Warmth in the Cold

Warmth in the Cold

Prologue

The year is 2031; the earth just witnessed a Geomagnetic Reversal, causing a shift in the earth’s orbit around the sun leading to an instantaneous massive drop in temperature. In the blink of an eye everything froze up. Only a few humans who happened to be in an isolated space survived. In the example of our protagonist Mark: a computer science nerd who locked himself in his mother’s basement, offline, coding his time away and only realizing that an Apocalypse took place when his electrical generator ran out of fuel. Four months into this apocalypse, Mark secured himself a safe building and armed it with what traps he could find. And to keep himself, sane our protagonist decided to start a journal.

Journal Entry

April 6^th, 2032:

She came up on my screen again; the blonde with the red beanie, always at noon sharp, takes the same route and scavenges the same stores, that I truly wonder how in hell they aren’t empty by now. And once again I fight the dilemma to make contact with her. But then never find the balls to do it, arguing it could all be a trap, she might belong to a group of scavengers and all of them know I am holding the building, so they want to take it from me as soon as I deactivate the traps to leave: of course I know that is all wrong, I managed to establish access to all the cameras in the city-thank god I chose computer science as a major-and so I see everything and I know she settles in the former Arts Gallery four blocks away. So maybe some other day, for now my right hand will do just fine (guess I am just not horny enough).

April 7^th, 2032:

Our Blondie sure is punctual and thanks to that punctuality I have managed to get a more of a live look at her through my goggles as I shriveled to death on the roof of the building. My eyes glued to the path she always takes-actually felt like Batman for a second there. She is actually very fit, something that I didn’t notice through the wavy camera screens, and her movements were very tactical in a way. She moved very carefully and always kept an eye out for any movements: she either plays video games (hopefully) or she has some sort of military training (please be the later so we would at least have that in common). All that could be said is I just gathered more reasons to make contact with her or at least let her know of my presence. Maybe I’ll try tomorrow, if I wake up on the right side of bed and grow the biggest set of Balls EVER.

April 8^th, 2032:

A MIRACLE!!! GOD TRULY DOES EXIST!!!

As I was hacking my way through the city traffic/surveillance system, still functional thanks to the savage Scavenger gang that invaded the Electrical Central and yet managed to get it up and going with their small little brains: they probably don’t know it’s still supplying the system. I apologize I got sidetracked there. What happened is I noticed the surfacing of a new surveillance camera on the Map, one I haven’t seen before. So I dug deeper, managed to get access to it and found out that it was very much functional (must be due to some random electrical impulse) but most importantly its location actually brought me to tears of joy: IT WAS AT THE ARTS GALLERY.

So after 10 minutes of me reevaluating my ethic code: I hacked through that girl’s privacy like a sharp axe through dry wood. Before I am to be judged badly, I would love to remind that this apocalypse is a cold one, meaning I knew she wouldn’t be getting naked or anything (and unfortunately I was right, she didn’t). Still, I got to witness such beauty even with the wavy camera screen: that blonde hair loose over her shoulders and the way she moved with such finesse. Truly the most beautiful scene I witnessed since the beginning of this hell show of an Apocalypse.

April 15^th, 2032:

I must apologize to whoever reads this journal, after I am dead of course, for not writing anything for the past week. But that camera has been a true beam of light in these dark times. After each morning security round check, I glued my eyes to my personal low quality window into my dear Blondie’s life- well only a fragment of it, the camera only covered the Gallery’s hall thankfully most her activities took place there. Our dear blonde beauty is very meticulous and organized, every day she follows the same routine: yoga first thing in the morning while the water boils on low flame that she uses once done for her daily cup of coffee and some biscuits then she puts on her backpack and her gun for the scavenging round and that is my sign to move my eyes to the screens following her path. Once she got back home, she would go straight to where my camera doesn’t reach for 2 hours (probably for a shower) then she is back to the hallway warming up whatever she could find, eating it and spending the rest of her evening with a book bundled up in what looks like a very warm blanket next to a small fire until she falls asleep without realizing she was warming the heart of this creepy stranger just by existing.

 True Bliss.

April 16^th, 2032:

Who would’ve thought the I.T. nerd would fall so deeply in love. For the first time in my life, my mind is the arena where my heart and brain fight (very poetic I know). My heart is begging me to meet her while my brain tells me I will creep her out and make her leave the city for good. After hours of thought and walking around the flat like a madman, I came up with a solution that would satisfy both sides: A LOVE LETTER.

My God!!! Are love letters difficult to write: only one paragraph took me 3 hours. In that measly letter I managed to explain how I came to her acquaintance and of course skipping the part where I was practically watching every second of her life for a whole week but made it clear that I meant her no harm and in the occasion of her not accepting my invitation to meet she wouldn’t be disturbed in any shape or form (I’m a gentleman I know). And if she were to accept, all she has to do is write yes in the back of the paper and put the letter at the same place.

Now that the letter was written all that was left is to send it. And the perfect way was to have the letter waiting for her inside the store she last scored provisions.

April 17^th, 2032:

Letter SENT!!!

Right after she stepped into the Gallery, I gathered my equipment and headed straight to the Store. I tied the letter to a rock then covered the whole thing with a red flag (as in the color of love: I am so Romantic!!!) then wrote on the flag with a black marker: READ ME. And made sure it was visible as I put it right in the middle of the main pathway.

Anxiety has overwhelmed me since I got home. I just hope she doesn’t get creeped out and at least gives me a chance.

