Collaborative fan fiction - Read, enjoy and contribute!

[upnorth]

December 20th means another year of fan fiction writing and reading completed! 🎉🎉☺️

Notable this year are 2 new writers and the first spin-off story. Check out "Collaborative fan fiction - a parallel story "

What started as an experiment in improvised collaborative writing has turned into a fun journey to explore the world of The Long Dark beyond gameplay, while respecting the game lore for maximum immersion.

Behind the scenes we are now a little bit more organized and plan ahead for some things while still improvising the rest as we come up with interesting ideas. As previously mentioned we do have an ending of sorts in mind as well, but we are in no hurry to get there. If you are interested in participating but not sure about how, the parallel story might be easier to get started with as it's less established, but otherwise feel free to contact me with a DM.

Finally, thank you to everyone who are following the story and contributing to it! Going forward both the release of Tales From The Far Territories as well as the upcoming final episode of Wintermute should give us even more inspiration for cool art and stories 🎆❄️🔥

Edited December 20, 2022 by upnorth

[Leeanda]

Keep it coming.😊👍. 

Happy holidays 🎄

[upnorth]

( continued from page 8 )

Christine smiled as she watched the most precious thing in her life still being alive and well despite everything, playing with her new fluffy friend and enjoying the warmth of a roaring fire.

- Yeah, she is. Her name is Emma. Christine replied.

Her life since their childhood suddenly rushed through her mind. Talking about her late husband and their child with an old and unfortunately until now forgotten friend was a lot to process.

- Looks just like her mommy. Alex replied with a smirk.

- Thank you. Listen, there's something I need to tell you... We lost Peter in an accident a few years ago. Christine looked down while catching her breath. She hadn't really talked to anyone about it until now.

Alex closed his eyes for a moment. Although it had been painful to lose Christine to him they used to be good friends.

- I'm very sorry to hear that... what happened? He finally asked.

- Work related accident. Well, we got the usual "He died while serving his country" stuff, but it's not like there has ever been an open war on Great Bear or anything, he was a radio operator so most likely a fall accident. Christine replied.

- The town is run over by wild animals and looters so we are actually heading for the base, that's why we showed up here now. She continued.

They were quiet for a few moments, listening to the rest having somber conversations and the sound of the fire.

- I actually did notice that, I did a supply run to town recently to find medicine for Frank. Alex replied.

- Really!? Then it must have been you I saw running around the corner of the pharmacist. Christine noted.

- Yeah, I'll be damned, I saw something moving further into town but I didn't want to take any risks running into unsavory folk. Alex laughed a little, soon regretting it due to the pain it caused.

- Do you have a family of your own? Christine suddenly inquired.

- Oh, no, never got around to that. Too busy studying and then working I suppose. Work at Black Rock is pretty intense too, unpredictable. I love the job, but it's perhaps not most suited to raising a family around. Alex noted.

- Come to think of it, I'm only here because something really odd happened which broke the security systems. I managed to escape through the mountains but I think a couple of inmates followed me. I know my way around the island a lot better of course, so I think I managed to shake them eventually, but we should keep an eye out. Alex continued.

- Oh yeah, something happened in town too a few days ago. During an aurora electronics started to act odd and suddenly wild animals started to act much more aggressively. Well, I suppose you are painfully aware of that already. Christine replied with a smirk.

They were suddenly interrupted by Erik.

- Sorry to interrupt the reunion here, but I've patched you up as well as can. You seem to have lost a lot of blood but I think I've managed to stop the bleeding for now. I'm hoping you will be able to give us a more professional assessment after you get some rest, but I think you will be alright for the night at least. Erik noted.

- Thank you so much! I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name? Alex replied.

- It's Erik, nice to meet you, despite the circumstances. Good to have a medic around I guess. Erik answered with a smile.

- Thanks again Erik, I'm Alexander, you can call me Alex. I think I'm gonna get some sleep now, it's been a long day. Alex replied.

Meanwhile, Emma had finished her bar and walked up to one of the windows in the cabin.

- Look at the sky Amy! She shouted excitedly.

Everyone suddenly froze. Amy quickly moved to see if there was a new Aurora. She couldn't see anything.

- The stars are so pretty! Emma noted again.

Everyone smiled and relaxed again, it had been quite a stressful few days, the perspective of a child was a nice change of pace.

- They are very pretty. If you see a star falling through the sky you get to make a wish. Amy told Emma.

That made Emma look in awe at Amy and stay at the window looking intensely at the sky for the following 30 minutes while the rest started to prepare the cabin for 6 people and a dog.

[upnorth]

They cooperated to unload the important supplies for the night and morning after from the truck. They didn't have bedrolls to go around so they had to improvise with the extra clothing they had packed to create makeshift beds. But considering the circumstances no one complained. Erik took a few minutes to check the state of the truck after a rather eventful day, but beside a bullet-hole in the windshield that he should be able to patch, it seemed to be in good shape. The bullet had hit the roof and disappeared somewhere in the back.

- So Frank has a pretty bad leg wound and our medical doctor is half dead too. Amy noted sarcastically but with an undertone of seriousness to Christine while they picked things from the back of the truck.

- Yeah, it's not a great situation, but we'll have to assess the situation tomorrow when they have had some rest. Christine commented.

Christine noticed that Amy seemed nervous and distracted from the task at hand.

- Everything ok? Christine tried.

- Eh.. yeah, I just... Amy was a little startled by the question.

Christine waited patiently for Amy to collect her thoughts.

- So I know Frank because he is a colleague of my boyfriend, the one I tried to call from your house. And I'm afraid to ask Frank about him after everything that has happened the last few days. Amy continued.

