The Longest Dark

[Wastelander]

I sometimes wonder what would happen to researchers in Antarctica if the events of TLD took place, so I decided to write a story about it

This story is about a fictional research station somewhere on the coast of Antarctica, funded and staffed by the EU. Hope you enjoy!

(Will be updated at least once a week)

(All characters in this story are fictional. Every similarity to real persons, living or dead, is not intended and pure coincidental.)

 

Part 1 - Blood Price

 

Day -1 - Around noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Living quarters

"No, Mum, I'm not getting into anything stupid. Can't you just trust me for a second?" Alicia pleaded to her mother over the slow, lagging video-chat.
"Honey, I trust you!" her mother replied. Her hair was graying rapidly as she got closer and closer to her sixties. "But, you all alone on that... empty continent..."
"It's not empty, mum." Alicia replied and lit herself a cigarette. "There's... all kinds of things! You know, like, penguins, seals, whales, all sorts of thing!" While she was near her thirties, Alicia never lost her childish curiosity and youthful energy. Perhaps that was why she wanted to work in Antarctica in the first place.
Her mother sighed. "Well, it's not like I can stop you right now anyway. You know, I had always hoped you would just... find yourself a nice, young man here in London, buy a nice appartment, give me grandchildren..."
"Mum, we've been over this." Alicia angrily replied - this must have been at least the sixth time in her four months 'on the ice' that her mother talked about grandchildren. "You know what, I'll talk to you later. Gotta head out to my cameras later. See ya, mum."
Not giving her mother the opportunity to reply, Alicia closed her video-chat client and stubbed out her cigarette. With a sigh, she got up, left her room and made her way to the station gates to get some appropriate clothing and the keys for the snowmobiles.

She did not know that she would never speak to her mother again.

Day -1 - Early evening - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Radio room

The door to the radio room slid open as Pierre entered. His official job title was 'janitor', but he was much more to the small station - technician, handyman and, occasionally, stillman. Well into his fifties, his beard was a sight to behold as was his belly. "Something broken?" he asked with a strong french accent.
"Ja, things are getting weird here." Wolfgang, the German engineer answered with a similarly strong accent. While English had always been the Lingua Franca of the station, some still struggled with it. "I am getting all kinds of strange readings on the radar, the compass is kaputt and quite frankly, nothing these machines spit out makes any sense." Wolfang was more puzzled than frustrated - broken equipment was a regular occurence, but whatever happened to all the machines in the radar room was something new. "Want to take a look at it?"
"That's my job, right?" Pierre sighed and took a seat in front of the various screens. What he saw left him as puzzled as Wolfgang - according to the radar, something the size of a small city came at them, and the compass pointed into different directions every couple of seconds. "Weird." he said. "Guess I'll just have to do a cold start on them all, and we need a new compass. You're right, this is broken."
Wolfgang sighed and got up. "Can I leave this to you then? Officially, my shift has ended over an hour ago, so I hope I can at least get some leftovers from the cafeteria."
"Oui, mon capitaine." Pierre jokingly answered. "I'll try and fix this."

Day -1 - Early evening - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Outside

Sanna Pekkanen's long, blond hair flew in the airstream around her snowmobile as she sped up just a little more to get back to the station on time. She always enjoyed such rides - no matter how mundane the reason, she always volunteered. Today, she had brought in samples of seal dung. But she didn't care as long as she got to drive a snowmobile. Back in school and university, people had made fun of her short, thin stature, calling her 'stick' and 'string bean', but here in Antarctica, she was on top of things, speeding up, kicking up the ice.
Well, and transporting the seal dung.
Her father had noted her natural talent for driving snowmobiles when she was merely 12 years old and he took out her out to the woods to hunt with him - her mother had died at her birth, and her father didn't really know how to bond with a girl, so he did the same with her as his father did with him back then. He got injured by a moose, and Sanna drove him to the nearest hospital. He was impressed - he never even instructed her how to use a snowmobile.
Such memories never failed to make Sanna smile. She was arguably the youngest member of the station at merely 21 years old, and she only got there because her professor - and mentor - Dr. Rasmussen took her with her.
"Pekkanen, what's your distance?" Dr. Rasmussens voice came over the small radio attached to Sannas helmet.
"I'll be there in around five minutes, Dr. Rasmussen!" she replied eagerly - she was having fun, she was doing something useful and there'd be something great for dinner afterwoods. All in all, a pretty good day.
"Good, nice work." Dr. Rasmussen answered. "Just get these samples to the lab, then you're finished for today. Having fun outside?"
"Roger that, over and out." Sanna replied and sped up even more - that slight hill just looked to inviting...

Day -1 - Early night - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Bar

Sanna headed straight to the bar after showering, wearing loose jogging-pants and a t-shirt, her hair still wet. She waved to Alicia who had already secured a seat at the bar where Pierre was already pouring the two ladies their usuals - vodka for Sanna, whiskey-cola for Alicia.
"Here's to us!" Alicia toasted to Sanna and Pierre. Both answered in kind, and after the first gulp Pierre said "Things are getting weird in the radar room."
"What's up?" Alicia asked - the first drink was already loosening her tongue. Sanna, however, kept her typical finnish distance to everything.
"I have no idea, to be honest." Pierre replied. "The radar gives out all kinds of weird signals, and the compass is broken. I've never seen anything like this. On top of that, when I inspected the equipment everything seemed fine, nothing was broken."
Alicia pondered for a second. "Want my compass for the radar room for the time being? It's better than nothing, and I'm not using the bloody thing anyway for a few days or even weeks - got some samples to analyze with Rasmussen."
Pierre nodded. "That'd be great, thanks. I'll have to requistion some new equipment from the higher ups, but that'll help us out."
Alicia took another gulp of her drink and reached down the pocket of her jacket to find her compass. As she finally found it, she placed it on the counter.
"Mita vittua?" Sanna mumbled.
"Bloody hell?" Alicia followed.
"Mon dieu..." Pierre added.

The compass needle was turning in every possible direction.

Several seconds later, the lights went out - and never went on again.

(So much for part 1, hope you enjoy it so far! Admittedly, nothing really happened yet, but that'll change, I just wanted to introduce the characters first!)

[Wastelander]

(Sometimes I like writing :D)

Day 0 - Midnight - Atlantic ocean, 6500m above sea level -  LC130-J Antarctic Supply Plane, callsign "Valentin-003"

Flight Captain Fatih Karaoglu knew that he was as good as dead when all four turboprops of his plane died simultaneously with the radar, radio and all other instruments. While he could still maneuver the machine, he was still a few hundred kilometers from every bit of land away. All he could do now was to water as soft as possible and pray to Allah that he and his crew were found. In his head, he calculated how far they could make it - he had over 25 years of experience as a pilot - from fighter planes in the Turkish-Kurdish civil war to commercial airliners when he migrated to Germany - and knew what he was doing. Such a complete and total system failure was new to him, however. Not even the lights were working, and he could have sworn that something was burning somewhere. He was dedicated to completing his mission though - after all, he carried a few months worth of food for an Antarctic research station, and without these supplies, things could get very bad very quickly. He adjusted his course so that he might, if he was lucky, crash-land on Antarctica and maybe take a ship back - the plane was lost anyway, so why not?

However, he wasn't lucky. While his idea was good, he still subconsciously relied on the radar, and thus didn't see the other crashing plane incoming. The british Eurofighter Typhoon, far off from its course to the Falkland Islands, crashed into the transport plane and immediately detonated with all of its ordnance and remaining fuel on board. On the plus side, Flight Captain Fatih Karagoglu and his crew didn't feel any pain, and they didn't even have time to scream before being vaporized.

Day 0 - Midnight - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Bar

"Bloody hell, a power outage?" Alicia mumbled in the absolute darkness. She quickly lit her lighter to provide at least some light.
"Seems so." Sanna agreed. "Pierre, can you go check out the breaker box and get the power running again?"
"Oui." Pierre replied. He lit his own lighter and made his way to the breaker box.
"So, what do you think happened here?" Alicia asked Sanna and took another sip from her drink.
"Power outage. Faulty equipment. Typical EU-dumbf**kery, buying the cheapest sh*t available and expecting us to deal with it in the most hostile environment on this planet." Sanna angrily replied. "The people responsible for our budget should spend a week here in our stead, let them see what we're dealing with here!"
Alicia giggled at the thought of fat, old politicians struggling with life in Antarctica. Even though they had a lot of amenities on their station, the inhabitants of Schuman station were still living a far more difficult life than most people could imagine. "Yep, that'd be hilarious!" she agreed.
"By the way..." Sanna began. "The supply plane is coming later today. If the power is out, how do we mark the airstrip?"
"Good thinking, Sanna!" Alicia replied and looked at her mechanical watch. "It should be here in three hours... in two hours we'll go out and light some green flares. That should work. Well, unless Pierre has the electricity back on by then, which I hope for at least."
"Dr. Alicia Greenwood." Sanna intently began. "I know I'm merely working on my Bachelor's here, and quite frankly, I'm working more with you biologists, but my studies in geophysics tell me that something weird is happening right now. The compassess are freaking out and literally all electrical equipment goes haywire? That's not a coincidence, perkele!"
Alicia didn't know enough Finnish to eavesdrop on Sannas conversatons with her father, but she knew when she was swearing. Granted, she cursed all the time, but she seemed serious enough.
"What do you think happened?" Alicia asked curiously.
"I'm not entirely sure." Sanna said, tried to take another sip from her drink only to notice that it was empty. She walked around the counter and poured herself another one, filling up Alicias glass as she went. "Could be a geomagnetic pole reversal. Happens every few hundred thousand years. Geomagnetic storms are also possible. Maybe an extremely intense sun storm. I hope I'm wrong about all of this and this is just some equipment failure, because if I'm right, not only we, but the entire damn world is utterly and thoroughly f*cked."

