Tent

They were listening to the hailing wind outside. Neither of them said a word between each other, believing the other to be fast asleep. It was the first time they slept during the night for so long or for what felt like so long. No monsters were whispering outside, calling them away. No rampaging beasts or hallucinations. Just a quiet night, but somehow, someway, neither of them could sleep.

Their lives kept flashing before their very eyes; who knew when these dangers would catch up to them. Just that day, they were chased by a raging beast and nearly got crushed by a cave-in. So many other times they could have been seriously injured or killed. But fortunately, they both have managed to escape with just a few scars so far. It was scary, but what was scarier was that...

Ryan felt movement behind him, he heard shuffling. He pulled himself up a bit and took a peek behind. He saw a pair of lavish green eyes; they were gazing up at him. He saw longing in those eyes, and a hint of desperation. Virgil stared at him with a docile expression, an expression that tempted him. It was warm inside this tent, but-

"Ryan," his voice was calm and laced with gentleness. His fingers tugged onto his pillow. Ryan realized Virgil was thinking the same thing too.

Ryan turned over completely, facing Virgil, and edged on to him. They were both staring at each other, waiting, yearning. Ryan raised his hand to Virgil, slowly placing it on Virgil's cheek. Tracing between his skin and hair. Virgil hummed into the touch, both of his hands grasping onto Ryan's jacket. Ryan's hand became just a tad bit more firm on the side of Virgil's face as he tilted it upwards.

He really got to see every trace, every coloration in his face. The pale, the green, the red. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes were relaxed, his mouth open. His hair loosely fell over his brows, shading sections of his face. Ryan moved in and kissed him. Virgil didn't act surprised, he instead leaned into that kiss. It was warm and somehow soft, even though Ryan first thought they would be dry.

There was a warmth that was gathering between them. A warmth that was separate, different then the isolation of the tent. It was this slow motion; the kisses were steady and careful. Hot breaths were escaping them, and the taste of each other was stimulating their senses.

Virgil let go briefly, catching his breath, but Ryan pulled him back in. His other arm had snaked around Virgil's waist, and started sliding down his back. Virgil made a noise, opening his mouth, having Ryan slip his tongue inside. Things were becoming faster and more frantic. Ryan took Virgil by the side and lifted him on top, but he dared not stop, kissing him from underneath. He then moved them, he sat up and Virgil was in his lap. It was burning, everything else was fading.

Virgil coiled his arms around Ryan's neck as they continued loving one and another. Ryan felt himself rolling his hands under Virgil's shirt, touching him, making him shiver. Ryan then released from the kiss and dropped his face into Virgil's neck.

Ryan noticed he wasn't wearing a turtleneck today unlike before, making his neck exposed. Perhaps Virgil foresaw this. He breathed into Virgil's neck, the man himself was a tad unraveled as he held onto Ryan.

Then Ryan kissed the bare skin, having Virgil hum. Ryan was appreciative of the sensitivity. He kissed up and down it, in a delicate, soft way. Then he bit in and sucked. Virgil let a gasp escape, but Ryan continued to create a mark on his neck. He wanted a deep, large mark; one that Virgil would have to desperately hide. Virgil was shifting in his lap, becoming more erotic by the minute. He squirmed as Ryan licked the bruise, letting out sweet sounds.

He could feel Virgil moving above him, he was rotating his hips on top of Ryan's pelvis. Rubbing into him, creating a friction. Ryan moved his hands to the front of Virgil's chest, making him mew. Ryan stared at him as he played with his chest, Virgil's eyes were shut tightly, but his hips were very active. Ryan was panting at this type of service Virgil was displaying, and he was weak to his strained expressions he was enticing Ryan with.

He quickly pushed Virgil down, probably a bit too aggressive, and pushed against him. Virgil moaned loudly at that, but Ryan kept grinding on top of him. He pressed onto him, keeping Virgil's legs spread and separate. He rubbed him, feeling this sort of energy he thought he lost with age. He pushed and grinded deeply, Virgil's voice became loose and wild. Ryan growled into him, causing Virgil to climax, having Ryan follow close behind. They both moaned to each other, breathing softly as they continued to kiss ever so sweetly.

