The Cold

PART I; INTRUDED

ONE YEAR LATER

The cold air lingered as a slight breeze forced the freezing temperatures into the faces of those who survived. The smoke from the fire pit evaporated into the air and joined the rest of the sky, disappearing into nothingness. The snow immediately surrounding the firepit melting away and turning back to its original water-like liquid form. The fire letting off a subtle crackle as the conversations and laughs from the surrounding group drown out the sound of what's left of the trees blowing in the wind. "How long are we staying here?" Abel asked, looking around the group that surrounded the firepit. "Just until this wind settles down, a week? maybe two?" replied Theodore. The two brothers exchanged a knowing look. For months, Theodore had assured everyone that it wouldn't be much longer until they would move on. The winds never seemed to settle.

"These winds aren't going anywhere though Ted..." Alice exclaimed, with a subtle sense of hopelessness. "you keep saying that but these winds are just getting worse" she continued. Ted extended his arm and pulled Alice in close, wrapping his jacket around her so they could share it. "you trust me right?" Ted asked, giving her a gentle smirk. "of course I do" she reassures. "Okay we need to make a plan, because winging it just isn't going to cut it anymore guys" interrupted Cassie. "Yeah we need to make some serious decisions because we're just putting ourselves at risk staying here" Alexander agreed. "We're running out of food, how long do you expect what we have to last?" he continued. The group sat in silence, no one knowing what to say, what to do. The fire began to die out, and Abel reached for more sticks to place on the fire. "There's no more sticks, we need more or this fires going to go out and we're going to freeze to death" he announced. No one wanted to trek into the surrounding woods, they knew that came with great risks. Scavengers lurked in the woods, the world was filled with them. Nobody volunteered to take the risk and collect more sticks to fuel the nearly deceased fire. "I'll go" exclaimed Ted, standing up and passing his jacket to Alice, who stood up after him. "I'll come too" she decided, "not going to sit here and wonder when you're coming back" she continued with a sigh. They disappeared into the darkness, with nothing but a stick of which the end was engulphed in fire that emitted light that offered some visibility into the distance.

"Remember which way we came, I'm not getting lost today" Alice joked, "Would I ever?" he replied. "Yes". They laughed, it was a nice change from the tension felt widely amongst the group. They walked through the woods stopping every so often to pick up handfuls of sticks, some small, some big. With every handful came a sigh of relief, as it was considered one step closer to returning to the warmth and to the group they had felt so safe around. "Babe I'm freezing" Alice said between shivers. "We nearly have enough, we'll be back too the fire in a minute okay?" Ted said, wrapping his arm around her quickly and rubbing his hand up and down her arm quickly in an attempt to warm her. She shivered intensely, she had a tendency to react to the cold in an extensive way and Ted knew that. He lent down to pick up the last handful of sticks and grasped them tightly, letting go of Alice so as not to drop any sticks. "That should be enough, lets go back?" he asked, "yes please" Alice answered. It was a quick walk back, taking into account that it was the several stops to pick up sticks on the way to where they now were. "Nearly there" Ted reassured her, she was intensely shivering now. He sympathized, for that was all he could do.

As they approached the camp they had a sudden sense of doom. No distant talking and the fire had been completely burnt out to the point no light was emitted in the area. Just darkness, and silence. Something was wrong. "Hold this" Ted whispered to Alice, handing her the stick providing the only light within the entirety of the woods and signaling to her not to move. He began to approach the tents and the burnt out fire pit. He felt his heart drop as he realized the seriousness of the situation. It was then that from out of the darkness came a shadowed figure who tackled him to the ground. The man was now on top of Ted and he struggled, trying his hardest to fight him off, taking several punches to the head. Blood dripped down the side of his head and out his nose as he wrestled with the man, pleading for his life. More men emerged from the shadows, rustling in the empty tents and taking what was left of the resources as Ted took more blows to the head. After minutes of defenselessness, from the shadows came what could only be described as a safe haven.