Radio: A Long Dark Story

[Ottway]

[align=center]RADIO[/align]

[align=center]A LONG DARK STORY[/align]

[align=center]1[/align]

[align=center]Authors Note at Bottom of Page[/align]

[align=center]SYNOPSIS: "Pete Bengtson is a late thirty-something who just got a three-month 'vacation' from his desk jokey job in Vancouver because of stress and him quite literally throwing a chair at his boss. In order to get away from all the skyscrapers and paperwork from back home, he decides to go retreat and volunteers to become a radio network controller on top of a derelict mountain in a scarcely populated region of British Colubmia: As far away from his workaholic life as he can get. The work that is done barely even revolves around any actual radio networking and mostly it is just making sure the place doesn't fall apart. None of it requires a technical mastermind, and when he does have to do radio work 99% of the time it is just a local from further down the valley calling and say that their getting bad reception. The rest of the day is spent reading and studying or spent watching whatever show is playing on the ancient three channel TV in his room. There's a bed, a supply of food to last the Winter shift, a bathroom, a rifle, books to stay occupied, blankets, all the essentials needed to last through the shift. However one day, a day like all others which is spent reading, watching TV, the occasional chat with a family down the mountain on the radio, turns out to be very, very, different than anything he has had to deal with before. The power shuts off, heaters gone, the truck out back is dead, and there's no way to connect with the outside world besides getting there himself, it turns out to be much more than Pete originally bargained for.[/align]

It's pretty much the the dead of Winter here, and you can even hear the wind outside shaking my control hut. Technically it's not necessarily mine and really it's owned by some regional radio company, but I guess I'm the only one who volunteered to work the Winter shift. I could see why not many other people would want to do it, most of the days are spent lounging around and keeping this place from not falling apart. I get the occasional call from a local further down the mountain with his or her family about getting some bad radio reception and all I do is just flick a switch up and down and then it magically gets better for some reason. It's nice here though, just me and the wind. No skyscrapers, no paperwork, no reports needing to be filed, no boss riding my ass, no company nagging and giving me lectures because of how 'stressed' I'm becoming: Just me. Once a week or so this elderly guy and his wife comes up in his truck to visit and say hello, which I can appreciate. His wife even brings up some freshly baked bread which is a nice change of pace from the microwaved tomato soup and TV-dinners. The previous guy who was doing the Autumn shift thought it'd be a good idea to leave his rifle here and a whole surplus of rounds. He even left a note for me when I first came here saying that he used to go out hunting as a hobby, and so that he could get a change in diet, though I haven't bothered with it yet. The radio people also promised decided to buy me the warmest clothes that money could buy, this big chestnut artic parka that they say could keep someone warm in Antarctica. They're right though, I tried it on indoors and it almost overheats you. I head outside sometimes just to get a view of the area, occasionally I pull out a lawn chair and set it outside, light a cigarette, and go watch the sun set or rise. It's really quite beautiful, and with the clothes they bought me (I figure that since I was the only one to volunteer they wanted to make sure I was comfortable so I didn't decide to say no at the last minute) it can be quite enjoyable because you don't really feel how cold it really is out there. But even with it on I wouldn't want to be caught in a storm with it. They also gave me enough frozen cans of fruit cocktail and TV-dinner that I can heat up to last me the rest of the shift. I think I could get used to living in a place like this, no company beating down my neck, just me and the wilderness. The only problem is that I'll be having to go back to my shit job soon and my boss is probably going to give me even more hell because I threw that chair at him, even though the whole Company decided to keep me because I was a 'valuable asset'. Shame I've been working for seventeen years and I have yet to be promoted, I suppose that's just how much of a 'valuable asset' I really am to them. Assholes.

"How you doing up there son?" That's Scott, radioing in like he usually does. He's the elderly guy who doesn't live that far down the mountain from me, with his wife, Joanne. He and his wife are the closest people I got to friends around here, besides the Smythe family who owns this small farm further into the valley. "Same as always, just started reading Robinson Crusoe last night," I get up from watching some old rerun of Stargate and jog across the room to my desk which holds the radio equipment. "Can't take enough of being isolated up here in this freezing wasteland so you gotta' go get some insight on a tropical one, eh?" He chuckles through the radio. Yeah, I suppose it is rather ironic seeing how in some regard I am somewhat stranded on top of this mountain, though I always got the truck out back if I ever wanted to leave. Though that would be considered breaking my volunteer oath and what not but it's not like it really means all that much if I end up somehow freezing to death up here. "Maybe," I sigh and laugh a little bit under my breath after. "Well, it's good to know our still kickin' up there," The radio statics a little bit between his sentence but I give the box a quick blow and the static goes away. "I'm even more glad that that's the case," I joke. It's good to have good people around to talk to, instead of everyone at my office who are all a bunch of tight-asses. "I can imagine," He says back. 'It's going to be a real shame having you go, it been nice having you with us in the period in which you have been," I sigh a little bit after he states the truth. "Yeah well, I'm not heading back to Vancouver just yet" I murmur after a while. "It must be tough knowing that you will eventually though," He says it like he's trying to empathize but all it does is make my think about having to head back to my crap job, though it's not like I got anything to really change that. I go to college, work my ass off, stay awake through the early hours of the morning writing papers, not able to make any friends or get a love life because I'm so determined to get a good job, and you know what I get? I get a a 63,000 dollar salary office job working in a cubicle all day, getting almost zero benefits, and I get to live in a studio apartment all by myself because of my company commitment and at my age finding the right person is pretty slim pickens. I've kind of had to move on from having any kind of extended relationship.

"Well, as long as your happy I suppose," Scott says through the radio, trying to sound cheerful. "Yeah... As long as I'm happy," I try not to scoff and it ends up coming out as more of a sigh. There's a bit of a pause between us, I can tell through the radio he's embarrassed and I just feel depressed with where I've gone in life. "Anyway, so you doing alright up there?" He asks after a while. "Yeah, I'm doing good. I've probably read more fiction up here than I have in my entire life come to think of it," I try to pick my voice up to a bit more of a happy tone though it stills ends up coming out dismal. Hell, maybe I am somewhat of a pessimist come to think of it, though its not like I really have much to be happy about besides my 'paid vacation'. Maybe I should have done something more traditional like going to to Hawaii or some tropical place but knowing my luck the plane would probably end up crashing on some deserted island. This had really been the only time something bad hasn't had happened to me. Though we still got a whole month in a half to go. "Well I'm glad, it's good to read up on literature. It'll help you later in life," He says back, I know he's trying to be nice and I appreciate it but I know that knowing fiction isn't going to help me with my vocational life, and seeing how my entire life practically revolves around my job it's not like help much. Not that anything else would really have helped me more. "I suppose," I end up finding myself saying. "If anything you can at least take pleasure in having some self accomplishment," He states, giving a little encouraging laugh at the end. Maybe, but it's not going to go down well when I'm on my death bed and I look at the things I've accomplished and the only thing I get pat myself on the back for is my reading of the 'classics'. "Maybe your right," I say. "Well, if at any time you want to come back you'll always be welcome back in me and Joanne's house," It's really nice of him to say that. The people I've met here in the Valley really are the only friends I've had since... Forever I suppose. I had no real friends in college other than people I studied with, the friends I've met while I was much younger have all moved on, really I have been just by myself for the past thirty years. This is where it gets me I suppose. My parents wanted me to do well so much and I went to college and studied so hard through high school and college to please them and for my own self fulfillment of wanting to succeed, and all I get is an office job. Now they're living five thousand miles in Paris and hardly ever talk to me now. "Thanks Scott, that means a lot." I wind up saying, genuine appreciative. I wish I could stay but I can't.

