Snowy Cages

Wrought iron was rough and cold below his hand as he leaned his palm against the dark grey metal, his other hand was forcefully shoving his pant leg back below the straps of his boots in an attempt to keep out the chill that came with the flurry of snow above him. He’d lost his gloves somewhere in the vast snowfields stretching on for miles around him, leaving his fingers chilled and red. As he fixed his pants and wiped the snow from his jacket he couldn’t help but be thankful for the second pair of gloves his assistant had insisted he take.

Something roared off in the distance, a deep, guttural, ripping noise and he looked up, staring between the iron bars at the gray sky and the snow rushing downwards. He listened, straining his ears over the howling wind for the sound of that thing getting closer.

He didn’t hear it for a long time. There were no roars, no pounding of heavy fists against snow, and no heavy, avalanche-like, earth shaking footsteps as it approached at break-neck speeds. He could only hear his own heavy, warm breaths, his heart pounding in his chest, and the wind loudly whistling above him.

He eventually dug into his pockets, removing the thick, woolen gloves, which he quickly pulled on, as well as the dark grey navigation device he was using. He turned the little device on quickly, his mind flickering back to when he’d first gotten the thing.

He had mocked the device then, thinking it looked more like a fancy calculator than it did anything of use. The rectangular box was dark grey and clunky, with a few white buttons to make adjustments and a wide screen that was a muted, grey-green color with the actual map of the area appearing in black. The screen gave vague estimates of the nearby terrain, had thick, black lines outlining pathways, a tiny triangle indicating his device's location, and, to his then confusion, solid black boxes.

He hadn’t known then, but those boxes indicated cages dug into the dirt and packed snow, same as the one he was currently in. Each of them was about two meters tall, and a meter wide each way, made of wrought iron about two inches thick, and had a metal lid with iron bars thicker than his wrist that gave view to the sky above and could only be locked and unlocked from the inside.

Those cages, as well as the navigator, were godsends to him now, as they’d saved him from that thing more times than he could count. He would have had his head bashed in or his spine ripped from his back without them.

He stared down at the navigator currently in his hands and spun around once, watching the little triangle spin around until he was facing the direction he would need to go. He placed the navigator back in the pocket of his thick, winter jacket, and undid the clamps keeping the metal lid secured above him. He pushed the lid up, the hinges briefly getting stuck, but it didn’t take too much effort for him to get it moving again. Once it was laying flat against the snow, he stepped onto one of the little ladder rungs, poked his head out, and looked around, scanning for any movement other than the flurry of snow that stretched on as far as he could see and further still.

Deciding it was safe for the moment, he pulled himself the rest of the way out of the cage and started walking the direction he needed to go, pulling out his navigator as he walked so he knew where he was going and where the nearest cage was.

He just had to get to the base. It was where his assistants already were, where the working radio was, where supplies were, everything he needed was there. He just needed to get there safely.

His assistants, the last three of them at least, were already there, having gone separately so they didn’t risk being slowed down by each other in their escape attempts. The eleven other employees- seven other assistants, two main researchers like him, and two heads- were all dead. All victims- in one way or another- to that thing parading around the vast snow fields.

It had been nearly three days since the last one had left, having decided to wait two days between each journey, just to be safe, and little more than a week since the first of them had left. He hoped they were all doing alright, and that they messaged back to home base- which was down in the UK- letting their superiors know what was going on up here. He knew they were alive, as every two hours one of them would circle the base to let him know they were all alive, and they could all see him making his way to them.

It roared off in the distance and he quickly looked down at the navigator, locating the nearest cage, which was a few hundred yards away, a little to the right of the path. He quickened his pace, just short of sprinting, as he listened behind him for it’s quick approach. He didn’t hear the thing currently, but he knew it was quick and by the time he started hearing it, he wouldn’t have much time.

He was able to see the wrought iron of the next cage a ways ahead just as his ears picked up that thing thundering across the earth behind him. He bolted forwards as fast as his legs could push him and all but dove into the cage, nearly smacking his head against the frozen metal. He grabbed the bars quickly and pulled, forcing the cage lid shut and not letting go until he heard the clamps click shut.

He let go of the cage- the cold from it soaking through his mittens- and crouched down as deep as he could, bracing his arms against the metal walls. This was the right choice, as soon as he’d finished bracing his arms it was above him, it’s large toes poking over the bars as it roared, the sound alone making his head rattle. It’s large hands reached down and grabbed two of the bars and yanked them. The metal creaked, but held steady.

Enraged that the cage wasn’t opening for it, it roared again and slammed it’s meaty fists against the metal, causing it to shake violently. He shut his eyes and ducked his head down, waiting until the thing left him alone.

It stayed above him for a while, roaring and pounding against the metal angrily. By the time it finally stopped and left, his head was pounding from the constant shaking and yelling.

He didn’t move from his crouched position as he pulled out his navigator. He was maybe two hours away from the base now, he just had to get there. Looking in at the base, he could see one of the navigators circling the base again, letting him know they were safe.

He put it away and looked skyward, staring at the flurry above and looking for any sign of that thing. As far as he could tell, it was gone. He went to step onto the ladder, only to pause as he saw something carved into the iron between the rungs.

It was a list of, he would guess, initials. Maybe seven of them in total, but they were withered and faded so he couldn’t tell if there were more than that. The ones he could make out were JT, MKG, PH, RS, NA, CF, and AF. There were also the words ‘THEY KNEW’. Just who They were and what They had known, he wasn’t too sure, but he could guess.

He committed the list to memory before undoing the clamps on the cage and climbing up. He quickly climbed out again and continued on, his footsteps crunching in the snow as he walked.

He checked the navigator again, grinning as he saw how close he was. He just needed to get within two miles of base and he would be safe. The base emitted a sharp, high-pitched sound that he couldn’t hear, but that kept that thing away, that made places like the base safe. The lab had had that too, back before the generator had started acting up, causing the signal to sputter and cut out.

As extra protection from that thing, the base was nestled between high mountains and a low ravine, meaning it would be too much effort for the thing to try and climb too close to the base.

Admittedly, this meant that the only ways to the base were a small cave system to the south east, a narrow mountain path to the north east, and a rickety wooden bridge to the west. And since he didn’t have the resources or the time, he was going to take the west bridge instead of walking twelve miles to the cave system or eighteen miles to the mountain trail.

The journey was getting progressively harder as the snow got heavier. It was piling up, making his feet sink further into the frost as it piled up. It was also getting darker and colder, making anxiety prickle on his skin alongside the general chill, but he was fine. He would be getting to base shortly.

He would be fine.