Ryan had to take a moment and huffed, "I-I can't believe we just did that," he panted. "We were like teenagers. Usually I'm not that sensitive."

"I..." Virgil breathed, "Felt like that stamina had left me a long time ago."

"Hm," Ryan hummed, he was still on top of Virgil, completely in awe that they were able to finish without having to whip anything out. He looked to Virgil who appeared very relaxed now and asked, "For how long have you wanted us to do that?"

Virgil glanced away shyly but was honest, "For a while now honestly."

"When?"

Virgil thought for a bit then said, "I think it was unconscious, but it might have been when I saw the lights with you."

"The Southern Lights?"

"Yes."

"That long ago?!"

"Well, like I said, it was unconscious," Virgil kissed Ryan again, then whispered, "But in all honesty, it was kindling when you found Kathlyne's ring."

"Oh... really," Ryan felt a bit dejected, but Virgil didn't seem to catch on.

"Yes, that's when I started thinking that maybe... it was fate," Ryan felt something swell in his chest from that, but got distracted when Virgil questioned, "When was it for you?"

Ryan answered immediately, "When you gave Elucid the boot."

Virgil burst out laughing at that, a loud, happy laugh that Ryan hadn't heard yet, "I did do that, didn't I? How ironic."

"Mm," Ryan nodded, kissing Virgil's neck again. Virgil softly sighed, and they curled together, whispering to each other during that night.

"Jesus Christ," Ryan woke up to a voice that split through his dreams. Groggily, he woke up to see Elucid glaring down at him from the entrance of the tent. He scoffed, "You freaks."

He quickly left the tent, grumbling. Ryan lifted up a bit to see what was wrong, but as he did, he felt a weight on his left side. He glanced down to see Virgil curled up against him, muttering something in his sleep. Ryan could now see what the matter was. He picked Virgil up a bit and laid him back down as he went outside to follow Elucid.

He saw him rush to the dog sleds, taking the pikes out of the snow, "What are you doing?"

"Getting out of here," Elucid growled. "You bastards aren't taking this seriously, getting all cuddled up together. But I am!"

"You can't go off on your own," Ryan stated.

"Watch me!" Elucid snapped. "I'm not staying with you homo freaks any longer!"

Ryan pulled back at that, his brow furrowed, and he frowned, "Fine," Elucid flinched at that. "Go off. Get out of here. No one wants you here anyway."

Ryan turned around and started heading back to his tent when he heard Elucid call back, "I'm sorry," he whipped around at that. Elucid dropped the pike in his hand, his face had fallen "I'm sorry..." He wouldn't look Ryan in the eye at first. "I'm just... so scared... All the time." He faced him, "About everything!" He shook his head, "I should stop. I need to stop..." He fell down to his knees, his eyes worn, he was shivering.

Ryan started to approach him and kneeled down to his level, "Elucid, we're all trying to get out of here."

"I know!" Elucid gasped. "I know. But..." He took his hands into his face, "I'm... I'm going to die."

Ryan was taken aback by such words, so he questioned, "Why do you say that?"

"It's retribution," he choked back. "Everything I've done, everything I've said. It's going to get me killed out here. I'm going to die; I can feel it."

"What do you mean?"

"I've had this feeling," Elucid confessed. "Ever since I got here. I'm going to die down here."

"No, not if I can help it," Ryan stated.

"Please," Elucid sadly laughed, "You'd let me die. Of course, you would."

"I wouldn't."

Elucid stared up at him, a change in emotion dawned on his face. Shaking in fear, "I know, I know you really wouldn't. You are like that. You are..." He sniffled, "A good person..."

"Elucid..."

