Nothing much to say except that I'm sorry about the wait. Also, brief cannibalism mention.
Chapter 1: A World About to Dawn
July 9, 7 AC
That afternoon, it was quiet in the Bridger Mountains. A thick blanket of snow covered the landscape, smothering all sound except for the faint hush of the wind in the trees. All of the animals had long since fled to warmer areas, adding a depth to the silence that still seemed strange after all of the time Anna had to get used to it. She couldn't help but wonder if it was the same silence that was at the end of worlds.
She pulled her coat in tighter as she trudged through the snow. Trust Ed to pick out a meeting place even further into the middle of nowhere than everything else around here was. It's almost as if he wanted her to get frostbite. A gust of wind blew a flurry of snowflakes into her face. Anna pulled her scarf back up on her face from where it had slipped down.
A figure in a dark coat came out from behind a nearby cluster of trees. "Speak of the devil," she muttered. "Ed," she said in a louder voice. "Good to see you!"
The man drew closer. "Took you long enough!"
"Aunt Clara was running me on errands all day. I got off to a bit of a late start."
Ed pulled out a package from his coat. "She still is. One set of completely pointless antibiotics, coming right up."
Anna reached out and accepted the package. For all Ed's flippancy, it still looked to be in somewhat good condition from the outside. She could hope that the contents were the same. "I still don't know why you and your aunt stay here," Ed said.
"She's a doctor. Helping people who need it's kind of her job."
"And you?" Anna turned and placed the package in her bag.
She turned back to face Ed."Thank you. You didn't have to do this."
"What can I say, I like lost causes. The money helps too. Speaking of which?" He put out his hand.
Anna fished around in her coat, pulling out a couple of assorted necklaces and a bottle of Dale's moonshine. "This is train robbery, by the way."
Ed shrugged. "Steelheart's cracking down. I barely got these out of Newcago with my life."
"You, Edwin Russell, smuggler extraordinaire? You astound me."
Ed scowled. "I'd like to see you try it."
"Me?" Anna pointed to herself. "I'm nowhere near that crazy."
"Just crazy enough to stay in this dump of a town."
Anna looked down, then back up at Ed. "You know why I'm still here. I'd love to go traveling like you, but-" she broke off.
"I know. You have your duty, and as long as you're here, you'll do it. Even if it kills you."
"I wouldn't get that dark, but yes. I don't think it'll come to that, though."
Ed turned to go. "Just make sure you know what you're signing up for," he said.
As his figure vanished behind the trees, the woods grew silent once more. Anna bent over and put the medicines in her pack. They weren't enough (with how many people were sick and dying, what would be?), but they would help. Help keep them alive for just a bit longer, until-. She shook her head. No. Miracles didn't exist, and the only heroes left were the ones that remained in moldy old comic books. If anything was to be done about her situation, she would have to do it herself.
Anna walked more slowly on her way back. Though her pack wasn't much heavier in reality, in her mind it carried the weight of everything that was still holding her here. There was another reason, too. Out here, though the cold winds threatened to steal what little warmth she had left, it was calm. Peaceful, even. Much better than the living graveyard her town had turned into.
The wind had died down some from before. Up in the sky, the Sun shone through a thin layer of clouds, brightening the snow around her to an almost unbearable shade. Anna pulled down her tinted goggles to try and cut down the glare. She looked around. Surely there had to be something in this snow-covered wilderness that wasn't snowy, blinding, white.
Then she saw it. Glittering on the snowy ground, in shiny speckles following a set of footprints were red, sparkling, nearly-frozen dots of blood. And if Anna had to guess, relatively fresh. She examined the footprints more closely. If there was an injured animal out there, depending on its size it could be a lot of food for a community that so desperately needed it. Anna's stomach almost growled at the thought. She knelt down for a closer look.
The footprints were human.
Anna shuddered in disgust. She wasn't that desperate for food. Disgust turned to worry. Considering how fresh the footprints and blood seemed to be (the falling snow had barely covered them, and the blood was still partially liquid despite the low temperatures), there was a good chance that whoever it was that left the footprints was still alive.
Anna hurried along the path the footprints made, before the falling snow could cover them any further. Or before whoever made them bleeds out. Or freezes to death. Whichever happens first, Anna thought. She moved faster, despite the weight of her pack and her feet sinking into the thick snow. Good thing I'm this far east, she thought. A wetter climate would mean much more underbrush she would have to deal with, which would mean even slower going, if it were possible. As it was, there were still more bushes that she had to dodge than she would like.
