The Abandoned Winter Cabin

The latest patient stretched her arms and felt her surroundings before remembering where she was, and what had happened the night before… but she couldn’t.

“Ah, you’re awake” said the doctor “I was beginning to worry”

The girl blinked a few times trying to remember who she was but she didn’t seem to be having much luck with that either.

“I have to ask, why am I here, have we…” she quickly checked beside her bed for any unmentionables “it’s alright, I just don’t remember”

“We haven’t met, but we were travelling together, I’m trained in medical emergencies fir cases such as this.”

The doctor had a clear voice which could have belonged to either gender but there was something missing… she hesitated

“Are you, an android?”

“Yes, last year’s model, recently updated with the new know how. But do tell me, what is your name?”

“I don’t remember”

“Well then” said the android clapping its hands together “What would you like me to call you?” 

“How about Winter?”

“Winter it is, I suggest that you take it easy today, you can explore the cabin but venturing outside would be dangerous in our current condition” the android left Winter to throw on something warmer now that she’d pulled back the covers and discovered how cold the floor was.

“Wait… our condition?” It wasn’t really a question but in her confused state…

“There is one other survivor here, a stranger, he tried to save you and was injured in the attempt, without my knowledge of the local area I would not have discovered this remote cabin”

“What can you tell me about this cabin?”

The androids eyes flashed blue and then it stopped “This cabin was once used as a traveller’s lodge for the ski resort but was abandoned in the mid twenty first century when the absence of-”

“A traveller’s lodge, that’ll do, how’s the food coming? Will our other survivor want some or are they sleeping” she gripped the back of a chair with unease her eyes searching the cabin’s surroundings without paying much attention… what was wrong with her?

Without another word she searched for the other survivor. They had to be in the last room she hadn’t tried it was the only one with the door closed. She knocked politely and a sombre male voice called “come in”

* * *

He looked up from the paperback book he was trying to read to see the girl he’d rescued the day before. His fingers fumbled on the device he was holding “Dang, still haven’t got it” she looked puzzled so he explained

“I’ve been trying to contact the outside world but even my communicator is dead”

“The android seems to know much about the cabin”

“Only the history of it, but only able to access information it already knows, since we lost power just as we got here…” he trailed off then put the book aside.

“How rude of me, trying to read a paper book when we should be making formal introductions, call me Sam, most o me friends call me by that name, it’s not my real name but I like it so I’ve not corrected them” 

The girl looked taken aback, and Sam looked at her apologetically “Winter” she said with a little upward inflection in her voice.

“You don’t have to lie to me” he grinned. 

She put her hands on her hips and turned away “I don’t know the truth, so you best be pleased I’ve given myself a name at all”

“Well, if you’re not going to make light humour of a serious situation maybe I should work with someone who isn’t boring”

“I’ll give you boring!” Winter made to reach for his book but Sam picked it up first

“Someone who listens then, as clearly you don’t recall, that boring girls can’t keep up with a wild guy”

Winter couldn’t help but smirk “And you believe you are this wild guy I’ve been looking for, do you?”

“I know; I don’t have to believe, but since you’ve been trying to remember who you are, I can teach you”

“The android told me that you were a stranger, how can you teach what you do not know?”

“From what I recall from the android’s social archive, it will most likely encourage you to become who you are, find out what you like and spend time making life memorable”

Sam paused abruptly, he’d said the wrong thing but Winter had missed his mistake and had taken one of his hands in her own, their wrists made a clicking noise as they touched but nothing else happened. They were both looking at their wrists with different expressions.

“Are you okay? Thought I heard you click”

“Microchips in the wrists, it replaced the formal handshake and works with signal like them old mobiles used to”

Winter looked uncomfortable and left the room. Taken aback Sam got to his feet and looked out the window his eyebrows raised he felt his jaw drop. He went to check on Winter and found her assisting the Android who was trying to use the electric oven. 

“We have no power, so we’ll have to cook with gas”

The Androids eyes flashed as it examined its memory “Gas ovens have been obsolete since the early 30s, around twenty years after this cabin was abandoned”

“Right, so we’ll have to grab some wood and make a fire hot enough to cook on” said Winter

“I’ll get the wood” said Sam before the Android could speak. 

Sam did not leave the cabin but found a log basket, the wood in here was dry and had grown mossy with age. He took it back to the others and dropped it lightly onto the floor, the vibrations seemed to have disturbed many crawlies, now climbing out of the basket.

While the Android was unhelpfully identifying which of these creatures were safe to eat Sam whispered “I thought I saw the clouds falling outside”

“Yeah, that’s what happens when it rains” said Winter

“What? White chunks of cloud; here in the UK?”

“Wait, what, that’s never happened before, let’s take a look” 

* * *

She dragged him by the hand as they welcomed the bitter change in air. Wet flakes began hitting them in the face.

“This is incredible!” 

