The snow-laden pine forests of Mt. Tatar lay still, interrupted only by a wooden ski lodge nestled in a valley, with a cog railway running from it like a zipper up the mountain. Freshly constructed that year in 1954, the lodge and the railway served as a testament to Man’s dominance over nature. As the sun rose above the Eastern slopes, the sunlight began to stream onto its cascading rooftop and through the many clear windows, illuminating a world filled with the bustle of skiers preparing to hit the slopes. But it was far from this lodge, up on a chairlift ascending a slope, that Gabe and Josh were found.

Josh and Gabe were best friends who had decided to spend their winter break away from college as members of the ski patrol that served the lodge. On this day, they’d been on the slopes since 4 AM, out searching for a missing skier that had never returned the previous night, something which had been happening more and more frequently of late. As the chairlift swung lazily, Gabe initiated conversation: 

“You know, maybe we wouldn’t need to be out here so often if we enforced a mandatory buddy system. We could even make a rule that if you’re new to skiing you have to be connected to a more advanced skier by a leash or something. You know, like those rambunctious kids.”

“Oh come on,” responded Josh, chuckling slightly.

“No seriously dude. I came out here to ski and occasionally reset a dislocated limb, not to get up at three every morning to go off in a hopeless search for a missing skier who can’t do anything more than pizza.” 

“I feel you,” replied Josh, “I really do. I’d give nothing more than to be paid to just sit back and enjoy this nature. But let’s focus on finding this dude right now.”

Eventually, they got to the top, and waving to the lift operator, they swiftly dismounted the lift and continued their arduous task of going down the slopes, calling out for the missing skier, and checking empty snowbanks. 

They searched in vain until the shadows shrunk and changed direction around them, then disappeared entirely as it started snowing. As the day dwindled, the snow only intensified, forcing Josh and Gabe into a final search. On their final lift up, they got to pondering, as the snow whipped across their faces. 

“You know Gabe,” Josh said wearily, “at what point do we start to suspect that a bear is picking people off or something?”

“What do you mean?” replied Gabe. 

“Well, look at the facts man. We NEVER find the bodies. Ever. That’s not normal, is it?” 

“Well,” replied Gabe with a tone implying an attempt to strike reason, “sometimes people just panic, and get lost. You know how some people get when all they’ve skied before were bunny hills.” 

“Still man, don’t you think we could’ve found at least one person?” Josh asked, as the ski lift reached its final destination and they slid off. But this time, as they looked to wave to the lift operator, only an empty chair was to be found. 

Their final, desperate search led to nothing, prompting an utterly exhausted Josh and Gabe to slowly trek back to the lodge, with only their somber frustration to keep them company.  

“Hey Gabe,” Josh said, breaking the wind-laden silence with a sudden realization, “we didn’t see anyone else on the slopes. Not even any other members of the ski patrol. It felt like a ghost town out there.” 

“Wait you’re right,” Gabe replied, coming to the same realization angrily. “Did they just make us work our butts off when everyone else was sipping hot chocolate? I’m gonna have to talk to some- holy crap." The sight of the cog rail engine which suddenly came into view halted Josh and Gabe in their tracks. It had been decimated by a fallen pine tree, which now rested on the engine in a mess of prickly limbs. It had caved in the engine’s roof, with shattered glass littering the tracks around it. Taking in the daunting sight, the duo remained frozen for a few seconds, unable to tear their eyes away from it. But eventually, they broke free, and trudged over to the main lodge in silent bewilderment, hoping to seek an answer to their fate.

But as Josh and Gabe swung open the broad lodge doors, they were met only with silence, sounding loud in the absence of the wind which had previously assaulted their ears. The lodge appeared utterly abandoned. Walking in and glancing around, Josh and Gabe spotted only empty tables, some still holding half-eaten food, with coats around the backs of the chairs. 

“Hello?” Shouted Josh uneasily. “Is anyone there?”

“Hello!” Shouted Gabe as if Josh couldn’t be heard in the empty halls, receiving just as much silence in return. Beginning their search for life, the duo carefully made their way through the familiar halls, laid with eerily clean fuzzy velvet carpeting. As their search went on, the hallways remained desolate, and even desperately banging on room doors returned no result. 

After some time of thoroughly searching the lodge to no avail, Josh and Gabe decided to swipe some keys from the check-in desk and see what they could find in the rooms. But they still found nothing. The rooms appeared frozen in time, some with various luggage scattered around, and others with still-damp towels hanging in the bathrooms. As they gave up their search and retired back to the lobby, they finally came to terms with their helplessness. 

“Where did everyone go? And are we next?” Josh stuttered out, now on the verge of nervous bawling.

“This is so unbelievably screwed up,” Gabe said, his voice shaking. 

“We can’t leave, or we’ll probably disappear on the mountain like those other skiers. But if we stay, what if whatever did this comes back? And we have no idea what that ‘whatever’ is! It’s certainly not a bear! How do we save ourselves when we don’t even know what we need to save ourselves from!? What the HELL DO WE DO!?” Josh stammered, now hysterical.  

“There’s only one thing it looks like we can do,” replied a stone-faced Gabe, clearly struggling to maintain his composure. “We need to hide through tonight and the next day, to see if anyone or anyTHING comes back to check their job. Then we can figure stuff out from there.” With that, the two terrified boys hid in the very first place that crossed their minds: Two kitchen cabinets.

 The next morning Gabe awoke with his back and neck aching. He had no way of knowing how long he had been cowering in the tiny cabinet, but he did know that he was still too terrified to emerge. Sitting in terrified discontent, he suddenly heard a voice cry out from the lodge lobby. 

“Hello! Is anyone there? Hello?” came the coarse voice. Gabe’s fear instantly vanished, and beside himself with elation and relief, he sprang from his cabinet and banged on Josh’s cabinet. 

“JOSH! Wake Up! We’re saved!” Gabe exclaimed, as Josh disgruntedly rolled out. 

“Don’t you think it could be a trick?” Josh whisper-shouted to Gabe, with the veins in his eyes throbbing red. He had obviously stayed up all night, either too uncomfortable or too terrified to sleep.   

“Josh, at this point I do not care. We’re screwed either way,” replied Gabe. “But if you want to rot next to the pots and pans, that’s your business.” Upon this proclamation, Gabe swiftly sprinted from the kitchen to the lobby, shouting “We’re here! Help! Get us out of here!” 

When he reached the lobby, his eyes were blessed by a group of six men clad in blazing orange jackets, with packs laden with rope and equipment on the ground at their sides. They all turned in unison to look at the sight that had just entered the room.

“Woah buddy, you look rough. Now, what the hell happened here? Where is everyone?” asked the man with the gravelly voice in bewilderment. “We got a little worried when the train never came down yesterday morning, but this is NOT what we expected to find.” 

“I am just as confused as you are,” replied Gabe, “and far more terrified. My patrol partner and I came down from the slopes last night and everyone was gone. Everyone. With no clue where they’d gone, or any sign of conflict. Now, please, we all need to get out of here NOW!” 

“Is your partner still here?” asked one of the other men.

“Yes,” Gabe said, deciding to reveal Josh’s position with no second thought. “He’s in the kitchen.” With that, the group headed to the kitchen to collect Josh, and after a brief respite to prepare their packs for the return journey, the eight men started off down the mountainside, following the now-defunct railway. Perhaps if the wind had been blowing in their direction on the descent, they could’ve heard the multitude of screams penetrating from deep within the mountain range.