- Oh, I see. I can understand how... Christine went silent as one of the others was joining them for a new load.

She waited until were alone again.

- I can understand how that could be intimidating. She finished.

Amy didn't reply. Her anxiety was winning over her sense of humor at the moment. She decided to focus on work to get her mind off of it and started to walk towards the cabin with all the conserved food she could carry. With everything else on her mind she never noticed the sting in her skin from the bullet gracing her shoulder which was now subsiding as her body was trying to heal it. It would probably leave a scar though.

Edited January 5, 2023 by upnorth

[upnorth]

As evening became night, two severely wounded men tried to rest and heal in their respective beds. The rest of the cabin started settling into bedrolls and makeshift beds. All things considered it was almost like a camping trip, quite cozy. At least Emma thought so, being on an adventure of her lifetime at a mere 7 years of age, trying to fall asleep next to her slowly breathing four-legged friend, watching the fireplace. She hadn't managed to spot any falling stars, but she wasn't too disappointed, next time!

Amy took a deep breath.

- Was he with you when you crashed? Amy almost whispered to Frank.

- No... he was supposed to be, but he got called away for an emergency last minute. There was a helicopter scheduled for the next day but something odd happened to the electronics before we crashed so I'm not sure they ever made it off the ground, it's the same model that we flew so they might have to fix that first. He... they are probably stuck out there, but they should be alive at least. Frank answered.

- That's a relief. Yeah, electronics have been acting up around here as well, it seems to have something to do with the aurora's actually. Amy continued.

- Oh, I didn't know that. I wonder what it could be. Perhaps a solar flare, the ones they talked about could be strong enough to knock out all electricity on Earth? Nah, that can't be right, must have been a temporary power surge or something. Frank replied, a little more concerned.

- I don't know, but things have been different since then. Good night, thanks for letting me know. Amy replied and went to her bed.

- Sleep tight. Frank finished and closed his eyes. But he couldn't let go of the thought that Amy didn't seem very excited about the news.

Amy lay in her bed for a few minutes trying not to think, feeling her wound with a finger. She should probably get that checked tomorrow. So many strange things happening, so many injuries, she thought as she finally fell asleep.

[conanjaguar]

Erik awoke early, at the crack of dawn. He checked on the condition of the wounded men, and, satisfied that they were stable, spent a few minutes cleaning and checking the rifle to make sure everything was in working order, then loaded it with five rounds and racked the bolt. He then donned his parka and boots, and took a flask of hot, bitter rose hip tea for later. Despite Erik’s best efforts to leave the cabin quietly, so as not to awaken anyone, he stepped on a creaky board and roused Mocha from her light slumber. She whined softly and scratched the door, asking to be let out.

Erik knelt and scratched Mocha’s ears. “Not now, girl,” he whispered to the dog. “You’ll most likely get into some trouble or other.” Mocha cocked her head and whined again. Erik sighed. “Tell ya what, I’ll split a granola bar with you.” At the mention of food, the dog sat down quietly and waited expectantly for her treat.

Erik dug a reasonably fresh granola bar out of the cupboard, unwrapped it, and broke it into two pieces, giving the larger one to Mocha and eating the other one himself. While the dog was occupied, he snuck past her and went outside, quietly closing the door behind him.

No matter how many times Erik saw it, the sun creeping up over the horizon, bringing with it shades of peach, orange, and crimson, reflecting off the freshly-fallen snow like a field of scintillating diamonds, was always beautiful. A few stars still vainly attempted to outshine the sunrise. Taking along a few plastic bags to contain the scent of blood, Erik set out.

Before long, Erik stumbled across a game trail of sorts, a path worn into the ground by paws or hooves walking the same trail hundreds of times. Might as well set up here, he thought. Odds for something to come along are pretty good. Erik chose a slightly elevated spot and concealed himself behind some shrubbery, waiting patiently for something to pass by.

He didn’t have to wait for too long. After perhaps thirty minutes had gone by, a twig snapped somewhere down the trail. Erik removed the glove from his right hand and let it hang from a cord from around his neck, brought his rifle up slowly, and waited for whatever it was to wander into his sights.

It was a young doe, alone, about the size of a grown German Shepherd; her brown hide still dotted with the fading white spots of fawnhood. Erik just ahead of the front shoulder blade, the sweet spot of hunting, where the chance of missing was the slightest. Too far in front and she’d catch it in the throat; too far back and the round would shatter the shoulder and render the animal immobile; too low and it would puncture a lung; and too high would break the spine.

The doe nosed around in the snow for a few seconds before Erik squeezed the trigger. BANG! Erik’s aim was true, and the .303 round took her clean in the heart. The doe died in a matter of seconds.

Erik waited for the doe to stop twitching before he emerged from his hiding spot. He took a hatchet and a knife from his belt and began to process the corpse.

[upnorth]

Erik pondered as he approached his kill.

- Still got it. But I need to remember to clean the pipe, it's been a while.

As he got close he started to inspect the doe. A fine specimen, not too old, should give them pretty great meat to cook. He didn't want them to burn through their conserved food too quickly, especially with 2 people on the mend with their bodies trying to heal up, and a kid growing. Mocha seem to mainly eat dog food, but that would run out eventually as well.

- I should make a fire to deter wolves, it's good to finally be on my own for a bit again, but I told no one where I was going and with aggressive wolves around it would be hard to get help if needed.

He proceeded to light a fire and broke down a couple of branches for good measure, trying to assess how long it would take to butcher the animal. Being experienced was no guarantee, especially in the winter, as wood always had a certain amount of moisture from the snow that made burning a bit unpredictable compared to nice and dry fuel.