"I-," they heard screaming. And recognized that scream. Virgil and Roberto rushed out of their respective tents, and everyone had a quick understanding of what was about to happen next. As fast as they could, they packed up everything and ran to their dog sleds; the three dog sleds that were left. Virgil joined Ryan again and they mushed off with a new location in mind. The next base had to be a safe point, but now he questioned if they could stay there for long if this thing was tracking them.

They traversed in this low area that was like a canyon, but somehow the further they got in, the deeper it got. Soon the top of the canyon narrowed until it became a solid roof, and the group had found themselves in another tunnel.

"Slow down," Ryan called to the others as they had reached a moment of complete darkness with the other end far out of sight. The group slowed and turned on their lights. They entered this cavernous pathway, when an uneasy silence fell upon them. The screaming beast outside fell deaf, so there was nothing except the echoes of their breathing or the rattling of the sleds that filled up the space with noise. In these tunnels, it seemed colder, colder than one could imagine. A sort of cold that didn't slow you down physically but made you hesitant. They traveled deep inside these caves, their lights shimmering off the smooth walls.

The lights seemed to reflect in a way where there was this rippling effect, it trailed against the icy surface in an unusual way. The group watched the lights on the cave walls as they slowly slid down the paths. It was this pale blue and yellow that reflected off the walls, but suddenly they noticed purple dash across the ice. There wasn't a gasp, or a stop in their paths, just a strange confusion on what they thought they might have seen.

They stared at those walls and less on the path ahead of them, and that's when they saw red pass by next. Then they saw a green slowly pass through, it pulsated in place shortly, drawing their focus to it. It was more orb-like than the other lights, it seemed to twist more and linger longer than the other ones. It hovered on their side of the walls for several seconds, then vanished down the hall of ice. The group was beginning to slow down even more at the sight of that, and they watched as more lights seemed to grow from nothing from inside the walls. Carefully forming, coming to life as they throbbed into shape. The more they moved, the more they seemed to take a sort of gelatinous form. The orbs appeared closer in the ice, and more visible. Each one shaping into something gel or flesh-like.

Ryan whispered to the group that were all in awe of what they were seeing, "We should keep moving."

They agreed. Mushing out of there, behind them, Ryan could hear something fall onto the ground. He didn't turn back to see what it was.

The group drove in further, entering side tunnels, and it felt the deeper it got, the darker it became. Even with their lights on it was hard to see, Ryan could hardly make out his dogs anymore. It almost seemed, well it was impossible, is what Ryan believed. It almost seemed like the darkness was weakening their lights, however, that would happen. Ryan was thinking about it when he felt Virgil grip tightly on his jacket. He glanced down to see a face locked in horror. There was this fear that was permanenting the man's features, it was quiet and seemed aware… of what?

Virgil whispered, "Do... you feel that?"

Ryan was about to question what he was talking about when he felt this force. It was sudden, but Ryan immediately knew it was there. He didn't dare turn around and he had become unimaginably terrified at something that was behind him. He didn't look, he wouldn't dare look, because he knew if he did, he would die.

It was large, whatever it was. And it felt like this wave of a heavy force that was lightly brushing behind them. A hair's inch away, Ryan could feel this thing, this horrible thing that swelled just past him. He gripped tightly onto the sled and Virgil; he could sense that there was something keeping speed with them. It didn't make a sound; it didn't seem to have feet to hit the snow. He didn't hear it breathe, he didn't hear a body brush against the walls. But he did feel its mass, its large presence, fill up the entire diameter of the tunnel.

Ryan kept his eyes trained on the darkened path in front of them, unwilling to take a peek at what was chasing behind them. Somehow, he just knew it was there, without even seeing it. He knew it was old, older than time, older than life. He knew it was uncaring, it was dangerous, and that it was waiting for him. He knew it was waiting for him to turn around, to look deeply into what it was. It wanted so desperately for him to look at it. He felt like it was whispering this to him, though he knew he heard no words or sounds, he just was slowly beginning to know what this thing was.

