It was a weird scenario to be pitted against one of the most normal questions one could hear, but Cain was expecting something else. Such as why were they in a forest? Where was the interstate? How long had it been since he was driving? Was there an accident? All of these and more passed through Cain’s head, but the most odd question of all was the one that meant the most sense to ask.

“Is that my wrench?” Joe repeated himself.

“Uh, yeah, yeah it is.” Cain answered lamely.

Clutching his head as if in pain, Joe continued, “why do you have it?”

Cain wasn’t sure with which part of the crazy night he should start to explain, but Joe didn’t have the luxury of hearing the answer immediately. A wolf shot by the both of them, bleeding from multiple wounds but paying Cain and Joe no attention. A second and third followed closely after, and Cain started to get a bad feeling. Nearby thuds and another ROAR, sounding far closer than the first led Cain to the absolute worst possible conclusion.

The black bear crashed through the trees, barreling towards them at a horrifying speed. Bashing in a wolf’s head was one thing, but Cain doubted he’d manage a shred of resistance before he and Joe were viciously mauled to death.

Thankfully that option was temporarily taken off the menu, as Joe pulled out a bottle of bear spray from his overalls and used up the entire canister to produce a wall of mist between them and the bear. Upon touching the spray still in the air, it immediately turned around and sped off deeper into the woods, its departure marked by the sound of it clumsily hitting a couple trees until the forest was once again silent.

Cain took a look at Joe and saw him smiling back, despite still having a hand to his head.

“Ha! Never hurts to be prepared around these parts,” he said.

“Uh huh,” was all Cain could muster.

“So about my wrench?” Joe pressured, suddenly not so jovial.

“I’ll tell you, but you won’t believe me.”

Cain began to explain from the start, not that there was much to explain, but he omitted some things. From the nausea attack, to fending off the wolves, to dragging Joe off into the woods, all that was said, but what was missing was his use of the Numeral and apparent supernatural powers. Joe took it all in, patiently listening the way a man who had been through a lot only could.

“And you’re telling me you managed to drag me all the way out here on a bad leg?” Joe asked.

“I didn’t drag you too far, we could go back to the cars in a couple minutes, but that wouldn’t be the best idea.” Cain replied.

“Now why’s that?”

“Like I said, there were the wolves that kept-”

“I don’t care about some damn mutts, I need my outfit. I won’t be leaving it out in the open for some apple pickers to go and raid,” Joe interrupted.

“I haven’t seen anyone else pass us the entire time, I don’t think that-”

“I also don’t care what you think son, so now I’m going to my outfit and you aren’t going to stop me,” Joe said determinedly, beginning to walk away.

“I almost died,” Cain responded quietly. “We almost died. One wrong move and we would have been a nice dinner for all the animals in these woods.”

Joe stopped walking.

“I’ve never had to...I’ve never killed an animal before. You might have, and might be ready to, but with your head and all the strangeness going on, I’m asking you to leave your truck and head to the nearby town with me. Please.”

Joe seriously pondered on Cain’s words, back turned toward him. Turning around, he began, “Mullan, huh? Good folk there, I fixed an old friend’s bathtub there a week ago. Alright son, I’ll go with you, but if anything happens to my outfit, you’ll be paying for it.” Joe pocketed his bear spray and held out his hand. Cain gripped it hard. “Deal.”

“Name’s Joe by the way,” he said, starting to walk West towards Mullan.

“Cain.” he said shortly, keeping pace with Joe.

“Odd name,” Joe remarked.

“Odd family,” Cain shot back.

They both smiled, a brief ray of happiness amidst the canopy of darkness and misfortune that had befallen the both of them.

It was a comfortable silence the two of them shared, interrupted only by the crunching of dry pine needles and the scuffle of boots against the dirt floor of the forest. They both kept the I-90 in eyesight, and Joe didn’t seem to question why he could see in the dark so well. Perhaps he was better suited to emergencies than Cain was, or perhaps it was the mild concussion he probably had.

At this chance to calmly pass the time without either being attacked or running away from a danger zone, Cain noticed that there were no insect or animal calls coming from the forest. There was a slight breeze rustling the trees, but otherwise it was completely silent. And it was damn unnerving.

Joe assured Cain it would only be a few hours walking until they made it to Mullan, but it wasn’t a pretty sight. Meandering North, there were a few other cars and pickups dotting the interstate, but all of them were empty. One even had what looked suspiciously like a trail of blood leading away from it.