As she followed them, the prints got fresher, while the blood spots became less frequent. Maybe the person's wounds were old, she thought. Or maybe they were just running out of blood to lose. No, she reassured herself. There's nowhere near enough blood for that. She shivered as another gust of wind hit her, burning the tiny bit of skin that was exposed near the bridge of her nose. The tracks got closer together and more erratic as she followed them. The person, whoever it was, was likely stumbling around. Not a good sign, particularly in this weather.
After an eternity, she came across a figure leaning up against a scrubby pine tree. Human, likely a woman, probably between 20 and 30 years of age. She moved toward it. "Can you hear me," she asked the person. Several seconds went by without a response.
Just as Anna was about to move closer to determine whether the woman was still conscious, she heard a faint voice coming from her. The woman mumbled faintly, but whatever she was saying was too garbled to be made out. Delirious probably. I hope I got to her in time.
Anna leaned in and looked the woman in the eye. "It's going to be okay. Just try to stay awake," she said.
It was time to get to work. Anna assessed the woman lying on the ground. Her injuries didn't look to be actively bleeding that hard, but she didn't want to move her too sharply in case there was anything internal. On the other hand, her clothes looked extremely lightweight for this weather, and if she did nothing the woman may not survive until Aunt Clara got there. At least they were dry, Anna thought.
"Being really careful it is," Anna muttered, rummaging around in her pack for the spare clothes she kept for emergencies. She pulled out a small sleeping bag, as well. It wasn't much, but she couldn't exactly pack much heavier with her.
Anna worked quickly, wrapping blankets and her extra sweater around the woman. As she looked closer, she noticed the woman's wounds appeared to be shallower than the dried blood on her clothing suggested. "At least there's that going for me," she said to no one in particular.
She pulled out the radio at her belt. Working batteries were a rarity, so she made sure to only use her radio for emergencies. Anna was pretty sure this counted.
Anna pressed the push-to-talk button. "Base, this is K7ALC," she said into the microphone, using her old pre-Calamity callsign. It wasn't as if she needed it anymore, as she was one of the only people in hundreds of miles with a working radio, but she kept it regardless. She had earned it, and it was going to take more than the end of the world to get her to leave it behind.
Dan, one of her friends back in town, had a small windmill he used to power a base station back in town. Static roared back at her through the speaker for several minutes. She repeated her call. More static. Calamity's fires, if this is the one time you're not listening to this—She couldn't even think of a proper threat to say in response.
"Anna, this is Base," came a harsh, crackly voice from the radio. Anna released her breath.
"I hear you," she said, as soon as she could find the words to do so. "I've got a medical emergency up here." She took a second to visualize where she was. "I'm about 150 meters south of the drop point." She took a second, realizing an important thing she forgot to say. "And no, it isn't me," she said.
There was a whoosh of static from the other end that sounded a lot like a sigh being let out. "Say that first next time, will you?" Dan said. He spoke again, this time in a more collected tone. "I'll get your aunt up there as soon as she can."
"Good," Anna replied. "I found a woman up in the woods. Jane Doe, probably in her twenties. The patient seems delirious but appears to be still somewhat responsive, though not making much sense. As far as I can tell, it's probably hypothermia. Also, there looks like there's some injuries as well, though they don't look too bad. I tried to wrap her in whatever warm stuff I had on me, but I'm really not equipped for this right now." A pause, while Anna collected her thoughts.
"Any idea how she got up here?"
Static filled the air. "Hopefully she can tell us that. Anything else?"
"Can you repeat your location?" Anna did so. "I'm off to tell your aunt." Another pause. "Good luck."
Looking at the woman one more time, Anna sat down on a nearby rock to wait.
About fifteen minutes later, Anna was greeted by the muffled sound of hoofbeats as Aunt Clara crested the hill on her horse Buttercup.
Aunt Clara took off her helmet, and looked Anna in the eye. "Any new developments?" she asked.
"Nothing I've noticed." Her aunt turned and started to load the woman onto a stretcher, muttering to herself notes about the woman's condition and wondering aloud how she could have gotten out here. "Do you need me for anything else?"
"I think I've got it pretty covered." She started strapping the stretcher to the sledge that Buttercup pulled behind it. "Are you fine walking? There's only enough room for me and her."
"Upstaged by a complete stranger," Anna said. Aunt Clara crossed her arms. "Joking. I should be fine."
"Good. I expect to see you back in one piece."
"You worry way too much."
Aunt Clara gestured to the woman on the stretcher. "You wouldn't be the first to get in trouble out here."
"I'll be careful. Don't worry about me."
Aunt Clara turned to get on Buttercup. "I'll see you back in town."
"You too," Anna said, strapping her snowshoes back on her feet.
Anna was soon alone again. She set off in the direction of town on her snowshoes. Her pace was quicker than before. While there was really nothing left for Anna to do until the woman recovered, she wanted to talk to her when she woke up.
The woman might just be the hope she desperately needed.