Day 0 - Midnight - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Utility room

Pierre liked the utility room. It was his bastion and his happy place where he could be alone and quietly ponder about the pictures of his children and his ex-wife. He had also hidden some cookie jars here and there to sate his appetite for sweet things when he was working. The utility room was small and cramped with a workbench, several lockers and toolboxes, the breaker box and some spare parts for the snowmobiles. With the lighter in his hand, Pierre made it to the breaker box. "Eh bien, à la fin!" he murmured.
He didn't have to search for long, as he always kept the new breakers in a box directly under the breaker box in case something like this happened. One by one he exchanged them - until he tried to exchange the main breaker.

A bright light shone through the dirty window as the aurora lit up the night sky and induced a strong current in every circuit in the vicinity.

Pierre screamed as his hands were burned by the current, his muscles spasmed and his heart almost gave out. When he was finally able to release his grip from the breaker box, his heart was beating irregularly, he had soiled his pants and was bleeding from several wounds. In his panic, he had knocked over a locker full of tools and supplies, and he was lying in a sea of serrated blades, screws, hammers, nails and screwdrivers.

Wolfgang was the first to find him, followed only seconds later by Alicia and Sanna who had heard the screams as well.
"Bloody hell?" Alicia was the first to say something as they saw Pierres apparently lifeless body. Wolfgang, who had worked as a first aid instructor when he was in university, rushed past the two ladies and checked Pierres pulse. "He's alive!" he shouted. "Pierre, can you hear me?" he said as he moved Pierre into recovery position.
"Loud and clear, my friend." Pierre answered and smiled.
"Good... now, let's get you to Dr. Avramović ."

[Wastelander]

Day 0 - Past midnight - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Medical Wing

"He is all fixed up now." Dr. Avramović said as he stepped out the operating room. "Granted, there are a few checks I would have liked to make, but we have neither the power nor the equipment to do so...." As he spoke, he stroked his clean-shaven chin. The past years had left their marks in the form of wrinkles, but his face was still that of a friendly neighbourhood-doctor, despite him working in the most hostile piece of land earth had to offer. His medical career had begun during the siege of Sarajevo, and yet he still hadn't given in to the atrocities he had seen.
"He's gonna make it, isn't he?" Alicia asked anxiously. Pierre was part father-figure and part friend for her, as he was for most of the younger people on the station. She nervously wringed her fingers and had to resist the urge to light another cigarette.
"As far as I can tell, he is stable. When dealing with electricity-related injures you can never rule out complications, but, for all intents and purposes, I am positive he will be good. He's a sturdy guy and has survived worse." Dr. Avramović answered. "Now, I suggest we all get some rest and try to figure out the rest tomorrow. If you'll excuse me..."
Wolfgang nodded. "See ya tomorrow."
Alicia and Sanna looked at each other, both trembling. "You know what, Sanna?" Alicia said. "I need another drink, or maybe a few. Are you with me?"
"Perkele, I'm with you." Sanna answered strongly-worded. The two women went back to the bar.

Day 0 - Some time in the night - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Bar

"So, what was it you were saying about... geomagnetism and stuff?" a slightly tipsy Alicia asked. "That it's, like, totally destructive and already bloody overdue?"
Sanna nodded and took another shot of vodka. "I'm not getting into details here, but yeah, the earth's magnetic field is a flimsy little thing. Basically, all sorts of things can happen to it, and we can only predict them with extreme luck. Without this magnetic field, we're pretty screwed though - the sun would eat away our athmosphere pretty quickly, all while boiling us alive with extreme radiation."
"The aurora we saw..." Alicia inquired. "Was that out of the ordinary?"
"Not per-se." Sanna answered and poured herself another shot. "However, it's intensity was... intruiging."
"Now, if we, for a few moments, assume that you are right, and that this has really screwed over everything that runs on electricity - what's gonna happen to us?" Alicia sounded more anxious as she asked.
Sanna seemed to ponder for a few moments. After downing her next shot of vodka she said "We have food for one month, gas for a month and a half. If we're lucky, the plane makes it here and we're good for another few months. After that... assuming we're not rescued by someone, we're pretty f*cked - there's not much food here. We'd eventually compete with other stations. We're only 30 people, the larger stations farther inland can easily reach a couple hundred. Even if we do find enough food, we'll run out of fuel eventually."
"So, basically, all we can do is hope you're wrong?" Alicia inquired.
"I've never hoped to be wrong so much as today." Sanna responded and downed her shot vodka.

Day 0 - Early morning - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Cafeteria

Alexandra Rasmussen was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast when the others were only just getting up. She had not heard much of what happened the night before but got a quick summary from Wolfgang earlier. While she was indeed worried about the loss of power, she was not the type to fret over things she could not change, and thus grabbed a pack of matches, lit the gas stove and started making some fried eggs - 'empty stomachs don't think so well' she used to say.
"Mornin' Dr. Rasmussen..." a visibly hungover Sanna said in flawless swedish. "How's it going?"
"God, god, how about you?" Dr. Rasmussen smirked. "Had one too many last night?"
"Seems so..." Sanna answered. Dr. Rasmussen quickly poured her a glass of orange juice - while the fridge did not work, it was still cold.

A few minutes later, Pierre came in. His hands were bandaged, and he kept a crutch with him just in case. Dr. Rasmussen brought him his breakfast plate. "Thanks, Alexandra." he said. "Sorry, I'm being kind of useless right now-"
"Stop talking, Pierre." she rebutted. "You're not useless, understand? No need to mope around. Now go, eat!"

[Tbone555]

aw man, im loving this! i can't wait to read more, keep up the good work, friend!

[Wastelander]

Thanks!

I'm thinking about adding 'character sheets' as well, possibly hidden behind a spoiler tag or something. Anyone interested?

Anyway, here we go again!

Day 0 - Around noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Utility room

"Here, hold this for a second." Wolfang said as he handed Sanna a toolbox. "I've disconnected all cables, switched everything off, should be safe now. Now to find out why the damned generator isn't doing anything." He rifled through his pockets on his overall and finally produced another set of small screwdrivers. "Stand back, little girl, the fuel and oil might still be under pressure."
"I'm not a little girl, ääliö." she murmured but still went back a few steps. She put the toolbox on a nearby storage box and continued "Why does everyone call me that? You'd think my height is the least that matters here on Antarctica, you know."
Wolfang had quickly dismantled the housing of the generator, carefully placing the screws in a nearby jar to avoid losing them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." he replied without averting his gaze from the machinery in front of him. "You just remind me of my daughter sometimes, that's all."
"Oh, sorry I... didn't know you had a daughter." Sanna coyly answered and fixed her eyes on the tips of her shoes. "I, uuh, sorry..."
"No problem, it's not like I talk about her much." Wolfgang laid down on the ground to get a better view on the inner workings of the generator. "Ah, here we go - the entire thing is fried. The spark plugs look like they aged decades over night, the fuse breakers are pretty much molten and the switches as well. Okay, that's it. I might be able to jury-rig a new ignition system, but it's going to take a while. Also, a soon as something like last night happens it'll probably all be the same again. Still, we might be able to call some other stations or even a ship if were lucky - then we can get the hell out of here."
Sanna nodded. "Okay, uhm... want me to tell the others?" she asked, still eagerly fixated on her thermal boots.
Wolfang went silent for a few seconds. "Yes." he then finally said. "Go tell the others."
Sanna, relieved from this awkward situation quickly left the utility room.
As soon as he heard the door close behind him Wolfgang began to rummage through some lockers to find the ingredients he needed.

Day 0 - Around noon - Around 50 kilometers east of Schuman Antarctic Research Station

Miroslav had been walking for hours, and his feet began to hurt. The remaining coffee in his thermos was slowly getting cold and he was already down to his last energy bar - being huge and muscular, he had always required more food than his peers, and the biting cold of the seventh continent didn't exactly improve his situation. This all would've been bad enough had not his snowmobile broken down. And even a broken down ride would still be bearable if the radio, or, for that matter, anything was working.
The only silver lining was that he could simply follow his own tracks back to the station. He might have lost some valuable research data as his outdoor-laptop went to valhalla with a puff of smoke and some admittedly shiny sparks, but at least he had a way 'home'.
What worried him even more was that his satellite phone, a very expensive piece of technology he bought to keep in contact with his wife back in Poland, had gone down the drain as well. What was happening? Why did everything break at the very same moment?
Frustrated, he threw his fancy, but now useless walkie-talkie to the ground. He had always prefered the larger, older, bulkier radios, the one he used when he was still in the polish army and preparing for a Soviet invasion that never happened. Those things could survive anything.

