I stuffed logs into my inventory as much as I could. I focused on this, and didn’t dare let my mind wander. Didn’t dare let it think what might happen if I didn’t get this done on time. They would be stronger than any other time, but I could still do this. They would meet with a fortified fence, because I would finish this on time.

I was burning through my soups and other food, not just for heat, but for stamina, too. Another thing I didn’t want to focus on. I didn’t think I’d be filling a ridiculous order like this.

Tears stung my eyes as the rain continued to pound. A feeling of hopelessness tugged at my soul as I glanced at the house. I was torn between two demands. Fences were always my priority, but this house was where I went to stay warm. Tomorrow I would not be warm in the house. I had eaten a third of my soups already, and it was barely the afternoon. If I didn’t spend some time searching the house for a furnace, I was in danger.

With the fence halfway filled with logs and the fifteen-minute heat timer went out. I stuffed all the logs from my inventory into the fence before running inside. It was warm, but I could tell the temperature was dropping. I wiped the rain from my face as I glanced around the kitchen. Where would the furnace be? There had to be some sort of utility closet somewhere, but I’d been here all summer and never found one.

I pulled out my flashlight. The rain definitely made it a bit darker, but I could still see well enough. The flashlight was mainly for me to make sure I was studying every nook and cranny.

It felt like a huge waste of time. The longer I searched, the more anxious I became. I checked behind the closet, the cabinets, the drawers, even. There was nothing. From what I remember of the house, there was a chimney, so there should be a fireplace or a furnace of some kind, but I never put two and two together. Not until I had to look for one. It wasn’t on the first floor, and I checked every corner twice.

I was feeling more frustrated as I got to the second floor. It was getting darker as the sun was starting to set. Hauntings would distract me from finding this. I should have started with the second level, but I honestly didn’t think it would be on the second floor. Maybe there was something in one of the rooms. Perhaps an attic entrance that I hadn’t noticed, but that too felt wrong. I hadn’t seen anything to indicate an attic. This was a two-story house, both floors lived in. There wasn’t another level for an attic.

So… basement? But that, too, felt wrong. I would have seen the stairs to a basement by now. It was the same idea with the attic. This was a two-story house, and only a two-story house. Just like there wasn’t access to an attic in the second floor, I would not find access to a basement on the first floor.

To test my theory, I ate another soup to warm up for fifteen minutes as I walked outside in the pouring rain, holding my flashlight. The beam of light was speckled with rain as I looked around the foundation of the home. The overall structure did not give even a hint that there was a basement. It made sense, because I would have seen stairs by now.

I used up the rest of the fifteen minutes to chop down more trees, trying not to panic. It was getting late. It always felt like it was later than it was when it was raining. I glanced at the wolf timer, and saw there was still plenty of time, even if it was getting late.

I started doing the math in my head, my brain stating there was a pattern here to the wolf’s activities. I allowed my mind to wander as I kept doing my menial task of dropping a tree, placing the logs in my inventory, then dropping another tree and filling up the rest of my inventory. I carried two more logs and dropped them in the fence before emptying the rest of the logs from my inventory.

I tried to still my mind, mostly to not panic. It was easier to focus on this. Forget about not finding the furnace yet, forget the darkness gathering around me, forget how cold the rain started to feel.

The wolf did this a lot. It seemed like there was once every segment where the wolf was away for hours. There had to be a reason.

“Ooohhh,” I said as I went to lift a log. It clicked in my mind. The wolf did this once in the days leading up to their attack. More specifically, the wolf always spent hours away the day after they attacked. They must also frighten the wolf; therefore it took hours for the wolf to return after an attack.

That was fine. That, coupled with the knowledge that the first floor was not nearly as haunted, I wanted to spend some more time outside tonight. Then I could stay up as long as I wanted tonight to find the furnace.

I went through almost half my soups in order to finish the logs for the fence. Once I placed the last log, I waited, trying not to feel nervous.

0/100 firewood

I winced. That was at least four or five trees. With a determination that stemmed from frustration, I grabbed my axe and chopped down more trees. I pushed through, eating more food to regain my stamina.

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I could do this. I could make the fence strong enough. Two days, I could do this. I needed to make sure the fences would protect me. Once I had the main fence done, I would focus on the greenhouse fences. I could do this. I would do this. I would be protected from them. There was no way I could face them when the female said they’d be at their strongest.

I placed the last of the firewood, a small chunk of stamina left as I waited for the words to appear for the next instructions.

0/50 bricks

I stared at the words. Stared at them long and hard. Then my knees sank to the ground, and I stared at nothing.

Fifty bricks. It wasn’t enough. I… didn’t have enough.

My mind was a constant whirl of panic until I forced it to shut down. Forty-five was supposed to be enough for both fences. But now it didn’t even matter. All those logs, that firewood I put in this fences, it was pointless. There was no way I could make enough bricks. The sun was gone, and wouldn’t reappear until after they attacked.

