The Long Dark- A Journey Through Frozen Hell

Scavenger

Yukari and Miho dug through Vaughn's things, trying to find anything to help him.

As Miho dug through his bag, she heard a rattling.

She grabbed it and pulled it out.

A small pill capsule of antibiotics. Half empty but something.

"Yukari!" Miho yelled, holding it up.

Yukari quickly grabbed the bottle and rushed to the bedroom.

"Mister Vaughn, wake up." Yukari said.

Vaughn groaned and sluggishly opened his eyes.

Yukari held out a water bottle and pills.

"I need you to take this." She said.

He groaned and took it weakly as Yukari patted his head.

"Good job." She said.

Vaughn was silent as his raspy breathing filled the air.

Yukari stepped back and closed the door.

She turned around and saw Miho staring at her.

"He took it." Yukari said.

Miho nodded and sat down, looking at a well detailed map, calculating where Dr. Atwood was located.

"East of the prison, so somewhere here." Miho said, circling it with a pencil.

"Yeah." Yukari said, unsure what to say.

"We're down here, pretty far from the prison, so I think Vaughn would be okay if we left as long as he had enough antibiotics."

Yukari remembered the convicts that attacked her, making a worried face.

"What's wrong, Akiyama?" Miho asked, concerned about her friend.

"A few days ago, I went hunting." Yukari said.

"You what!?" Miho said.

"My cold had blown over, and I was bored, so I went out. I found and killed a moose."

"A moose?" Miho asked, not sure if Yukari was lying.

Yukari went to the table and unrolled the moose pelt.

Miho stared at it in shock and amazement.

"When I was skinning it, I was confronted by three convicts."

"What happened?" Miho asked.

"I know I killed one, but the other two got away. They were wounded, and this was before the blizzard."

"If they find out we're down here, Mathis will tear apart anything just to get to us." Miho said.

"I know. I'm sure they bled out or died in the blizzard."

"How do you know they're dead? We need to go find them. Take me to that spot." Miho said, standing up and grabbing her rifle.

"Miho -"

"No, we can't let them get away. We need to be certain they're dead." Miho said.

Miho was actually taken aback by what she said. How ruthless and cold that sounded. Was she really changing.

Miho shook that thought away as Yukari grabbed her stuff.

They walked outside as Currie ran up to them.

"Protect Mister Vaughn, okay?" Miho asked.

Currie barked as the two walked into the woods, following the path Yukari took.

Miho was angered by her friend's disobedience, which could have cost them a lot.

She let go of the feeling quickly when she saw the moose carcass picked by scavengers.

"There's the guy I killed." Yukari said.

Realization hit Yukari as she bowed her head in shame.

Miho walked to the body and nudged it with her foot.

The man had been dead for a while. Preserved from the ice but also plucked by any hungry scavengers.

"Where did they go?" Miho asked.

"That way." Yukari said, pointing behind them.

Miho walked ahead, looking at the ground for any signs where they could have gone.

After a while of searching, there was a rock house posted above a frozen lake.

Miho and Yukari walked up to it and looked inside.

Two convicts laid in the floor of the house with one laying against the wall, clutching a note.

Miho walked in as the man against the wall breathed heavily.

"You." Miho said, pointing at him.

He raised his hands.

"Help me. Please." The man begged.

Miho felt no remorse as she raised her rifle.

"This is the best I can do." She said before, pulling the trigger.

Miho stared down her gun sight, mouth agape as she breathed heavily as she thought of Mathis and Donner, how they caused so much pain and suffering to people already and how they would do some more. She thought about how Mathis tormented her and how he tried to get in her head. She didn't know if Donner was really dead. She didn't know, and she didn't care. But that was irrelevant. She was coming after Mathis. She was going to stop him eventually. If Donner was alive, she was coming for him, too.

Miho gained her composure and lowered her rifle before remembering Yukari behind her.

She turned and looked at Yukari, who was staring in shock.

"Jesus..." Yukari muttered before looking at the dead men.

Miho approached the body and picked up the note, reading it.

"What does it say?" Yukari asked.

Fucking bitch shot me. Mac and Yuko are dead, and I'm feeling cold. I managed to stop the bleeding, but the blizzard wasn't going to let me go anywhere. Mathis isn't helping us get home.

Miho folded the note and tucked it in her pocket before looking at the backpack.

She quickly grabbed it and scavenged through it as Yukari stared at the uncharacteristic nature of her friend.

After Miho took anything that would have any use, she stuffed the items in her backpack and walked past Yukari.

Miho stared ahead quietly, walking ahead of Yukari, staring at the trees as they made their way back to the house.