"Don't mention it Pete, you're a good fri-," Another voice cuts off Scott from another radio box, it's Rich. Richard Smythe, but we just call him Rich, no doubt calling about bad radio reception again. "Hold on Scott I got to take this, it's Rich," I inform Scott, he understands. "Alright, that's fine, probably he's complaining about the crappy reception we get out here eh? I'll talk to you later Pete, have a good one," He finishes and I hear him hang up the radio reciever and his end just turns to static so I turn my side off as well and pick up Syches. "Pete, Pete you there?" He says. I pick it up. "Yeah, yeah, radio reception again?" I ask. His end even sounds a little bit staticky. "Right on the money," He says. "Alright, give me a second to flip a few switches," I tell him and he waits patiently. While doing this however, the lights just go out. Just like that. The radio goes out as well. "The hell...?" I mummer to myself. It must be a black out. I pick up the radio and try to get an answer from it to see if Rich is still on but to no prevail. I set the radio down and put on my coat and toque and head outside to see if I can see any lights on further down the valley. I can see the Smythes farmstead, and Scotts house is rather obstructed by some trees but you can make it out as well if you try. I can make out one long frozen car on the dirt road below and I can see a figure stepping out of it and looking around. I think I can make out one of the Smythes walk out of their farmstead as well. The main thing I notice however is this big aurora in the sky. I thought I'd never see one of these in my life so I guess you can write that down on some of the things I've accomplished in my life. It must be some kind of regional blackout is my guess, though I don't know of any blackout which stops a car. That or the commuter just had some really bad misfortune to where his car broke down right where this blackout hit. Sounds almost like something that would happen to me.

It's actually not that bad a day, the winds picking up a bit and if I were to guess it's probably somewhere a ways below freezing. I do find it a little bit peculiar that this aurora is happening, I notice that the two figures down below aren't walking around and that they're just looking up at it. I also think I can make out the rest of the Smythe family walk out of the house as well and look up at the aurora. These auroras don't usually happen around here, and you can't really see them during the day so it is a little bit strange. I just hope that it'll come back soon so that the heater will come back on and I don't have to sleep with some bulky coat on while I sleep at night. I almost wish I brought a camera along, but then again the only person I'd really be showing my pictures to is myself. I head back inside the hut to get the keys to the truck so I can go find out if others people power is off as well, even though I know its the case. Maybe I'm just going a little bit stir -crazy but that's probably not the case. I don't know, maybe I'm just using it as an excuse to finally go visit the others in the Valley rather than them always having to visit me. It's a little to dark to see so I take out a spare flashlight but to my surprise that doesn't work either. I just rummage my hands around the desk until I find the keys. When I do I head back outside and open the pick up trucks door and try to start the engine but it doesn't even make a sound, it just does nothing. I'm not a big fan of heading down the mountain on foot, seeing how I'd be having to go back up but I decide it's for the best. I take a spare snack and a bottle of water from the hut and I head down the road, toward the Valley.

Authors Note: Yep, little old me is back at another Long Dark fan story. I enjoyed writing Into the Fray so much that I want to write a sort of successor to it. It's set in the same universe as The Long Dark and Into the Fray as to be expected, so while this story goes along so does my version of Will and his companions who are having quite a bit more problems than what Pete and the locals are. If you haven't read Into the Fray yet you could read this back to back with the first chapter of Into the Fray, and then you could read the whole story from there seeing how that one is already finished. I'm not sure when the next chapter is going to come out but hopefully not to far into the future. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this one (or hate it) as much as you did to my previous iteration of my Long Dark fan fiction! At any rate, big thanks to Hinterland as well for coming up with The Long Dark in the first place so that I may enjoy playing and writing stories about it. Anyway, thanks everyone for your support, it means a lot, and go have a good time reading!

[Miriql]

Why isn't this in a video? Good job mate. Sorry I have not much to write, because my writing is pale compared to yours

[pathfinder]

Ottway....thank you very much...I enjoyed the read.....a story like that immerses you into the whole Long Dark experience. It brings the places we travel to and explore to life actually....It is not just dead empty places anymore...just a short time ago it was a vibrant community with real people who interacted with and around each other. Good job and keep it up.

[Ottway]

[align=center]2[/align]

[align=center]Authors Note at Bottom of Page[/align]

It's an unfamiliar environment, the wilderness. Most of my life, if not all, was brought up in some form of civilization, be it the skyscrapers of Vancouver or it's suburbs, I've always been close to people. As a matter of fact even if I didn't see someone I was always in a shouting distance away from someone, so I was never technically 'alone'. Out here however it feels completely the opposite, it's as though your thousands of miles away from anyone. Even if you can see a house off in the distance or a farm, even a road, the shear immenseness of the mountains and woods just surpasses all of that. It's a little bit scary, come to think about. It takes time to get used to, that's for sure, but I think I could do it if I wanted to, which in all honestly I wouldn't mind doing just that. Maybe it's not the cities I hate more than the my work, and that probably is the case but seeing how the two combinations just seem to blend together so well I might as well dislike the both of them. I've never seen a wolf or a bear out here either, which I'm thankful for. To be quite frank I'm not sure I would know what to do, the only time I've shot a gun was with a company picnic which for weird reason which still evades me to this day, they decided to have it at a local shooting range. Yeah, I thought the boss was joking when he said that's what the higher ups wanted to do, but he wasn't. Even there I only took a few shots with this semi-auto 22. which had hardly any kick to it whatsoever. I just hope I won't have to end up using the rifle the previous tenant left, despite that I'm kind of wishing I brought it along just in case, but I'm to far down the mountain now and I don't feel like walking all the way back up it. Besides, I'm hoping this'll just be a quick trip.