A question that arose from the intensifying dread within him was - could he?

Day 0 - Past noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Cafeteria

Alicia was no religious person by any means, but she still thanked whatever god was listening to her that they had a gas stove, not an electric one, that could be lit with a lighter or a match should the need arise. That way, she could atleast prepare some tea. With the heaters gone as well, the cold was slowly but surely creeping in - while ambient temperatures were still more than acceptable, the small thermometer near the door was a gentle reminder of creeping doom.
"Ah, Dr. Greenwood, industrious as ever." Dr. Rasmussen chuckled from the frame of said door. "How do you do?"
"As good as possible under these circumsances, Dr. Rasmussen." she replied and poured two cups of tea. While the English spoken had somewhat standardized between the 30 researchers, technicians, janitors and interns on the station, her british mannerisms were still plain obvious to everyone - from her use of the word 'bloody' to the way she prepared and poured tea. Dr. Rasmussen could not shake the mental image of Alicia Greenwood in Buckingham Palace, wearing a fandy dress and discussing public manners and decency with equally refined ladies.
But there she was, as rugged as most people became on the seventh continent, clinging to her sheltered past.
Dr. Rasmussen took a cup of tea and sat down at the counter. "'Du skal nog få kärligheden at föle.' is what we say in Denmark - if you do good things, good will be done to you. At least I hope the translation is accurate, my friend. Have you heard anything from the others?"
Alicia took a sip from her tea. "Pierre is still resting - poor guy's bloody lucky to still be alive from what I heard. Sanna came in earlier and said Wolfgang has begun fixing the generators, so there's a silver lining I guess - if he makes it, that is. Never know, right? Anyway, most people have just holed up in their rooms to conserve energy. Seems like a smart idea at first, but that's not going to make us any wiser."

Her words struck a chord in Dr. Rasmussen - after the inital shock had settled, what would they do now?
 

[Tbone555]

man, i can't say enough how much i love the way you bring the characters to life and make them believable in this. i'd love a character sheet

i have to ask though. greenwood. does she have any kind of relation to Astrid? or is the name just coincidence?

[Wastelander]

Day 0 - Late evening - Schuman Antarctic Research Station - Bar

"So, lads 'n ladies, I've taken stock of everything." Brianna McNeil, marine biologist and one of the more popular cooks on the station, exclaimed towards the gathered station-crew and produced a handwritten list. "Considering we're out of power, I suggest we eat the ice cream and other frozen stuff first. Yes, you heard me right, ice cream. I know, I know, it's gonna get cold, but let's try to eat it before the air temp here in the station drops even further. 'Sides, it's chocolace chip and cookies, I'd eat that in the middle of the antarctic night!"
Sanna giggled at the thought of eating ice cream in the great darkness at the south pole, at temperatures of -80°c. However, then she noticed something: "I'm sure someone's mentioned this before, but... isn't night coming pretty soon? What are we going to do for light?"
The antarctic 'night' was actually a season of its own, six months in length. Schuman was far enough north to get at least two two three hours of sunlight a day, but her point was valid.
Wolfang cleared his throat and said "We have a dozen storm lanterns. They don't require electricity, so they work just fine - I personally tested a few of them while I was working on the generator. We have around 20 liters of fuel left, along with 12.000 liters of diesel for the generators. If I get one to work, the others will soon follow. However, I'll still have to replace probably every switch and breaker in the entire station, and another of those... events would surely undo all my work."
"Keep at it anyway, would be enough if we could radio for help." Brianna insisted. She liked taking charge and had the actual leadership qualities for it. "Dr. Avramović, how are our medical supplies?"
Dr. Avramović cleared his throat as well. "Well stocked for a few months. I even found some vitamin pills in the back. Don't get a stomach ulcer and you'll be fine. I also found a huge carton of condoms in case you all get bored."
Sanna snorted into her beer at Avramović's completely serious tone.
"Actually, Ms. Pekannen, I'd also wanted to ask you something. We know you've got some experience with cold weather - any chance of us reaching any other stations on foot?" Brianna inquired.
Sanna descidedly shook her head. "Absolutely not. With the upcoming night, no means of navigation beyond the stars, no working vehicles and no info on how the other stations are even doing, such a trip would be a well drawn-out suicide."
"Figured as much..." Alicia murmured into her irish coffee. "How's the booze?"
"That's our silver-lining." Dr. Rasmussen replied. "We're loaded." her grin was almost unnoticable.
"So, for now all we can do is hope the generators are salvagable, eat ice cream and get drunk?" Brianna asked.
"Seems so." Sanna said. "But what will we do if...."
"No 'ifs', Ms. Pekannen." Brianna insisted. "Let's not worry about that yet."

Day 1 - Past midnight - Around 10 kilometers east of Schuman Antarctic Research Station

The good thing about antarctic winter was that it never really got dark for long periods. The worst thing about that was that Miroslav could only sleep in darkness. Three hours of rest had only made him more tired, and his tent weighed heavily on his back, alongside the myriad of other things he carried with him. He still had not let go of the satellite phone. However, he did see the first sign of the station nearby - the large drill setup used to collect ice samples. Apparently, it had caught fire earlier.
Still, to Miroslav, it felt good to know that he was near home. He was even lucky enough to find a small duffel bag full of chocolate bars, now frozen solid, someone had forgotten there. He placed the bars underneath his jacket and hoped they'd thaw quickly enough. The cold from the chocolate made him shudder, but as soon as he began walking again, it got better.
"When this is done, I'll retire." he mumbled into his beard in Polish. "Never will I leave Europe again."

He just hoped he could leave Antarctica in the first place.

Day 1 - Early morning - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Utility room

After an economic but decidedly weird breakfast - chocolate chip ice cream and fish sticks - Wolfgang began once again to salvage the lockers in the utility room for spare parts he could repurpose. While the station was stocked with some spares for the generators, a lot of them had fried in their boxes, meaning he had to reconstruct the inner workings of the generator from scratch, testing each and every part. He sighed and left the room for a quick cigarette - this was going to take days for even a single generator. The switches and cables he could tell if they worked or not, but some of the more intricate parts were problematic.
As he walked through the hallway to get to the bar, which doubled as a smokers lounge, he nearly ran into Sanna. Sanna was fully dressed up in thermal wear and seemed ready to go outside. "Good morning. Where're you going?" he asked her.
"Checking on the wind turbines a few kilometers from here." she answered. "Not going to do anything with them, just checking out if they can be salvaged or if they exploded or something. Pierre told me once that these things can happen. Said he witnessed it on a farm near Lyon once. Poor maintenance workes up there..."
"Oh yes, such things unfortunately happen." Wolfgang murmured. "Take care, okay?"

[Wastelander]

Quote

i have to ask though. greenwood. does she have any kind of relation to Astrid? or is the name just coincidence?

Unless I somehow manage to conjure up a Vault that is not even on Pandora, this is just a coincidence. I actually hadn't even noticed the similarity, guess it's been a while since I played the game

Quote

man, i can't say enough how much i love the way you bring the characters to life and make them believable in this. i'd love a character sheet

Thanks, will be done

[Wastelander]

Day 1 - Before noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Outside Wind Turbine, 1.5 kilometers north

Even through her face-mask, the air near the shore smelt distinctly of sea salt. It reminded Sanna of her childhood in the outskirts of Kokkola at the finnish west coast. Drawn-out hunting and fishing trips along the shore every winter, camping for weeks at a time... she sighed a bit at the fond memories. She had actually met her first boyfriend on one of those trips, but their love was short-lived - he simply could not deal with a tomboy such as Sanna and was quite surprised to find out she just preferred the great outside over pretty much everything, since her appearance suggested otherwise.
She shook her head to get the memories out of her head and focus on the task at hand. The turbine looked good - it was turning, at least. She knew the fuse box was located at the top of the tower, around 15 meters above ground. The ladder wasn't frozen too bad, but she still secured herself with some climbing ropes and she began her ascent. The wind was picking up, but it was nothing unbearable.
Arriving at the top, she took a moment to enjoy the view - to the north, the seemingly endless atlantic ocean stretched as far as the eye could see. To the south was the station, her - hopefully - temporary home, and beyond that, an endless frozen wasteland underneath which was an entire continent. It was insanely cold - around -60°c if she estimated correctly - and the wind picked up more and more. She quickly opened the fuse box, surprised to see most of the fuses intact. With a satisfied nod to noone in particular, she began her descent.

At this moment, she heard a crash from above.

She looked up and shouted "Perkele!" as the turbine, a mere half meter above her head, had caught on fire. It was only small flames and a bit of smoke for now, but she remembered Pierre's story - she descended more quickly.

That was when she lost control of the rope. The only thing that saved her life was the fresh snow that had fallen in the early morning which cushioned her fall. Still, she blacked out for a few seconds. As she opened her eyes again, the flames above her were intensifying. Both her wrists were sprained from trying to somehow soften the fall, and her left leg was in great pain. However, with her trained survival instincts she began to crawl away from the turbine, ignoring the searing agony in her body, just trying to get as much distance between herself and the burning turbine.