Things seemed quiet as he started breaking down the doe. He did notice an increased interest from birds as the smell started to spread. Ravens and wolves were known to cooperate, so he could just hope that they wouldn't attract their 4-legged companions any time soon. But perhaps he should put out some baits in a circle around him just to be safe. He decided to cut up some of the less clean pieces of meat and put out 4 of them in a circle around him, at a distance that would be more than enough to switch from butchering to his rifle if needed.

It had been a while since he butchered an animal now, but muscle memory kicked in eventually and he navigated around bone, through sinew and on with ease, despite using a regular and slightly worn hunting knife. He found the bullet hole and extracted the bullet. The butchering going on routine at this point, his mind started to wander a bit.

- I need to fix the truck windscreen as well, I wonder how best to do it... it was a pretty clean shot with not too many cracks, but with very limited tools and supplies it might be tricky.

- And since we are stuck here with a couple of people in recovery, I should use the time to teach Amy to handle a gun. It's long overdue. He continued.

Dusk turned to late morning as he finished up the butchering. No one seemed to be out looking for him yet, no shouting of his name in the wind. But they had a child, a dog and two wounded men to deal with in the cabin, worrying about the most experienced woodsman was probably not a priority. Perhaps Christine had even figured out that he needed some alone time.

Everything was still calm as he gathered up his work and started heading back to the cabin. A few birds had started to pick apart one of his decoys.

[upnorth]

Things were still calm as Erik approached the cabin. A little eerie but calm. Perhaps his decoys had been enough to satisfy the wildlife for now? No one seemed to be out and about to collect snow for water, but perhaps they had already done that. He stashed the meat, hide and guts outside for now. Ideally he would have wanted to start curing but it would smell a lot with so many people inside and the infection risk for 2 people with open wounds wasn't worth it he judged.

- Morning, everyone alright? I went out early to hunt, got us some meat from a pretty nice doe. Erik said as he closed the door behind him with everyone looking up.

Mocha reacted the fastest smelling the blood off his hands and clothes despite having tried to clean it off with snow after.

- Hey, sorry you couldn't come, I hope you enjoyed your snack! Erik commented.

- Nice to hear we have more food, but I would have preferred that you told someone in case of an emergency. Christine noted with a cheeky smile, not wanting to judge him too harshly. She figured he probably needed to be alone as much as they needed the food.

- We're doing ok, just had breakfast. Still some left if you're hungry? Amy suggested, with a look at the fireplace and some open cans.

- Thanks, that would be good. How are our patients doing? Erik asked with a look at the bunk bed. He got 2 separate thumbs up as a reply.

- We seem to be pulling through, I hope to be able to assess both myself and my patient a bit better today, but it's been a rough night. Happy to be alive though. The doctor replied.

Erik sat down to eat his breakfast, realizing how bad he needed that morning hunting trip alone. But easy enough to get more of those now that things had settled down a bit. He might even take Amy along once he had taught her some basic shooting skills.

- Hey Amy, I was thinking that we might want to start teaching you how to use a gun. You got a pretty intense introduction to what can go wrong with a gun yesterday, but I hope you still want to learn how to use one yourself? Erik asked.

Everyone in the room looked at Amy to see her reaction.

- ... yeah, I guess that could be useful. Speaking of which, someone should probably take a look at my shoulder. Doesn't hurt any more but I've never been shot before. Amy responded looking down into her lap.

- Sorry honey, of course we will! Christine almost ran over feeling guilty of not having through of it herself.

Ok then. See to that wound and I will prepare a shooting range of sorts outside. We will start simple with a handgun. You can watch if you want Emma, just remember to cover your ears as it can be loud which can be harmful. Erik suggested.

Emma looked at Christine for approval, but she didn't say anything, just started back at Erik.

The day progressed more or less as expected from there. The wounded men rested but got a bit better assessed and medicated. Amy got her wound cleaned and dressed and a bit overdue also familiar with weapons. Emma mostly played with Mocha inside to keep Christine happy. But everyone got to enjoy some fresh meat. Almost too fresh, Erik noted, since they didn't have time to let it hang and mature. But a lot better than just running out of conserved food as fast as they had been so far.

Edited April 10, 2023 by upnorth

[upnorth]

Another day settled into dawn at the cabin. During gun practice Amy had struggled with the recoil, being a fairly slender person, and had to focus a lot on her stance instead. Ironically that might have been a good problem to have because as Erik noted her shooting got decent pretty fast once she felt more steady and could focus more on aiming. Erik also took the time to repair the wind screen since they didn't know how long they could stay at the cabin, best be ready. He also packed up the hide and the guts from the doe in the back, now slightly more roomy with somewhat less food around.

In the cabin, the doctor was feeling a little better, although very sore. But he gave himself a good prognosis all things considered, and had been very impressed with Erik's ability to dress wounds which had all started to heal up. Still had to be careful moving around though. His patient didn't seem to be recovering as well unfortunately. He could eat and drink, but the wounds seemed to need more advanced medical treatment, just as he had initially judged. All they could do for now was wait and hope for the best. Christine did suggest that the base they were headed to might have  medical facilities.

Emma was mostly bored. The initial sense of being on a camping trip had faded a bit and although being allowed outside to play with Mocha along with Amy a bit after the gun practice was over had helped, she was starting to run around Christine a lot as impatient children often do. Christine had found some old books in the cabin that she hoped could bring some much needed entertainment.

