Remainers

Sheltering from the Storm, Part 3

After another three days passed, the snow had become heavy to the point that Caleb could not open the door to the outside without letting snow in. It was not so bad that they couldn't see out the window, but any sort of extended travel was impossible. Only the day before, the two of them could still go out to see if they could forage anything while it was still light, but now it would be irresponsible for them to even try. By Caleb's estimation, the storm was not yet a blizzard, but it was surely only a matter of time.

For the time being, the two of them remained inside as the snow continued to blanket the ground. The sun wasn't out, so even during the day they had no respite from the cold, so they had to make sure to keep their temperatures up. Caleb had set up the tent inside of the house, and they spent the hours between sleeping wrapped up in coats, sleeping bags, hide blankets – whatever they could find to keep them warm.

"This is unbelievable," Hope grumbled as she drew her coat closer to her body. "I'm a remainer with a cyborg body. Why do I still have to be so sensitive to heat and cold?"

"It's an important defense mechanism for your body," Caleb explained as he did his best to keep his teeth from chattering. "Without it, you wouldn't be able to notice and react to abnormal temperatures properly."

Hope clicked her tongue, probably the first time Caleb had ever seen her do so. "Can we start up a fire? I'll freeze if I have to stay like this."

"Not so early. We can't waste the firewood we have, you know."

"You miser."

Caleb chuckled. He wondered if Hope would ever have seen herself complain this much when they first met. Still, Hope was right; today was ridiculously cold, and they had enough firewood around that they could afford to be a little extravagant.

"All right, Hope. Give it another hour and we'll start a fire, all right?"

That was how the two of them spent the next week as they waited out the storm. Soon, the storm would pick up speed into a blizzard as the winds grew stronger and the snow fell deeper. In those moments when the storm slowed down, Caleb would take some of the snow and melt it for water while eating the food he and Hope had foraged. Though it was cold, Hope's fortifications to the house were strong enough to keep moisture from coming in, and so the two were able to weather the blizzard with some comfort.

However, the storm lasted longer than either of them had predicted. While Caleb's overcautious nature meant that the two of them had plenty of supplies, he had only planned for the two of them to be snowed in for a week at most. At this point, though, the snow had not ceased for two weeks, and while the worst of the storm had passed, it was still no condition to be walking around in. Caleb still had to worry about having enough food for the trek back as well, so there was no end to the concerns wracking Caleb's brain.

Caleb hoped that he'd be able to keep the deer meat he had hunted earlier for the entirety of the stay here, but that was ultimately wishful thinking. Though the makeshift cooler had managed to keep the leftover meat cooled for the first few days, by a week it had become suspect. Caleb had made sure to prioritize the non-preserved meat for meals, but even then he ended up having to throw a good amount of the meat away.

Now it was almost fifteen days snowed in, and Caleb's supplies were starting to dwindle. In truth, he still had enough food to last at least another week, but Caleb was worried about unpredictable circumstances. He'd had to go three days without food once when he was still a fresh new remainer and had miscalculated how much he would need while on the road. While he was able to make do with whatever game he could find while making his way to a nearby relay tower, he had no desire to ever find himself in that situation again.