The group trudged on through the biting wind and blizzard for a long time.
This time, Daz could not hold out any longer and collapsed onto the ground.
Arthur quickly stopped the group and examined him, discovering that Daz had developed a high fever. Clearly, his frail constitution and prolonged exposure to the cold wind had taken their toll.
"This idiot really knows how to make trouble for me." Arthur was a little angry.
He looked at the others. Exhaustion showed on every face. After all, walking through a blizzard took an enormous amount of stamina, and none of them likely had the strength left to drag someone along.
"What should I do?" Arthur was troubled.
Christa, standing nearby, seemed to notice his dilemma and volunteered.
"Arthur, let me do it. I can drag Daz along."
Arthur stared at Christa in surprise, unsure why she would make such an offer.
After all, he considered Christa a rather frail girl herself. Where would she find the extra strength to drag a man along?
"No." Arthur shook his head, refusing.
"Arthur, let me try. We can't abandon any of our comrades," Christa told him firmly.
"..." Arthur looked into Christa's determined eyes and, after a moment of silence, finally nodded in agreement. She also seemed much more alert and energetic than the others. She was probably the best choice.
A moment later, Arthur handed Christa the rope attached to the sack wrapped around Daz, then spoke in a very serious tone.
"Christa, if you can't keep going, call me. Do you understand? This isn't a game."
"Okay." Christa took the rope and nodded.
"I'm heading up front, Christa." After telling her, Arthur returned to the head of the group to lead the way, though he slowed down considerably.
He did his best to set a pace Christa could keep up with so she would not fall behind.
As time passed, the blizzard seemed to intensify.
The howling wind and driving snow made every step a struggle for everyone except Arthur. He desperately wanted to go back and check on Christa and the others.
But the circumstances would not allow it. The others had almost no stamina left, and if they did not reach the second rest stop soon, they would be in serious trouble.
He hoped the trainees at the rear would lend Christa a hand.
"Hang in there, everyone! We're almost at the next rest stop!"
Arthur did his best to break a path through the snow, giving them somewhere to plant their feet, while constantly calling encouragement to the group members behind him who were nearing their limits.
With Arthur's encouragement, everyone picked up their pace considerably.
Soon, Arthur led the group to the second rest stop.
He then hurried off to find Christa, but even after searching repeatedly, he could find no sign of her or Daz.
Arthur's heart sank. He anxiously grabbed a male trainee who had been walking at the back and demanded an answer.
"Did you see Christa?!"
"Christa? Isn't she behind us..." Confused by the question, the male trainee looked back, only to find no sign of Christa. His face went deathly pale.
When the others realized Christa and Daz were missing, they also understood what must have happened. None of them had expected the two to get lost.
"Either stay here or keep moving. I'm going to find them!" With those words, Arthur hurried back in the direction they had come from.
"Daz, it's just you and me now. Are we going to die here?" Amid the endless white snow, Christa struggled to drag the unconscious Daz along.
She panted nonstop from the intense exertion, her breath turning to white mist in the freezing air.
Christa had almost no strength left. Willpower alone kept her going.
She gazed blankly at the identical surroundings and gave a bleak smile. She knew she was lost.
She had never imagined her life would end like this, dying in the snow without even a gravestone.
Thud. Unable to hold on any longer, Christa fell into a snowdrift.
White snow clung to her hair.
The bone-chilling cold steadily drained the life from Christa.
She forced herself to sit up, then took off the wool hat Arthur had given her and gently stroked it.
"Arthur, Ymir, I'm sorry... It looks like I'll never see you again." Christa was trembling violently from the cold now, and she could barely feel her hands.
She lay on her back, clutching the hat tightly in her hands, and let the snow slowly bury her.
"Christa! Christa, where are you?!"
Before she lost consciousness, Christa faintly heard what sounded like someone calling her name.
Am I hearing things? But that voice sounds so familiar.
"Christa, where are you?!" The voice drew closer and closer. Christa knew she was not imagining it. She recognized the voice as Arthur's, the one who had always looked after her.
"Arthur, have you come to save me?" A tear slipped from the corner of Christa's eye. She desperately wanted to sit up and shout, Arthur, I'm here.
But her severely exhausted body would no longer let her call out.
She did not even have the strength to move a finger.
Just before she lost consciousness completely, Christa felt someone come to her side and gather her into his arms.
"Is that you, Arthur? So warm..." Christa murmured.
"Christa, it's me. Hang in there. Don't fall asleep." Arthur's voice reached her.
He moved swiftly, carrying the barely conscious Christa in his arms and dragging Daz behind him, unsure whether the other boy was alive or dead.
He could already tell that Christa's condition was dire. She seemed to have hypothermia, and he had to warm her body as quickly as possible.
"Christa, you idiot. If I hadn't come, were you just going to die here?" Arthur kept talking to Christa in his arms to stop her from falling asleep.
Christa desperately wanted to speak, but her condition would not allow it. She could hear Arthur talking to her, yet she could not answer him.
Arthur had to keep Christa awake while also making sure he did not lose his way in the blizzard.
"Fuck you." Arthur looked at Daz, whose fate remained uncertain. Knowing that he had caused all of this, Arthur abandoned him and picked up speed.