He was terrified to know anymore; he didn't want to see this thing. He peered ahead to Elucid and Roberto, somehow, he knew that they could feel this thing too. This powerful, ancient thing, that was daring them to turn its way. He kept his eyes focused at the end of the tunnel, attention away from this thing.

There was a light, right at the very end. They quickened their pace, sped down to it. Roberto was the farthest ahead and he yelled to the others, "STOP! Stop!"

They immediately slowed down, only slightly bumping into each other. Ryan quickly left his sled along with Virgil close behind him as they reached that light that Roberto was standing in. The closer they got, the less they could feel that thing's presence, it almost seemed to retreat. Not out of fear, Ryan knew, but... respect. Ryan, Virgil, and Elucid approached Roberto to see what was ahead and what they saw wasn't the outside, but a glowing room. It glowed these eerie colors, somehow, they were unrecognizable. It was like there was still darkness, but also a light beaming through. They couldn't explain it.

Roberto pointed down at the bottom of this large cavernous space and saw a pit. But it wasn't the pit that made them almost faint at the sight of it, no, there was something inside the pit. The pit was filled with this black ooze that would have appeared like shadows if it wasn't for the creature inside. Big and flesh-like, it had tendrils lashing out at the air above it. Its body was fat and flaccid as it poured over and into the substance. As far as they could tell it had a large and wide beak-like mouth that was open. The black ooze seemed to seep out of that mouth, filling up the space. The creature had teeth, and you could see deep into its throat.

The tendrils whipped and thrashed in the air, constantly seeming to try and grab at something. The mouth let out this horrible breathing sound, nothing any of them had ever heard before.

"There is a path around it," Roberto pointed at this trail that hung close to the walls and reached the other side of the room where another tunnel continued. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going back where we came from."

"Yeah," Ryan huffed, "I'd rather not."

"The dogs, they will freak out if we take them across here," Roberto stated.

"Then let's all four of us take one sled at a time," Virgil suggested. "Two of us pull the front of the sled and the other two push."

There was a little more debating, but that is what they evidently decided on. Virgil and Roberto were pulling the dogs in the front and Ryan was pushing the back of the sled on the left as Elucid would be pushing on the right. The dogs of course were very hesitant, they were whining and pulling, but Roberto at the front was able to soothe them as best as he could while they moved them through. Ryan glanced past Elucid, towards the creature that wriggled down below. He couldn't tell if it was aware of their presence or not. Its tendrils cracked like whips, making him flinch at the sight.

They were able to push the first sled of dogs through without incident and then started with the next. As they crossed back to the second one the creature shook briefly, seeming to sweat something out of its meaty sacks of flesh. When they reached back to the second sled of dogs, Roberto noticed a scratch on one of them. He believed it wasn't there before and didn't know how it got there. They would have to treat it later, so they pulled the dogs through again, nothing happened with this group.

When they traversed back to the last dogs, they saw the creature seemed to have risen a bit. Ryan realized that it must have poured out more black liquid to get itself higher, to get itself closer.

When the four of them reached the last sled, they saw that one of the dogs was dead. But it was more than that, it was killed, its chest had been pulled open, almost like a dissected rat with pins. Its organs were spilling out, and it was standing on its hind legs. They all froze at the sight of it, seeing it unmoving from where it was. None of the other dogs seemed to have reacted to this mutilation. Roberto gestured for them to be quiet and motioned them to cut the dog off. They slowly pulled the rest of the dogs out of the cave, and left the mutilated one behind, too afraid to touch it.

They continued to do what they did before, pulling and pushing the sled of dogs to the following tunnel. Carefully they crossed on the edge of this path, they were halfway there when Ryan saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He heard Elucid yelp and fall, as he was being pulled over the edge. He dug his hands onto the edge, refusing to let go, his face terrified.

Ryan could see that the creature had grabbed him with a tendril and was pulling him down to where it was. Elucid screamed, he sounded like he was in pain. The dogs panicked and pushed Roberto and Virgil to pull them away. They were forced to the other tunnel, leaving Ryan alone to grab hold of Elucid. Elucid screeched, "Don't let go! Don't let go!"

