It always reminded me more of Ambrose Bierce’s “The Affair at Coulter’s Notch”, from 1891’s Tales of Soldiers and Civilians: some event requires that protagonists take certain actions, with horrible consequences that they* are far too readily aware of but from which they can’t see a means of escaping.
[*] The crew, in the case of Cold Equations, Captain Coulter in Bierce’s story.
