An Alaskan Midnight

Chapter 1

Eddy looked out the plane listlessly. He heard the lady announce they were about to land. Nothing mattered anymore though.

He looked at the picture in his hands. Of them together. It had only been a few hours, but he already missed her so much. Especially since he probably would never be able to see her in person again.

Before he knew it, the plane had landed. He grabbed his bags and violin case, went in the airport, and sat down while he waited for his suitcase. Finally he found it.

He left and looked for the person the researchers said would pick him up and be his research partner. A man in a pickup truck drove him from the little city to the lonely, snowy plains. Far far away.

Eddy looked over at the man driving. His deadpan face scanned the road without passion or emotion, yet his arms moved fluidly with expression. With his deftness, perhaps he was a musician as well? He wore what would normally be a typical plaid sweater. Except it was blue and yellow, not red and black. He was short and tiny, yet his clear stockiness made him almost intimidating. He looked young, yet the stubble on his face and his worn eyes showed he had maturity beyond his years. Eddy determined he was the oddest man he had ever seen.

For the first time since he had boarded the plane, Eddy was interested in something.

"How long will it be?" Eddy asked, hoping to start conversation.

"About three hours," he mumbled, still looking at the road.

"So uh, what's your name?"
"Brett Yang," he continued driving.

"Excited for research?"
"It's my job," Brett was impossible.

"Do you do anything else besides research in your freetime?"
"Violin," Brett answered.

"Cool! I play violin too." Finally Eddy had found something, he thought.
"Nice mate." Then Brett looked at him. "Alright, listen bud. Around these parts, we don't do no chitchat. We just get the goddamn job done."

Eddy sat in silence. Then his thoughts wandered back to Lucy.

Why did he have to act that way in church? Why couldn't he have just stayed quiet? Then the two of them would still be together.

"Stop your crying! Man you're soft," Brett grumbled. "I literally just told you to shut up."
"No, it's not that. It's my girlfriend, we didn't want to but we had to break up," Eddy whispered.

"Girlfriend, shnirlfriend. I don't wanna hear about your little cute personal heartbreaks. The only time I'll tolerate your complaining is if you got wounded by a shotgun while we're hunting."
"Hunting?! But the animals!"
"You gotta do what you gotta do to survive." Brett rolled his eyes. "Man is this gonna be fun. You got a lot to learn sonny."

"I've been a researcher for years! I think I know what I'm doing," Eddy began to feel frustrated.

"Yeah, in all these nice sissy-boy places, like Iowa and Florida and western Europe. Here we do things differently."

After an eternity of awkward silence and random squabbling, they arrived at their destination. No, it wasn't their destination actually. Brett opened the door as he dashed to the post office and convenience store. "Wait here," he muttered.

Then he returned with mail, snacks, and hunting gear.

"Wait, so we're going to have to go to the post office to get mail?!" Eddy whined.

"Get used to it," Brett snapped. 

Finally they arrived at their destination. Their real one this time.

Brett and Eddy walked up to the door. Eddy trudged through the snow, wincing at the cold water seeping through his tennis shoes. Suddenly a small wolf ran up to them, growling. 

Eddy ran, terrified.

"Get back here sissy boy! It's just one of the huskies."
Eddy slowly crept up, still nervous.

"This is Winfrey," Brett introduced the dog.

"Uh hi... Winfrey," Eddy greeted. The dog sniffed him thoroughly, then walked off, confident the stranger was safe.

Brett and Eddy walked into the house. Eddy tore off his soggy tennis shoes.

"Bud, do you got any real shoes? Like winter boots?"
"I thought these would be fine!"
Brett rolled his eyes. He rummaged through a nearby closet. "Here, your feet are bigger than mine, conveniently. These ones were too big for me."
Eddy took the shoes and placed them on the rug, looking out the window. He saw Winfrey run by outside. And again, and again. Wait... that wasn't Winfrey, there were more dogs, at least seven!
"What are all these dogs for?!" Eddy inquired.

"Sled dogs."

"Can't we let them inside? It's so cold!"
"They've got a shed, with heating nonetheless. They'll be fine." Then he changed the subject. "We're going to be getting some food for the winter before blizzards start. So I'll need to change into something warmer. I'd suggest you do the same." Then he sighed. "And if you didn't bring a snowsuit, here. It might be a little small for you, but it was big on me so it'll be fine."

"Where do I change?" Eddy asked.

Brett pointed at the staircase. "There's a bedroom upstairs. We're gonna have to share it."
The two of them creaked up the stairs to the bedroom. "Wait, before I change, where's the bathroom?" Eddy asked.

"Behind the house, in that shed."
"Outside?!" Eddy shivered at the thought.

"Just do your business," Brett snapped.

After Eddy finished, shivering the whole time in the nonheated shed, he went back inside to change. Brett had already put everything on. "Hurry up, we're burning daylight!"
Running upstairs, Eddy rushed to put on the snowsuit. He awkwardly tried to place the straps for the snowpants on his shoulder, zip the snowsuit, and put on the tight gloves. Finally he finished. He walked out the door to Brett waiting impatiently with the dogsled.

"You are so slow," he muttered. "Let's go." Then he yelled at the dogs. "Mush!!"

The fight against winter -- and what would soon be the fight for their lives -- had begun.