I just hope for a response.

April 21^th, 2032:

For three days I waited for her to come back home so I can head out to the store and find my answer. But each time, I found the letter unmoved. Still, I told myself “maybe she just didn’t notice it” and “I am sure tomorrow I will find my answer”. On the fourth day, same thing: I waited for her to step into her home then made my way to the store but this time as I stood over my unmoved letter I heard the sound of a gun cocking behind me and a girl saying “turn around slowly” so I did.

I cannot believe how badass Blondie looked as she aimed her gun at my face and proceeded to question me about who I was, whether I had weapons on me or not, how I know her, etc. All logical questions you would ask a stranger at times like these, to which I answered honestly and explained to her I meant her no harm and retold what I already wrote on the letter she apparently had already read but made it look like she didn’t to trap me (she is so smart). After exchanging those words she seemed to relax little by little as she lowered her gun but still kept it in her hand. Then I proceeded to gather as much courage as I could find and introduced myself the best way I could hoping she would return the favor. And SHE DID!!!!

Her name was Cassy-short for Cassandra- she was a Marine in training before the Shift. Apparently the training involved spending time alone in underground bunkers and that was the way she survived-but couldn’t say the same for her platoon.

At least we have that in common: we left a small isolation for a bigger one.

We kept talking until the cold of the night started creeping on us-as we were both clearly deprived of human contact-and so I invited her to my home to which she gently refused but still said “some other day” then waved me goodbye with this precious smile on her face.

I am in HEAVEN.

April 28^th, 2032:

I truly apologize to all my potential readers, I have totally forgotten about the journal for the past week. But it wasn’t any other week. It was the best week of my entire life: I joined Cassy on her morning scavenging rounds, I showed her my spots as she showed me hers, we shared a ton of survival info about provisions and weaponry (her expertise), of course we got to learn so much about each other and I got to fall even deeper in love with her as I saw the passion in her eyes when she talked about art (explains her location) and cinema and she would tell me stories about all these masterpieces and their makers. But most importantly, what made this week even better is that last night she accepted my invite to the building and I got to show off my screens (don’t worry I turned off the “special” screen before hand), my traps and all the gadgets I managed to collect in my spare time. Among those gadgets there was this projector that caught Cassy’s eye-for she remembered she had some films stacked in the Gallery’s archives but with no way to watched them-but was later disappointed as she learned it wasn’t functional (Yet!!!). Once I finished giving her the tour of the building and it was time for her to leave, she got so close to me and gave me the warmest hug (that made me weak at the knees) then thanked me for welcoming her to my home and left.

I haven’t felt that warm in a very long time and saying I was acting like a teenage girl crushing over the cool kid would be an understatement to what I was like that night. This week gave me what I truly needed: Purpose, which is to make Cassy happy. And that night gave me a way to achieve that purpose, for now.

So I apologize in advance if I don’t write for the next few days.

May 2^nd, 2032:

Truly Love makes wonders.

Who would’ve thought I would be able to make that old projector work, still it took a lot of time to learn how to fix it and then fixing it was a whole other ordeal. But what matters now is that it works!

After finishing our morning rounds, I got to witness such a beautiful sight: Cassy’s eyes widening, her cheeks blushing with joy as I told her that I fixed the projector and that I would love for her to come over and bring some of her films to see if it works properly to which she answers by holding my hand in the cutest way (I cannot believe she used to be a marine) and accepting my invitation.

Back home, I tried to tidy up the place the best as I could and cleaned up every single corner of the room (so many tissues). Installed the projector behind the sofa with the image just perfectly fitted on the white screen. Opened the freshest bag of trail mix I had and this 1920s wine bottle I found in the basement of some fancy house that managed to survive the cold.

Everything was set. I got the mood as romantic as I could. While waiting I wrote these words you just read and so I ask that you wish me luck for I see her coming on my screen.

May 3^rd, 2032:

This is Cassy writing.

Your dear writer is still fast asleep. I guess last night really drained him.

Worry not I haven’t invaded your writer’s privacy as much as I would love to read just a couple of days, but Mark was too much of a gentleman yesterday for me to do that. I am sure you might be wondering what happened last night, as to how it is me writing on the journal and not your dear writer. After arriving at the doorstep of the building, Mark welcomed me with a plastic flower-so sweet of him-then he led me upstairs to a room lit by candles and in its center a coffee table with a bottle of wine on top and two glasses. I was not expecting any of it, but he truly outdid himself setting the perfect mood. After just standing there absorbing the unusual climate, Mark asked me to give him the film I picked for us, and then I remembered I picked a thriller-to be safe-fortunately I brought a spare: a romantic movie. As he was setting the projector up, I made myself comfortable on the sofa and sipped on the surprisingly delicious wine until Goosebumps ran all over my skin as the projector worked and the film was actually playing in front of me-I truly felt like a child again. I was so overwhelmed by the sight of the film, half an hour just flew by and Mark was truly kind as he didn’t disturb me in any way for he saw how absorbed I was by the film-a true gentleman. Once I came back to my senses, I barely managed to separate my eyes from the screen to look at the man that made me feel human again, with tears in my eyes, just waiting for him to look back. And he did, his eyes were so gentle and filled with warmth that I couldn’t help but grab his face and plant my lips on his. He was surprised at first but then melted away with me as he grabbed me from the waist and put me on his lap: I finally felt home. One kiss turned to many kisses. One touch turned to multiple touches. One thing was for sure, we both found warmth in the Cold.