John looked up, the sun was high and bright, scorching really, if not for the contrast of the snow and ice covering the ground in every visible direction as he looked down again. Up on the top of the trees some of the ice would always melt a bit, but never too much, as it was still quite cold. He often wondered how cold it was but with nothing to check he’d settled on Too-F-Cold ºC.
The dog was just a few meters ahead, going back and forth once in a while, as if covering the extra distance ahead multiple times didn’t mattered at all, like it was effortless, which made John feel even more tired. He guessed being a husky maybe helped with the cold, but still, it was weird how much the temperatures didn’t seem to bother him except at night. John hadn’t given it a proper name, so he’s been calling it Dog, since a few weeks ago when they found each other, a name to which Dog seemed more than willing to answer, honestly just seeming incredibly happy someone was interacting with him.
It’s not that John didn’t liked the company, obviously he did, but part of him was still worried about the noise. Actually he tried to get rid of him for that particular reason, but Dog kept following him, and it wasn’t until he found out he was being followed without knowing, from shadows and corners for 4 days, with no bark at all, that he decided that maybe it could be ok to have him around. I mean Dog had survived so far, so there had to be something.
A clearing ahead, he’d been hearing water running for some time, and that was probably also the reason why Dog was more active then usual. They’ve been walking for so long, it would be a nice break next to a *fresh source of water, also a good time to get some bearings.
Despite hearing the sound it took them quite a bit to get to the creek, but a transparent-green ribbon of water was greeting them, just cutting through the white around. A desolated view, a few small dead animals around, clearly no longer being able to stand the thirst they had no choice and consumed too much of the tainted water.
John filled up his canteen, with the cold metal stinging his hands as the water touched it. Dog was sniffing around, always the curious one, he’d grown to appreciate that, while stationary they were a target, and having “someone” watch his back felt reassuring. He closed the canteen lid, shook it a bit … good enough, he couldn’t drink it yet but a problem for later.
He placed the backpack on the floor, which should have probably been the first thing to do, but it was heavy and most times taking it off and putting it back on again was worse then just resting a bit with it. He reached for the map, not because he was lost, but they were close, it was a motivation look, that maybe he could make it soon.
They couldn’t stay long.
The night was approaching fast, no place in sight for bunking up, another night outdoors. Dog recognized when it was time and knew the drill already, and what places were better, and would keep closer, eventually they found a place with enough trees around, and John slowly started mounting the tent.
Warming up a can of beans by an small improvised fire before dark was crucial, he hadn’t lit a fire in weeks at night time, he feared it would be like turning on a lighthouse with a giant sign “I’m here”. He reserved those warmer nights for indoors.
He felt guilt the first nights he sleep on the tent and left Dog outside, the bond wasn’t there, and in a way it was clear both were still anxious to be trapped with each other on the first night he made signal do the dog - “Want to sleep on the tent tonight?” - And it wasn’t until the third night of him leaving it a bit open for some time that Dog finally entered. On the opposite the bond grew faster from that point on, he appreciated the warmer feet, a dog right at the entrance of the tent, if someone - or something - opened it, he had a buffer of safety, with teeth.
The nights weren’t as cold as the process of packing the tent again still in night time, after being a bit cozier for a couple hours, and starting the walk again.
A bit after mid-day he spotted thing that was not a tree or a mountain in weeks, a saw mill, it was a few kilometers ahead, excitement and a sudden rush started flowing though his veins … civilization. Well … hopefully just the building.
They both scouted the area for a couple hours before entering, it seemed to be the saw mill of a nearby town, they could see it far ahead, the building seemed empty, so they got in eventually.
The bottom floor was filled with machines covered in vines, chunks of wood they could easily use to light a fire, John decided he would feel safer on the top floor, where a few offices were.
There were just too many entry points here to feel completely safe, but he didn’t wanted to venture into the town just yet, tomorrow. The good thing about these sort of places is there’s material everywhere, he grabbed some wire, several cans, bottles and other things and improvised an alarm system near the entrances on the bottom floor. It was easy to spot but better than nothing.
Tonight he didn’t needed the tent, the backpack was heavy and if he had to leave in a hurry it would be a problem. He decided to leave it on the bottom floor hidden, just the small blanket would suffice today. As he was closing it he looked inside, he’d been carrying around that thing for so long, he opened it a bit more, inside a cylinder made of some alloy he didn’t know, rust already forming in some of the places, it had a small glass window where a bunch of wires coming out of a chip could be seen. He reached for a small wooden box that was between the cylinder and the backpack itself near the bottom. This was more of mental reassuring, he knew it was there, a small lithium battery tucked away inside the box wrapped in some paper. - “I hope you still have juice, it’s been a while”.