Ryan tried to support his weight, leaning back, he pulled. The creature below shrieked, a loud wail that bounced off the icy chamber. A tendril flew and tried to slash at Ryan, he moved away, just barely grazing his hat. He still didn't let go. He pulled with all of his strength, Elucid holding on tight until the thing lost its grip on Elucid's leg. Ryan tugged him back over the edge and helped get him to his feet, taking him away from the rising creature. They dashed out of the room and to the tunnel. Ryan took him to the nearest sled, but Elucid seemed to be feeling pretty faint from the ordeal so he decided to ride with him, laying on the sled. His leg's skin was torn from the creature's assault. Virgil and Roberto would ride separately.

They slid through the tunnels again and away from that creature. Eventually they reached the outside and night had fallen. When they finally stopped, Ryan had realized that Elucid had lost consciousness during the ride. They set up a tent and started treating his leg. They pulled back the torn pants leg to see bloodied flesh ripped apart. It hadn't reached the bone, but it also wasn't bleeding as much as he thought it would from such a big wound.

Roberto pointed out, "Look at this green, squishy puss stuff," there was a sort of infection, at the moment. It seemed to be halting the bleeding. "Looks like poison."

"Poison...?" Elucid was slowly coming to, more out of it than in.

"Yeah, poison," Roberto nodded. "Though I am no expert."

"Am... I going to die?"

The three of them glanced between each other and Ryan answered, "You'll be fine."

"Really...?"

"Yeah," Ryan thought he'd have to lie, but then he stated, "If it were to kill you already, I think it would have done it. I think this sort of poison, though I'm just guessing, was supposed to slow you down. Make you weak, easy to catch."

The others were beginning to nod, seeing sense in his reasoning, "Like, why is it stopping the bleeding," Roberto questioned. "Think that creature wanted live prey."

"Live prey?" Virgil questioned.

"Lots of animals like live prey; spiders, snakes," Roberto stated. "I think it's like that."

"That was no animal!" Elucid countered.

"Are you sure?" he noted. "It was alive, it was breathing, hungry. I think it was some sort of animal."

"Crazy..." Elucid muttered, becoming lucid again. "So crazy..."

"We'll use disinfectant on this wound," Ryan explained. "Unless there is something we aren't accounting for, your body should help fight off the infection." They agreed and worked a tedious amount of time trying to bandage the wound.

It wouldn't be until midnight when they all fell asleep in the same tent, exhausted.

The following afternoon, when they all woke up, they traveled to the outpost. Ryan again took Elucid who sat in the sled, fairly fatigued and mostly passed out half the time. His wound didn't seem to get any worse once they woke up so they assumed he would make it to the base.

They passed through crevice-like areas and eventually exited a space that revealed the sea. It was so open and blue, even with gray skies roaring overhead.

"We're close, Elucid," Ryan whispered. "Hold on."

They booked it to the outpost and saw it shortly after seeing the sea. It was unused for a few months now, but it still seemed to be intact with all its basic functions. They rushed inside, locking the doors, starting generators, and scavenging for supplies. Once the generators kicked in, the place started getting warm, Roberto took the dogs to a kennel to get them fed, rested, and patched up. Virgil wandered the halls to help Ryan search for more supplies like food and gear. And Ryan took Elucid to the medical center to get him treated.

He kept Elucid's wound clean and found some anesthesia to dose him with. He was able to find antibiotics and gauze; he aired the wound out then soon bandaged it properly. It seemed any poison was just something to keep him weakened, though he did have a really bad fever.

He was constantly mumbling in his sleep, though Ryan couldn't understand most of it. He took his journal out and started listing the effects Elucid seemed to have with the wound:

· Effects are immediate

· No large losses of blood

· Green infection

· Poisonous

· Loss of strength

· Incoherent

· Presumably not fatal

Ryan wasn't a doctor but had a lot of previous medical knowledge from injuries in the past. He'd been bitten by more fatal snakes than he could count. He glanced up to see Elucid's eyes were slightly open but unfocused. Ryan leaned down to him and asked, "Elucid, are you awake?"

