his face is a death mask: eyes half-open and dull, lips a purplish blue, bloodless skin crystallizing as it ices over. the wind howls around him. the snow sticks to his eyelashes and hair without melting.
what a beauty. hand me the transmitter.
he's coming around fine.
anne marie! stop!
don't move.
goddamn trappers!
takes nerve, laying traplines on restricted land.
he still might be around. i saw fresh tire tracks coming in.
man and a jeep, about a mile and a half down.
stay here.
if i unzip my parka, stick this out the window.
you got two counts against you -- trapping out of season and poaching on restricted land.
i got your plate number, asshole. maybe you feel like spending a few months in jail.
you leave and don't come back, that's the end of it.
bastards took off, though, didn't they?
thanks.
-- we appreciate the company. anne marie's getting cabin fever already.
mobile arctic dwelling -- mad.
best thing is, meyerling has to chase around to find us.
hey, sam, look over there. black and white smoke.
we'll go with you.
they had emergency locater transmitters, but didn't use them. maybe because they didn't bring batteries.
any idea who could've done it?
i'll go into town with you.
no way can he get away with this. i'll be back by tonight.
ben corbett?
kenai at the general store asked me to bring these. didn't expect we'd already met.
desmond.
six months. ecological study for northland oil.
yeah. maybe so.
sure.
sure did. he was one of the trappers we rousted from the haul road.
he was sitting in a hot tub with a hooker.
can't help myself. corbett's type always pisses me off. oh, i found this at the post office. had your name on it.
you were looking at it in the catalog. don't know where you can wear it.
you make it sound like a prison sentence.
it's exactly what you meant.
-- permanently?
i thought i should check our emergency transmitters.
avalanche season is coming.
prolonged darkness makes people crazy.
come here.
that's what we should've done in the first place.
-- to take you to jail? it'll be my pleasure.
i'll get you there all right.
you want to try that handgun against this rifle, go ahead.
a daughter in oregon.
i better call in.
thought of everything, huh?
-- killing is what you know. pack some food while i prep for the flight. i'm sure not gonna let him go.
-- cheechako?
let's go.
fairbanks is a three-hour flight. i'll be back by dinnertime.
be careful, okay?
how the hell were they smart enough to find us?
i needed a pilot's license to take the job here, so i got one in six weeks.
sounds like professional jealousy.
stay put!
be no different than shooting a rabid dog.
next time you want to kill yourself, don't include me.
with light clothing and no supplies, this is nobody's territory.
let's go.
that's right. you're not.
forget it.
last time i checked the flight plan, we were forty miles northeast of devil's cauldron. southwest is that way. no sense waiting for a goddamn taxi.
it'll be interesting, trying to build a fire without any wood.
i don't plan on dying.
we'll stop here, dig out a snow shelter.
-- turn around.
we're not sitting here 'til november. there's a cargo plane coming to devil's cauldron in four days, and i'm putting you on it.
i've been on ice like this when i was a kid, skating. spread your weight, keep moving. go on.
i'm right behind you.
it wasn't my idea to crash the plane.
we've got another two hours of daylight.
forget it. it would take days.
it could blow over tomorrow, too.
i just want this over with.
you know meyerling?
i'll hold onto that.
i'm here to do my job.
don't fucking insult me.
yeah?
too bad we're heading west.
you don't get it, do you?
stop!
hobbles after him, cussing bitterly to himself.
you're not going to slow us down! keep moving!
stay awake! you want to go hypothermic?
how many do you see?
you don't feel cold?
wake up, goddammit! you've got classic hypothermia -- crankiness, fatigue, can't feel your coldness. worst thing you can do is fade out.
one more thing -- this doesn't mean we're going steady.
stay still.
emergency transmitter? all your gear is back at wilder's.
it was blown up with the plane.
how? nobody this far north monitors that frequency until avalanche season. besides, i'm surprised a tough guy like you uses fancy electronics.
read a lot of adventure stories when i was a kid.
an appetite. maybe you won't die after all.
nome? i figure you'd be a whaler, coming from there.
killing wildlife not good enough anymore, so you go on to bigger and better things.
yeah, it is fucked up -- but it's not too late to keep that from happening here.
what do you know about people? you live like an animal! a savage goddamn throwback like you belongs out here, as far away from the rest of us as possible.
don't push me!
they think you're in fairbanks. if not, they still won't find you before the plane comes tomorrow.
i already have.
we'll wait here until nightfall. no fire, no tarp.
maybe. maybe not. i'll tell you what scares me -- stumbling through life, like an ordinary jerk. that's why i want to work on the front lines, where what i do means something. soon as i got here, i realized my job was bullshit. oil company propaganda. i was ready to leave, then i thought screw it, i'll outsmart them, do the work anyway. i don't know anymore. maybe i am fooling myself. that's what i'm afraid of most of all.
have you heard anything from the girl staying with me, anne marie?
look, neff, i've got ben corbett with me --
back at my place.  he, uh, broke his leg.
-- i'm putting him on the plane to fairbanks, eleven tomorrow.
corbett ruined my two-way. go to my place on the haul road, tell anne marie i'm okay and to sit tight.
thanks. don't tell anyone you saw me.
you broke the radio, remember?
i liked you better frozen. you didn't talk so much.
all i want want is you in jail --
okay. you can talk to him. but i'll keep the keys with me.
cut the shit, leo. i might need your help.
i won't let a killer walk!
what does this matter to you?
i should release corbett because you want some votes?
some day these people'll wake up, and you'll be the first one they'll run out of here.
shit.  do what you have to. so will i.
just stay out of my face until i'm gone!
emergency transmitter? what happened to signal mirrors or two-tone smoke fires?
no way they'll find you on a five-minute signal. and no way -more-
i need to rent a cabin.
will you rent me a cabin, or not?
-- here's a hundred dollars. and if you or anyone else will back me up on this --
if you have to ask, you wouldn't understand.
you can't stay here. go back to the turtle. i'll meet you back there in a few hours.
i'll tell you everything later.
here. a transport plane is due at eleven. once i put him on it, it's all over.
there isn't one, unless corbett's men get here before the plane does.
please, anne marie, you being here only complicates things.
take the snowmobile, park it behind wilder's cabin.
yeah. sorry i barked at you last night.
i'd sure like that favor you offered a while back.
what are you talking about?
there'll be three, four men at the most. i have some backup, nothing will happen.
you don't care enough about sam to --
nothing broken. c'mon, we have to hurry.
shut up!
we're moving. let's go.
you'll catch a chill by that dumb waiter shaft. sit on the cot. keep this pointed at him if i get preoccupied.
answer and i'll shoot!
say you're okay. tell them i'll kill you if they rush us.
why offer a buyoff with your gunmen waiting outside?
your infrared camera?
i've got an idea. we'll have to work fast.
when you ran off, i thought you'd keep going 'til you were back home in washington.
that'll keep him out of the cold.
he'll live.
fuck you.
keep back.
neff, you know better than this.
anybody moves and i'll shoot!
can you walk?
let's get out of here.
how come you didn't let him shoot me?
we'll get you to a hospital, soon as we get to fairbanks.
you're wrong. everything we do leaves its mark. you said it yourself -- there are hundred- year-old footprints in the tundra.