The next few days were fairly uneventful. They continued hiking through the snow, to Jokkmokk. At least the snowstorms had ceased and nothing dangerous happened.

A concern of them, was that supplies were quickly running out and in 4 days they hadn't seen a single house on the long road. So looting a house was no option. Eating food in rations was also no option either. Since Esther stated that she always required 3 meals a day.

Eventually, they came down to the last can. Esther sighed and told Sven that they would share it together. As they set up camp for night, Esther looked for wood while Sven constructed a small shelter. This was usually how they had done it in the past days.

When Esther returned, she almost dropped the wood that she gathered. She couldn't believe her eyes. "Sven! Did you eat the last can, seriously?"

He sighed and looked down. "I am sorry, I was just so hungry and I-"

Esther interrupted him. "You absolute idiot! What kind of moron are you? I thought we would share it!"

Sven looked down, it seemed like he felt ashamed.

Esther quickly dropped the wood and sat down, she put her hands onto her head. "I am gonna die out here..." She whispered.

Sven put his hand on her shoulder. "It's just food, you won't die-"

Esther quickly put his hand off her shoulder and shook her head. "You don't know my condition Sven... I thought I told you that I required 3 meals a day?"

He nodded. "Yes, but I thought you just required that to be healthy?"

Esther shook her head. "To be healthy? Clearly you have misunderstood something: I require 3 meals a day to live Sven. Otherwise I get a hypo and these could be fatal, especially now."

Sven looked confused. "What's a hypo?" He asked.

She sighed. "It's when my sugar values drop too low. First I begin shaking and feel fatigued and disoriented. The shaking and that feeling worsen as time moves on and my sugar values continue to drop... Till I eventually can't do anything anymore and drop unconscious..."

"B-but you'll wake up right?" Asked Sven concerned.

She looked down. "No, that means the end. No way you could get me to a hospital. Once I faint, it's over. My sugar values would continue to drop until I die..."

The talk quickly became silent after that. Sven sat a little uneasy, as if he didn't know how to react. "How long until you fall unconscious then?" Asked Sven eventually.

Esther thought for a moment. "That depends really, could be a couple of days... But it also could be this night, right now."

Sven seemed shocked upon hearing that. "I-I am so sorry for eating that, I didn't know. Otherwise I would have left the food for you."

Esther wasn't sure how to respond. She thought it was very selfish of him. Then again, perhaps she had to notify him sooner about it? She shrugged. "It's okay... I didn't tell you specifically that it could be fatal." She at least wanted to make Sven feel more at ease. If she would faint, then she didn't want to make him feel like it was his fault.

She sighed. "Anyways, let's just ignite the fire and go to bed. We'll go scavenging tomorrow. Let's just pray we come across another house."

Sven nodded and put together a bundle of wood and used his magnesium stick to set the bundle on fire. After doing so, they both grabbed their sleeping bags.

The next morning, Esther woke up very early. She was feeling weird, yet it was a feeling she knew way too well. Her hands were shaking and she felt quite dizzy. "You have to wake up now!" She screamed as she tried to wake up Sven.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly. "It's happening Sven, I am having a hypo, we need to leave right now." Sven reacted in shock and immediately began to pack his luggage together.

As they were ready, they quickly left their camp and began walking. Esther was shaking on her legs and eventually she stepped beside the road to rest under a tree.

Sven looked quite confused. "What's wrong, Esther? Are you alright?"

She shook her head. There was sweat on her forehead and she appeared pale. "Can't... Walk... Anymore." She said as if she was out of breath. "Leave... Me..." Tears appeared on her face.

Was this really how she was going to meet her end? Now that she finally seemed to have found purpose in life? It seemed like a tragic fate, but Esther was ready to accept it, be it with tears in her eyes. Of course she didn't want to die like this.

Sven shook his head. "What are you talking about? I'll quickly go looking for food. Maybe there's a house not too far from here. Remain here and I'll scout ahead."

Esther tried her best to smile, despite her condition. "Don't... Worry..." She said.

Sven shook his head. "I am gonna save you. I'll be right back!"

He walked quickly down the road. He was in state of panic and the adrenaline kicked in.

Eventually, he came across an old, traditional Swedish house. Sven sighed. "There better be food in this house." He thought to himself.

He knocked on the door to see if anyone was inside. Eventually, an old man in his 60s opened the door. He looked quite confused at Sven. "What is it that you want?" He said aggressively.

"Please sir, my friend is dying. She needs food quickly can you give me some, preferably sweet food that doesn't have to be cooked-" He said quickly, he was interrupted by the old man however, who shook his head.

"Absolutely not. Who do you think you are? I need food myself! 3 meals per day at least."

Sven didn't know what to do and in one final bid, he dropped on his knees. "Please sir. You don't understand. You need 3 meals per day to be comfortable. But my friend needs 3 meals per day to survive. Please give me food, sir!"

The old man shook his head once more. "No way! There are enough people out here already! And if she can't survive out here, she doesn't deserve to live."

Sven stood up again. All kinds of things were going through his head. He felt so angry and sad... This couldn't be the end of his new friend, right? He needed her in his life.

Eventually the old man pushed Sven away. "Just buzz off, will you?"

It was the final straw. The anger in Sven's head finally took over and he charged back at the man, pushing him to the ground. He could barely say "What are you doing?" Before Sven was on top of him.

In his anger and powerlessness He beat the old man, again and again. He kept trying to break free of Sven's grip, but with each punch he moved less and less... And eventually, he stopped moving.

Sven's breathing quickened and he stood up. He looked at his hands and shook his head. "My god... What have I done?" He asked himself.

Nevertheless, he didn't think too much about it. He had a friend to save, after all.

He quickly went to the kitchen and searched all cabinets... Nothing. He panicked, what if he had no food either? He saw a door under the stairs though and quickly opened it. It in it was a small room, barely lit room... Filled with food.

"You old bastard!" He said out loud. "You could just have given some to us!" He looked around and took a dozen cans with him. Paying special attention to take sweet food. The man had enough food to survive on his own anyway, so he didn't have to worry about taking too much with him.

Quickly, he left the house and with his heart racing, he ran to Esther. Hopefully he wasn't too late. Eventually, he came across her again... But she seemed asleep?

He quickly shook her by the shoulders. "Wake up Esther!" He screamed.

She slowly opened her eyes. "Sven... You... Returned..." She managed to get out. "Got... Food?"

"Yes I do." He said. He opened up a can of apple sauce and wanted to give it to Esther. She was too weak to grab it however.

He had to feed her with a spoon. It took all her power to eat it and she almost shocked on it. But eventually, she managed to eat a good portion of the can.

"When will you get better?" Asked Sven worried. "About... 30... Minutes." Muttered Esther.

He sighed. Hopefully she wouldn't pass out in those 30 minutes? Sven sat beside her and waited.

Eventually, he saw how her condition became better and better. The shaking became less severe and her speech became better. Eventually, she was able to talk normal again. Though the shaking hadn't stopped completely.

She smiled at Sven. "Thank you for saving my life, Sven. But where did you find food?" She asked

Sven thought for a moment. "I eh... came across an empty house. They still had cans inside. I took everything I could."

Esther was quite skeptical. "An empty house? In this region? Seems rather strange to me... But it could always be."

"Anyways, thank you for saving me, Sven. I am glad that you decided to take action."

Sven sighed. "No need to thank me, I don't want to lose you, after all. I don't know you for long, but you honestly mean so much to me."

Esther smiled. "You mean so much for me as well."

Eventually, Esther recovered completely and the two were ready to continue their way to Jokkmokk. Just three more days of walking and they would reach their destination.