Roulette - A TLD story

[thefistoffury1]

Fuck me. This isn't how it was supposed to end.

 

When I left home, they said I was crazy. You know what's crazy? Having your whole life, personal and work, on fifteen types of social media, for everyone to see and dissect. Having your entire entertainment be either propaganda garbage or mind-numbing nothingness. And all that in a society where you can barely make ends meet since the Collapse. A few years back, there was hope our technology would not degrade us mentally and psychologically someday. Not only our technology, but also our economy had failed us. The day had come, and I was leaving home.

Canada was falling apart, more than the rest of the world. I had family I could visit in the States, but I wanted to get away from people, away from the noise of life. The noise of 7 different smart devices in your home, telling you what to wear, what new hit movie to watch, what your diet is missing. Old school, I said to myself. What's more old-school than the most isolated community in the north? Great Bear. A record-cold winter was soon to arrive, but I saw it as a bonus. No-one would visit me in such harsh weather, so far away from civilization. 

I settled in a small cabin near the Bear Creek, close to the highway that ran the coastline. Old man who had the gas station rented it for next to nothing. It was beautiful and serene. Every day was a nice trip to the nearest ice fishing hut; the occasional bear would appear, sliding on the ice as it tried to balance itself. Just as funny as Youtube compilations, that's for sure. My generator was acting up, so no electric heater. I would sleep a bit cold that night, just as the weather was about to reach its coldest peak, but didn't even care. I was having the time of my life. I think I  had a dream, about the time my family hadn't walked away or died on me. It was like a fairytale. At least, until it all came to a nightmarish end.

Noise. Tons of it. My phone rings but noone calls, my electric heater bursts to life, same as my radio. Only static and high pitched feedback, like the screams of a tortured animal that isn't an animal. The lights in my cabin flicker from blinding to darkness, and I struggle to find my flashlight. I never had it fully charged, because my phone had a similar function, and I never needed it with my cabin's interior lighting, anyway. Phone is dead though. Whatever is happening, I can't call anyone for help. The flashlight is in my hands just as the bulbs above me had enough stress. As they burst, I scramble under the table to avoid damage, and can now see out of my window. 

It looks like an aurora borealis, but it looks wrong. My flashlight comes to life on its own, just as the heater decides to fry. The sparks alone are enough to burn the entire cabin to a cinder, so I grab it and open the door to throw it out. As cold as it is outside, there is no other way. My body says " I told you so" when the coldest wind I have ever felt hits me. The heater is now in the snow, my generator with it. I am freezing and my fancy parka has caught so much snow it's almost useless. Same for everything else in the room.I have to close the door, but the wind is howling ever louder, the snow falling ever quicker, and the only thing I can think of is to board up the door. I have the hammer and a few nails, some loose floor boards will have to do. Now I can tell why I rented this shithole for so little money. They peel off like cheap glue held them in place prior. Works fine for me, as I have to use all my strength to force the door closed. I drop a few nails in my crappy mitts, so I decide to take them off. Yet another part of me is freezing, and I have no fucking clue why this started in the first place. It takes a few minutes to catch my breath, as I stare at the boarded up door. I sit down and lean against the wall, my window just above my head. I can see the lights in the sky, so bright, so beautiful. I feel so cold that I warm up again. My eyes close for an instant.

More noise. Scratches at my door. I wait and listen, in case my oncoming hypothermia is making me hear things. Maybe it's someone else who lives nearby, looking for help. Wolves. I can hear them howling, barking, all teeth and nails. They never were aggresive like this. I crawl to the door, just to see through the keyhole. My blood seems to freeze too, just in time for hypothermia. They glow in the night, green like a spectre in classic horror, and their eyes are yellow, sickly and demonic. One runs full speed at the door as I pull my head away. The door shudders, a board almost breaks, and the door itself has a tiny cracked opening, running vertically next to the keyhole. They can see me now, shivering in the corner. The only thing I can use is my flashlight. I have food and water that the snow didn't ruin, but what's the point? I have no weapon, so I scream. Through all the cold and fear, my loudest shriek is nothing to the howling wind. The wolves are now even crazier and about to break through, but they notice, a second earlier than me, that I have pressed the On button on my flashlight. The flashlight that turned on on its own before. The light is blinding, illuminating the room enough for me to see it as bright as day. I know what to do. As the light hits them, the wolves scatter and flee.