 

[conanjaguar]

A week or so passed in a heavy snowstorm without much further incident. A few times Erik had found wolf tracks in the fresh snow near the cabin, but for now they seemed to be keeping their distance.

Alex, the doctor, was healing up quite nicely. Fortunately for him, the wolf bites hadn’t been overly ragged, even though they were deep, and no shards of tooth remained. Fortunately none of the wolves had been rabid, or he would have been dead by now.

Frank, meanwhile, was getting worse. Even with the extra medical supplies that the party had brought, he was going through the painkillers and antibiotics at a rapid rate. And the area around the fracture site on his leg was starting to become discolored, smelly, and numb. Alex confirmed this as a symptom that gangrene was starting to take hold.
“We need to get him to somewhere where we have proper medical facilities,” Alex stated grimly. “If we can’t find better antibiotics, then I’ll have to operate, and this is no place to do it.“

Erik nodded. “We were going to an abandoned military base before we stumbled across you. Are you sure you’re fit enough to travel?”

Alex grinned with strained humor. “As long as I’m not mistaken for a can of dog food again, then I can hold up.”

”All right. We’ll get ready to move in the morning, when the weather lets up a bit.”

[conanjaguar]

Unfortunately, the storm continued for three more days. The cabin was tense with nervous tension that put everyone on edge. The deer meat was running out, and they had to start going into the stock of canned food.

The books were a welcome distraction. Everyone read them at one point or another, especially Frank, in between periods of pill-induced numbness. One of the books was The Darkwalker: a Universal Connection Between the Mythology of the Seven Nations, by Professor of Anthropology Robert Stanton.

In it, the author described several common threads of Native American mythology that came together around a shadowy demon that visited the sick and the dying to take their souls to Hell. It’s presence was always known by a scent of grave mold and musk, and green smoke or fog was reported to come from the doors and windows of the homes it visited.

Frank remembered stories he had heard of the Darkwalker as a child. It was used primarily as a tool to frighten disobedient children into compliance… but one day, when he was ten, he had seen the demon at his grandfather’s bedside mere minutes before he died. He hadn’t told anyone and had almost forgotten about it, until now…

Frank dozed off with these thoughts echoing in his fevered brain… and awoke with a start. His leg ached terribly. He unwrapped the bandage and took a look. The skin was moist and shiny, and jagged splinters of bone poked through. He shuddered with pain and nausea; it looked decidedly worse than it had just the day before. Frank tested the leg gingerly. He could limp along slowly and painfully, but to put his full weight on it would be impossible.

[conanjaguar]

Frank had no choice; if what the voice had said was true, he was a goner out in the open. He took his crutch and began limping, slowly, painfully through the light snowfall (no, he corrected himself. Ashes. It’s snowing ashes.) to the safety of the green fire. With his bad leg, he had to rest frequently, and it took him over an hour to reach it.

The fire had a distinct sense of otherness. In the wrongness of this corrupted world, where trees were strangely twisted and gnarled and it snowed grey ashes, the green fire was clean and pure, burning with a fiercely, without any obvious fuel source, in a circle of carved stones. It was warm and cold at the same time, burning with a smell not unlike fresh pine needles. The flames of the fire were like a crystal ball, showing events past, from his life and from others’.

He saw the helicopter crash and two broken bodies beneath a burning sky… one of them was his, he realized. A man stabbing his finger into a wolf’s eye socket in a final act of defiance; a gang of tough-looking men huddled around a fire, a prison guard frantically emptying his revolver into a bear before it bit his face off; all this and more had flashed by like a movie fast forwarding and rewinding at an insane rate.

[conanjaguar]

Frank was jolted out of his reverie and looked around to see what had startled him. There. At the edge of the firelight, something was standing.

Or rather, nothing was standing. It was a silhouette given substance, a shape blacker than the void of interstellar space. It was horribly humanoid in shape, standing about 6 feet tall. It had a long, flowing cape, made of the same nothing as the rest of its body. Where there should have been a face was a deer’s skull; a buck deer, with twisted, stunted antlers. Within that skull’s eye sockets burned blazing orbs of green light. Despite their lack of expression, they seemed to be the most alive thing about it, burning with ancient cunning and a truly alien intelligence. This, Frank realized, was the Darkwalker itself.

Little morssel sstared into that damnable fire for too long, it sseemss. That will be remedied pressently.

A wave of the Darkwalker’s all-too-human hand, and the mystical fire was extinguished, leaving only smoldering embers behind.

Now the playing field iss even, it gloated. 

In an eyeblink, the Darkwalker drew closer, moving without seeming to move. An immaterial, shadowy hand reached out…

Frank lost all sense of reason and acted in a blind panic and rage. He grabbed the nearest thing to hand, a large black rock from the fire pit, and threw it at the Darkwalker’s head. His aim was true, and the rock impacted just above one of the eye sockets, shattering the bone. The light faded, and the Darkwalker screamed in pain and anger. NO! IT ISS IMPOSSSIBLE!!!

As Frank bent to pick up another rock, the Darkwalker lifted its wispy hand in a gesture and flung him against a nearby tree. The breath rushed out of him on impact, and he felt something crack, possibly a rib, possible a vertebra. It hurt, but seemingly not as much as it should have. The Darkwalker moved, again, seemingly without moving, to just over a meter away, and leaned into Frank’s face, it’s remaining eye glaring into his. Foolish little morssel, it hissed menacingly, you had the chancce to make thiss eassy for yoursself. For that, I will tear out your beating heart before your dying eyess. I will take your boness and work them most cunningly into insstrumentss of mussic. With each tune, your ssoul will writhe in agony.