"Mm," he sighed, clearly feeling too weakened to do much. He spoke with a sort of drunken waviness to his words. "I like... the white... room... pretty." Ryan glanced around to see that the medical room had a more beige color, he was about to chalk it up to just the effects he was under when Elucid said, "Hi... dad..." Ryan blinked in confusion. "I'm late for school... sorry..."

Ryan realized he must be having some sort of hallucination, "Elucid, it's me, it's Ryan."

"Mm, mm," Elucid hummed, still seeming to be unaware. "I'm thirsty..."

Ryan nodded and got him some water. Elucid slowly took some sips of the water then turned to Ryan with glazy eyes, "I got to tell... you a secret, dad..."

"Elucid, it's Ryan," he tried to counter, but Elucid wasn't having it.

"There's some weird kid..." Elucid sighed. "At school... he looks different..." His voice was drawing as he began to drool, his expression was completely dazed. "Look funny... I wanna be... friend..."

"How... do they look different?" Ryan entertained.

But suddenly Elucid teared up and replied, "You'll get mad at me..." he sniffled and cried, "I just wanna talk to them... I'm sorry..."

"Elucid-"

Elucid screamed and lashed out, knocking Ryan to the side, "I'm sorry! Stop it! I'm sorry!" He loudly shrieked and started thrashing in bed, hitting his leg, the bandages were becoming undone. "No! I'm sorry!"

"Elucid, calm down!" Ryan frantically tried to grasp him by the arms but Elucid kept fighting back, crying and screaming.

"I won't talk to them! I promise!" Elucid sobbed "I won't talk to anyone like them anymore! Stop! Don't touch me!"

He pulled his arms away, wailing and tossing and turning. Ryan grabbed a shot and pulled him down to sedate him. Once the needle entered his arm, Elucid immediately started to slow down, relaxing more until he fell unconscious.

Ryan pulled back from that chaos and Virgil ran into the room, "What was that?! I heard screaming!"

"It's okay," Ryan said. "I calmed him down now. Here, help me get him back onto the bed."

They did so and reapplied his bandages. Once done, they exited the room to relax elsewhere. They found a common room and on further investigation sat that someone ever so kindly left a few bottles of alcohol hidden behind the couch. Leaving a couple for Roberto and taking the rest as compensation for helping Elucid, the two started to drink.

"You know," Virgil stated a bit tipsy, "I don't even think Kathlyne liked me."

"...No?" Ryan questioned.

"Nuh-uh," Virgil mumbled. "I don't think she liked me, or the money, and especially all the attention it got. And... I think I'm just realizing that now."

"You don't think she ever loved you?"

"Maybe once," Virgil answered. "Maybe she cared a little bit after. But no, she lied."

"Lied?"

"About a lot of things," Virgil replied. "You lied about the pregnancy. She told me right after. She told me she'd never wanted my baby. Said she was dried up anyways from over the years." He hiccupped, "And I lied about not knowing- if she was lying. So now I'm a liar. Cause I wanted to forget what she told me. That she'd never want my kid. But at least... I'm not pregnant."

"... That sucks..." Ryan empathized.

"Nm!"

"My wife..." Ryan said. "I loved her. But those things happened, and we soon fell out of love... and into divorce. But I already told you about all of that."

Virgil stared at him, "Sorry..."

"Yeah," Ryan sighed. "Just wasn't meant to hold on, I guess."

"I loved Kathlyne," Virgil responded. "So much."

"Mhm," Ryan mumbled into the couch cushions.

"If she was here, I'd hope I could do something right by her, but..." Virgil murmured, "She probably wouldn't want anything to do with me."

"Probably," Ryan agreed.

"You're not supposed to agree with me," Virgil clicked his teeth.

"Well..." Ryan raised himself up to drunkenly face Virgil, "Does it really matter now?"

