if the further you walk in, the more difficult it is to breathe.â
Stella, too, noticed that it was a little hard to breathe, so she called them off.
They unexpectedly had the same feeling as Stella, so it meant the situation wasnât good.
âWe came here many times. These things donât normally happen.â
The leader said to Stella, âLetâs keep going. We will be fine once we get to the resupply point.â
Battered by heavy winds and snow, Stella hesitated a bit.â Or we should go back.â
But some of them insisted on going forward. âIf we go back now, the path might already be blocked by the snow, and we may encounter danger. Letâs just continue on. At least there is a supply point up ahead. We can go there to rest.â
There were different opinions among the members. A few of them insisted to keep going, thinking that they would be fine as long as they took the path they had taken before. However, another group thought that they were aware of the danger. They thought that if they continued their journey, they might still need to return to the original path if they faced any unpredictable problems.
However, if they went back using the same route, there was no guarantee that theyâd safely return to the shoulder.
Stella had a bad feeling when she saw them arguing.
The changes in the weather caught them offâguard.
When Roger drove to Snow Mountain, he heard the weather forecast in the car. An unusual snowstorm was apparently about to hit them, and travelers were reminded to take note of their safety.
He kept calling Stella, but the call did not get through.
He reassured himself that it could not be such a coincidence. Maybe it was just a momentary bad signal, but since he couldnât get through, he couldnât just stand by and watch.
After visiting Elias and Emma at Angelinaâs place, he drove straight to Snow Mountain, where Stella was.
Just as he got on the road, he heard the weather broadcast. His eyes were covered in fog, and he stepped on the gas to accelerate.
Westonâs men arrived at the resupply point in a short time. They sped up a bit when taking the original path. However, Stella and the rest who should already be there were nowhere to be seen. Not even the first batch of people we in sight.
When Weston arrived, the group leader told him a little uneasily, âThere is heavy fog in the mountains, and the wind and snow have intensified a lot. They may have gotten lost.â
The manâs face turned gloomy immediately. âDidnât they say that there were many experienced on the team? How could this happen?â
âPerhaps it was because they havenât met with an accident in the past few years, so everyoneâs become overconfident. Thatâs whyâ¦â
Nobody imagined that the weather would change so quickly, and no one anticipated that such a situation would occur to them.
âBut itâs still early. Itâs likely they have not arrived just yet and are resting on the road for a while.â
Someone comforted Weston as well. âLetâs wait for a bit more, I guess they will come back in a short time.â
After all, they were professional, so Weston did not say much.
His face was horribly dark. Ben did not dare speak so much in front of him, fearing he might step on his land mines.
Half an hour later, there was still no sight of Stella.