The explosion felt like it was going to shatter her ears.

Burning diesel fuel rained down behind her, next to her, in front of her, and while she could only see the station ahead, she clearly heard increasingly larger pieces of debris crash down around her. Some of the impacts were much too close for her linking, and she attempted to pick up her speed, but to no avail.

Something hard and heavy struck her head, and she immediately lost consciousness.

Day 1 - Before noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Cafeteria

Wolfgang looked up from his work as he heard some strange.... crashing or banging in the distance. He couldn't quite figure out what that noise was, so he decided to investigate in the station. In the cafeteria, he immediately knew something was wrong when he saw a huge crowd of people gathered around the windows.
"Dude, did that thing just explode?"
"Yeah, seems so. Guess there goes the plan with the wind turbines..."
"Sanna!" he suddenly exclaimed and ran to the door, much to the confusion of the other crew members.

He didn't even bother to get properly dressed.

Alicia had just returned from the bathroom as Wolfgang rushed past her. "What's u- okay, don't talk to me, fine." she groaned.
"Hey, Dr. Greenwood, what's up with Wolfgang?" one of the janitors asked. "Is something wrong with Sanna?"
"Sanna? Isn't she checking out the wind turbines?" she asked in reply. "Hey, why do you look at me like that, did I say something wrong?"
One of the janitors lit himself a cigarette. "Shit, I didn't know that. Shit. Shit!"
Worry found its way on Alicias face. "What's up?"
"The wind turbine just exploded."

Alicia ran after Wolfgang, some red haze in her field of view.

Clawing her way up from Hackney, London, through university, the stillbirth, the divorce, all for this?

She wouldn't lose another one today.

 

Day 1 - Before noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Outside Wind Turbine, 1.5 kilometers north

Wolfgang arrived a few moments earlier than Alicia. He had already managed to drag Sanna away from the fire and kept dragging her as he saw the tower of the wind turbine slowly but surely bending under the now uneven weight of the remaining rotor blades - one got blown off and stuck in a pile of snow just a couple of meters away. In that regard, Sanna was lucky - Wolfgang had already confirmed that the engine part that hit her head had only knocked her out, but the rotor blade would have cleanly decapitated her in most gruesome fashion.

"Here, help me carry her!" Wolfang shouted to Alicia. Both already felt the cold creeping up on them, as both went out without any proper clothing. Wolfgang grabbed Sanna under her shoulders while Alicia took her feet. They were lucky that Sanna was so short and thin - she was so light they could carry her in a light jog and arrive at the station doors at a reasonable speed.

Dr. Avramović  had already expected them after he was told what had happened and had ordered a few men with stretchers to the door. The procedure was quick and efficient - Sanna was hauled directly to the medical bay, whereas Wolfgang and Alicia were left in the care of Dr. Rasmussen for suspected hypothermia. Hypothermia was one of the few clinical pictures all station members were familiar with. She handed them each a cup of hot, sugared water and said in a caring, motherly tone: "Here, drink this. How do you feel?" After both had insisted they were fine and just needed to warm up again she continued "That was pretty heroic of you two. And incredibly stupid."
Wolfgang and Alicia, despite both being grown adults, looked to the ground as if they were being berated by their own mother.
"But still, every second counted, right? We need to come up with ways to prevent such things in the future...

 

 

Aaand now, here's the first promised character sheet: Sanna Pekannen!

Name: Sanna Pekannen
Age: 19
Nationality: Finnish
Height: 158.5cm
Weight: 38.7kg
Hair color: Blonde
Eye color: Blueish green

Occupation: Student of Astro- and Geophysics at Helsinki University, intern at Schuman Antarctic Research Station
Other skills: Cold weather survival, driving snowmobiles, climbing, handling her booze
Hobbies: Driving snowmobiles, hunting, fishing, reading, video games
Likes: Vodka, cocktails, being outside, the Mass Effect series, H.P. Lovecraft, Chinese meditation music
Dislikes: Being called 'short', 'beanstalk' and the like, macho-behaviour, admitting weaknesses, boredom, small closed spaces, skiing

Arguably the youngest member of the station, she's earned her place through practical skills, diligent work and her smile that, while rare, is about as contageious as the flu. She came to the station with the last ship three months ago on a 6 month scholarship to gather practical experience in experimental geophysics due to the recommendation of one of her professors. She grew up on the finnish east coast and was always close to nature. Her mother died at childbirth, so her father raised her alone. He didn't know how to raise a girl though, so Sanna became as tomboyish as she is today. She absolutely adores being outside for as long as possible, however, she's slightly claustrophobic. Due to her reckless nature she's accident-prone, but she's way tougher than she looks.

Throughout her life she had been bullied, even in university, for being short and looking no older than 16, thus she can get pretty angry when someone comments about her body type, even if it's without malicious intent.

 

[Wastelander]

Day 1 - Around noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Medical bay

"Patient stable, as far as I can tell." Dr. Avramović told his assistant. "We can't really monitor her heartbeat or anything, but I think she will be fine. We'll check up on her every hour and apply anesthetics as needed."
"Okay, Doc." his assistant replied and scribbled a few notes on a clipboard.
"Damnit... the very day I say that we have sufficient medical supplies she gets herself injured... reckless girl." Dr. Avramović  snorted.
"It was probably unavoidable, Dr. Avramović." his assistant said. "It's not like we have ever experienced a total blackout of the entire station, let alone the entire power production including backup generators, battery packs and even flashlights. Right now, I'm glad nobody here needs a pacemaker. From what I read on the topic, it would be a slow and painful death."
Dr. Avramović nodded. "You check up on Pierre, I'll take care of our little... emergency here. Oh, and if you see him, send Wolfgang to me, I need to talk to him."

Day 1 - Around noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Gym

Janis Papastolos, the stations fire chief and main janitor originaly hailing from northern Rhodos, Greece, needed to get his mind off the recent series of disasters, and for him the only method of doing so was a good, straining workout. While the electric machines didn't work, weights needed no power and thus, he had been lifting ever since he had hauled Sanna to the medical bay. He was obsessed with body building ever since his father read him the ancient greek legends as a kid, and he had always wanted to look like the marble sculptures of his ancestors' great heroes. In recent years, when the financial depression had hit Greece and he was hit by actual depression, workouts had become therapeutic for him - while a lot of his peers took to drugs, alcohol and casual sex, he hit the gym and he hit it hard. When it became time to get a job, firefighting was the main choice for him, but when he stopped getting paid under the guise of 'austerity', he applied to the Antarctic research program which was desperately in need of people who could fight fires effectively, lift heavy things and fix some appliances, a job description which applied to him perfectly. The growing pain in his arms, the sweat running down his forehead, his rising heartbeat - what some others may have shunned was the pinnacle of joy for him, and since he was used to living a frugal life, he adapted to Antarctica way better than most others.
The only thing that saddened him was the injuries his colleagues - or friends, as he considered them - had sustained and that he could not contact his family anymore, which had become increasingly important as his grandmothers health was rapidly deteriorating.
He shook the bad thoughts off and continued with more weights. More pain. More sweat. To become a marble sculpture.
"Hey, big guy." a suddenly appearing Alicia said from the door. "All good?"
"Yes." he replied. "Just a small workout."
Alicia peered over to the weights he had attached to the dumbbell. "Doesn't look small to me, but hey, what do I know. Just wanted to give you a heads up, Sanna will probably be fine - Doc suspects a light concussion. Could've been bloody worse - her hood and beanie softened the impact."
"That is good to hear." he answered. "It was very brave what you and Wolfgang did. But also very stupid."
"Where have I heard this before..." Alicia sighed, rolling her eyes. She craved a cigarette, but at the same time wanted to ration them.
"Sometimes, stupid is better because smart needs thinking. Thinking needs time no matter how smart you are. Sanna had no time."
"For a man who doesn't talk much you say some bloody good things." Alicia smirked.
"I believe true intelligence lies in saying a lot with few words." he stoically replied. "Unfortunately, many people say few things with lots of words."

Day 1 - Past noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Medical bay

"So, Wolfang, you're an engineer, am I right?" Dr. Avramović inquired.
"Yes, that I am. Graduated with a diploma twenty years ago from the Technical University of Berlin." Wolfgang replied, knowing exactly what was coming. Sweat began to form on his forehead.
"So, you had no idea things like this could happen?" Dr. Avramović asked inquisitevly.
"These things can happen, but they're pretty unlikely even given the circumstances, even if the fire control mechanisms fail in the turbine, explosions are extremely rare, especially of this power. Honestly, I hadn't even expected the turbine to be still turning, given all the snowfall." Wolfgang answered defensively. He suddenly realized that he had messed up, and that Sannas injury was at least partly his fault.
"Well, a lot of unlikely things have happened lately, so I am not directly blaming you. Still, while you, as an engineer, have direct authority over all things mechanical and electrical, I'd like you to preserve our human resources. Are we okay?"
"Yes, okay. Sorry, Doc." Wolfgang fixated the tips of his boots, much like Sanna did earlier.
"No need to apologize." Dr. Avramović's tone got softer. "We all make mistakes. If we didn't, we wouldn't have penicillin and that would make my job really hard."
Wolfgang smirked at the comment. "Yeah. And if the earth and heavens hadn't suddenly conspired against us, our jobs would be really easy." he pondered for a second. "Can I see her?"
"She is lightly sedated and a bit dizzy at the time, but yes, I can't see why not." Dr. Avramović agreed. "Come, let's get her to see her savior."

