A Tale of Two Friends

Mark and Thanos sat next to one another while flying to Vegas for a boy's trip in the year 2018. Mark had his headphones in while listening to the Destiny soundtrack on repeat while Thanos looked all around the plane from the view from his seat. "I wish this flight would hurry up and land...I hate being this high up in the sky" Said Thanos while taking deep breathes to calm himself. The plane was currently flying over Denver and the ice mountains were just below everyone on board. Mark took out one of his headphones after seeing Thanos was in a panic. "Hey bro, it is going to be all good don't worry about it! These planes are built for safety and nothing bad could possibly happe-" Mark was cut off by a loud explosion on the right-wing of the plane. A flock of birds flew straight into the engine and caused an outburst. The pilot could then be heard over an intercom. "Attention passengers we are unfortunately free-falling from the sky and are heading straight for the snowy Denver mountains! I would start praying if I were all of you because this one is not looking good" Said the pilot before turning off his mic and flipping on the fasten seatbelt light for the plane. Thanos was screaming like a woman at the top of his lungs, as was everyone else on the plane. "We are going to die, Mark! You said nothing was going to go wrong you fuck!" Thanos yelled in anger. Mark said nothing and just closed his eyes as Destiny played on in his ears. Minutes later, the entire plane crash-landed in the mountains with only few survivors, Mark and Thanos being two of them.

Mark reaches for his seat belt, unbuckling himself from the seat that had been hanging from the mangled wreck of the plane. He hit the ground with a heavy THUD. Right on top of the body of a flight attendant. Or at least half of a flight attendant. He looks up and around, unsure of his surroundings. In the distance he sees a large purple mass partially covered in snow. Mark gets up and slowly hobbles over to the mass. It was Thanos! Something was wrong though, he wasn't breathing. His skin was cold as ice and his heart rate was slower than a snail in molasses. Mark knew he had to do something to get Thanos warm again, but what? He panicked, pulling Thanos back towards the plane, hopefully using it as a form of protection from the elements. Mark got to work finding anything he could to warm up Thanos. Jackets, blankets, shirts, scarfs, anything. After wrapping up Thanos with as much material as he could he realized he didn't leave any for himself. He knew the only way to stay warm in the cold would be to use Thanos and the clothing he found for warmth. He climbed into the mass of blankets and clothing on top of Thanos and placed Thanos' arm over him like a child sleeping on their parents chest. With the heat between them now keeping them warm, he felt Thanos breathe deeply, waking up from the crash and cold. Thanos looked down and saw Mark cuddled into him, the two of them covered in everything possible to keep them warm.

Mark noticed Thanos was awake and nodded his head in acknowledgment. "I kept you warm while you were out man. It's snowing like crazy right now. We need to find shelter." The large man sat up from his big spoon position and looked around, seeing nothing but barren white land and the debris from the crash. Wrapping half of clothing around mark and the rest for himself, Thanos stood and made his way to the nearest part of the plane, fighting against the freezing winds and stinging shards of ice pelting his purple skin. Mark followed closely as they entered a small portion of what most-likely used to be economy class, judging by the tightly packed seats which were mostly shredded, burnt, or covered in frost. The two men sat and huddled between a couple of seats where there was an overhang of metal that shrowded them in slight warmth and cover. It wasn't much, but anything was better than the cold world out there. Mark got to work on searching in the little pockets of the seats, finding a stashed packet of crackers. He turned to Thanos and offered them to him. "It's okay. I have enough mass in my chin to burn through to last a couple of hours. Eat up, human." Thanos said, nudging them back towards Mark. "Thank you." The latter said, indulging himself in the dry, brittle pieces of bread. They sat there wordlessly for another couple minutes before the purple man began to speak, "So, what were you looking forward to for the Vegas trip?" Thanos asked as he tried to get him and Mark's mind off of the dire situation. "The booze, food, and gambling obviously." Mark coughed out a snicker while he shivered, his fingers growing colder by the minute. "Me too, me too. The booze especially We could use some right now huh?" Thanos said and they both chuckled into a deep sigh. "We're not gonna make it... are we?" Mark turned to Thanos, looking him sincerely in the eye. "No Mark. We aren't." They both sat in silence once again, both staring up at the metal and snow surrounding them. Minutes passed, and minutes turned into hours as they grew weaker and weaker. Mark finally spoke one last time. "It's been good, pal." And there was silence once more.

Suddenly, a chopping noise could be heard from high above the two. A helicopter with a rescue crew had just arrived at the crash scene. Mark and Thanos both squinted their eyes as they stared into the spotlight being shined down upon them. "T-Thanos...is that Heaven..." Mark muttered to himself. Using the last bit of strength he had left in him, Thanos pushed himself up from the ground and put the remaining blankets on Mark to keep him warmer from the cold. He stumbled out of the plane crash and waved his arms in clear view of the helicopter. "We're right here! Please come and save us!" He yelled to the rescue crew up above. A long rope ladder fell down from the sky and landed near Thanos. "I have one more guy who survived please save him too!" He yelled once more while pointing into the plane. A few men from inside the helicopter had come down and surveyed the area, saving Mark and Thanos from death. An hour later, in the helicopter, Thanos looked down at his unconscious friend who was wrapped with as much coverage as possible. "We're getting to go home Mark...getting to go home"

One Week Later...

Mark is still in the ICU for frostbite and lack of oxygen to the brain. He had become unresponsive upon arrival at the hospital while Thanos made a partial recovery. Every day Thanos would sit in Marks room, waiting for him to wake up. Mark however, never did wake up. His actions to prioritize Thanos in the snow left him exposed for too long to the cold, freezing him to the point of no recovery. Thanos was left with the quilt knowing he was alive because of Marks sacrifice, now seeing his friend alive but not able to truly live a life anymore. He was faced with the hardest choice. To continue with treatment in hopes of Mark recovering, or to follow the doctors suggestion and pull the plug. He looked to the Doctor, tears in his eyes fighting back crying. "The hardest choices require the strongest wills"......