My mind was pulled in two different directions. To just give up and dump all the bricks into upgrading the storage unit and hope for the best in three days, or to give this a good long think and figure out if there could be another way to make baked clay without the sun.

I scrambled to the river and grabbed a mound of clay. I needed to know. My panicking mind demanded experimentation. I could not be five bricks away from this and not try. I formed the clay using the tool into a brick shape, then tried to stuff it in the tool. It stopped me like there was a wall in front of it.

I couldn’t be five bricks away from my goal. There had to be something. Something.

I pulled out the list in the pouring rain. Despite the rain, the list remained dry as I read over it.

Furnace.

Would clay near a furnace be enough to bake it? In a pinch, if it was hot enough, could it be enough? Is that the link the alien overlords were trying to help me see?

I had to try.

I checked the foundation of the house once more, crouched down on my hands and knees, digging into the dirt next to the foundation of the home. Letting myself stay out there until my timer was gone. There was no indication of a basement. I checked the front porch, but it was all cement. I tried the back porch, but that was built into the dirt as well. There was no crawlspace into a basement that I knew couldn’t exist.

It still didn’t stop me from walking inside the house, trying to tear up the carpet in the living room. Each time I tried to tear up the carpet, my hands couldn’t grasp it. After the fifth time trying in the entertainment room, words appeared in my vision.

Cannot pull up carpet. Flooring isn’t unlocked yet.

“I need a hint!” I shouted to the ceiling. “Please! A hint.”

The words disappeared, and I got no response. I was growing more frustrated by the moment.

When the wolf timer blinked and I realized just how much time I’d wasted trying to find the stupid furnace, I tried not to feel hysterical. I ran through the house, trying to break the back of the closets or find some hidden trap door in the flooring. The hauntings got worse as the night grew darker. My sanity was getting attacked, but I was more afraid of falling asleep. I did not want to wake up cold.

“Please,” I said, probably for the millionth time to the ceiling. “A hint. Please.”

Words appeared in my vision.

Approaching midnight. Force sleep will happen soon.

A timer blinked in front of my vision, making it difficult to see, and the tears in my vision made it worse. My dangerously low sanity did not help. Shadows started wobbling, whispers were everywhere, getting louder.

They were attacking soon, and I wouldn’t have my full sanity. The grayed-out part of my stamina was still there from their last attack. I was in serious danger if my sanity dropped anymore, but that furnace. That stupid, stupid furnace! Where was it!

I shot up in bed, not even aware that I had been forced into sleep. I took a few deep breaths, feeling the chill turn my breath into whisps. The grayed-out portion of my stamina was still there. I hadn’t slept in my nightgown. So many things were going wrong. They were attacking tomorrow. I had fifty percent of my sanity and stamina. I was not prepared for them to attack. But I also wasn’t sure if I would survive the rest of today if I couldn’t find that furnace.

I ate the last of my soup while doing my morning routine. My hands trembled the entire time as rain continued to beat down on me. I was trying to act normal, but this huge weight was on my shoulders, as heavy as a furnace.

The soup was gone. I didn’t have any other food to keep me warm. The inside of the house was as cold as the outside. Fifteen minutes, which seemed like such a huge amount of time at the beginning of the summer, now felt like seconds to me.

I stared at the house again, trying to see if there was some secret room on the second floor. Some sort of crawl space. Was the door to the furnace in the locked room somehow? Did I have to unlock the room in order to find it?

So many questions plagued me. So did terror and fear. I couldn’t unlock that evil room. I didn’t want to know what was behind it. Did I have to do that in the dark? Did I already lose my chance to unlock the door last night?

It wouldn’t be there. I had a feeling that door would have its own sort of main quest option when I was ready to unlock it. They wouldn’t slide it between a side quest.

I collapsed to the ground, nauseous. I had spent so much time worrying that I forgot to eat something for stamina. My shivering in the cold used the rest of the stamina up.

Again, I had no idea if I was a swearing girl, but, “Shit,” escaped my lips as I could not stop shivering. The nausea was a lot. Usually when I was overly nauseous from running out of stamina, I just stopped doing what I did and it stopped. But on a rainy day, the cold took my stamina for as long as I was out here. I’d never been caught outside on a super hot or rainy day before. Judging by how it made my stomach roll and heave, I never wanted to again.

But what could I do? It was just as cold inside as it was outside.

Warning! Must get somewhere warm!

A blinking timer started, counting down from one minute.

I tried to crawl toward the house. Maybe I could get to bed. That was somewhere warm, right?

With how much my stomach protested, I doubted I could make it to my bed in one minute. I was having a hard time climbing to my feet, pushing past the nausea to get into the house.

I barely made it onto the concrete before the timer counted down. All energy drained out of me, my vision blackening. The last thing I saw was the concrete rushing up to meet me as my body braced for impact.