When I get to the bottom of the mountain and to the road I can see the guy with the broken car, he sees me and he waves. I wave back at him and I head is way, my original plan was to head further down the road the opposite way to Scott and Joannes house but what the hell, right? "Hey, over here!" I hear him yell. I see that he lifted his hood up and he must have been trying to figure out the problem. His car isn't even cut out for this kind of terrain either, it's one of those fuel efficient Civics that you'd see in the cities. Speaking of which he doesn't even look like he's cut out for this, he has the stubble and a loose shag of hair, like me. He's wearing an office dress shirt, red tie; almost identical to the one I wear back in Vancouver. He's not wearing just that though, he's got an open down jacket on and he's trying bundle himself up with it. As a matter of fact he almost looks like a carbon copy of me from back in the city, dress pants, dress shoes, what the hell is this guy doing out here? "What are you doing out here?" I ask him as I grow near, he kicks the car. "This stupid piece of crap car decided to give up the ghost on me. Shouldn't even be out here in the first place, if it wasn't for it's shitty ass GPS which led me all the way out here in no-mans land instead of Prince George," And the pieces slowly come together. This guy shouldn't even be out here, I'm guessing that his company wouldn't give him plane or train tickets to head up north from Vancouver, so he ended up having to drive and this is what happens. "Company made you drive huh?" I ask him. He looks at me with an surprised expression. "How'd you know?" I give him a little sigh. "I'm in the desk jokey business myself," I say. "Then what are you doing out here then?" He asks. "I got a three month 'vacation' for throwing a chair at my boss. Instead of them firing me they decided to give me a vacation to vent some stress because of how much of an 'asset' to the company I am. I ended up volunteering to be the radio man up in the control hut up the mountain," I point to the top where you can barley make out the tower through the steepness and trees. "Sounds like something I'd like to be doing right now instead of this crap," He grunts and kicks the car again. "Why'd you walk down here anyway? Do you not have a truck or something?" He asks. "Ironically that one died as well. Won't even make a sound," It is a rather big coincidence. I wonder if the Smythes truck is still running. "That's a coincidence," He says. "You're telling me," I can tell he's freezing pretty bad, I don't think he's dying or anything but it's easy for me to say when I got some 'state of the art fiber' whatnot. "What's your name?" I ask. "Fred Parsons," I nod. "Pete Bengtson," I say in return. There's a brief moment of silence between us after that. Honestly I have no idea whats wrong with his car, I haven't had to fix a car in my life. There was always AAA or public transportation I could call. "You think AAA takes calls down here?" I ask. "Doubt it, all things considered. Hell my phones dead too, no more battery I guess," He shrugs. It does seem like a rather delicate situation. "Well tell you what, I have no idea how to fix your car but what I do know is that there are some good people just right down the road and they'll let you stay with them until you get things sorted out. There's a bit of a regional blackout going on I think so it may take a while. If I were to guess I'd say it takes time for power to restore in these parts," I give a little laugh at the end. "Okay, it's not like I got many alternatives," He shrugs. We're closer to the Smythes farm instead of Scott and Joannes so we decide to head that way instead.

We follow the road and we eventually get to the gateway to the farm and we follow the road in. I can spot the whole family I think, Rich and his son oldest son Ian, who's is nearing nineteen if my memory is correct. They're both simply working on the truck. The two young kids, Ted and Sarah, both run around and play in the snow. Rich's wife, Miria, quietly sits on the front porch wrapped in blankets, tending to their newborn girl, Emma. "Rich!" I yell. He looks up from the hood and so does Ian along with the kids and Miria at me and Parsons. "That you, Pete?" Rich yells from behind the hood. "Yeah," I yell back. "Come on then, don't stand out there in the wind," He motions us to come closer and we do. "Your car not working either I presume?" He asks, giving a quick glance at Parsons. I can't tell if he's asking me or Parsons. "No actually, I hiked down the road and ended up finding this guy stranded out in the middle of the road. His car isn't working either," I explain the situation. It's strange, I can understand there being a blackout, especially out here in no mans land. But everyone's car going out? Along with the whole aurora it does raise some level of concern. "Damn, I've never heard of a blackout knocking out cars. Hell, even our spare flashlights aren't working," He shrugs and shuts the hood to the truck, seeing how there's no real point in trying to 'fix' it now. "Yeah, speaking of which I tried to use one of my spares as well and that one kicked the bucket just the same," I say. There's a moment of silence between us, Parsons waits quietly by a fence, trying to keep warm. Rich looks toward him. "How about we get your friend here a coat?" He says. Parsons looks up. "Oh, thank you, it's Parsons just so you know..." He stammers out. "Don't mention it,"

Me, Parsons, and Rich all head inside. We pass Miria who give us a graceful smile as we pass by. It's much more warm inside, warm enough I feel compelled to just take off the coat, I see that they have a fire going on in the fireplace with some candles spread around here and there, a second fire going on in their stove in the kitchen. "It's a nice place you have," I say. "Thanks," He takes a candle so that we can see better and we head upstairs. It is the first time I've been in his house and it is rather nice and quaint. Simple, but nice. No crazy modern counter tops and decorations like the city, just a nice country style home. A place I wouldn't mind living someday, I suppose. We pass through where Emma's crib and head into the master bedroom. "Here, you can borrow my old one until your car gets back up in working order," He opens his closet and pulls out a worn but warm coat, clearly it's seen it's fair share of Winters just like this one. "Thank you," Parsons says, gratefully taking the jacket. We head back down the stairs and to the outside, much to my discomfort. After being in such a nice and comfortable house, to just head back into the fray in this freezing cold weather doesn't make me feel any better. The kids are sitting with Miria on the bench now, while Ian leans against the railing and looks out at the wilderness. "So what now?" I ask. "Well, It's a little hard to get around without a working car. Hell, good on you for just making it down here from that mountain," Rich chuckles a bit, giving me a little pat on the back. "Well, hopefully the power comes back on soon, along with the trucks and flashlights. I don't know what the story is but hopefully it'll come back soon. In all honesty we were actually needing to go head to the store soon but with the cars giving up on us that makes it a little hard" Rich continues. I glance to Parsons who is nodding his head slowly, I can tell he doesn't really even want to be here. Miria looks up from the kids. "Yes, it would be nice," She says. "There's no TV either!" Ted exclaims. We all give a small laugh. "Anyway, Parsons is it? You can stay here, we got a guest room upstairs you can stay at until the power comes back," Rich smiles, giving him a pat on the back. "You're more than welcome to stay as long as you'd like," Miria smiles as well, Ted just gives a friendly waves. "Anyway, I should head out and go check up on Scott and Joanne," I say. They nod. "Alright, be safe," Miria gives me a wave and a smile. "Alright, well be safe out there," Rich waves me off and I go and head out.