[conanjaguar]

It was deep into the night and the wind was howling around the cabin, making it hard for its residents to get any deep sleep. Mocha’s ears were twitching and several of her two-legged companions were twisting in their beds. One bed in particular was drenched in sweat at this point.

“If this is a nightmare, I wanna wake up!” The wounded man whispered anxiously.

“Get the hell away from me!” he continued, a little louder.

This was enough to break Mocha out of sleep, which yawned, licked her mouth and got on her feet trying to get her bearings having just woke up. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary or dangerous, she laid down again and was about to go back to sleep.

“Help!!!” The voice cried out again.

Now Mocha went over to that bed and jumped up. She licked the face a bit, it was hot and salty, and she yelped. The human didn't seem to feel well but licking the face didn't seem to help. Perhaps she had to wake up someone else? Amy didn't like it when she was barking at night, but this might be an emergency.

Moch turned her head towards her sleeping owner and barked a couple of times. Nothing. She barked again. Someone else reacted.

“What's the matter girl?” Erik asked as he cleared his eyes and got up on his elbows to see better.

“Get… back!” The voice whispered.

“Oh, he is just having a bad dream, it's ok,” Erik noted.

Then he noticed the drenched bed. He got up to check on Frank. He was burning hot!

“Everyone, wake up!” Erik shouted.

The room started stirring.

“What is it?” Christine asked with a yawn.

“He is burning up! He needs medicine and water. Quickly, melt some snow and cool it down so he can drink it.” Erik answered while trying to give some basic emergency care.

In a couple of minutes, the room had scrambled and the doc was now awake as well, inspecting the wound.

“This is bad, really bad. He might not survive the night...” the doc noted. “You see, here,” he gestured at the ugly, discolored flesh on Frank’s thigh, “it looks like the infection has spread into his bloodstream. The best thing we can do is tie a tourniquet and keep it below his heart and give him a triple dose of the strongest antibiotics we have, there should be some in my pack… and pray that it’s enough. If I have to amputate, he probably won’t make it.”

[upnorth]

The Darkwalker grabbed Frank’s leg with it’s clawed hand, and began digging in it’s talons, cutting through to the bone. Frank cried out and tried to loose the Darkwalker’s grip, but his hands passed right through it’s shadowy form. He clawed at what passed for it’s face with his hands, trying to get at the other eye. He dug his thumb into the Darkwalker’s eye socket and pushed. The eye wasn’t solid, but burned, it was hot and cold, setting his nerves alight with excruciating pain, but he kept pushing, this was life or death.

Frank’s finger brushed against something yielding, and he clawed at it. There was an explosion of green light, a muffled grunt, a human grunt, and the Darkwalker and it’s shadowy realm were gone. Frank was back in the familiar surroundings of the cabin. He had sunk his fingers into Erik’s arm as he was trying to hold him down… while the blood-spattered doc was sawing at his leg with a hacksaw.

Frank laughed maniacally. He had won. Then all was darkness.

By conanjaguar

 

From the perspective of the rest of the cabin it had been as a confusing as frightening sight, especially for Emma who sat with Mocha by the fire just to keep away from the adults frantically working. The patient was turning violently in his bed with Christine and Erik trying to hold him down while the doc worked and Amy assisted as best she could.

- He seems to be having a bad dream about this Darkwalker. she noted.

- Yes, there was some stories about it in one of the books, it used to be a fairly common tale for children. He probably heard or read them as a child which brought back memories. Christine agreed.

- Well, we need to cool him down and quickly before his body gives out! But we're almost out of the first batch of water and the medicine doesn't seem to be helping. The doc reported while desperately trying to cut the leg off without ideal equipment to say the least.

It was perhaps his most challenging situation of his career so far, despite his specialty in trauma care. But to be fair, he usually had a fully equipped hospital and trained staff to assist.

Suddenly Frank woke up and stared at Erik who didn't see it as he was focused on bending the fingers back. He then noticed Amy and gave her a scared and confused look, before finally feeling and seeing the doc at work on his leg. This proved too much for his mind to take and he just started laughing before finally going silent and limp. Escaping the Darkwalker was the only comforting thought his mind could find and hold on to in the end.

This caused the doctor to pause his work and go up to the pillow where he confirmed what a few suspected at this point. With a big sigh and wiping the sweat from his own forehead, he finally said it.

- Yes, he's gone. Terrible way to die, but perhaps a small comfort to be out of pain after all.

No one said anything. They just sat down and caught their breath. Emma didn't know what to do so she went to look out the window again. A welcome distraction from the now very somber mood among the adults.

 

Night turned to dusk in the small cabin as the storm subsided and continued on through the great Canadian wilds. The gang were stressed out after the events of the night but also very tired and got some well needed sleep. They had quickly agreed to clear out and get in the truck in the morning, before going back to bed. It would be difficult to wait longer as the roads might get too deep with snow.

Mocha woke up first as usual, but Erik wasn't too far behind. He routinely gathered some snow to melt and started on a quick breakfast for everyone. The body had been put outside in the snow as having a corpse in the cabin made a couple of them uneasy. It felt equally bad that it might get attacked by wolves, but since there was a storm raging they figured it would be safe. It had been. They planned to bury the body eventually and give him a decent funeral, but it would have to wait.

Everyone eventually got up and ate. Feeling a little uneasy but ok. The doc was feeling a lot better thankfully, his nasty wounds had healed up as well as anyone could have expected considering the circumstances. Erik managed to start the truck, he figured it would be worth burning a little fuel to get the engine as well as the cab warm for the trip since it had been sitting cold for some time now.