He picked a corner far from windows, hauled several rocks, covered the floor and lit a fire. He boiled the water he picked the prior day. In its raw state, the water was thick, with synthetic spores, green-ish bastards that would settle in the kidneys and eventually shut them down. He watched as the heat killed the bloom, with the spores falling together into a dark sediment at the bottom of the tin. After a quick filter with a spare cloth, it was back to being drinkable. It still tasted of metal, but it wouldn’t kill him, not today at least.
Dog feel asleep before he did, or at least it looked like it. He checked the perimeter again and laid on his back, checked his watch, old technology was great, batteries would last years especially if had solar charging … 22h47m.
His mind suddenly rushed to the usual, always her … usually around this time of night, John wondered if she was alive, if any of his family was really. Flashbacks of both good and embarrassing moments flashed his brain.
23h19m ….
He turned to the side, placed his hand near Dog head … it was nice.
23h21m …
Sleep was a thin, fragile thing. It broke at ….
02h39m
He didn’t wake to a noise, but to a sensation. A heavy, warm weight was pressing down on his chest. He opened his eyes to see the silhouette of the husky standing over him. Dog wasn’t growling, that would be too loud. He was silently and intensively breathing, ears were flat against his head, and he was staring one of the cracked windows.
Then, John felt it.
The noise of the cans started first, but then the rhythmic vibration in the floorboards.
Thump.
It wasn’t footsteps.
Thump. Thump.
It was too heavy for that, too rhythmic.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
It sounded like something massive was breathing through the earth itself. Through the window, a faint light began to pulse outside. It didn’t cast shadows like a lamp, but instead it seemed to swallow the darkness, turning the world into a blurred version of itself.
John didn’t moved for a few moments, maybe he could ignore it, go back to sleep, he didn’t breathe.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
He quickly and silently got up, there was no way of knowing how long he had, he had to hurry. Dog was already ahead of him going down the flight of stairs, he was fast. As they got on the ground floor he saw the 4-legged animal pick up even more speed, he couldn’t match, he dissappear 1 room ahead right after the corridor.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The next sound hit John like a punch
a bark
…. it was the first time in many days he hear it.
He started to slow down, with doubts flowing through his head, but quickly picked up pace again, he wouldn’t leave him behind.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Even with the increasing noise he wondered how far the bark noise had travelled.
Right around the corner he saw the husky rushing back in his direction, eyes wide open, still reflecting some of the light ahead, he saw something and was running away, the pulsing light growing bigger, he ducked as the light was passing through the window.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
While this looked like the wrong way to exit the building, it was also probably the safer one in a few minutes as it seemed the light was moving towards the other end from the outside. He just had to wait …. but he remembered the backpack, he left it on the other opposite side of the building.
He maintained his crouched position and started moving as quickly as possible, there was still time.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Th…
Silence.
He realized the noise had stopped, but there hadn’t been time to move that further away, so still outside.
He slid his arms into the backpack straps while still lying down, clicking the plastic buckles with agonizing slowness, muffling the click with his sleeve.
He looked at Dog. Movement noises were forming outside.
Both started moving again to the opposite side of the building, like a cat and mouse game, but it was much harder doing this with the backpack, his knees couldn’t keep up, and he kept losing balance, almost falling backwards. It was an impossible task, but he couldn’t leave it behind.
As they moved to another room he decided to get up.
The light outside moved towards that room … he kept moving, not running but no time to be subtle. They were outside, he moved instinctively to the direction where Dog was running to, no time to second guess, animal instincts would probably be right, choice paralysis would be the worse thing now.
Th… Thump. Thump.
The vibrations had resumed, took him a while to notice, but then again it was only when they stopped running, after ducking under some nearby trees, that he had time to be able to listen again something else other than his heart pounding through his chest.
He opened the backpack, grabbed the wood box and took the battery and held it as tightly as possible, ready to slot it in if needed, the metal device half outside, half still covered by the backpack itself.
02h49m
He waited …. a hand on the battery, another hand resting on Dog’s body, he could sense his heartbeat.
02h51m
The pulsing light grew brighter, but then began to fade as the vibration moved further down the road.
02h53m
It was impossible to distinguish anything , whatever was out there this night wasn’t looking for them anymore, it was just passing through now. John waited until the lights vanished completely.
03h17m
He stood up, his bones aching from the cold and tension.
Survival was a game of staying out of sight. He patted the dog’s once, a silent thank you. Dog nudged John’s hand with a wet nose, probably from the cold, he just realized he didn’t had his gloves.
The sun would be rising in a few hours.
They stepped out into the freezing night, two small shadows disappearing into the trees, leaving nothing but paw prints and boot marks soon to be covered by the falling snow.
.
Thanks for reading. Sorry for potential dissapointment, sometimes I have flashes of stupid ideas form in my mind that "are nothing or not complete", but I wanted to start this exercise were I write them in my blog (aka diary) as brain dumps. I guess this could even help me improve my English writing skills which are quite lacking.
Photo by Maxim Shklyaev