The Long Dark: A Survivor's Tale

Into the Storm

The cold was intense. My entire body felt like it was being stabbed with thousands of pin needles as the wind blasted me. I was frozen in place, unable to move in the dangerously cold temperatures. I couldn't hear or see anything. My ears were flooded with nothing but the howling and deafening wind. I eventually forced myself to move, slowly. I shook uncontrollably and my hands and feet were already going numb. At the bottom of the small hill that the cabin was situated on, I could see a little better. My tracks were gone, filled in by the snow. My gun and bag were still 15 yards away and already my body was fighting me, telling me to give up and lay down in the fresh fallen snow.

My hands and feet were on fire, ironically. Each and every movement I made was slow and agonizingly painful. The light from my lantern reflected off the white, thick snow, causing me to have to squint to see much.

I continued to trudge blindly in the painfully cold temperatures. My entire body was telling me to stop and lay down; Every movement burned. It wasn't until I tripped over the frozen carcass of a deer that I noticed my rifle and bag, laying half buried in the ground. With adrenaline now surging through my veins, I clumsily picked up the bag and gun. My fingers and hands were stiff and numb. Instead of a sickly pale, my hands were a light, very light purple. Frostbite. My heart began racing, pounding hard against my chest, so hard it should've drowned out the roaring wind. I forced my tiring legs to move and carry me back to the cabin, each step feeling like my feet were made of lead. I kept my hands under my armpits, trying desperately to keep them warm.

I wasn't but 20 feet from the cabin when my legs finally gave out. The snow was so cold it was hot, firing off all the nerve endings in my face at once. I managed to force myself to my feet before collapsing into the snow again. This time, I didn't even attempt to move. Not that I even could in the first place. I lay there in the snow and wind, shaking uncontrollably and completely drained of energy. My head was thick and pounding as the cold, frigid temperatures took over every thought. All I could think of was the cold and the pain until I finally succumbed to the wrath of Mother Nature, and lost all consciousness.