"Wo-wolwwwgaaaaang...." Sanna mumbled as if she was drunk. "I fiiiiing something 'sploded on me..."
"Shhhhh, little girl..." Wolfgang whispered to her. "You'll be fine, no worries. Dr. Avramović is taking care of you."
"Yeeeeesh I knooow...." her eyes were sometimes pointing into weird directions that made Wolfgang worry, but Dr. Avramović nodded at him assuredly to tell him this was relatively normal. "Doooon' call me 'lil girl..."
Wolfgang smiled at her half-unconscious face. "C'mon little girl, I told you you remind me of my little girl..."

 

 

And here we go for the next character sheet:

Name: Wolfgang Schröter
Age: 42
Nationality: German
Height: 176.5cm
Weight: 77kg
Hair color: Graying brown
Eye color: Blueish brown

Occupation: Electrical engineer
Other skills: Raising children, some mechanics, playing the saxophone, shooting, driving
Hobbies: Playing Jazz music, carving, collecting hats
Likes: His daughter, Sanna, cars, model trains (can't afford enough to be considered a hobby), hats, dogs
Dislikes: Divource courts, his ex-wife, beets, haircuts, rock music, cats

Wolfgang had everything and lost even more. After he graduated as an electrical engineer, he joined the german Bundeswehr for two years to gather some experience. He was fortunate enough to not fight in any wars and found gainful employment in a major defense contractor afterwoods where he helped design and build various electrical support systems for mechanized forces. Mere weeks later, he got to know the girl of his dreams and eventually married her. The marriage resulted in a daughter, Julia, but failed a few years after childbirth due to his wife cheating on him. Falling into deep depression and eventually alcoholism, which he kept well hid, he didn't know where to go. He saw his daughter maybe twice per year, and she grew ever more distant to her father who loved her so much. Eventually, a friend of his back from the army approached him, beat him up and told him to 'get up and fight' - after this, Wolfgang applied to the Antarctic Research Program and got accepted for his exceptional skills.

He quickly took a platonical liking to Sanna and decided to take care of her, something she probably has not really noticed given her lack of social skills. However, he will risk his life for her and his colleagues, because what has he got to lose anyway?
 

[Wastelander]

Day 1 - Early evening - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, immediate outside area

Finally, Miroslav had made it back to the station, and what he saw sickened him - the wind turbine in the distance burnt and bent, no lights whatsoever and even the ever-loud fans from the heating system were quiet. It seemed as if the station was dead. Still, he opened the door and entered.

The smell confirmed his suspicions - apparently, the warm water was down as well and thus people hadn't showered. While it wasn't that bad, it was still noticeable, at least to cleanly persons like Miroslav.

Alicia was the first he ran into. "Miroslav!" she exclaimed and tackle-hugged him. "I was worried about you, being all alone in the middle of nowhere!"
"I'm good." Miroslav answered and began to remove is thermo-jacket. "Now, tell me what happened and when we're getting out of here."
Alicia seemed a bit overwhelmed by Miroslav's request. "Well... we actually have no bloody idea what happened, to be honest." she began. "Just all of a sudden everything stopped working. Like, really, everything. Even our flashlights are fried. Wolfgang is attempting to repair a generator. Pierre got himself electrocuted when trying to switch some fuse breakers. Sanna got herself caught in the explosion of the wind turbine. She's stable now, but it was a very close call. The computer system's down, as is the WiFi, phone lines and even the lights and heating. The kitchen works for now since it's a gas-powered stove, but the fridges are down and..." suddenly realizing what had happened during the last couple dozen hours, Alicia caught herself crying just a little bit. "...and, well, we don't know what to do...."

Day 1 - Late evening - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Bar

Brianna cracked open a can of beer. "So, lad's 'n ladies, until Wolfgang gets the generator and radio back on, we're sort of stuck here. As acting head of station, I hereby declare a state of emergency. By that ruling, all scientific experiments are hereby postponed."
"Well, it's not like we have the bloody equipment anyway..." a researcher said from the back.
"True." Brianna added. "Now, our main goal right now should be to stay as healthy as possible until help arrives. We have no idea when that may be, so we may be in this for a few weeks. I hereby declare the following: All station staff is to continue their normal duties - that includes chefs, firefighters, doctors, engineers and so on. Researchers are to support these duties in any way they are capable of. Any objections?"
Brianna let the following silence sit for a few moments and continued "Good. Now, we have ample food supplies, but some items are more perishable than others. Sooner or later, we will have to supplement our supplies with local goods. Now I know the Antarctic Treaties forbid us from hunting for food, but I assume that in such situations as we are in, this will be okay, should the need arise. I hope that we don't have to resort to this and that help arrives soon, but just in case it happens, I take full responsibility."
Wolfgang and the recently released Pierre nodded in unison.
"Therefore" Brianna added. "I am hereby giving Sanna Pekkanen authority over the key to the gun locker - she's the most skilled shooter in here, don't argue with that. As soon as she gets released from the med bay, she will be the one responsible. Any objections?"
A few hands were raised. "Shouldn't this responsibility go to someone who has more experience?" Miroslav asked.
Brianna smirked. "I have all your CVs on file, so trust me, I did not give her that responsibility for the hell of it. If she fails, I will concede my mistake and give it to someone of your choice. Deal?"

Day 1 - Midnight - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Medical bay

In the middle of the night, Sanna woke up with a headache worse than any she had ever encountered. Her head felt dizzy, the room was turning in all kinds of weird directions and she felt sick. The room was absolutely dark as the blinds had been closed. She panicked for a split second before feeling a box of matches on the table next to her. She lit a match, being blinded by the sudden light for a few seconds, and looked around.

At the far end of the bed laid a written note which she couldn't read due to the darkness. On the table next to her stood a bottle of water and some more written notes. On her left side on the ground was a bucket - she had a faint idea what it was for - and a pair of slippers. She herself wore a thick hospital gown and jogging pants. While she could not remember changing, she also could not remember how she even ended up in the medical bay in the first place. The last thing she remembered was getting dressed to check out the wind turbine...

She decided to get up and take a closer look at things when the match went out. Her head spinned as she put her feet out of the bed, the ground was painfully cold and she almost lost conscious again. However, she managed to force herself to stay awake long enough to put on the slippers and get up into the biting cold. Her memory came back slowly - something had damaged the stations electrical devices. The heating was off. Water pressure would soon fall. She lit another match and took a closer look at the thermometer - 5°c. She looked around again. Someone had left her a change of warm clothes in a small bin near the window.

After she was done dressing, still shaky on her feet and feeling nauseous, she climbed back into the bad. This proved finally too much for her head - she vomited into the bin to the left of her bed. After she was done, she managed to wash out the bad taste with a few big gulps of water, but the bad smell persisted.

Sanna sighed. Not only was she confined in such a small place with nowhere to go, she was also locked in with the smell of vomit.

This was going to be a long night.

[Wastelander]

Day 2 - Early morning - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Medical bay

Mere minutes after Sanna had managed to fall asleep she was woken up again by Dr. Avramović. "Rise and shine, little girl." he said. "Time to take your blood pressure!"
"I'm not a little girl." she snarled. "And I just fell asleep. Does your fancy hippocratic oath not forbid waking the sleeping?"
"Well, at least you seem conscious and strong enough to be snide, so your concussion can't be this bad." Dr. Avramović smirked as he fastened a few non-electrical instruments to her body. "So, how do you feel?"
"The room smells like a russian bar after Putin's birthday, my head is spinning, I can't see straight and I have a headache worth a genocide." she answered irritatedly. "Also, I'm hungry and nauseous at the same time, I have to go to the bathroom and I need to wash my hair. I'd also like to find out if I dressed myself in that hospital gown or if someone else did it for me. If someone else did it for me, I don't want to know who, I just want to forget."
"Worry not, I had one of my female colleagues do this." Dr. Avramović said. "As for the pain, I would like to refrain from using any more anesthetics on you - face it, you don't have a lot of body mass, so I'd like to keep the amount of chemicals in your bloodstream to a minimum. Food will be difficult for a while, but I can have some broth and hardtack arranged to come to you. Alcohol is off-limits to you though, and so is leaving this room for anything but bathroom breaks for the next three to fourteen days. I can't guarantee you'll keep it in you, though. On the plus side, you'll get plenty of sleep."
Sanna clenched her fist. "So, basically, I'm trapped in here with nothing to do but eat pseudo-food and look at walls?" she asked angrily.
Dr. Avramović sighed. "Unfortunately, yes, that is the case. However, maybe I can make your day a little brighter by telling you a little story of people who had it worse..."

