In the midst of a bone-chilling storm, they staggered through the snow, clinging to the little bundle. His heart pounded, the adrenaline and cold fueling himself. His face and hands were numb, yet he gripped his daughter tightly, refusing to relinquish her to the frigid jaws of the night.
Clutching her tight as the snow continuously fall relentlessly, which was falling like shrapnel, pelting their clothes. His body stiffened in the cold, yet he trudged on, his legs trembling beneath himself. The snow that had already accumulated on the ground began to form a layer of ice on him as his body slowed.
He was doing his very best to keep a firm grip on his daughter, but he feared of letting her slip away. Suddenly, he collapsed, and barely kept himself from falling on his daughter. She struggled against him as she began to cry and scream, her small lungs unable to muster much in the way of volume.
The cold wind and the snow fell upon them, freezing their bodies. He wrapped his arms and coat around her and squeezed her tight, trying to warm her as best he could. Her cries continued to pierce the air, but she grew quieter as the sounds of the storm swallowed hers. Laying there in the cold snow for what felt like hours. The coldness took over his body, as did the snow that started to pile on top of him.
As his limbs slowly went numb and his head became light. He tried to get up, but the wind blew so fiercely that he could barely keep himself from being blown away. Managing to hold onto his daughter as her cries began to sound so distant. He wanted to comfort her, but couldn't find the strength to move. While his legs felt like they were being submerged in water, and was getting colder and colder with each breath he took.
Having to clung to his daughter for dear life, desperately trying to keep her safe. The pain was unbearable with his arms felt like they were going to snap under the pressure with his chest feeling to be on fire, and lungs not wanting to cooperate. He choked on the snow that filled his mouth, and his body started to convulse. Fearing that at any moment, he would no longer be able to hold onto daughter.
He pleaded for whatever deity is out there just to keep her safe and to be alive, begging whatever powers that be to protect her. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, and could barely breathe properly. His strength was slowly slipping away, the life draining out of him.
Closing his eyes as he listened to her painful cries. They were so far away now that it was like she was in a dream. He wanted to hold her in his arms one last time. He wanted to take her in and protect her and keep her warm, but it was all too much. He couldn't move couldn't fight, and couldn't keep her safe anymore.
Having to watch her as she tried to cry out in the middle of the storm, and then her cries turned to silence. There was no longer any sound except the howl of the wind and the quiet lullaby it sang. He still wanted to hold her, protect her, and comfort her, but he couldn't. Adam tried to pull himself up, but his own body had failed him, finally accepting the sweat release of death to overtake their lives.
There was nothing he could do as the snowstorm violently fell on them, burying the two of them in this cold embrace. As her life left from her eyes, Adam could only watch her body being taken from him, along with his hopes of ever seeing her again. As he closed his eyes, and the senses shut down one by one until he was finally surrounded by nothing but darkness.
Perhaps death was the better option after all.
