The Long Dark: A Survivor's Tale

Blizzard

I awoke around 3 in the morning to strong, howling winds. The old, weathered wood of the cabin creaked and groaned against the force of the wind blowing against it. I did my damnedest best to roll over and fall back asleep, but the wind and drop in temperature made sure that never happened. Instead I laid there, staring into the dark and shivered as the temperature continued to drop. The thermometer function on my watch was still working. 36 degrees. A big change from the previous 55 degrees.

My eyes focused in the inky blackness and I could just barley make out the smoldering embers in the pot belly stove. The cabin still smelled of the burned Fir wood. The cabin continued to creak under the force of the wind outside. My stomach growled hungrily. I hadn't eaten in, what, 12 hours? I got up out of bed and felt around for some matches or lantern, before I caught my foot on a stool and hit the floor. I saw stars for a few seconds, until I got up and my hand found the handle of an auto-ignition kerosene lantern. I twisted the igniter and the flammable gas sparked. I flicked the knob twice more before the kerosene caught and a small, steady flame sat in the middle of the lantern, illuminating the cabin with a dull, golden glow, the flame causing shadows to elongate and shrink.

I should have some extra food and drinks stashed in a locker in the cabin in case I was ever without food. Sure enough the locker was stocked. 10 bottles of water, 3 sodas, 8 cans of pork 'n beans, 4 cans of peaches and 3 bags of jerky. This should last me quite some time. When my stomach growled again, I used my teeth to open one of the bags of jerky. Elk actually tasted very good.

The wind continued to batter my cabin. I rubbed one of the small windows, removing the condensation. Outside, it was pitch black, save for the seemingly endless sheet of white, relentlessly blowing across the wilderness. Hopefully this blizzard would clear out before morning, or I was going to have a big problem. I needed to go back to the tree I had hit and get my gun to kill deer, wolves and potentially bears. Though wolves could easily be scared off with fire, a bear wouldn't be so quick to give up, especially in the face of an easy meal such as myself.

My breath started to become visible as the temperature in the cabin began to near freezing. Getting a fire going would be smart. In the stove, very few embers were still glowing. I shoved three Fir logs in and covered them with newspaper. Now I was at a crossroads. I could either attempt to start the fire without accelerant or I could use the kerosene for the lantern. I didn't know how much kerosene I would actually find out here so I decided to try and start a flame without it.

After 3 tries, I eventually got a fire going. The temperature was rising again. Granted, slowly but it was rising. So I wouldn't freeze to death. That was good. The blizzard outside was still raging and wasn't showing any signs of letting up. With the cabin warming up again and my stomach full, I decided to get into bed and try to go to sleep again.