"What?"

"She's off, doing who knows what," Ryan stated. "No idea by now if she really is dead or alive. But hey!" He poked Virgil's nose, gazing at his flushed face and dizzied eyes. "You look great..."

Virgil's blush reddened at that and he averted his eyes with a laugh, "You really don't stop, huh?"

"You don't need to make her happy," Ryan explained. "If she wanted you to make her happy... she wouldn't be playing stupid games that in turn would play with your feelings. It ain't right. It ain't cool."

"I suppose not," Virgil chuckled.

Ryan stared at him, a bit dazed and asked, "How are you even a billionaire?! Like you don't seem like a cut-throat billionaire."

"Really?" Virgil thought, but then giggled at what he said, "Guess not. I run the business, but a lot of that money is old money. I wasn't supposed to inherit much anyways, but Kathlyne pushed my parents to reconsider me in their will. In a time when she cared about that stuff." Virgil swirled his bottle, saying, "I had an older brother, he passed away in a car accident, he was supposed to inherit all of the big stuff. Parents pushed me to take it on, the whole business when he died, then they passed away.... Leaving me all alone."

"...Virgil... I'm sorry," Ryan mumbled.

"It's okay," Virgil answered. "Happened a long time ago."

Ryan waited for him to keep talking, but he didn't continue, so he said, "My ten-year-old son, Colby, had him late with my wife." Virgil listened intently as Ryan spoke "He was a little guy, liked bikes and piano. We lived up north, in the states, and that nasty winter came along. Remember."

"I remember..."

"One where my son got taken," Ryan sighed "Probably got taken. I don't really know. But didn't tell you how it went down. How it really went down.

That winter I was back home, from a search and rescue expedition. It was a little after Christmas. We were in the living room while the storm raged on outside, we were having a good time. My littlest girl was just born, so at the moment, we were paying a lot of attention to her. My wife looked up and asked me 'Where is Colby?'

So, I started looking around the house and found the sliding door in the back was wide open and I saw his little footprints were heading out into the snow, straight into the woods. Got my coat on, boots, flashlight, and his jacket and boots. Ran outside to follow those tracks and search for him. I followed that path, but it quickly disappeared cause of the snow. My wife called the police, they organized a search party, and we searched all night long. Looked up and down, everywhere, never found him."

"Oh Ryan..." Virgil looked sad; his expression was full of pity.

"We even looked in the spring, when all the snow had melted," he explained. "Never found him. My wife... she blames me for not finding him. She said, 'You're a trained survivalist! How can you not even find a body?!' I blame myself too. Should have found him. Should have known where he was. Yeah, that was a lot."

"Ryan, I'm so sorry," Virgil stated.

"It's okay," Ryan looked up to Virgil.

"No..." Virgil snapped. "It's not okay!" Ryan was startled by this as Virgil raised his voice. "That's not okay! Not okay at all! It's fucking terrible!"

"Virgil... it's okay, calm down," Ryan tried to ease him.

"It's bullshit!" Virgil shouted. "All of it- All of this is bullshit!"

"I... I know," Ryan sighed. "I know it is."

Virgil turned to him and demanded to know, "Why aren't you angry?!"

Ryan stared, then answered, "I don't know, I should be, shouldn't I?"

"Yes?!" Virgil barked. "You should be livid! Screaming! Be mad! Be angry! Be angry!"

"I..." Ryan muttered, "I don't know how anymore..."

Virgil watched him then suggested, "Well you could yell for starters."

"Yell?"

"Scream!"

"I..."

"Scream!" Virgil was going off. "Scream! Scream! Scream! Scream!"

"Okay!" Ryan snapped. "I'll scream, is that what you want?! Some screaming?!"

"Yes!" Virgil shouted then started yelling. Ryan quickly did the same and in unison, they both started screaming exceptionally loud.

They were both doing it for a while until Roberto burst in screaming back, "You're scaring my dogs!"

