As night falls, it is time to rest. However, night has always not been a time of calm for me. Hundreds of anxious thoughts and what ifs? The old radio went silent after the prayer. It was as if these were the scraps of words I was meant to hear. After that, there was only hissing.

Putting my things together before going to bed I almost forgot to lay out my pickaxe. The backpack wouldn't be very soft with it inside. I don't have a lot of stuff. However, among them only the necessary things. A couple of lighters, a replacement jacket. Gloves bandages some bandages some viscous ointment that's good for bruises. Oh, I should definitely put out a can of alcohol. It's definitely worth stashing. Just in case. I think the drawers with the radio on them are fine. It's not so easy to get something out of them quietly. I've got an army ration I can stretch for two more days. No water, though. But that's okay. An old cauldron given to me as a thank-you gift is just perfect for getting water.Still, boiling water is always safer than eating snow and you won't get hypothermia at the same time. I'm running low on herbs. I don't have much money left. And while hundreds of different thoughts were swarming in my head, I didn't notice how dark it got. It got dark? The wind whistling outside the window is all I remember.

My back hurts unbelievably and my sleeping bag never came in handy. Or rather, it just covered my back from contact with the cold concrete. But it would have been much worse if I had just laid there. I passed out. Instantly. I'd planned to leave at dawn, but my health interfered. I'm well aware that it's anemia and chronic fatigue. I'm not a super doctor like they have in the capital and I can't heal with prayer like the high priests can. Even though I myself have never seen such a miracle. But my skills in caring for the sick and the elderly came in handy. The records of the ancients also helped. Even though there were a lot of obscure words, but as a diligent student I tried to memorize everything. I can rather heal and help to live until a real healer comes. But every time I see a person get a little better, I realize that I'm still good for something. But it's still embarrassing to be called a doctor. I'm more of a quack who can do a little bit of everything.

Well, I've wasted enough time already. It's time to go. Everything's in place. The window is completely white with snow, but you can still see that it's light outside. Dawn after the storm. And even though I've survived the night, I have to think about tomorrow. Finding a town without a map and compass is problematic. I know it's here and the radio confirms it. But which way is it? And towns are different. Don't get my hopes up that they'll let me into the city at all. After all, I am a traveler. An exile, too, though in my situation I don't know whether that's good or bad. Though far from my homeland, the appearance of our priests is quite recognizable. I don't want to get caught by any radicals. While I'm folding the things that I didn't have time to fold yesterday, I see that I've got my rations again. The canned goods are gone. All that's left is the hardtack. Guess I'd better go into town after all. I'll prolong my existence for a couple days.

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Taking all the vials and wrapping them in my replacement robe. I make sure they don't break in the backpack. Even if jacket is old, it still has a use. And if the snow is wet and the main jacket is already soaked through, it's still better than a robe. The pickaxe is peeking out of the backpack. Now it's time to go.

This small room got me through the night but the sun is already calling me on my way. I open the heavy door with a creak. Oh, Goddess, Trevor, where has all your strength gone? I say to myself. And yet Greg was right, I am very weak. I wasn't always like this, was I? Same corridor. Here comes the freeway. All the cars are covered in a huge layer of snow. Wet snow and ice is a terrifying combination.I have to find another way. I'm coming to the edge. Still the same incredible view. Blue sky gray buildings and snow. Dazzling and shining snow. The sun has made visibility a little worse. Below the freeway you can see the rocks are black and majestic. Quite sharp because there is a frozen river under the highway among the stones. How many centuries has the river not moved? Apparently you shouldn't have slept through your history lessons. Well, to be fair, I only slept through the last of them. As always, I missed the most important and interesting things.

Just because a river is frozen doesn't mean it's no longer a source of fresh water. With the right equipment, it's possible to break through the ice. And where there's drinking water, you're more likely to find a settlement. I need to get down to the river. In the distance? Smoke rising in the middle of the rocks? Cold and hunger are not as bad as humans and yet they may know how to get to the city. In any case, I won't last long without food. It's worth the risk. I'm heading back to the corridor. The stairs down are dilapidated and slippery, ready to collapse at any moment. I'll take a little longer than I bargained for. And here I am on the first floor. The couches are frozen in place. Shards of something I don't understand are scattered everywhere. The remains of a fire. But it's old, though. At least a week old. That's enough time to miss these travelers.

I walk through a hole in a wall of concrete and rebar. My eyes adjust to the light. I'm not used to walking when the sun is this high. My golden hair is unruly and so it keeps coming out of my balaclava. I can see smoke in the distance. Cautiously I climb down the rocks to the river. This time without incident. The river became a path for me and I follow it towards the smoke. My heart is about to jump out of my chest. It's been a long time since my last contact with humans. And I don't know who's out there. What if it's an ambush. I'm not walking down a trade route, though. It's not effective to make an ambush here. But it doesn't help with my panic.

And even though my panic and anxiety did not subside, my legs carried me closer and closer to the place where the smoke was coming from. I didn't expect to see all this. Surrounded by rocks where the river should have had a cove, a little girl lay on the crystal clear ice. There was debris everywhere. A girl of about twelve years of age lying in an Embryo pose. She was white as snow, her hair white and her skin white, in a light tunic, and yet it was not clear if she was alive at all. Nearby, some unidentifiable wreckage is burning. There is the smell of smoke and metal as the wind howls, but her skin shows only minor scratches. There's something golden glowing near her hands. Oh, goddess, what happened here?