A Treasure Hunt

We trudged across the ever mounting heaps of snow and rock, the slope becoming steadily higher as we continued to follow Rick on the barren lands. All those who accompanied me, were a group of beginners like myself, who had just made it to the base, and their proper recruitment was still to be decided. Hamza and some of the other boys were also part of the group, however, we deliberately kept our distance to avoid any suspicion.

We sat down on the snow, our thick, insulated clothing providing us the necessary protection from the cold, but the chill still seeped through the bones making me shiver every once in a while. Perhaps, it was not the cold that made me shiver, but the fear of what we were going to face at the end of the hike, or perhaps both.