Cold War (TF2)

Chapter Three: Frostbite

I take a step out into the blizzard. The bridge and sentry are barely visible. I grip my axe harder and start walking to what I hope is the right direction, leaving my snowy foot prints behind me.

As I walk further out, I see a faint object in the distance. It must be the bridge! I push myself towards it as the winds start pushing back with force. I begin to hear a beeping noise, which only grows louder as I push forwards. The Sentry comes into view, but as I get closer to it, I can make out another object next to it. I look at it for a split second, but it vanishes as quickly as it appeared. I walk up the the sentry, turning it off and grab it by the gun barrel and base. As I turn back around to make my way to our base, I hear a faint woosh sound from behind me. I drop the Sentry and turn around to greet a Spy with is knife raised. I grab my axe and hold it in front of my face, causing the Spy's knife to catch the wooden handle. I pull back my axe and he loses his grip on the knife. I use the opportunity to kick him away, but a large gust of wind from the blizzard pushed us both over to the hard wooden floor of the bridge.

I take a second to reorient myself, but by the time I realize what's happened, the Spy's shoe is on my chest and his revolver is pointed straight to my face.

"You mumbling monstrosity." He murmurs, congratulating himself in the process.

Suddenly, I hear a loud crack in the wood that I lay on. Another gust of wind thrashes the Spy away and causes the bridge to shudder. I scramble to make my way off of it, just reaching our side of the creek as the bridge erupts into splintered wood and snow. I shield my face from anything that flies my way. As I look at the remains of the bridge, I can see the lifeless body of the Spy, a large plank of wood driven through his chest. I back away to the sentry and drag it on its side, my strength too low to bother carrying it.

I reach the entrance of our base, but collapse before I can make it all the way in.

"Does Pyro need help?" A gravelly voice says from behind me.

I turn around to see Heavy holding his hand out to help me.

"Mhm." I mumble, not bothering to try and talk.

He pulls me to my feet and grabs the sentry with one hand, throwing it over his shoulder.

"Where should I take this?" Heavy asks.

I simply point towards the Intel room.

We both walk down to Engie and Medic standing in front of a chalk board, visibly frustrated over something.

"Got the sentry." I say to them, still exhausted from the encounter.

"Good, just set it over there for now." Engie says, absentmindedly pointing to a desk in the corner.

Heavy sets down the sentry then quietly leaves the room.

"Whats wrong.?" I ask.

"This damn blizzard." Engie says.

"What about it?"

"It's not supposed to be here. It's not even possible for it to be here."

I take a seat and scratch my head, thinking of possible solutions.

"Eureka!" Medic yells out.

"What is it, Doc?" Engie asks.

Medic grabs a piece of chalk and draws an honestly bad picture of someone.

"Uh.. who?" I ask, puzzled.

"The wizard! Merasmus!" Medic says with a big grin on his face.

Engie's face drops. "He only comes during Halloween."

"Who's to say he didn't come early? He's a wizard, he can do what he wants!"

"Look, Medic, I respect your intellect and all, but I just don't think that's the reason for the storm.  There's just not any evidence."

I quietly giggle at Medic's drawing from the back of the room.

"There's a scientific explanation for everything; There has to be one for this, too." Engie says. He walks back to his workbench and rummages through his papers, analyzing his research.

I slowly walk out of the room, leaving them to babble on to each other, making no progress.

Out of habit, I pat the fire axe that hangs from my right hip, however to my surprise it's not there. I must have lost it outside when I was fighting the Spy. I walk to a resupply cabinet to look for another close-range weapon, but only find a bunch of Demoman's bottles.

As I scavenge through the large pile of empty alcohol bottles, I feel a large, straight object towards the bottom. I pull it out to find an ice axe, typically used for mountain climbing. I've never used one before, but if this storm doesn't pass soon, I might have to.