I get to the road which is more exposed to the wind and start heading down it. It isn't that far away but by the time I get there it's going to start getting dark so I'd have to make the visit short. It also starts to get colder, and the wind picks up a bit but the coat holds through. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this type of weather, it feels as though after a mere half hour I feel beat. It isn't blizzard conditions but it feels like it could, I start to realize that the wind leaves a much heavier burden on you than I first thought. It just goes right through you, but not before leaving it's toll while it was in you first. When I finally get to their house, after what seems like a lifetime, I can already tell the power is off here as well, no lights or anything inside. I knock on the door and it takes a minute but Joanne opens it. "Oh, hello there Pete. What are you doing down here?" She asks. "Well, the powers out all over from what it seems. For some odd reason the cars and flashlights are off as well," I explain. "I see, well come inside," She smiles and brings me in. I smell some tea being heated up on a wood stove, Scotts sitting down on the couch reading a book, he turns his head toward me. "Oh, hello there Pete. Didn't expect you here," He says. "When I woke up this morning I didn't expect to find myself there either. I just stopped by Rich and he's experiencing the effects of the outage as well. Truck isn't working, neither are the flashlights. I even found some guy stranded on the side of the road and his car was broken down," I explain. "Oh for Pete sake, it's just a little outage. We get these all the time, it'll be fine," Joanne laughs a bit and brings me a cup of tea. "Oh, well thank you," I graciously take it, it really hits the spot after trudging through the snow and dirt. "Yes, well hopefully the truck comes back around at least. It's not like we'll be having much to for food without heading to town," Scott says, and I agree full-heartedly. I have enough food to last the last few weeks of my shift, but most of that was just frozen TV-Dinners which are probably going bad right now. "You're right, to be frank most of my supply was a bunch of TV-Dinners with only a couple cans, so it would be pretty conductive if it'd come back soon," I soon find the rest of the tea is empty, to my disappointment, and I set the cup down on a coffee table. "Yes, yes. Well I'm sure it'll come back soon," Scott reassures. "Anyway, I should probably head out before it gets to late," I say. "Alright then, well come back any time you like," Joanne gives me a little hug and sends me off. "Alright, be safe," He smiles, Scott just waves me off and off I go once more.

It's even worse heading back into the cold, more so than it was when I was back at the farm. I soon find myself dreading going outside, but without a working car this is my only option. Thankfully the road up the mountain back to the tower isn't that far away from Scott's house, so I manage to make it to the path leading up in good time. The suns starting to set though, which is concerning but I trudge up the mountain just the same. Wind tries to tackle me, and I think I trip a few times. It's much, much, harder going up than it is going down. When I make it up, I start to see traces of a blizzard forming. It soon begins to get so cold that even my 'state of the art' coat is starting to fail me and the wind starts to pierce through. I realize that it is beginning to be white out, but fortunately for me I already made it to the top and I can somewhat make out the control room. When I think back about the wind only a few hours ago, it seems like nothing compared to this. Before I start to feel myself freeze I make it back into the control room and when I try to open the door it just flies open because of the wind, and then I struggle trying to close it but I do. Back in safety. Well, despite the fact we have no stove and the only thing used for heat is the air conditioning, so it is rather cold. I take off the coat though, and it feels as though I can thoroughly move my arms and body around again. I lay the coat down onto a chair by my desk. I feel as though it's been a eventful enough day for me. I crack open a can of baked beans and use that as my dinner, the TV-Dinners which sit in the freezer aren't going to good for very long. Plus if I put them outside and try to freeze them that way I think it'd just get infected with micro-organisms, or something. Finishing the can I pick up my book but I don't feel in the reading mood. I decide that it's time to get some sleep.

Authors Note: Here is the second chapter. Sorry it took a little while but I was kind of busy these past few days and I didn't really find the time to finish the second chapter up but I did now so, Voilà! I hope you enjoyed it, and I'd like to thank you guys for your kind comments, it really means a lot. At any rate, I don't have a whole lot to say in this authors note, other than the third chapter'll come out at whenever, but I'd like to say it's going to be soon. So yeah, hope you all enjoyed it, go ahead and leave a comment for a show of support, or a comment showing how much you hate it!

[bethany]

Glad you came back to share more! Keep up the good work.

[Ottway]

[align=center]3[/align]

[align=center]Authors Note at Bottom of Page[/align]

A week has passed, since the blackout first occurred. The blizzard that followed shortly after also caused some major damage as well, outside there's some fallen trees and power lines. Now there's no real way of even telling if the power is going to come back on or not, and seeing how nobody has come in the past several days to come fix anything, things simply don't look good. Of course, me on my 'vacation' which I for the most part have thoroughly enjoyed for the past few weeks, has had to have some kind of problem to it. Nothing can really go right, I suppose. Maybe once I get back to Vancouver I can go sue the Company for making me go on a vacation that ended up turning into this disaster. Those TV-Dinners went bad only a couple days after, and now my cans are starting to run low as well. As a matter of fact I've mostly been eating energy bars and soda for the past week, trying to ration out the cans. Honestly I'm unsure on what to do. I remember that the Smythe family was running low on their supplies as well, so it would be rather rude to ask for any, but I don't know. Sure as hell I don't want to end up starving up here. But like I said, I just don't know what to do. I've been reading through my books faster than I have before, seeing how that's the only thing I can do now. In some way I feel as though it's my fault, my fault for being here. I feel as though I shouldn't have came, if I just didn't throw that stupid ass chair at my boss I'd be back home right now. Though when you think about it, my life there isn't much better. But at least I'm knocking on deaths door like I'm doing out here in this barren wasteland.

