The Long Dark- A Journey Through Frozen Hell

Restarting the Journey

Vaughn woke on his bed in a cold sweat, staring up at the ceiling.

A warm, gentle breeze tickled his face, and as he tried to touch it, he realized his arm was now made of a shiny green glass.

He gently lowered his arm, staying perfectly still, taking shallow breaths of air, knowing that moving would cause him to shatter.

The tickle on his face worsens as it moves to his nose.

Like an ominous foe approaching, he felt the urge to sneeze.

He desperately tried to fight the urge, but it was too strong.

He sneezes and shatters into a thousand pieces of tiny green glass.

...

Vaughn woke up, quickly sitting up and coughing before taking some antibiotics and water.

Frozen sweat beaded down his face as he stared at the wall.

He breathed heavily, calming down and coughing.

He coughed up a small amount of blood, typical.

He struggled to his feet, feeling incredibly weak as he used his furniture and the wall to help him stay up.

He drank some water and tried to eat, but he couldn't force himself to.

He sat down, looking at some of the moose pelt Yukari left behind, now dried.

Vaughn knelt down and picked up the large pelt, staring at it before an idea ran through his head before he sat down with a cup of coffee and got to work.

...

Hours had passed as Vaughn finished his project when he heard a noise outside.

He stopped and hobbled to the door to see Yukari and Miho jump off the sled and run to the cabin.

Yukari slips and falls as Miho tripped, and she hit the door but quickly opened it.

Miho looked around frantically to see Vaughn standing there, still alive but looking bad.

His eyes were hollowed in with darkness around them, and he lost a lot of weight. Not to the point you could see his ribs yet, but he wasn't as stocky as before. Now, he was just tall and scrawny.

Miho was taken aback, briefly thinking that this was someone else until she heard him speak.

"Did you find Atwood?" Vaughn asked.

"We did. She agreed to help you." Miho said.

Yukari ran inside and stepped back in shock.

"I look that bad, huh?" He asked.

"Yeah, you do." Yukari said.

Vaughn sighed, sipping his coffee before setting it down on the table.

"I'll get dressed." He mumbled before hobbling to his bedroom.

As Yukari and Miho waited, they noticed Vaughn's project.

Yukari walked over to see the moose hide she had was now a large coat with the remaining pieces stitched together into a large sack.

Yukari smiled brightly, looking at Miho, who smirked.

Vaughn cane back out and see Yukari holding the moose hide coat.

"For you." He said.

"Really!?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah." He said.

Yukari pulled it on, instantly feeling the weight but was significantly warmer.

She put on the moose hide satchel and smiled.

Vaughn smirked as the trio helped him to the sled.

Packing some more provisions to compensate for Vaughn and grabbing his rifle and more ammunition, which wasn't enough for all three of them. Maybe twenty rounds. There wasn't that much for the pistols either. About fifteen.

Vaughn laid down and pulled up his scarf as Yukari pulled the bear bedroll over him and sat down at the front.

There, they mushed on, headed back to Suzuki Radio Telescope.