Йен Райт - The Final Winter

Peter hadn’t seen Jess, or anybody else, in almost an hour now, not since he’d parted ways with Kath. Earlier, the two of them had heard screaming and he was certain it was Jess. His selfish boss-lady had chosen to head for the nearby pub, caring only about herself, but he had decided to do the right thing and go find his friend. It had not gone as well as he’d hoped.

Peter wasn’t one to lose his cool easily. No one in Poland was after what their grandparents had lived through. It gave them a unique perspective on what really mattered in life. Yet, Peter had to admit to himself that he was starting to get anxious. He concentrated on keeping his breathing steady and emptied his mind of all thoughts. If a person did not think, they could not become afraid. If he just continued walking, he would find someone soon – or at least reach some houses. One thing was for certain: It could not go on like this much longer – pure white nothingness all around and in every direction. If it did… then he would certainly freeze to death. It was an absurd thought, but very real at that moment as the sub-zero temperatures swelled the pads on his fingertips that he could no longer form a fist.

Peter was used to the cold. It was regularly freezing in his hometown, just outside of Warsaw, but since his two year stay in England had begun, he’d not known conditions like this. It reminded him more of the Arctic Circle than Great Britain – the place he had come to follow his dreams and earn the money he could only dream of in Poland. He enjoyed being here to study also, and, despite the odd pockets of racism ( you’re taking our jobs! ), the local population had been very welcoming. England had become as much a home to him as his own country.

But today he would do anything to be back home with Momma and Poppa. He’d never felt as alone as he did right now.

“Jess,” he called out into the emptiness. “Jess, are you ok? It is Peter.”

There was no response, as there had not been for the last twenty minutes since he’d first split ways from Kath. He’d almost given up hope of finding Jess now, but that didn’t stop him worrying about why she had screamed. Jess was a nice girl, attractive and funny. Most of the Polish people in the town stuck to their own and socialised together – especially when it came to dating. It was easier that way and provoked less xenophobia than if the Polish men went around sleeping with the English women, but, if Peter was honest, he yearned to spend time with Jess, and thought about kissing her all the time.

I hope you are okay, my beautiful friend.

“Peter!”

He stopped in his tracks, the snow crunching beneath his polished work shoes. “Jess, is that you?”

“Yes, Peter, I’m over here. I need help. Come quick.”

Peter turned a full circle, unable to pinpoint where Jess’s voice was coming from. “Jess, I hear you, but I not see you. Jess?”

The voice came closer. “Peter, I’m here. Help!”

Peter turned another circle and stopped half way around. He spotted something in the distance and stepped toward it. “Jess, I see you.”

In the near distance, Peter could just about make out a grey shape in the howling blizzard. A sigh of relief whistled from his cold, blue lips and he began to head toward it.

Jess and Jerry had fled in terror after witnessing Ben’s death – disintegration? – too much in shock to comprehend what they had witnessed.

“I don’t have… a goddamn clue what… just happened,” said Jerry, out of breath from all the running.

Jess was beginning to slow down too. They hadn’t gone far, but in the deep, sucking snow, running any length at all was an endurance test. “I need… to stop,” she said. “I’ve got a stitch.”

Jerry halted and looked at her. Then he grabbed her arm and pulled hard. “Are you loco? That thing will get us. You never stop when there’s a demon on your arse. Have you never seen Friday the 13 th ?”

Jess pulled back, her chest rising and falling in great heaves. “There’s… no such thing as… demons.”

“There is too. Exorcist was based on true events and so was The Entity .”

Jess shook her head. “They just say that so idiots like you believe it. The thing in the hood wasn’t chasing us when we ran. I think we can stop.”

“You saw what it did to Ben!” Jerry seemed to struggle with something internally, before going on. Maybe he was realising that his childhood friend was gone for real; that it wasn’t all just some movie. “It killed him,” he said, staring her in the eyes, “and if we don’t get moving it’ll get us too.”

Jess nodded. “Okay, but where the hell are we going? I can’t see anything and I’ve already gotten lost in this snow once tonight.”

Jerry pulled on her arm again and the two of them started moving. “We need to find the pub or see if your boss is still at the supermarket.”

Jess laughed. “I’d rather let that thing back there have me than ask that cow for help.”

“The pub it is then,” said Jerry.

Twenty minutes later, the two of them came to a stop at the bottom of the hill leading up to The Trumpet . It had taken the last of their energy, wandering around in the white darkness of the growing blizzard, to find it, and if it wasn’t for the fear and adrenaline dominating her system, Jess was sure she would’ve keeled over by now.

“Thank God we found it,” she said. “I don’t think I can get much colder. My nipples could cut cake.”

Jerry stared at her chest.

“That wasn’t an invitation to ogle my tits. Just take my word for it, they’re cold.”

Jerry shook himself as if escaping a hypnotic trance. “Sorry! Well, it’s one thing finding the pub, but let’s hope somebody’s still in there. Else, I don’t know what we’re going to do. With the Siberian weather and Flame Boy on our tail, I don’t know what’ll kill us first.”

Jess shuddered.

“Sorry,” he said. “I know you’re scared.”

Jess didn’t admit it, but it was true. They were both fighting back the pangs of panic as their bodies continued to freeze. Jerry’s cheeks had gone clammy and looked like they were burning. She worried that if they didn’t get under cover soon they’d be in danger of getting frostbite or hypothermia.

Jess started to take the steps up the hill, sticking to where she imagined the path lay beneath the snow. She peered up at the pub, which looked back down at her ominously. “I think I see light in there.”

Jerry squinted. “Yeah, I think I do too. There must be people inside.”

The two of them hurried, taking steps as quickly as possible in the knee-high snow sloping upwards. As Jess got nearer the top, she became more and more certain that there was indeed light inside the pub. Not electrical light, but a flickering, glowing light from a torch or-“

“I think they have a fire in there,” said Jess, giddy at the thought of warmth.

“ Jurassic Park!” exclaimed Jerry triumphantly. “Let’s get our black asses in there.”

Jess’s brow wrinkled. “We’re not Black.”

“Will be if we get frost bite. Now come on!” He grabbed Jess by the arm and started helping her up the hill…

…but a noise from behind made them stop.

Jess heard it too. “Was that… growling?” She turned slowly as the low grumbling sound started up again. It did indeed sound like growling but, when she looked back, there was nothing other than the drifting, windswept snow. She turned back to Jerry. “Let’s just get to the pub, okay?”

They picked up as much speed as they could, still hampered by the chilling embrace around their ankles and shins. When the growling started again it seemed to be coming from all directions, vibrating through the air all around them.