I hear a knock on the door. I haven't seen or heard from anyone since I left the radio room last week. I anxiously jump up from my chair, hell maybe it's the electrician. But no, when I open the door I find a bewildered looking Rich. More of a beard going, more of a stubble growing out. I haven't even noticed it but I got a light beard and stubble going as well. I probably look like shit, worse than he does I bet. The wind pierces through and hits me, I motion him to come in so the cold will go away. He hurries himself in and I shut the door behind him. "What are you doing here, Rich?" I ask. "Any news on whats been causing this?" He shakes his head. "Listen, Pete, me and my family, we're running dangerously low on supplies now. We were supposed to go the store three weeks ago and food for a family as big as us goes by fast. That being said, we're running out of food, and so is Scott and Joanne. The two of them even stopped by the farm to inform us of that and now I'm informing you. I can tell you're food situation isn't the best either," He motions his head to my meager food supply. Couple cans and a stack of energy bars, lonely sitting on top a shelf. "That's why I'm asking you to come along with us, we're planning on heading out to town, see if we can get some help because in the state we're in, we're not going to last maybe more than a few days, week at best, with our current stores. Me, Ian, and Scott, have all decided we'd go out. Hell, it took some persuading but Parsons decided to come along as well. I suppose even he thinks it's better to go brave this bitch of an environment than risk starving to death out here. So now I'm asking you, Pete, would you come with us?" I'm a little bewildered myself at this. Surely I don't like the freezing cold and whatever lies beyond, but I realize that if they are all willing to go, I should go. Besides, at this point it feels as though I can sit here and die before help can come, or go find that help myself. I'm not exactly jumping for joy at the idea, but it's the only way we'll be getting any aid in this shit situation. I reluctantly find myself agreeing. I nod my head slowly and after a while I say, "Yeah, yeah I'll go with you," He nods slowly as well. I can tell he doesn't like the idea of it either, but he knows as well that it's our only option, and I realize that now that sitting here on our asses all day isn't going to do any of us any good.

"Thank you," He says and gives me a pat on the back and gives a faint smile. "You need to back your bags though, we're leaving today. Scott is already at the farm, we're planning to leave from there," I nod my head. "Alright," I stammer. I go and pick up an old hunting back pack the previous tenant must have owned and left here. I put in a spare shirt or two, the rest of my food, and a couple of books. I glance over to the rifle. "You should bring that along," Rich says. I nod and I take it and sling it on my back. It's a bit heavy, but not bad. Even though I haven't shot many guns in my life, it's a nice one. Nice wooden polish, scope on it. Beautiful looking, really. I check the cartridge and it's already loaded, so I put two twenty round boxes in the back pack as well. More than enough bullets, I think to myself. I bring along a hunting knife the previous tenant and I put that in my belt. I put a lighter in my pocket as well, maybe I'm overdoing but I don't know. Maybe it just makes me feel better. I even bring along my wallet and a pack of cigarettes which I put the in my other back pocket. put on the coat, and it immediately warms me up. I put on a wool hat, scarf around my neck, boots, and I already have the cargo pants on. "You look as though you're ready to go," He says. He's geared up as well. Winter coat with a hood, baseball hat on but the hood covers the top of it. Snow covers his beard and coat, and soon that'll be me. "Yeah, I'm ready to go," I shrug. It's not inviting, heading outside, but we do it just the same. When we do the winds blowing pretty hard, but the shirts and sweater and coat I wear keep me warm enough not to freeze. "We'll head down to the farm, we'll gather the others, the rest of the supplies, and we'll head out into town," He explains, as we head down the mountain. "How far is the town?" I ask. He slows down a bit and lowers his head. "Fifty miles," He mutters. Fifty miles. Fifty miles, this does not sound like it's going to be a warm and welcoming trip. Fifty miles, in the snow, well technically on a road but the snow has just about covered most of it. "Hopefully the road to town isn't blocked off like the other one. The blizzard last week must have really done a number because a whole rockfall fell onto the road going the opposite way. I know fifty miles sounds like a lot, and it is, but it's the only option we have," Rich shrugs as we trudge along. We haven't even been on our way and I'm already discouraged, but it's for the best, and me and Rich both know that.

When we get to the road, we're even more in the way of the wind. At least now I can get a good idea on just how much damage that blizzard caused. There's a power pole that fell into the middle of the road, that we had to step over. Some branches fell, more snow covering the road, it must have been terrible. I spot Parsons car further down the road, and it's crushed by a branch from one of the trees. "Does he know?" I ask. "Yeah, though he's not really mad. It was a piece of shit car anyway," He gives a little laugh and I do too. Nonetheless that he drives the same car I drive back in Vancouver. After trudging through snow and avoiding fallen branches and power lines we arrive at the entrance to the farm. I can see everyone there, Joanne, Scott, Miria and the kids, Parsons, Ian, all waiting. "You're coming with us?" Ian calls to us. "I guess I am," I shrug. There's a moment of silence. Everyone who is leaving is dressed appropriately though, coats, hoods, hats, cargo pants, boots, they all look set. They have they're own backpacks and knives with them as well. "Joanne is going to stay here at the farm, she doesn't really want to be alone at the cabin," Scott says when we arrive to the group. "That's alright," Rich nods. "Alright everyone, we have enough food to last us make two to three days, four at best. The rest we are going to leave at the farm so they can have a little something something to eat as well," Rich explains to everyone and we all nod. There's another moment of silence. "I'd say without further ado we should head out before we start wasting daylight," Rich stammers a bit. Scott goes and gives Joanne a hug and a kiss. "Be safe," Miria says and they say Rich and her say their goodbyes. "Daddy'll be home real soon, alright?" Rich gives the Ted and Sarah kisses and hugs and they say their goodbyes as well. Parsons just stands and watches, head leaned down. I suppose I do the same thing.

"Be safe out there!" Miria calls to us as we leave the farm. I see them waving and I slowly think to myself, "What are you getting yourself into, Pete?" Though honestly by now it's more like, "What have you got yourself into, Pete," Though it's to late now. I'm already out here in the middle of nowhere, and there's no turning back now. Only way we'll be receiving help, is if we go out and get help. "So we just follow the road?" I ask. "Just follow the road, eventually it'll lead us to a highway which will take us to town," Rich explains. I nod and there's a moment of silence between everyone. "So are there wolves and bears out here or something?" Parsons stammers a bit. I suppose that's why he's been always moving his head around, looking side to side. "Don't talk about that shit out here," Rich exclaims. Parsons tilts his head down. "Sorry, just wondering," Parsons mutters. "Sorry, yeah there are wolves and bears out here. But as long as you stay clear of them they'll stay clear of you," Rich explains, when he says that it's like a whole new fear just got pummeled into me. No matter what Rich or anyone says about 'staying clear' of wolves and bears, it's still going to scary. Even with the rifle. "Don't worry though, is anything does happen to go down, Pete here has the rifle," Scott tries to reassure us, though to be honest I'm not one hundred percent sure of my ability in shooting but I don't mention that. "Why didn't you bring your rifle along?" I ask. "I left it with Miria, in case a bear or something ends up knocking on the door," Rich says. I look back at Parsons and he looks like a nervous wreck, he doesn't want to be here, and neither do I. Not anymore, at least. "How long do you think it's going to take us to get to town?" I ask. "Maybe a two days walk at worst. That being there isn't anything obstructing the path or getting in our way," Scott says. I always appreciate his reassuring nature. Hell, he's well into his sixties now and he's managing the terrain pretty well. Got to hand it to him, I suppose. If anything he's better at this than me, he must have hiked in terrain a thousand times more treacherous than this all his life. All I've done my whole life is sit behind a desk.