Spring 1995 - Early morning - Downtown Sarajevo

Bruno Avramović, who would become a doctor later on, ran.
Carrying the stretcher with the injured woman was difficult enough, given that they were only two volunteers, but the sniper did not make their work any easier.
It was a common tactic back then - shoot one in the leg, shoot those who come to help. Civilians or soldiers, the snipers didn't care.
Bruno pondered about her fate as he ran - would she make it? Judging from her overall state, she wouldn't. Her left foot had been almost shot off and only dangled on a few sinews. Her mental state indicated that even... worse things had happened to her.
She was merely trying to find some water for her family. Her mother had already been hit by a sniper and was unable to walk, and her younger brothers were too small to do anything meaningful. She had avoided the areas that were being shelled, but there was no avoiding the snipers.

As they reached their makeshift hospital - an abandoned supermarket where brave volunteers had placed field beds, matresses and even park benches - they put the woman from the stretcher onto one of the makeshift hospital beds. The place was riddled with bullet holes, grenade splinters and burn marks, blood stains and worse completed the picture of total destitution, despair and lawlessness. In a corner, a fire burned where used bandages were boiled to make them usable again. The screams of the injured and the dying would haunt Bruno forever.

The emergency surgery was a failure. While the woman was indeed brave and didn't scream even though they lacked anesthetics, in the end she didn't make it. In that moment Bruno Avramović swore to himself that he would become a doctor, no matter the cost, and that he would never ever let anyone die under his care again.

As the years went on, Sarajevo was liberated and he completed his studies, he had broken his oath to himself a few times - sometimes people could not be saved, others gave up. But he never gave up on them until it was too late.

Day 2 - Early morning - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Medical bay

"I... feel kind of bad now." Sanna said as Dr. Avramović finished his story. "I'm... sorry."
"Don't be." Dr. Avramović responded as he put his medical gear away. "You couldn't have known - I rarely share this story. I shared it with you because I don't want you to be that woman, you know? So, please, bear with what we have."
Sanna nodded. "When can I get out of here?"
"I suppose you will walk just fine in two or three days, but anything beyond that will take at least two weeks to cure. Be glad - a concussion is not to be trifled with. If I had the option, I would have sent you home with the next plane to get you a proper MRI. Even now, I cannot rule out long-term damages to your brain. Who knows, maybe the reckless part of your brain got knocked out."
"Heh." Sanna laughed. "I doubt it."
"A man can dream, can't he?"

[Wastelander]

Day 2 - Noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Cafeteria

Dr. Rasmussen had cooked dinner for the entire station - fish sticks and ice cream, true to her word to use up the frozen food before it perished. However, she had also prepared some broth and hardtack for Sanna and sent Alicia to bring it to her along with a cup of tea to ease her stomach. Inspecting the nearby pantry, she found Briannas initial statement to be wrong - the food they had would not last for months but mere weeks. The plane they had expected but never arrived was supposed to bring them three months worth of canned food, but they had no way of contacting said plane to ascertain whether it would still come or not.

She didn't like it, but she suspected that they had only just begun to grasp whatever had happened to them. She suspected that it would get a lot worse.

She didn't know she was right on the spot about things getting worse.

Day 2 - Past noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Utility room

Wolfgang was once again working on the diesel generator. Judging from the events of the last two days, he was happy the thing hadn't burst into flames or worse - the medical bay could only support so many people, and Sanna, who reminded him of his beloved daughter Julia, was currently in there, partly due to his fault. Because of that, he didn't mind when he burned his hand on the storm lantern he used for illumination, he didn't care when he cut himself on a screw on the inside of the machine and he welcomed it when he got bits of copper wire in the fresh wound - it was painful punishment, and going unpunished was against his personal code of honor.

Once again, he let the little girl down.

The generator was, for all intents and purposes, fried - but that didn't stop Wolfgang. Every switch inside was molten, but he had enough spares. Some wires were burned, but he had spares for those as well. The spark plugs were charred, but he had found a few spare ones. He was sure to get this generator up and running again - at least it would probably get the heating back on. Light was out of the question - whatever happened to the station had destroyed every single lamp and every single spare bulb.

It was going to be a long, long dark in the Antarctic summer.

Day 2 - Past noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Medical bay

Alicia had stayed with Sanna during her meal, just to make sure she actually kept it in herself. "So, how do you feel, Sunshine?" she asked.
Sanna jokingly puffed her chest out. "I cannot possibly describe my current state without resorting to words refined ladies such as you and me should neither hear nor say." she answered, imitating Alicias cockney-accent.
Alicia laughed out loud. "And yet you bloody know 'em." she said. "Well, good to hear that your brain's still working. Getting you in here was.... traumatic, if I may say so."
Sanna looked away in shame. "Sorry..."
"Don't be sorry." Alicia said with a more serious tone. "That was completely unexpected. A lot of unexpected things have happened lately."
"True." Sanna reluctantly agreed and rifled through her straight, blonde hair. "Ugh, I need to wash my hair."
Alicia took a good look at her braid herself and said "Yeah, me too I guess. Want me to walk you to the showers?"
"The water's gonna be cold, isn't it?" Sanna asked.
"Probably, yeah. Good for your blood circulation though!" Alicia assuredly laughed.

Mere minutes later, both had arrived at the shower, Alicia supporting the still staggering Sanna.
"Use the water pressure while it's still there!" Alicia exclaimed and helped Sanna out of her clothes. The air was cold, and the water was even colder. However, there was a silver lining - a small window that could be opened so that Sanna could have a good look at the outside, despite lowering the room temperature even more.
"The aurora is beautiful today..." Sanna sighed, wishing she could go outside. "I just hope noone's working on any electrical equipment though... looks pretty strong to me."

Alicia didn't even have time to ponder about Sannas words as she heard screams from outside.

[Wastelander]

Day 2 - Past noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, All over the station

The aurorae lit up the night with hitherto unknown intensity, even for Antarctic measures.

Wolfgang got just a bit zapped from handling a length of copper wire.

The lights flickered and burned brightly all over the station.

Water pumps worked for a moment, increasing water pressure.

The water boiler also regained life for a few seconds, scalding Sanna and Alicia with boiling water.

In the empty radio-room, distorted screams of "We've got a blackout, we need help-" were heard by noone as the shortwave-radio came back to life for a few seconds.

The fridges in the kitchen and pantry rattled for some moments.

In the vehicle bay, some engines randomly started. A few of them caught fire.

In the bar, the plasma-tv caught fire.

All around the planet power lines caught fire - in the next days, entire landscapes burned down, cities were destroyed and millions died. Power plants - even the nuclear ones - failed and caught fire as well. Earth was finally changing to the worse.

Day 2 - Past noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Dorms

Janis heard the screams and was immediately on his feet. He quickly got dressed in cold-weather gear, grabbed the nearest extuingisher and moved toward the screams.
"Sh*t, the vehicle bay's on fire!" a researcher shouted, running away from the door. Janis knew where he had to go.

Day 2 - Past noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Vehicle bay

The semi-detached vehicle bay was already ablaze as Janis arrived. To him, it seemed like a few small vehicle fires, so he went in with only an extinguisher. The foam from the extuingisher made short work of the flames present, but he decided to stay for firewatch for a few more hours. The large fuel tanks inside the building seemed fine, and the damage to the building was minimal. Several ATVs and snowmobiles were lost though.

The light outside got brighter and Janis was showered in sparks as the lamps above him exploded.

In this moment, he realized how screwed he was - the fuel tanks had electric pumps attached to them. While they did have explosive-proof valves installed, they were not made to withstand such a current.

On the bright side, he had no time to feel pain.

[Wastelander]

Day 3 - Early morning - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, chapel

"And thus" vehicle mechanic and part-time chaplain Viktor Laszla preached. "A young soul has left this earth much too early. May he receive the Lord's blessings. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace, Amen. E nomine patris, et fili, et spiritu sancti. Amen!"
"Amen." answered the crowd.
The funeral was a sad affair, sadder than most burials - there wasn't much left to bury to begin with. The station's firefighting crew had had a hard time extuingishing the fires, and what they found left of Janis was nothing but a pile of charred bones and ashes.
The few Orthodox christians - two, to be precise - decided that it would be the best to at least hold a symbolic funeral with what they could find. His bones, his molten insignia and the cross from his room were placed in a hastily built wooden box and set to the sea.

He may have been a firefighter, but he got a sailor's grave.

