The Blizzard

[ridankrad]

My story takes place at the Coastal Highway, in the coastal village area. I had set up base in the house on the far end of town with the front door leading out onto a elevated porch and with a fireplace inside. I had killed a bear and several wolves (that had in turn killed deer for me) so I had a huge stockpile of food. In addition, I had 5 knives, 4 hatchets, a 97% rifle, two bows, tons of material for arrow, a firestarter, a magnifying glass, 40 liters of water, a stockpile of backup jerky, crackers and granola bars, all the handmade clothes, and tons of guts, animal pelts and sewing kits for repairs.

I awoke on the early morning of Day 319, stepped outside and was greeted by a blue fog. Despite the fog, I had moderate visibility of about 50-60 feet, and there was no wind or snowfall. I noticed a deer wandering out by the coast. Thinking to further increase my food stockpile, I decided to chase it towards a wolf, let the wolf kill it, bring down the wolf with my bow and harvest both bodies for a double harvest. I chased the deer out onto the frozen-over bay, out towards Misanthrope's homestead. Sure enough, a wolf brought down the deer about halfway out. I lit a torch and approached the wolf. The wolf noticed me quickly and approached me slowly. I dropped the lit torch in front of me and readied my bow. The wolf stopped in front of the torch, stopped and began to growl. I took aim, loosed the arrow and brought the wolf down with a single headshot.

With both animals down, I approached the deer and fully harvested its meat, hide and guts. No sooner did I finish harvesting but a full blizzard started up, with heavy snowfall, thick fog, high wind, and about 20 feet visibility at best. From where I was standing over the harvested deer carcass, I faced the edge of Misanthrope's homestead. I could've simply walked straight towards it and hunkered down inside to wait out the blizzard. I don't know why now, but for some reason I decided that I should head back to base instead, so rather than head toward Misanthrope's directly in front of me, I turned around and walked blindly in the general direction of the shoreline. At the time I figured just head straight back the way I came. It's just 50 feet away, I thought. No big deal, I thought. No reason to go to Misanthrope's; might as well head back to base so I can add this meet to the stockpile and start curing the fresh guts and hide. I at least decided, in my wisdom, to come back for the wolf hide, guts and meat later after the blizzard had passed.

I hadn't gone some 30 feet before I regretted my decision. First of all, I realized that falling through the ice was a greater danger than normal because, with the low visibility, it was harder to determine where the thin spots in the ice were. Furthermore, I also wasn't certain if I was walking in the right direction. Too late, I decided then to turn back for Misanthrope's. As I wandered back in what I thought was the way I'd come, I spotted a fishing shack. Oh good, I thought. This will give me shelter from the wind. I headed inside. However, looking to start a fire, I discovered that, although I had 30 sticks and several tinder, I had used my last match earlier lighting the torch when I dealt with the wolf. Although I had the magnifying glass on me, that was obviously useless in the storm. Meanwhile, despite my wonderful stockpile of tools and resources back at base, I hadn't bothered to bring the fire striker with me, and it sat uselessly on the table back at home -- somewhere out there in the storm.

Okay, don't panic, I thought. You've got the wolf jacket, deer pants and boots, the rabbit gloves, plus a heavy sweater, scarf and cap. You're fully bundled, and you're sheltered from the wind in here.

I checked my temperature. Despite all the clothing, and despite complete protection from the wind, I still had a minus 7-8 degrees celsius, and my temperature gauge was slowly but steadily dropping. I faced a decision: stay in the shack and try to wait out the storm or venture out and try to find my way to an actual house. Visibility was zero and my temperature would drop even faster out in the blizzard, so venturing out was dangerous. On the other hand, staying inside meant my temperature continuing to drop while I simply sat and twiddled my rapidly-freezing thumbs. Considering for a few moments, I decided to wait and see if the storm might pass, hoping to buy myself time by taking advantage of the shack's limited shelter. I couldn't monitor the time of day due to the near-zero visibility, so I'm not sure how long it was, but it was probably close to an hour that passed before I'd finally begun to freeze. At this point, I no longer had any advantage from the shack since I was already freezing. Meanwhile, the storm showed no signs of letting up. With no options left, I ventured out into the storm. I wandered off in one direction, trying to watch the ice color closely to avoid sections that turned dark blue that might be more likely to break. But I soon discovered that no direction appeared safe, and I soon found myself walking in circles and returning to the shack once, twice, and then a third time. By the fourth time, my condition had dropped to about 70% and soon after I contracted hypothermia.

As you can imagine, by this point I was desperate. This is Day 319, I thought. I have tons of supplies and tools back at home, a mere 100 feet from here. I just can't find it. Is this really how I'm going to die? I wouldn't let myself die sitting inside a fishing shack I resolved. I would walk back out and walk until I found something and put aside my fears of thin ice which no longer seemed relevant. I set out yet again, this time not turning back around. I kept going and going. Am I going the right way, I thought? I should have been there by now, I considered. Almost as an answer, fate saw that I discovered another shack then in the storm. I had gone in a single direction this time, so this was most certainly a different shack than the earlier one, but it probably meant that I was walking parallel to the shoreline. I took a gamble and made a 90-degree turn to the right from the shack and resolved to continue in that direction, hoping to find the shore. As I wandered through the storm, I listened for the sound of cracking ice but heard only the sound of howling wind. Suddenly I saw it. A cliff face. It was the shore! I was saved! I headed towards it and wandered onto the shore. I turned to the left and wandered along the Coastal Highway then. The hypothermia had taken its toll and my condition was now down to 30%. But I was back at shore. Home must be close. But as I wandered through the storm, I wavered. Where was I? I didn't recognize this. I had left home and headed straight across the ice and harvested the deer just 100 feet away. I should already be back, but along my right side I saw only cliffs, not the low rolling hills of the coastal village. This isn't right, I realized. And then it dawned on me. I had wandered across the ice for at least several minutes before I'd turned at that second fishing shack. I had reached the shore, but was nowhere near the fishing village.

In desperation, I turned around and returned back along the highway. Maybe the village was close, I thought. Maybe I could make it. But my fatigue had dropped to exhausted long ago. And my condition was now at 15%. I realized it then. I was doomed. My vision soon began to blur, as my condition crossed the 10% threshold. I tried to focus on the road ahead of me. Forward. Find shelter. My vision blurred more, becoming a kaleidoscope of snow, trees and asphalt. I pressed onward. If only I could just get to base, I could grab matches and accelerant, and start a fire in seconds. I could make it! But then the kaleidoscope narrowed to a vague tunnel of light; and then, as the fury of the blizzard that had been so deafening softened into quiet tranquility, I faded into the long dark.

[bethany]

Great read, thanks so much for sharing! Glad you cross-posted to Steam as well. Always fun seeing stories like this. Looking forward to more =)

[ridankrad]

Thanks, Bethany! That character had quite a story over the course of those 319 days. He actually was the one that got me the Wrapped in Furs, Night Walker, Beneath a Starry Sky, It was THIS Big!, Natural Healer, Happy Harvester and One With Nature achievements. And in my own mind, there's also an achievement for making it to 300 days, so he got that one too.

He accomplished a lot so it was terrible to die, especially so close to home. On the bright side, I like the thrill of the early game so I've been enjoying my fresh game re-exploring Mystery Lake. Plus, the death also makes for a good story. Looking forward to sharing more.

[Be_Lu]

what an awesome story!!!!!! 300 days!! wow!