They cleaned out the cabin making sure to grab all their food and medical supplies. They didn't want to strip it of everything in case someone else in need might come by, so they left a couple of logs and some tinder at the fireplace and tidied up the beds. Christine left a note on the table about what had happened, they weren't completely sure if something contagious was at play or not. They could only hope that they hadn't been affected.

Finally they all managed to get crammed into the truck. Emma and Mocha had to sit in laps now, as the truck slowly backed out on the road.

[Leeanda]

Nice to see you back @upnorth

[upnorth]

The truck managed to navigate back down the hill and as they consulted their maps, they realized that they had some uphill ahead of them. Not an issue otherwise, but it occurred to Erik that the frozen body in the back was a lot of extra weight they didn't want to waste fuel on. They needed to get rid of it.

After discussing the issue and agreeing that a traditional burial would not be possible in the current conditions with a frozen ground and no proper tools to dig with, Christine suggested a pyre to burn the body. It wasn't exactly a traditional practice, but actually pretty common in multiple ancient cultures. Considering that the Darkwalker had apparently been stirring up some old memories it didn't seem completely out of place in terms of honoring their late companion with a native ritual, in addition to probably being the only practical solution they could come up with.

They realized that they needed a big fire for the body to burn and not be left for wildlife, but it wasn't hard to locate a dead tree that had fallen over after the recent storms. They put the body on the tree trunk, looking up at the clear sky, and lit a couple of fires under it. Getting the initial fires started wasn't a big issue, but they soon realized that the trunk would not start to burn properly very fast, so they decided to use a little fuel to help it along.

They finished the burial, it was quite a sight as the flames reached their peak. Amy said a few words based on some anecdotes from the few times she had met him along with her boyfriend. They managed to find a few rocks to build a small cairn and wrote a note as an improvised grave stone. Considering what they had to work with, it did turn out pretty nice in the end.

They all felt a little more at ease when they got back into the truck and started moving again. It was nice to leave the events in the cabin behind them behind them properly. It suddenly got easier to enjoy the beautiful day and the nature around them.

Edited September 9, 2023 by upnorth

[upnorth]

The mood continued to improve as the sun reached its peak in the sky and combined with the heat in the cab, snow had started to melt and run down from the roof. They had to hold Mocha back from trying to lick it off the windscreen from the inside. It was a pretty nice day actually. It didn't hurt that they were essentially off-roading through a beautiful landscape with a very capable truck.

Erik had been worried about the amounts of new snow but it turned out to be very light and easy for the truck to plow through where needed. All he had to worry about was to stay in the middle of the roads as the edges weren't that easy to determine. Sliding into the softer snow beside the road when meeting another vehicle was every drivers nightmare. Luckily they had the roads to themselves now so Erik could utilize the full width.

The only real worry was perhaps the amount of fuel left. Based on their estimates of how far away the base was, they were making good progress but still had a few hours left on their journey, especially in deep snow. Looked like it would be a close call.

[upnorth]

The road trip, if you could call it that, continued through the day with a stop for lunch in the early afternoon in an open area near a cliff with a great view. Not just great in general but great for Great Bear, with interesting features both nearby and far away. Emma had never really seen anything like it and for Erik it was a welcome sight after having been locked down for far longer than he usually was. The only one not thinking too much of it was Amy, but she enjoyed being able to play catch with Mocha with a stick for a while.

For the first time since the power outages, people abandoning the town, dangerous looters becoming commonplace and animals suddenly being unafraid and aggressive towards humans, they had a normal couple of hours in the winter sun to relax, catch their breath, and have a sturdy albeit routine lunch.

Christine was the one who realized that they needed to pack up and be on their way and all of them begrudgingly agreed. It didn't ruin the mood completely though and for the remaining trip they talked a lot more in the truck and got to know each other better. Erik had some great stories about modifying the truck and its past adventures. They had all been positively surprised by how capable the truck was.

This lasted until the sky started to shift color and the trees started growing tall around them. It did give a bit of a wind break and slightly less colder temperatures, but they mostly felt the need of the road trip to be over soon. The mood was somber as the day grew darker and it started getting hard to see far ahead of the truck. They guessed that it must be around 4 or 5 pm at this point.

Edited October 7, 2023 by upnorth

[conanjaguar]

Mocha began to growl softly at some unseen presence in the night. Christine had long since learned to trust the dog’s instincts, so she squinted through the darkness and tried to see what could possibly be bothering her. No luck; it was very dark outside by now. The silhouettes of the trees a few dozen meters away were barely visible, much less anything that could be lurking out there. “What is it, girl?” she asked. Mocha only growled louder in reply. “Something’s wrong,” Christine whispered to Eric. “Give me the revolver.”

***

Luna sat upon her perch on a high ledge, observing the movement of the truck with her cold, calculating yellow eyes. Even though the sky was beginning to darken, it’s headlights were beacons in the gathering darkness, a dead giveaway to its position visible for kilometers. And, of course, wolves’ night vision is far better than that of humans.

The humans’ technology betrays them yet again. Pathetic.

From the cabin, the pack had been following the humans all day, waiting for the right moment to strike. From previous experience, they knew that eventually the truck would die (run out of fuel) and the humans would have to continue on foot to wherever they were going. They would be easy prey.

Luna turned to the pack. 

The time is near. We will follow them until their vehicle dies. Then, when they are vulnerable and exposed, we will strike!

A hazy green light began to dance across the sky. Luna felt the all-too-familiar buzz of static electricity raising the fur on her back. Thoughts of violence and destruction prodded at the back of her mind. 