We continue along the dirt road for a while until a rock face on each side of the road starts to close in, and then we see that it ends, just like the other side of the road. A bunch of collapsed rock and earth cover the road. "Fuck," Rich kicks some snow and looks back up at the landslide. "Anyway we can get up it?" I ask. "This? I don't think so," Scott shrugs and leans against a tree. I think I see Parsons swear a little under his breath and he leans against one of the rocks. Ian just sticks by his father. "Anyway we can... Shit, I don't know, walk around it maybe?" Parsons speaks up a bit, and looks up at the rocks from his downward position. "That's fucking stupid, Parsons," Rich mutters. "Sorry," Parsons shrugs and looks down again, though I think I hear him mutter something under his breath. "Parsons might have the right idea though, remember that abandoned mine that leads to that abandoned town?" Scott says. Rich grunts and shrugs. "Is it even safe to go through?" He asks. "It's not like we have many alternatives," Scott informs, which is the honest to goodness truth. We don't a whole lot of alternatives. There's a pause between everyone before Rich starts nodding slowly. "Alright, alright. Fine, it seems like that's our only option here," Nobody says anything. "Wheres this mine?" Parsons asks after a while. "Shouldn't be to far now, if we follow the road back and then take a little path it should lead us up the rock face and into this old mine," Scott explains it in a reassuring tone though it doesn't make me or anyone else for that matter any more confident. "Alright then, let's head out then. Don't want to waste daylight now," Rich says, and everyone nods their heads slowly. We turn ourselves around and head back down the road. "Here, this path," Scott points to a barely noticeable snowy path heading through a small plain and we follow that. The path gradually begins to increase in altitude until it starts to twist into the rock face and we follow it up. The winds really trying it's hardest to knock us down, my coat manages to keep me warm enough so that I don't freeze to death though I'm definitely not warm either. It's cold, really, really cold. I start thinking to myself, "Why did I decide to 'vacation' here of all places?" I could be on a warm beach in Miami right now instead of taking some weird ass fucking radio job in this frozen wasteland. Hell, I don't know. Maybe I am slowly freezing to death and I just don't know it yet. I don't know.

We make it to the top and there's a frozen chain link door leading in. "Everyone should use their lighters when we go in, that way we can see," Scott says, and we do. We head inside, and it's surprisingly much warmer. Maybe it's because I'm out of the wind chill. I fumble for my lighter and flick the bic. It provides a small but reasonable amount of light. The others do the same with theirs. "So we just follow the tunnel?" Ian asks, squinting into the darkness. "Just follow the tunnel," Rich shrugs, and we all start walking in. "Bears don't get in mines right?" Parsons asks. I think to myself "Great, now I got another thing to worry about!" fucking Yogi-Bear is going to come out of the shadows and rip us apart. "Fuck, don't talk about that kind of shit man," I mumble. "No, no, I don't think bears come in here," Rich shrugs, and although his reassurance is nice, it doesn't help quench the fear. We continue down the tunnel and find, it has it's bumps but all in all it's fairly easy terrain to manage. Eventually, we quite literally see some light shining from the end of the tunnel. "That must be it," Ian says and we all walk toward it. Sure enough, it's the door leading out. When we open it a huge gust of blows in, almost practically knocking me to the ground. "Fuck, fuck! shut the damn door!" Rich yells. Parsons and Scott rush to the door and struggle to shut it but they do. I get myself back up and I see that it's another blizzard, this one looks even worse than the last. "Jesus, this must have just started right when we came in!" Ian yells, trying to out yell the wind. "Looks like we'll be staying here for a whi-..." Scott starts but then, shaking starts happening. I think that the rocks are going to cave us in and fall on top of us but it doesn't. It goes on for a while and we hear some crashing but then it stops after a while. "Fuck, I hope to God that wasn't a cave in," Rich says, looking back into the darkness. "We could check it out," Parsons recommends. We all shake our heads and start walking back to the other side of the tunnel.

For some reason it all feels more uneven, more jagged. It's probably just me fumbling about, shaking. I have a big fear of what's going to be at the end of the tunnel. We start seeing dust and we cover our mouths. I cough a little and so does the others but we make it through to where the door to the end should be. Instead, all it's only rocks. Big mounds of rocks, blocking the way back to the Valley. "Fuck!" Rich yells. "Yeah... Fuck," I mumble to no one in particular. Scott shrugs and coughs a bit, then looks up at the mound of rock. He mumbles, "I suppose there's no turning back from this now,"

Authors Note: Here is Chapter 3! I didn't expect myself to write a whole chapter so shortly after the second but I found myself with some time so here it is! I'm unsure when the 4th will come out though, I'm hoping it will be soon however because I myself enjoy writing these for you guys/gals. Also just wanted to say thanks for your nice comments, it means a lot. Anyway, I don't of what to write for this Authors Note other than I hope you are all enjoying it. Like 'Into the Fray' however, I seldom say 'enjoy' because like Into the Fray it is going to be a rather sad book. But also like Into the Fray I hope you all like where it's headed!

[Ottway]

Quick Note: Sorry I accidentally put "Ted" instead of "Ian" for some of the lines in Chapter 3, it's fixed now.

[Ottway]

[align=center]4[/align]

[align=center]Authors Note at Bottom of Page[/align]

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Rich bangs his hand against the rock wall. "Wha-... What are we going to do?" Parsons asks, he's obviously scared. There's no way to turn back and head to the farm now. We're on our own. Hell, I can't blame him either, I don't want to die out here in this frozen wasteland and neither does he. "I guess we just wait out the storm, maybe start a fire. Once that's over we can go out and pray to God that the road isn't blocked off like the one back in the Valley," Scott says, shrugging and we shrug as well. "Let's head back," I say. Nobody says anything, we're all discouraged and we all slowly trudge our ways across the tunnel once more and to the entrance. Fortunately there's a bit of firewood from God knows when laying in the corner of the mine shaft. The wind is still whistling and blowing as much as it was before. Scott takes the wood and takes out a piece of tinder from his backpack, then lights it in the middle of the room with his lighter. We all gather around it and it warms us up considerably, but I still keep my coat on and so does everyone else. The ice and snow that formed on me melts as well. Nobody says anything for a while, we just sit and watch. I eventually take out one of my books and begin reading. "This is all so fucked up," Parsons grumbles after a while. "Relax, man, relax," Ian says, glancing up from the fire to look at him. "Me relax? You fucking relax," Parsons snaps back. "Settle down!" Ian yells, much less kinder than before. "Me settle down!?" Parsons yells and grabs the book from my hands. "Hey look, I got a book! It's called 'We're all fucked!', It's a best seller," I grab the book back. "Calm the fuck down, we've only been out here for four fucking hours so just settle down!" I yell. Parsons just grumbles and looks down. He's right though, this whole situation is shit.