“Yes, but is it safe?” asked Sam “I’d hate for one to just go in my mouth argh” he spat it out quickly. “We need to ask the Android, get inside quickly” 

Winter was trying to catch each in her hand to blow like the petals of a dandelion clock seeing whether they would scatter in the same way but Sam had already dragged her back inside.

They stared at the white flakes on their clothing fearing they might be poisonous and hoping they were not. “Doctor, are you done talking to yourself? We need to know what’s falling from the sky, is it safe to be exposed to?”

The Android gazed out of the window and performed its usual memory scan. “This substance is known as Snow”

“Eww, I touched the stuff, I need to get clean” she left the room to wash the drugs from her fingertips and was significantly glad Sam had chosen spit the snow but why was it falling?

“Hey come back Winter, the Android has more to say, it’d not the drug, it says that water falls from the sky frozen and melts before it hits the ground but we get snow if it doesn’t melt in time”

“So.. it’s like… soft frozen rain? Wait how do you know so much?”

“The Android ‘helpfully’ kept on talking when you left the room to wash” he rolled his eyes 

Winter looked closely at the android “Looks like it’s low on power, it won’t be able to help us if we can’t charge it”

“I reckon it just wants an excuse not to make us breakfast”

“Or to have us eat spiders when we’ve got porridge in a pan”

“Is that the Android way? If at first you don’t succeed try something else?”

“One of the ‘low battery’ glitches in the old programming” said Sam

“Right, we know what Snow is, and know that it is safe, how do we turn this thing off?”

They left the Android in an armchair beside the fireplace and burst into the open air Sam was holding out some hiking sticks “They be little use in the snow but might be useful”

“Yeah… Thanks” As Winter took the sticks she felt an odd sensation, one of unease, even when she held them correctly and began to use them her expression stiffened. As she handed them back to Sam however she felt a little better. 

By the time they had gathered wood and found shelter under the trees, she was definitely ready to eat, but how were they going to light the fire? 

They went back to search the cabin and discovered the Android, dead, a substance leaking out the back of its neck and from one of its eye sockets. 

“Sad when good times die” said Sam performing a fireman’s lift “but you may still be of further help to us. Come Winter, let’s go back” 

“How are we going to use it make a fire?” She asked 

“There were some informative diagrams in the book I was reading, triggering alarm systems, we might find that our belated friend here has one of those” he ran his fingers along the curves of its skull then withdrew his hands as if he’d been burned. 

The Android slipped to the ground, its head in the centre of their Woodstock, they had fire. They punched the air and started dancing trying to see how many snowflakes they could keep on their coats before it melted

“Wait, grab the pot, we should start cooking” 

“Oh, you’re no fun Sam”

“Not when I’m hungry, I get real grouchy” he growled like a tiger striking a pose.

Winter laughed and throw a snowball at him, it bounced off his shoulder and they both lost track of time prancing around like animals, becoming very hot in their coats.

“Stop” Winter panted, “I’m hot I think we need to rest”

Sam looked terrified “Forget resting, we need to move away, now!”

“Why?” She looked behind Sam and could clearly see ‘why’ their Android had caught fire, exploded, set fire to nearby trees, the cabin. 

“What do we do now?” Smoke now obscuring their vision, the sky, any possibility of a way out

“Well, we’ve lived together, we may have to be prepared to die together” Sam shouted over the noise of the wind and something else.

“Nobody’s dying on my watch” they both looked at the silhouette that had spoken… it was a helicopter. A sturdy ladder extended towards them. 

As the flames drew nearerSam didn’t hesitate in helping Winter up first and was able to join both she and the pilot without sustaining lasting injury.

“Amazing rescue, how did you know we were out here?” You set fire to a whole bunch of trees, could see the smoke a few miles off went to investigate.” 

“You just happened to be in the air at this location? At this point in time” said Sam skeptically 

“Military training, details are strictly prohibited but I can drop you off with people who can get you back to civilisation”

“That would be wonderful, we really weren’t expecting snow and I really don’t remember how we got to that cabin”

“Did you not have a medic Android with you” 

They explained their adventure Sam filling in bits that Winter couldn’t remember, she had apparently slipped on some ice and lost her balance, fallen part way down the clifftop before being rescued. 

“Looks like we left your hiking sticks behind too” said Sam crestfallen “I’ll get you some for your birthday next week”

Winter smiled appreciatively but shook her head “I’ve come to realise lately that I never enjoyed hiking, I’ve learned that I should become who I want to be, find out what I like and spend life making memories”

The helicopter landed in an abandoned airfield and two soldiers approached them, laser rifles engaged

“Everything alright Chip?”

“Found two lost civilians in the fire, make sure they get back home”

The rotary blades stopped spinning and the soldiers came closer “just one more question” Chip glanced from one to the other and back again “Are you two just friends or something more?” 

Neither of them spoke but their eyes met…