The act draws to a close. Man has had his hour of glory, and has driven the earth nigh-unto destruction! Each human we kill is an act of retribution and atonement!

Much  of Luna’s conscious mind shut off, leaving only what would help to bring the hunt to success. The bloodlust was in her now, in all of them. As one, the pack howled a cry of vengeance to the rising moon and began to run through the powdery snow.

 

[upnorth]

Erik decided to increase the speed to be safe as Mocha's growl continued. The ground was getting firmer due to less snow reaching it at the bottom of the big trees surrounding them.

Luna and her pack who had been in pursuit suddenly found themselves getting out-paced in the deep snow.

We might lose track of them if they go any faster, change of plans - prepare to attack! Luna commanded.

In the truck they started looking further behind them and finally saw fast moving shapes in the trees! The wolves were back. This time the group had an advantage of all being fairly safely in the truck with guns, but the wolves were catching up to them.

"Shoot a warning shot! Might scare them off..." Erik suggested.

Christine being the best shot after Erik took aim with a revolver to save on rifle ammunition and shot in front of one of the furthest shapes on her side. It made it stop for a second but resumed the chase right after.

Don't fret, they have deadly machines, but they don't seem to be very accurate! Luna noted.

"Doesn't seem to help, I think we need to kill a couple?" Christine concluded with a tense voice.

Erik swore silently. He could try to speed up to outrun them, but the truck wasn't that fast even if the ground was getting firmer. He could also slow down to allow the wolves to come closer for better aim, but risk serious injuries or worse.

"Alright... I will try to slow down a little so that they can get closer for easier aim. Try to shoot them as they start to approach the truck in a straight line, it will make it easier to get a fatal shot." Erik instructed.

"We don't have time to switch driver, so you have to do the shooting. Remember, deep breaths, steady aim and don't hesitate." Erik looked quickly at Christine and Amy.

What followed would probably not have impressed any shooting range instructors, but given the desperate situation they did do pretty well. Amy missed 5/6 shots but managed a kill on her 5th. Christine took her time aiming and killed a couple of wolves with less bullets. After a lot of shots and a few yelps, they seemed to have won.

Luna finally realized that they were at a strategic disadvantage and called off the attack. It was dangerous for a leader to push the pack too hard. Humans was a tricky prey after all and it seems she had not learned enough from their previous encounter to secure revenge...

Edited November 12, 2023 by upnorth

[upnorth]

Erik couldn't watch much of it while keeping the truck on a road with wolves knocking it around with their failed attempts to attack the humans and dog in it. The plan went better than expected though and they were lucky enough to escape unscathed. He understood what had happened from the shooting and the yelps and simply being experienced in these things. Knowing that the wolves would leave them alone, he didn't ramp up the speed again so that they might save some fuel on what would hopefully be the final stretch to the base.

- Nice shooting! How do you feel? Christine remarked at Amy.

Amy didn't say anything but sat back and looked at the gun in her hand.

- I understand. Taking a life is a serious act even if it's in self defense. Christine tried, guessing at what was going through Amy's mind at the moment.

- It is. But, if we hadn't been able to scare them off they might have followed us until we ran out of fuel and been able to surround us. It was a life or death situation and you should be proud. Erik added as he turned towards them.

Amy briefly looked up at Erik and they shared a faint smile.

Mocha had stopped growling and Emma was just holding her tight for comfort. The doc was just happy that his skills wasn't needed again. Soon they all sat quietly, staring into the forest ahead of them trying to spot signs of the military base they desperately needed to find. According to the maps they should be close.

[upnorth]

The truck kept going on a pretty good road in the middle of the old, tall, trees. Erik didn't say anything but he had noticed that the fuel gauge was indicating dangerously low, nearly empty levels of fuel. But the engine wasn't sputtering just yet, so at least it wasn't obvious.

They all sat silently and stared into the evening, trying to identify any useful features in front of them. Road signs, buildings, fences. Anything that might surround a military base. No one could see anything for about 20 minutes. But then Erik noticed something straight ahead.

- I think I see a fence! Straight ahead. Can't be a fallen tree or a rock. Erik mentioned and pointed.

Everyone looked but no one saw anything. What they didn't know was that there was mist coming from a nearby creek that hadn't yet frozen over. The faint feature disappeared briefly for Erik as well, making him doubt his vision.

- I see it too now! Christine suddenly shouted!

- You visited this place before right, do you recognize it? Amy asked her.

- Not yet, it's been many years and it's so dark, but the road feels familiar.

As the truck came closer, still without revealing its dire resources, they all saw the fence and the contours of some buildings behind it and the mood in the truck improved drastically.

Edited November 19, 2023 by upnorth

[upnorth]

As they came close enough to the fence to see it and a couple of signs on it clearly, the truck finally made it clear to everyone that this was its last few meters of service this time around. The road went through a big gate, which oddly enough was open, and Erik carefully tried to keep the truck at speed through the gate so that they might close it behind them for some temporary safety.

- What's that sound, is the truck broken? Emma asked.

- No, we are just out of gas. We were very lucky to find as much as we did before we left town. Erik noted.

- What does out of gas mean? Emma asked as she turned around to look at her mom.

- Gas is the fuel for the truck, it makes the engine run so that it can move. Christine explained calmly, suddenly feeling a lot safer again.

The truck finally came to an abrupt stop, luckily Erik had got them past the fence and about half way through the small courtyard first.

- I'll head back and close the gate. We don't have any locks but I'll improvise something to at least keep animals out. You can start looking for a way inside. Erik told the others as he quickly left the drivers seat and started walking back to the gate.

- Well, the gate was open so I suppose we could check if the main entrance is open as well. Christine pondered.