"Oops!" Virgil giggled. "Scream, off." And he slumped back onto the couch alongside Ryan who were both laughing at random stuff.

"Are... Are you two... drunk?" Roberto held up one of the empty bottles.

"We saved you one," Ryan chuckled. "Or two."

"Or three!" Virgil yelled.

"Or three!" Ryan shouted.

"I get it!" Roberto snapped, then gazed at the bottles that were for him. "I haven't drank anything in years."

"Do it! Do it!" Virgil cheered.

He was hesitant, "Well... I guess one drink... wouldn't hurt anything."

"Yay!" Virgil applauded. "Drink! Drink! Drink!"

"Okay, shut up," Roberto mumbled as he took a swig.

The next morning, they were all pretty passed out. Flopped all over the common room, Ryan took over the whole couch and Virgil, conveniently, slept on top of him, fully clothed of course. What do you think this book is? Sex in the City? We're in Antarctica, you dopes. Anyways, Roberto was slumped on the ground, head resting on the back of the couch, giggling in his sleep.

Ryan was the first to groggily wake up with a head-splitting hangover, but he was halted in his movements when he noticed Virgil was clinging to him in his sleep. Ryan blinked at the sight, then a smile grew on his face as he rested himself back in his spot, ready to fall back asleep. But he heard clattering to his right and whipped his head in a start to see Elucid had stumbled out of the medical center and was watching them.

"E-Elucid?!" Ryan stated, a bit surprised to see him awake.

"You... don't have to get up," Elucid mumbled. "I feel better now."

"Are- Are you sure?" Ryan questioned, disbelieving.

"Yeah," he huffed and limped to the nearest recliner to sit down. He had a grim look on his face as he struggled to sit himself. Evidently, he wasn't at his best, but at least he was walking around.

"You didn't have to get up," Ryan said. "You should be resting."

"I'm fine," Elucid snapped. "So shut up already." There was a silence between them, but it was Elucid who spoke up first, "I thought..."

"Hm?" Ryan heard him, but he stopped.

"I thought I was the only one left," Elucid answered. "When I woke up alone in that med bay."

"Oh, sorry," Ryan mumbled.

"Stop it," Elucid groaned.

"What?"

"Being nice," Elucid snarled. "I have done nothing nice to you, so stop."

"You saved my life," Ryan countered. "A lot actually."

"Oh, when?"

"When Samson attacked me, when I fell over the edge," Ryan waved his hand. "Etc."

"I was just helping you cause you are basically the leader of the group," Elucid snipped. "Whatever sense that makes. You got two weaklings that are super dependent on you, and they'll turn on me more if I question it. It's bullshit."

"You're overreacting," Ryan replied, not really caring at this point.

"You-!" Elucid almost began but Virgil stirred in his sleep, but didn't wake up, so Elucid pulled back. "You think you can just take over? God, I hate you."

"I don't."

"Don't what?"

"Hate you," Elucid turned back to Ryan, disbelief in his eyes as he gawked. "I think though… you might want that from me."

"Well I don't want to be your friend," Elucid scoffed. "No way would I want to even know someone like you."

"You know, Elucid," Ryan answered. "I had a pretty bad dad too."

Elucid stared at him, confusion riddling his face then snapped in a whisper, "What're you talking about?! How do you know that?! I didn't tell you! I would never tell you!"

"When you were under, you were hallucinating and stuff," Ryan explained. "You talked about it."

Elucid frantically shook his head as shame sunk in, "You don't know what you're talking about. You'll never know what you're talking about! Shut up!"

"Elucid..." Ryan called to him. "Get some rest, please."

Elucid was shaking, but then raised himself with a struggle and left the room, bitterness all over his face. Ryan sighed and turned to Virgil who was slowly beginning to come to. He mumbled, "What was that? What is it?"

"Nothing, Virgil," Ryan sighed into him, "It's alright now."

"I'm tired," Virgil muttered.

"Yeah, okay," Ryan hummed, and they fell back to sleep.