Day 3 - Past noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, dorms, Alicias room

Alicia and Sanna had already been pretty close before the event, but the recent events had welded them closer together than any time before. Maybe it was because they were two of the few women on the station, maybe it was their similar sense of humour thinly veiling a deep sadness which, while noticed by each of them, was never put to words.
Alicia felt her motherly instincts, lost half a decade ago, return to her as Sanna cried in her arms. Alicia had spoken to Janis before his death but never really got to know him, but it was apparent to her that Sanna was at least friends with him. Maybe it was their stoic nature that had both of them drawn to each other.
"Shhhh..." whispered Alicia into Sannas ears as she caressed her blonde hair. "He...." she stopped. What could she possibly say? That he was in a better place? The same applied to probably the rest of mankind, living or dead. That he had no time to suffer? That was just dark and cynical. That she had no need to cry? No, that was just wrong. She had no words, so she did what a mother would do - she held the injured, crying child, despite the child being an adult for all intents and purposes, and let her cry.
But suddenly, she remembered what her grandfather told her once when she had asked him about her great-uncle who died on D-Day and why he kept going up the cliffs anyway. "He died honorably, you know." she began. "He died what he could do best. No, it wasn't fighting jerr-fires, it wasn't covering the shi...station, it was protecting his friends, those he cared for. Yes, it is sad that he is dead - I'll probably do my share of crying when you're done, Sunshine - but, from what I know about him, he knew what he signed up for. And I guess he died with a smile, probably thinking about you, Sunshine. We've lost a valuable member of our crew, but even worse, we lost a valuable friend. But he would want us to move on, survive and tell his tale. His tale of bravery, honour and loyalty."
Sanna wiped tears and snot off of her face with her sleeve, which earned her a slightly disturbed look from Alicia. "You sound like my grandpa." she giggled while still crying. "Y'know, all of his war stories began like this. 'He died charging a Soviet tank, he sniped a thousand bolsheviks and later on a thousand nazis...'"
"Fun fact, Sunshine, that 'lil talk was based off of my ol' gramps talk as well." Alicia answered. "C'mon, you need a drink Sunshine. And when we're done with that, we'll think about how we can get the bloody hell off this icy desert."

Day 3 - Past noon - Atlantic Ocean, near the wreck of the H.M.S. Greenhalgh

Commander Daniel Blythe and some men of his crew had the incredible fortune to be near the lifeboats as the third event set fire to the ballistic missiles on their ol' ship, unfortunately leading to the ultimate and utter destruction of said vessel. While Queen and England could most assuredly afford a substitue, he still took it as a personal insult to his refined British honour and would sail to the end of the world and back to find the ones responsible. His late father, God bless his soul, would have immediately suspected the Germans, but he was quite sure that the Jerries were not at fault this time. Still, this entire situation was bloody inconvenient, especially since he was about to promoted into the Royal Navy's admirality after returning home from this simple patrol trip outside the waters of Antarctica, keeping the bleeding Argies out of rightful British claims.
"Well, chaps." he began and cleared his throat. While his uniform was tattered from explosions and shrapnel and he hadn't eaten in the last 24 hours, he still kept his military decorum. "Unfortunately, we are in a pretty darn inconvenient situation. However, if I read the stars right and my navigational skills have not abandoned me as much as Fortuna, the goddess of luck, has abandoned us, there is a silver lining and we should be able to steer this... humble lifeboat to the coast of Antarctica, where we will be sure to find hospitality and a working radio among the industrious researchers of the Commonwealth and the European Union. I expect every one of you... twelve men to do their duty in this time of distress so we may return and save the crown once again. Onward!"

Midshipman Nigel Crawford sighed and continued to paddle. This was going to be a bloody long night.

[Wastelander]

Day 4 - Morning - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, outside, coast

Clad in state of the art thermo-clothing, Sanna had made herself comfortable at the rocky, icy coast of the sixth continent. She still had a bandage on her head, but for all intents and purposes, she felt fine. .In the ever-present darkness, snow was falling around her, freezing immediately upon contact with the ground. Her thermos was full with piping hot coffee, she had a guitar slung over her back and her backpack was full of tasty treats. Dr. Avramović was strict about many things, but he also knew how prone Sanna was to cabin fever, or 'getting toasted' as they called it on the ice. She pleaded and begged to get at least some outside-time. She had agreed to stay within an half an hour walk, she had agreed to wear bright, visible clothes and she had agreed to not stay out longer than three hours. At this point, she would have agreed to a lot of things just to get away from the way too narrow walkways and air that smelt like unwashed people, fear and fire.
She tried playing a few chords on her guitar, but the cold had completely untuned the strings. She sighed for a moment and then busied herself with tuning the guitar as best as she could, fully aware that her work would be undone the second she got back in.
Half an hour later she was done - perfect pitch was rare, but apparently she had won the genetic lottery on that one. She began to play.

" And we could run away
Before the light of day
You know we always could
The mountains say, the mountains say...."

Day 4 - Noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Utility room

"So, Pierre, what do you want first - the good or the bad news?" Wolfgang asked and lit himself a cigarette.
"The bad news, just so the good ones sound better." Pierre answered, reaching into one of his many hidden cookie jars.
"Alright. The generator is even more broken than before." Wolfgang said and threw a wrench into a box in frustration.
"And the good news?"
"I was able to restore a handful of shortwave radios." Wolfgang answered. "Their range is limited, but until the next event at least we can have people safely venture out."
"Have you tried contacting someone else?" Pierre asked. "Something like a navy ship or something."
"Yeah, I did." Wolfgang replied. "However, I have yet to receive an answer. It's... kind of scary. Every single frequency is dead."

Day 4 - Noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, outside, coast

Sanna had become tired of playing the guitar and singing, so she allowed herself a big sip of coffee when she suddenly felt eyes on her - in the half-year darkness of Antarctic summer, a bunch if penguins had decided to keep her company.
"Hey there, little fellas!" she softly said and reached into her pocket to retrieve a granola bar. She crumbled it up in her hands and reached out to the flightless birds with the crumbs in her palm. "I'm not an orca, so go ahead, take it!"
A few penguins actually dared moving closer. Some of them had been chipped, so they probably were used to humans. Sanna almost squealed in delight as the penguins closed in on her - their aquatic nature made them pretty awkward on land, so whenever they moved around on land they looked amusingly silly.
One of the more daring penguins actually took a bit of granola bar from her gloved hands. "That's right! I'm giving you food, guys!" she whispered.
The penguins kept coming, and soon enough her offering was gone. Daringly, she patted a penguin on the head, which didn't result in any sort of reaction from said bird.
Sanna almost squealed in delight. "There you go, little birdies!" she said in her best toddler-voice. "And there's a whole lot more where this comes from!"

[Wastelander]

Just a heads up on those who wonder while I dedicated 1/3d of a post to cute penguins. Seriously, I want, like, 30 of them.

[Wastelander]

Before we start, I'll fix typos and some small continuity errors (Sanna suddenly got 2 years younger, Dr. Rasmussen is suddenly speaking Swedish instead of Danish) later on today, or maybe tomorrow, I don't know. I'd like to thank all who read this for their patience and their support, you lads and lasses rock!

Day 4 - Early evening - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Bar

Strong alcohol was still off-limits to Sanna as per doctor's orders, but she figured a cold beer, or maybe a few more, wouldn't harm her too much. Getting out into the cold, watching the aurorae in the eternal twilight, playing with penguins and generally being alone for a couple of hours seemed to have really brightened her spirits a bit. She was, undeniably, still sad for the loss of Janis. Whenever she saw him at the gym when she got her cardio done, she'd talk to him. His chiseled body invoked a fair share of carnal desires in her and she had begun imagining a possible future.

All of this was gone though.

Brianna had voluntarily taken over bar duty for the evening, mostly because she was pretty good at judging when someone had had enough. She had decided to not stop Sanna prematurely this evening, despite her still lingering concussion, however light it was.
Earlier, Brianna and Alicia had decided to at least brighten up the bar a bit just to get their minds off of things. They had placed scented candles to mask the smell of old cigarette smoke, put the few music instruments the station had on a shelf for anyone to use and even found a photo of Janis to frame and put near an improvised book of condolence.

"Say, Brianna." Sanna suddenly asked. "Now that you've given me the key to the gun locker, what am I supposed to do with it?"
Brianna got a little closer to Sanna over the counter and quietly replied "Just in case we run out of food, okay?"
Sanna sighed. "Do you think someone's out there to help us?"
Brianna nodded and said "I'm sure, darling. They wouldn't just abandon us. Now, smile for me!"
Sanna obeyed, but her smile didn't really come from her heart. "Hey, Brianna..." she said.
"What is it, darling?"
"What if you're wrong?"
"I told you about 'ifs', right?"

Day 4 - Early evening - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Utility room

Repairing the battery tester had proven easier than Wolfgang and Pierre had imagined. Now they were able to go through the stations impressive stack of batteries and accumulators and sort out the broken or empty ones. It was going to be a long night, but they were getting somewhere. Pierre high-fived Wolfgang as the first small green LED lit up. "Finally, at least something works!"
"Yeah." Wolfgang replied, apparently not sharing Pierres enthusiasm. "I'm still worried about the total silence on the radio. We also have no more than two vehicles, and they're still broken."
"Well, if we can get radios to work, the vehicles could surely be repaired as well, right?" Pierre asked.
"Yes." Wolfgang answered. "However, another of those events and our work is in vain."
"What do you suggest?"
"We have to check out the other stations, maybe they can help us get out of here."
Pierre nodded. "What's the nearest?"
"Showa-station, Japanese." Wolfgang said. "The language barrier is going to be pretty hard..."

Day 4 - Night - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Dorms, Wolfgangs room

Even in the darkness, Wolfgang could still find the framed photo of his daughter, and even though he could not see, simply handling the photo was almost therapeutic for him. He wondered how she was doing.

