When The Lights Went Out

Milton

Mackenzie woke up shivering, clearly the fire of his plane wouldn't keep him warm whilst he slept. But that wasn't important, he had to find Astrid. He recalled there being a way out of the ravine he was in. He left the cave and checked to see if he wasnt hallucinating. No, it was still there. He limped over to the climb, clearly more injured than he thought he was, maybe he'd find the planes emergency first aid kit somewhere. He started on the first climb of many to get out of the ravine, but as soon as his hand touched the rockface, he pulled it back, tears in his eyes.
"Fuck, I forgot about that," Mackenzie said through gritted teeth and eyes blinded with tears. He had to get out of here though, he'd die otherwise, no matter how much pain it caused him. He firmly grasped the rockface and climbed up to the first ledge, "That wasn't as bad as I thought," panted Mackenzie. He then climbed to the second ledge, then the third and finally the fourth. He was now out of the ravine. He followed the only way he could go through the snow and rocks until he saw it. His old plane, stuck between two trees, the left wing missing, the windshield completely smashed and several marks, cuts and dents throughout it. It was beyond repair.
"Sorry you had to go out like this old girl," said Mackenzie, a single tear rolling down his face. He approached it just to see it up close. Then he saw all the different things scattered around the plane, notably his parka, thank god for that, it wouldn't feel as cold now. He also noticed something he hadn't before. A shiny hardcase with a four-digit lock. Is this why Astrid wanted to come here? The case had a big red CONFIDENTIAL stamp on it, clearly it was. Whatever was in this case, he had to return it to Astrid, even if she was willing to die for it, even if she had died for it. With the hardcase in his hand and his parka now found, Mackenzie set off walking, stumbling through terrain he didn't know until he entered a clearing that sloped downwards. At the top of the clearing he saw it, feasting on its prey. A wolf. The size, sharp teeth and grey fur couldn't make it more obvious. It was eating a deer luckily, otherwise it would've spotted Mackenzie. The wolf was right in the middle of the clearing, so that meant Mackenzie would have to go around the sides, he chose the side that the wolf wouldn't be facing. There were also trees there he could hide behind.

5 minutes later, Mackenzie had successfully evaded the wolf without it noticing and reached a place where it would not have been able to reach him. He still continued down the one path that wasn't a dead end occasionally falling over until he saw a sign that appeared to have a radio tower on it, pointing in the direction he was going in, he looked up. And there it was, a radio tower just peeking over the mountain tops. Knowing something was close by, Mackenzie began sprinting towards the radio tower until he reached it. He looked around, and he saw a corpse leaning against the wooden railings.
"Holy sh-..." exclaimed Mackenzie, a new found energy making him run towards the body to check if it was Astrid. It wasn't. Mackenzie let out a sigh of relief and took a step back. The sun was high in the sky, shining down on him, seperating him from humanity. Then the blinding light was gone, making him look down to recover his eyesight. From the top of the hill he peered beneath him. He noticed it then, a whole town less than 200 metres away from him. How had he not seen it?! Mackenzie smacked his head and looked for any signs of life, there were currently none. He looked around and figured the best way to get down from where he was, the best way was to go down yet another rockface and go along a manmade path and walk into town; so he did. As he was halfway down the path he saw a sign stating: WELCOME TO MILTON. As Mackenzie then took the corner he saw the first sign of life he had seen in 12+ hours. Smoke from a chimmney. Someone here was alive. He may not be doomed afterall.