There's another pause between everyone. It's funny how well we all got along together before we were stuck out here in some stupid ass mine shaft and now it seems all of us are at our wits ends. And it hasn't even been a day. I don't even feel much like reading. I'm just tired, and I can tell everyone else is tired too. Eventually I hear the winds whistling die down and I glance my head out at the chain link door. It isn't white out condition anymore, at least. "We should head out," I say. Everyone nods slowly and gets up. Rich smothers the fire and we head outside. It isn't a blizzard anymore, but the wind is still piercing through us like knives. It's freezing. The sun is beginning to set, but there is still enough light to walk the length of the highway back to the main road. There's even more snow on this highway than there was on the dirt road back in the Valley, I guess nobody has driven on this road in years and years. Probably even decades. "If we just follow the road, we should eventually meet up with the main road," Scott says as we climb down the mountain and to the highway. All it is is snow, there's barley even a road to 'walk' on, but we trudge through it just the same. When we finally get to the end of the highway, after getting pummeled with wind, we see the exact opposite of what we wanted to see. A huge avalanche. Huge rocks and boulders cover the pass through, and there's no way in hell any of us could get over that. Nobody even says anything, now we're stuck out here in the quite literal 'middle of nowhere'. "There's still the other side of the road," Parsons shrugs after a long period of silence and just starting up at the landslide. "That side doesn't lead anywhere, the road just ends there," Scott says. For the first time he says something that is not reassuring. There's another moment of silence. I sigh and sit against the rock wall. Nobody knows what to do now.

"Listen... I have an idea," Scott rubs his chin, and stares out into the woods. "Let's hear it then," Rich says, quickly turning his attention to Scott along with the rest of us. Any idea is better than none. "Okay, you see right past those trees there's a pretty big lake. Now, if we could walk across the ice and follow the coast... We might be able to make to a shore a ways down the rocks," Scott points toward the trees. "The only reason I didn't bring that up sooner is... It's pretty thin ice once you get further out. And we'll be having to go pretty damn far out if even want to make it to the cliffs shore," And my hopes just got shot down once more. Wolves, bears, hypothermia, starvation, not being able to make it back home, and now I got to worry about falling through ice into some freezing cold water. Hell, maybe Parsons was right. Maybe we are all fucked, and he's the most sane person here, and I'm the crazy one for thinking we can get out of here. I don't want to die, but all I got to look forward to if I make it back is an empty life. There's a pause between everybody but eventually Rich shrugs and gets up, "I guess we don't have much a choice now do we?" He says. We all nod. Scott takes the lead and we walk into the trees, and rather quickly we arrive at the lake. It's huge, it goes on for a good ten or eleven miles before hitting some mountains it looks like. "Step carefully," Scott stammers out, and he takes the first step onto the ice. Rich goes next, then Ian, Parsons, then me. At first it feels pretty sturdy, actually it feels better than trudging through the snow. But then I can actually start to feel the ice thinning out as we progress further and further out into the lake, and I feel more and more vulnerable. There's two islands to our left, but those are a ways off. "Careful now," I hear Ian mumble to himself. Parsons in front of me is looking like a nervous wreck, though I'm not doing to good either. I'm shaking, we're getting far out now and then I hear the thing me and no one else wants to hear. Crack.

"Fuck! Ian!" I hear Rich yell and then splash. I see Parsons just disappear in front of me and before I know it I'm ten feet underwater, sinking because of the weight on my backpack. I see Parsons in front of me spazzing out, trying to get rid of his backpack. The waters like knives, not even exaggerating that either. But then, after some brief pain, it just feels warm. A nice warm, a welcoming warm almost. "Am I about to die?" I think to myself. I don't think I'm spazzing out like Parsons, I feel floaty, if that makes sense. I see Ian struggling with his backpack, and Parsons manages to unstrap his and he begins to swim up. I find myself taking off my backpack and the rifle, despite the fact that I was comfortable where I was. But now I find myself back into the world of the living, and the pain starts to come back. I swim toward Ian and he looks up at me with terror, but then he starts to relax himself. I try to help him take off the straps but my breath is almost out now, as a matter of fact it's probably been out and I'm drowning right now. He falls deeper and deeper down and eventually I can't afford risking to go in after him. I swim up to the top and I'm now officially, back to the world of the living, at least I think I am. I feel a hand help me up from the water and I slump down on the ice and just stare up at the sky. I'm getting that same warm feeling I was getting while I was in the water. I tilt my head and see Parsons sitting down next to me shaking, then I tilt it back up and chose to leave it like that. "Where the fuck is Ian!?" I faintly hear Rich yell. I try to tilt my head to where the sound is coming from and I see him drop his backpack and his coat and he jumps into the water. Scott yells something but I can't hear it, I just lay there in a surprisingly comfortable fashion. It's warmth, and it washes over me. Parsons decides to lay down just like me. "Come on, come on, you got to get up man!" Scott yells at me or Parsons, I can't tell. "Fuck, get the hell up!" Scott yells and picks me up by the collar and drags me up. I barely manage to stand on my feet before I fumble down again and the warm feeling washes over me again.

I hear splashing from the water and someone gets up from it, though I can't tell who. I think it's Rich. He's swearing. "Y-... You.. You two fucking assholes!" I hear him yell. I tilt my head up and I see Rich, clothes dripping wet, come toward me and kick me in the cheek with his boot. "Ah, fuck!" I yell, the first words I've said since I fell in. "Rich, the hell are you doing!?" I hear Scott yell. I struggle to pick myself up and I see Parsons lift his arm up in defense but is kicked in the cheek just like me and he drops to the ice. "Have you gone fucking insane!?" I hear Scott yell. Rich turns toward me. "You.. You two didn't even try to help him!" Rich comes toward me and I lift my hands up in defense, just like Parsons but he punches me in the nose and I drop to the ground again. "You fuckers!" He yells again. I see Scott come forward and he punches Rich in the nose. "The fuck is wrong with you!? This isn't they're fault!" He yells. Rich tackles Scott to the ground and starts to beat on him. I drag myself up and I try to tackle Rich and I somewhat succeed. He gets off Scott and hits the ice. He pulls out his knife and points it at me. "You, I should have known the second I fucking met you in that radio tower. Now look at this!? You and your shit friend got my son killed! Go, put your hands up, put your fucking hands up," He yells, I struggle doing it but I manage to put my hands up. "Put that fucking knife away man," I hear Parsons say, I glance at him and he's bruised and got a pretty good cut on his cheek. "Come on man, put the knife down," Scott walks over but Rich elbows Scott in the face and he falls over onto the ice. Scott fumbles around a bit, with his palm over his face groaning. "You son of a bitch!" Scott yells out. "You, you two got my son killed and you aint' gonna' get me killed!" Rich yells and takes a step closer to me, and I take a step back. Parsons just has his hands up and is slowly walking back. I look and notice a small chunk of ice next to me, from where the crack happened I guess. I kick it at him and it ends up hitting him in the face, he drops his knife. "Argh! You bastard!" He yells. "Cut this shit out right the fuck no-..." Scott yells, getting back up. He's interrupted by another sound that I never wanted to have to hear out here. A howl.

