Uncharted

The ground shakes and the abandoned buildings blocking my path aside crumble down, forcing me to try and get out of the billowing cloud of ashy snow. A glance behind shows me the tumbling and crawling hoard of giants chasing after me.

It was supposed to be a quick relocation with Lauri and the others, but we managed to stumble on a nest of hungry giants while going through Rovaniemi in the north of Finland. The streets were far different compared to when either of us normal humans had been there, thanks to some seemingly destructive combat including these abominations.

I manage to get close enough to a door way, without slowing-down, to rush inside for an escape. After running for a while I manage to find a dark corner where I wouldn't be spotted by passing monsters.

During the last few weeks that I had been surviving with my group we learned a few things: human meat is good, but should be seasoned, this we learned during our first shortage of food. In addition we figured out the rate at which Lauri and I heal, which is about an arm per day. Oddly enough the healing only occurs when not being observed, but will otherwise work at the same rate as a fingernail growing during a day.

When it comes to what's left of people, any would-be survivors seemed to have run down south or towards Russia. When discussing any plans to go towards Norway and Sweden, our partners denied any such plans. Due to their guidance we managed to plan on going south, believing that staying on a familiar environment would make surviving easier.

Lauri and I also managed to figure out names, though in our case 'nicknames', for our insectoid friends. The one who ate a finger to show off Lauri's pain tolarance demo and has a very slight green tint is called Akseli or "Ahskhelle" in their language.

The other two are Arttu or "Ahldu," who tends to keep their exoskeleton dirty and does not like leaving it's original color viewable. And Apple or "Ahpldu," whose shell has a green and yellow tint on it.

We tend to go hunting or moving at night, as the insectoids among us prefer the cold. In addition to that the giants hunt mostly during the day and can hardly wake-up during the night.

But to prevent things from going to shit, and thanks mostly to my and Lauri's ability to survive no matter what, we decided to plan meeting places in our expedition areas. The plan for now is to meet at a certain shop at the marketplace at the center of town during the night after we get separated. Now I get to rest for a while before going off in a hurry.

For now I get up as I think I saw a food market just a building over, though I need to find an entrance that hasn't been crushed by the giants running around.

With a quick peek I see that the coast is clear outside and get out to look for an entrance. Like I thought, most of the walls had collapsed over the doorways, but looking around I could climb up by the rubble.

The stench of pulverized concrete is disgusting, the dry smell feeling like it's trying to personally spite me. The rough steel between my curled-up fingers stick to my sweaty skin, nearly pulling my palm off. I know I should have taken exercise more seriously in my old life, but that was true for many such things right now.

Hearing the groans of tired monsters behind every corner giving me strength, I pull myself up by the rusted rods and step through the shattered windows of the building. By the smell I can tell that people died here, despite my nostrels feeling like it was going to freeze over.

Going deeper there seems to be an old campfire. "It looks fresh..." I jump at the sound, didn't feel like Lauri's voice and it's not like I'm prone to talking to myself.

"Who's there...?"

My sight darts around the dusty floor, taking in the detail of the shadows and colors. Spending time dreaming of becoming a sniper wasn't a complete waste of time as I can't seem to spot anything. And to be honest my head does feel a bit heavy, I guess I can get sick and it just takes longer.

I grab a few pieces of wood decor to try and light the fire, seems like the voices in my head weren't wrong: it is fresh. Maybe the others came by here or maybe some survivors went through this place, but that would also mean most of the food near-by is gone too.

For now I decide to just sit by the fire and making sure that no giant would spot me. There weren't enough things fit for covering all directions, so I just build them up around the fire to just cover it enough. The fire's actually quite nice despite me quickly running out of air, its orange and yellow waves soothing my eyes reminds me of the nicer times in my life.

If I wake-up at a good time I could propably make it to the meeting spot before the sun sets. For now I think I'll just work on my gear: a sharpened plastic knife, a 'toy' compass and an actual toy radiophone modded to make an extra painful sound when turned on to distract the giants. The knife is easy enough, just make sure it's not dulled. The compass just needs to have it's sticker bottom alligned to give an accurate reading of degrees. But the radio needs to be carefully opened to make sure none of the tape is getting undone.

It's actually quite odd that the radio seems to work just fine when most electricity is just gone. And it isn't like only cars and phones lost all power, it was literally everything. Guess I could figure it out later, for now it's just a miracle.

-

After a good sleep I get through the slight bit of hunger and air deprivation to go and scavange, I'm not desperate enough to eat myself. The giants shouldn't be out and about, since it doesn't seem to fit their strategy.

The further towards the marketplace I go, the more clear it gets that there were survivors here at some point and not just some people passing by. Maybe a week or a few ago, but there was absolutely a big fight here. There were a few giant remains mixed with rotting corpses, which shouldn't be the case if the giants would roam here. Maybe the giants avoid the area surrounding the marketplace, but that's another question for another time.

But now life is smiling at me as I spot an uneaten snackbag, trail-mix salted and with...

"... raisins? Score!" I can now happily enjoy a complex flavour in weeks while looking through wreckage.