"I just hope Daddy makes it back home..." he whispered into the darkness.

[Tbone555]

On ‎6‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 5:48 PM, Wastelander said:

Unless I somehow manage to conjure up a Vault that is not even on Pandora, this is just a coincidence. I actually hadn't even noticed the similarity, guess it's been a while since I played the game

haha i meant Astrid in the long dark. the female character we'll be playing in the story mode xD
no idea which character youre referring to. i havent played Borderlands in years

[Wastelander]

5 hours ago, Tbone555 said:

haha i meant Astrid in the long dark. the female character we'll be playing in the story mode xD
no idea which character youre referring to. i havent played Borderlands in years

Yeah, I was being stupid there, there isn't even any Greenwood in Borderlands. That's what I get for trying to consistently juggle video games, this fanfic, the pen&paper-rpg I'm working on, feudal japanese history, the demographical impact of WW2 on Europe, old-middle-high-German and advanced educational science

[Wastelander]

Day 5 - Late morning - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Vehicle bay ruins

"Just to make sure, you're sure of this?" Sanna asked as she surveyed the makeshift starting mechanism on the snowmobile. In her opinion, the entire vehicle looked like a mixture of a movie prop and an IED. "Doesn't look safe to me."
"Well, it won't kill you, unless it dies." Wolfgang said. "Kind of philosophical if you ask me."
"So basically, my task is to ride a vehicle that can fail me at any given moment to a station we're not sure whether it still exists or not to find help that may or may not come." Sanna added.
"Well, yeah, but the posi-" Wolfgang began but was cut off by Sanna:
"How fast can I go?"
"As fast as it goes."

 

[Authors note: Only one entry for today.]

[Wastelander]

Day 5 - Noon - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Cafeteria

"You did WHAT?" Alicia and Brianna shouted at Wolfang in unison.
"Look, I know Sanna, she can handle thi-" Wolfgang began to explain but was cut off.
"SHE HAS A FREAKING CONCUSSION YOU MORON!" Alicia screamed and raised a hand, ready to assault Wolfgang, but stopped herself at the last moment. "And you know how happy being outside there makes here, did you seriously expect her to make any sort of rational descision? Do you seriously expect her, our reckless little tomboy with a penchant for high speeds and close-call accidents, to be all safe and dandy out there in the middle of freaking nowhere? What in the world were you THINKING?"
"Look, I know this is dangerous, and so does she, but we agreed that we needed to at least try to see if there is any help available as soon as possible. Pierre is thinking the same, by the way." Wolfgang explained, backing away from the furious Alicia.
"So Pierre is in on this as well..." Brianna sighed. "And none of you ever had the idea to consult me? You know, the acting head of station?"
"It didn't seem necessary." Wolfang said, fully aware that nothing he said made the situation any better.
Brianna sighed. "You at least gave her one of those radios you managed to restore."
Wolfgang nodded and Alicia closed the gap between her and him again, shouting "You call her back RIGHT. THIS. INSANT!"
"Wait a second..." Brianna intervened. "Actually, we're gonna let her go. While I still disagree with your descision and you undermining my authority.... it's true that we will soon need help, and if anyone can make that ride, it's Sanna I guess."
"WHAT?" Alicia shouted, this time at Brianna.
"Look, if we call her back now, it's just a waste of fuel and an opportunity where we actually have a working vehicle. If she gets into trouble, she can radio us and we can help her."
"This is correct." Wolfgang said. "I rigged the same start-up mechanism to another snowmobile. If there are any problems, we can help her. I also have her route on a map and told her to radio in every hour. If she fails to do that, I will personally drag her back here, even if it's the last thing I ever do."
"You two are unbelievable..:" Alicia sighed, visibly confused, worried and disappointed. "Just saying, this is not over yet Wolfgang. And Pierre and Sanna will get a lecture as well. Oh, and if anything happens to her..." Alicia's tone got more threatening. "I'll bloody kill you."

[Again, just one entry tonight I guess.]

[Wastelander]

Writing entries isn't enough, I should probably also post them. I need more sleep, seriously.

Day 5 - Past noon - East of Schuman Antarctic Research Station

Sanna looked almost like an astronaut in her bright-orange thermo-clothes, oversized snow goggles and the gigantic backpack full of food and other supplies she carried. How she looked like was of little concern to her though - she was picking up the speed again, dashing over snow dunes with nothing but the eternal ice and cold of the seventh continent around her.
"Sanna, this is Wolfgang, how copy, over?" Wolfgangs voice came from the radio - one of the few ones Wolfang got to working condition - strapped to her chest. She stopped her snowmobile and picked it up.
"Wolfgang, this is Sanna, Five to five, over."
"Roger, good to hear from you." he answered. "What's your status, over?"
"All's well." she replied. "I was about to take a break and get some food into my system. I also don't really feel dizzy or sick anymore so I guess I was lucky. Hold on a second..."
Sanna had spotted something in the headlight of her snowmobile. Something that looked like a human...
"I think I see someone, hold on a second, over."
She got off from her snowmobile, lit her storm lantern and, for safety's sake, shouldered the Benelli Supernova shotgun slung over her backpack. Cautiously, she walked towards whatever she had spotted.
What she saw didn't necessarily surprise her, but it was a shock nonetheless - near the coastline was a washed up, bright-orange lifeboat, torn and tattered on the icy spikes of the Antarctic coast. Some parts of it had apparently been cut off and burned in some sort of makeshift campfire.
Corpses were riddled around the campsite, some of them already snowed in. Only one person was still moving.
"Wolfgang, I think I see a medical emergency, over." Sanna radioed before rushing over to the shivering figure in the distance...

[Wastelander]

Day 0 - Unknown Time - Low Earth Orbit, 400km above Earth, ISS, outside

Stenton Armstrong took a moment to admire the sheer beauty of the Sol System - Earth, his home, the giant aquamarine gem of the solar system in his front, the sun, giver of life and sustenance for billions of years in his back, nebulae, asteroids and other planets all around him - as he repaired some minor damage to the outer shell of Columbus module. Putting some epoxy on a damaged surface was a dull affair on mother Earth, but even the most mundane tasks became adventures in the vast nothingness of space.
Suddenly, Armstrong noticed something.
"Houston, this is ISS-Armstrong, how copy, over?" he said.
A few seconds later, Houston answered: "Five-to-five, Armstrong. What's your status, over?"
Armstrong took a few deep breaths, resounding in his state of the art helmet and suit. "Houston, my... my magnetograph is acting kind of weird. Maybe it's broken or something. Can't align to orbit, have to rely on visual contact ov... wait, oxygen levels are falling. And... what the..."
"ISS-Armstrong, what's going on?" Houston asked.
"I can't see Europe."

Day 5 - Past noon - East of Schuman Antarctic Research Station

Sanna rushed to the huddled, shivering figure in the dark and unpacked her thermal blanket on the way. She almost tackle-hugged the figure on the ground as she wrapped the blanket around them. Lacking a stretcher, she simply grabbed whoever the sole survivor of the lifeboat was by the armpits and dragged them closer to her snowmobile.
As Sanna dragged the survivor closer to her vehicle, she noticed a few things - the figure had a short stubble of a beard and was most likely armed with a pistol.
"Wolfgang, this is Sanna, do you copy?" Sanna radioed.
"Sanna, this is Wolfgang, 3-5. Speak loud and clear, please." Wolfgang radioed back.
"I have a male, in his mid-twenties I guess, with severe hypothermia. I've got him secured near my vehicle, how do I proceed, over?"
"Shit, I know about machines, but... try not to move him too much and get him back here. Showa can wait, over."
"Roger, over and out."
As she switched off her radio, Sanna looked around. The remains of the lifeboat would have to suffice as a makeshift sled to transport the patient in. Begrudingly, she took the rope she carried out of her backpack and bound it to her snowmobile.

Around half an hour later, she was on her way back. This time, she wasn't speeding, she wasn't kicking up the snow. This time, she had responsibility.

Day 5 - Early Evening - Schuman Antarctic Research Station, Medical Bay

"Patient stable." Dr.  Avramović said. "We can't have him have warmed-up IVs, so warm broth will have to do. Then again, this has worked just fine in Sarajevo, so he'll make it."
Sanna sighed in relief. "Glad to hear that, Doc. Can't take any more helvetti right now."
Dr.  Avramović sighed as well, but not in relief but in disappointment. "Why you, of all people, were outside, riding a ridiculously fast vehicle in the middle of the Antarctic night with a concussion is beyond me though." he replied sternly.
Sanna began to pout upon these words. "Well, if you don't want me out there, why don't you send someone else? You know, someone who can do the same shit I do out there? If I'm informed correctly, there's got to be at least half a dozen of them here, am I right?"
"Yes, there are."  Dr.  Avramović said. "However, you were the only one to volunteer, and, quite frankly, the only one Wolfgang trusted."
Sanna looked to the side, apparently exermining a particularly interesting trash can. "And apparently this is my fault..." she whispered.

[alone sniper]

When will you post new Chapter ???