I look and see a pack of wolves by the rocks. They look pretty cut up as well, there's maybe ten of them, nine, I don't know. There's one in front, big black one who's cut up pretty bad, with some dried blood. Rich turns around along with Scott and we all stare at them. We're cut up. my nose and face are bleeding, Parsons bleeding, Rich has some good cuts and scraps, and so does Scott. "Wha-... What do we do?" Parsons asks. "Just stand still and look big," Scott says. They all howl like crazy when they see us. The big one in front doesn't look happy whatsoever that we're here, and he's howling like mad. "Why the hell are they howling!?" I yell out. "I don't know, they must not like us being in their territory. This place has been abandoned for decades now," Scott says. "Since when did you become the fucking wolf-whisperer, the fuck does that mean!?" I yell. I'm not trying to be mean but it has truly just been an absolute shit day, all things considered. It's funny, this day makes the worst day at the office look like the best day in my life, and before all this horse crap I thought that the worst day at the office was the worst day in my life. "I used to see these all the time when I was working in the tar sands," He says. It feels almost like that whole fight didn't just happen, I no longer feel that warm feeling I did before. Now I feel like shit, I think my nose is broken but I don't know. I can't tell. My clothes are freezing to me, I'm bleeding from places I didn't even know I was bleeding. We stand there and stare at the wolves for a time that feels like an eternity, but eventually they walk away back onto the shore and they disappear into the woods, but I still hear them howling. Nobody says or does anything, we all just stand there. Unsure of what to do.

"Rich, please man don't do that shit again," Parsons mumbles. "No more," Scott says. Rich just fumbles around a bit and feels the part of his face where the ice hit him, it gave a pretty nasty gash right on the corner of his nose. "That, that was bullshit. I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." He mumbles and looks down. "We need to start a fire, right now," Scott says, and he's right. We need a fire. I know that me, Rich, and Parsons are probably going to die from hypothermia any second now. "Shit, you're right," I mumble. "We need to go to back to land. It's the only place we know for sure where we can rest for the night," Scott says. "Wha-... What out there where those fucking wolves are!? No way man, no way," Parsons almost yells this. "Are you serious? Did you see those wolves? They got in a fight recently, they must have," I say. Scott nods his head silently. "We have no alternative, we can keep following the rocks and you three can freeze to death or we can take our chances and spend the night on land," As much as I hate to admit it, Scott is right. Though I'm not sure what sounds worse, getting eaten by wolves or freezing to death. Though I think I might have almost froze to death earlier, when I was experiencing that warmth. We all nod and go back toward land. The sun is almost set, we decide to set up camp right near the coast. There's some sticks and twigs laying around and we use that to build the fire. "You're lighters are probably not good anymore, they'll have to dry out," Scott says. I just remembered we lost almost all out supplies, the gun, the food, the books, everything. Everything but our knives, the lighters, my wallet, and whatever Scott has. "I'll use mine," Scott takes out his and he manages to light it. It starts off as a pretty meager fire but we actually manage to get it to a pretty ridiculous size once Scott goes out and comes back with more wood each time. Me, Parsons, and Rich all just sit around it and try to warm ourselves up. We try and dry out our coats and I can already tell that our sweaters and pants are frozen to us so it would be pointless trying to take it off without taking skin along with it. We still feel like shit, but at least I'm feeling a little bit better.

"Shit, I'm... I'm really sorry about earlier," Rich says, staring into the fire. I nod. "Just don't try that shit again, no more," I say. And that was the end of that, and it's silent again. The sun sets and it gets to be night time, you can't see more than ten feet in front of you at best now. "We have any food?" I ask. After almost freezing to death, being beaten up, and discouraged from the wolves and losing our supplies, I forgot about my stomach. I'm starving. At least I'm starting to thaw now. Scott sighs and takes out an energy bar and a can of baked beans. "This is all I have," He mumbles. So much for our, 'get there in two days' idea we had earlier, I suppose. "That'll have to do, I suppose," Parsons shrugs. We heat the baked beans on top of the fire and we all take turns eating it with our hands. It really warms you up, gives you something hot to be put in stomach. "We're going to have to find the main road tomorrow, or we're going to have to find some other way to find food," Scott says, and I'm not looking forward to having to find 'other food'. That'll probably end up being some kind of bark or something you see people eat in those survival shows. Not that I remembered any of the stuff they showed. "We need sleep," I say. I'm exhausted. I just want to sleep, this has been the most shit day ever and all I want to do is just go and drift away. "You're right," Scott says. Our blood is dried now, the only medical supplies we had was in my bag and now that that's gone we have no way to treat any of it. Hopefully it's just so cold out here that bacteria can't even exist, but that's probably not even the case. I lay myself up against the fire, and cover myself in some twigs from a nearby tree. I try to warm myself up as much as I can, but I still feel cold in a way. Maybe I should have just let the warmth from earlier wash over me, though I know if I did I would probably be dead right now. But even so, after a while I find myself drifting off. And eventually, I sleep.

Authors Note: Here is Chapter 4 everybody, hope you liked it. I don't really know what to say in this Authors Note other than I borrowed the whole "I got a book, it's called, we're all fucked!' from The Grey, because I just love that quote so much. :lol: Anyway, also I just wanted to say that yes, there is quite a bit of swearing in this but it is only because it helps create what type of people these characters are. In the first few parts hardly anyone swore, and now they are slowly transitioning into swearing much more frequently. Get it? Anyway, just wanted to state that so you can understand why there is quite a bit of it. And as you can tell, I myself don't swear all that often either . Anyway, I hope you liked it and I'm hoping Chapter 5 will be released soon. Anyway thanks for your support and comments and good reading!