The Masked Bird

Monotony and complacency

Life settled down into a gentle monotony finally. There were of course still several risks to prepare for, like the risk of a deep freeze setting in, or raiders returning, or bad harvest, but we were finally getting into a sense of normalcy. I haven't asked anyone, but I'm worried that we're getting a little complacent with the normalcy. For now though, I think we're strong enough to repel almost any attacks from any local forces though. We've expanded to almost 100 families, and had to expand the walls a few times to avoid running into the issue of a lack of space. They've gotten some old engines from boats running again, and we're able to get a lot of fish from drilling through the ice. Things are looking up from here, and as long as nothing goes too wrong, we should be able to help even more people.

Trading for supplies turned out to be surprisingly easy. In exchange for the gun and bullets I'd taken, they gave us a sled, small tent, flour, dried meats, and a bottle of the local flavour of ale. A bit more than what the rifle was worth to be honest, but it seemed like they were just as happy as us that the bounty hunter was gone. So without too much extra haggling, they gave us one of their canoes as well, which we could put on the sled pretty easily. Packing up went quickly, we just put the canoe on the sled, then everything else inside the canoe and tied it all down. With a farewell to the villagers, we were out and on the road again. The plan was to follow the river again, right up until the river thawed out. That hadn't changed, it just meant now we didn't need to take a month or two to make our own boat. We planned to take turns pulling the sled, but I decided I'd go first. So I strapped the sled to myself, pulling one pair of straps over my shoulders and the other around my waist. And we began to walk, a fair bit slower than when we didn't have the sled, but that was to be expected as now we were pulling along a fair bit of weight. We were still making good time, I was fairly sure of that though. After a few days, the ice had begun to get patchy, which left me with quite a bit of hope for how much longer we'd be walking over land. The trail over land was easy to track, and I was pretty sure that the alcohol birds were getting closer. Though the river did pose a risk - it'd be a lot easier to see us, and they were probably expecting it. That meant a fight was definitely coming again. It was Tom's turn to pull the sled, which meant I could scout out ahead of the group, doing my best to make sure none of us got taken by surprise in the way I had. But being just one person, it wasn't easy, having to keep moving and keep my eyes open, never able to relax. "Hey! The water's clearing up!" I heard Sorna call, so I quickly raced back, slipping through the trees and falling into line behind her without a sound. The river was clear - of course it was still frozen at the edges, with patches of ice floating down it, but we must've finally gotten clear of the ice, at least for a stretch. That meant it was time to set the canoe in the water, and so Tom began dragging the sled over. I emerged from the tree line first, looking for anything out of place. Nothing in the trees, no drifts of snow to hide in, it seemed like we were clear. I also couldn't hear the sounds of those things overhead anymore, which meant we were probably clear to set into the water and get going. I nodded, waving at the other two to hurry and get everything into the water. We needed to get distance and fast, while we had the chance.

"What's the hurry?" Sorna asked, as I walked back and dragged the sled forward faster. I stared at her in disbelief, unsure of how she missed the lack of what was almost always an ever-present noise. I pointed at the sky, then at my ear. Realisation dawned, and she snapped "We need to get going! This is our best chance!" and we were running for the river. Reaching the river side, we quickly loaded everything up into the canoe, and set it in the water. With it in place, we waded into the freezing water, pushing the canoe deep enough to where people could climb in. I went in first, settling into the middle and leaning to counterbalance. Sorna stepped in next, and then with both of us working to counterbalance the canoe, Tom climbed in last. Sorna sat in front, me in the middle, and Tom in the rear, and with everyone ready to go, we began to paddle. The current of the river picked us up, carrying us swiftly along. The wind blowing into my face felt glorious - we were moving! I hadn't moved this fast in a very long time, and it seemed like we were accelerating. Once we'd gotten up to a fast pace, we slowed on our paddling, just maintaining the speed we were at with the river's help. Far behind us in the distance I heard the bird's sounds. Something began to bug me. They knew we were getting so close to the flowing water, so why had they given us this chance? There was a trap ahead, I was sure of it. But the other two didn't seem to notice, not finding this odd and just taking the chance they'd been given. There wasn't anything I could do about it though, so we just kept going. In the distance though, I heard one of the oddest sounds I'd ever heard. A quiet thump, like a tree falling over, then a much louder, more earthy thud, though both were still relatively quiet. What they were, I had no idea, but I figured it was probably connected to why we weren't hearing anything above us. Especially since it'd come from well behind us. That was the only sound of its kind though, leaving us to keep moving.