The group went up to the only door they could see. It also had a few warning signs. Unfortunately it did not open. It looked reinforced as well so they would not likely be able to pry it open. They did notice some windows but they looked reinforced too and would probably not break from either tools or bullets.

They were discussing building an emergency shelter when Erik joined them again.

- Any luck? He asked.

- Unfortunately no, manually locked or automatically locked without power it seems. We were thinking that we might build some kind of shelter instead? Christine informed him.

- I think that's a good emergency plan, but lets have a look around first. Erik suggested.

They agreed and after fetching all the guns they had from the truck, they started exploring the area outside the base along the main wall. They started with what looked like the shorter walk and not surprisingly it ended quite soon where the fence met the wall. They couldn't see anything of interest in the dark so they simply turned around and walked the other way.

The other direction was more promising, but the base wall continued outside the courtyard and into the woods which unfortunately had deep snow in places making the trek harder. It was also getting very dark and hard to see anything. But determined to not give up having got this far they pushed on. Soon they could hear running water and not long after noticed the source of the mist from their arrival. A small creek with fast running water.

- Stay here, I'll take a closer look. Erik said as he signed with his hand to the others.

The base wall went all the way out against the water, surrounded with ice at the edges. He walked a bit further to be able to look around. It was too dark to see well but the ice provided some illumination and he noticed a gate! Very carefully he managed to hug the wall and get around the corner before standing at what seemed to be a sewage entrance. The ice seemed solid enough but did creak a little under his weight, they would have to be careful. Up close he could see water running out from a tunnel. He was also slightly dismayed to see a padlock. He pulled on it but it was locked. And they didn't have bolt cutters... he decided to report back.

- So basically we're screwed then? Amy asked.

- Well, we did arrive very late in the dark. We might see something new tomorrow. Christine suggested, suddenly feeling a bit ashamed about her convincing everyone to find their way here only to not be able to get in.

- What kind of lock is it anyway? Amy continued.

- Uh, a combination lock. But it's 4 numbers, gonna take a long time to test every combination and we can't even be sure it will unlock given how damp it is at the gate. Might have rusted shut by now. Erik answered, feeling the weight of the situation as well.

- Wait. 4 numbers? That reminds me of something. Where have we seen 4 numbers? Amy thought aloud suddenly more enthusiastic without anyone understanding why.

- Was there numbers on the maps? She asked Christine.

- Not that I recall, perhaps some coordinates and the scales. Christine suggested.

- Oh wait! I think I got it! Amy suddenly started running towards the gate.

- Be careful on the ice! Eric managed to shout after her.

They had studied the documents of Christine's late husband in quite some detail in her kitchen before they left but the rest of them had mostly focused on the maps to locate the base. Only Amy had bothered to check the other notes properly as well. She now pulled out the small piece of paper with what seemed like some code on it that they hadn't been able to understand at the time.

Finally at the gate she grabbed the lock and immediately started turning the dials. It was quite cold to the touch but they did turn thankfully! When she had turned 2 of the 4 dials Erik finally caught up to her.

- What did you remember? He asked slightly winded from trying to catch up in case of any ice related emergencies.

- The code! The code from the notes in the safe! It was 4 numbers too! Amy quickly noted as she continued with the 3rd.

He couldn't really recall what she was talking about but let her work, and before he had time to think about it much they both heard it. Click!

Yes! Amy shouted.

She had pulled the padlock open, and opened the door. They had found a way into the base! A smelly way, but not too bad in the cold and no one was complaining anyway. She triumphantly turned around to face him.

- Great job! You might have just saved us! Erik said feeling a tonne of weight fall off his mind.

She just smiled and looked away slightly embarrassed.

- Why don't you go tell the others the good news! I'm a lot heavier than you and we don't want to risk the ice breaking, it's creaking under my steps. Erik suggested.

Amy nodded and carefully started to navigate her way back to the rest of the group.

Edited November 24, 2023 by upnorth

[upnorth]

Was this really happening? Had she managed to figure out how to access a military base through a sewage entrance with the help of a cryptic note from a safe? Amy had trouble wrapping her head around recent events, but it felt great to have been so useful in an otherwise much more capable group of people. The (cute) wilderness expert Erik, survivalist and natural leader Christine, and of course the doc. Talk about being in good company for the situation.

Christine, Emma and the doc had started walking around a little where they were waiting trying to keep warm when Amy made it back to the group. She didn't say anything but smiled and held up the unlocked padlock.

- You figured it out!? Christine shouted in astonishment.

- Yeah! The code from the safe we couldn't figure out at your house was the combination. Your husband must have been working on security or something but at least we can get inside now! Amy commented trying to hide her sense of pride.

- Where is Erik? The doc asked.

- He stayed back at the entrance, it's icy and slippery getting to the gate and he didn't want to risk breaking the ice. I guess he has started exploring the base now. He asked me to get you. Amy replied.

- Oh, I guess we should get going then. But perhaps just one at a time across the ice? Christine suggested.

- Yeah, that's probably for the best. I heard the ice creaking a bit on my way back actually. Amy replied.

- We really should be unloading the truck and get the supplies inside as well. The doc thought out loud.

- Good point. But lets head inside first and hopefully find some place warmer than this to plan our next steps. We should be alone here for a while at least. Christine suggested.

Amy took the lead as they all headed inside. The ice holding for now, although they could all hear it creaking now. Amy decided to lock the gate behind them and scrambled the code, just in case. They soon found Erik a bit further inside, inspecting some crates for supplies as best he could in the dark.

Edited November 25, 2023 by upnorth