This is it. I have some firewood outside. I'll open the door with plenty of effort - and difficulty - and I will warm up. The aurora seems to be fading, giving way to the beginnings of a great blizzard. Doesn't matter, there's still hope. There's still - - footsteps? Just outside the cabin? No, not footsteps. Too slow, too many. The crack in the door is enough to see the 600 kilograms of muscle, bone and claws. I recognise the bear, behind the glow of the aurora and it recognises me. It's not a funny Youtube video anymore. It stands on two feet, and the wooden door looks brittle and pathetic as it tries to break through. This isn't an ordinary bear, far closer to a living nightmare than one of nature's greatest animals. I'm so cold and the flashlight begins to die, just like the aurora. No way to scare it off. As the end draws near, I understand my life has been the shittiest game of russian roulette. Instead of one bullet, it's all six. Only difference being, one bullet is faster than the others. This is the fastest bullet. Not long now.

As I begin to pray for the first time in my life, a miracle happens. As the lights in the sky die, so does the glow on the bear. It's still angry and twisted; I can see it in its eyes. But it has lost interest. I can see and hear it walking away, as calmly as it approached my cabin. I can't go out now. I have to wait until morning. It seems that everything that uses electricity has died, like a massive, neverending elctromagnetic pulse. I will have to survive in a frozen wilderness without the certainties of the technology I was so frustrated with. Just when I need it the most. I will need to traverse a quiet apocalypse without mercy or aid. If anyone had better luck than me, they're surely running away now.

But I will make it. If nothing else, because I didn't deserve this. I'm angry at my fate, and I will change it. I am not so cold since I decided to wear my crappy but dry cotton clothes instead. As soon as the night ends and everything begins to warm up, I will leave this shitty cabin. I will leave this message here for anyone to find, to learn from my mistakes. Just a bit more rest and I will be good to go.

 

____________________

Your survivor never found this message, slipped by accident between the "shitty floorboards" of the cabin near Bear Creek Campgrounds. The author's trail ends 10 feet outside the door, but the heavy snowfall covered his remains far before you arrived. He is desecrated and forgotten. No one ever looked for his body.

He, like others, faded into the Long Dark.

 

 

Edited November 3, 2019 by thefistoffury1

[Screenshot Pilgrim]

I liked it!   The idea to get away, some brief contentment, a rapid decent, and finally hardened resolve, are well done.  I like best the end, and the thought of unknown bodies, and their stories, under the snow.    💀  

[k0s0ff]

i like it/ werry good!))

 

[C J Halbard]

Great job 🙂 🙂 

[thefistoffury1]

On 11/6/2019 at 11:35 PM, Screenshot Pilgrim said:

I liked it!   The idea to get away, some brief contentment, a rapid decent, and finally hardened resolve, are well done.  I like best the end, and the thought of unknown bodies, and their stories, under the snow.    💀  

Thank you so much! I am by no means a good writer, but I wanted to express the concept of this survivor who was never meant to make it, but gets lucky enough to hope. How many survival runs that we started hopefully have been deleted upon permadeath? All the time we invested, gone. And the quiet apocalypse doesn't notice. Even the message never makes it, and this guy's backstory explains no one will search for him. Kinda like your newest run makes you forget your last, because you have no attachment to it   Even if there was a game feature to spawn your last survivor's dead body, it would very quickly get enveloped in snow, ravaged by predators, etc.

Thanks again for your response!

[Screenshot Pilgrim]

You're welcome.  I hadn't really thought of how many dead people could be under the snow I've been trekking through all this time.  It gave your story a real gut punch at the end for me.  In a good way, of course.  😀👍   Also, you were able to cover a lot of ground in a pretty brief space, which I think gave the end even more impact.  

[thefistoffury1]

On 11/9/2019 at 1:46 AM, Screenshot Pilgrim said:

You're welcome.  I hadn't really thought of how many dead people could be under the snow I've been trekking through all this time.  It gave your story a real gut punch at the end for me.  In a good way, of course.  😀👍   Also, you were able to cover a lot of ground in a pretty brief space, which I think gave the end even more impact.  

Oh thanks! I have a few ideas for more stories, and the thought that at least a few people liked the first one really makes me very happy.The next one might have to do with a hoarder who stockpiles everything. I can neither confirm nor deny the hoarder is based on my TLD playstyle lol

I appreciate your comments! Thanks a lot!

[Lucas Fierro]

I really like how you say " He, like others, faded into the Long Dark. "

[thefistoffury1]

19 hours ago, Lucas Fierro said:

I really like how you say " He, like others, faded into the Long Dark. "

Thanks! I was thinking about how many players have died again and again in TLD. Even if someone hasn't, by playing on the easiest difficulty, death is inevitable. Maybe it could be thousands of days in, but it is.