Neither Cain nor Joe offered to look through the vehicles, not afraid of what they might find, but out of respect for the owners. They weren’t thieves, and the drivers might have also had the same idea of walking to Mullan, so they wouldn’t be too far ahead.

It was only an hour however until the narrow interstate lined with the ever present pine trees gave way to exits that looped backwards onto a bridge, allowing for a change in direction. Up ahead was a parking lot filled with a few buses and cars, but the most relieving things to see were the telltale sloped roofs of buildings in the northern states.

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“That would be Lookout Pass, brings back some good memories. Used to take plenty of powder days in the winters, do some skiing. But my knees aren’t what they used to be.” Joe explained with a reminiscent chuckle.

“I don’t remember passing it though…” Cain thought aloud.

“When it gets too dark, it's hard to see unless you’re looking for it, but…” Joe trailed off, thinking hard about something with a furrowed brow.

Before Joe could continue, they heard a scream come from one of the main buildings.

A woman’s scream.

“Stay here!” Cain shouted at Joe before running towards the source of the noise without hesitation. He burst through the front doors of what appeared to be a general office building and instantly spotted the source of the scream. Cain’s new friend the black bear was scratching furiously at a wooden door in the building, and it wouldn’t be long before it burst through. He did the only thing he could think of.

He threw his wrench at it. And missed.

“Hey fugly! This way!”

The missed wrench and shouting worked though, drawing the bear’s attention away from the door and onto Cain. It wasn’t the most well thought through plan however, as Cain presented a delicious meal for the bear, one that wasn’t behind a pesky wooden obstacle. Lumbering towards him, the bear released a throaty roar that was more like an animal enjoying the hunt rather than the fury filled noise it produced in the forest.

“Shit, shitshitshit,” Cain muttered. He didn’t have enough time to check if any of the nearby doors were unlocked, and the welcoming desk to his right wouldn’t provide any protection. He spun around and left the way he came, letting the glass doors close by themselves. They wouldn’t offer any protection.

“Here, catch!” Joe said from his left and Cain caught a long shovel out of the air.

With a smash the bear burst through the entrance and locked eyes onto Cain. The juicy human in question brought the shovel crashing down on the bear’s head, but it just bounced off with a dull thunk, eliciting nothing more than a roar of pain. The bear swiped at the shovel and ripped the blade off, Cain barely holding onto the shaft.

Charging at him from arm’s reach, Cain jump-rolled to the side to avoid being flattened. Remnants of the shovel still in hand, Cain shot to his feet and thrusted forward, piercing the splintered shaft through the bear’s eye and further into its brain before it could charge again. It fell to the ground in a plume of dust, and Cain stumbled away coughing.

Joe whistled in appreciation of the fight, slapping a hand on Cain’s back as he did so.

“Damn son, that was one of the finest fights I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve been a part of a good few myself. But fugly, really?”

Cain grunted noncommittally, and walked back inside the building, knocking on the splinters of what used to be a door.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Some muffled sounds and a hesitant “Y-yes,” was the reply.

“Alright, I’m coming in,” Cain said slowly, pushing the door open. He was surprised it wasn’t locked, but he doubted a lock would have deterred the bear. He was met with a frankly welcome sight, since it was one he could understand.

A man in jeans and wearing what looked like a toupee was standing in front of a blonde woman who only had lingerie on.They appeared to be in some kind of office, but the desk was clear of papers and electronics.

“What was that thing?” Asked the man hesitantly.

“It was a bear, but it’s dead now,” Cain answered, but that just earned him a wide-eyed stare. Cain heard Joe approach from behind and stepped aside to let him in the office as well.

“Joe?” Asked the man, staring at him like he was a ghost.

“Brian! You old Spud Muncher, I see you’re still getting your rocks off with the new hires,” Joe said with a smirk, walking into the room.

“Rose is not a new hire, she is my wife!” Brian shouted, but instantly seemed to regret it. He continued in a hushed tone, “we shouldn’t be speaking here, I think there are more animals in the building.”

“I’ll go and check, you three stay here,” Cain said before marching off, closing the door behind him. He felt awkward in that situation and trusted Joe to be able to calm his friend down. There were only a couple extra rooms in the building, but they contained nothing beyond paper and computers. He didn’t idle in the rooms for long, since staring at framed pictures of someone else’s family without them present felt like some kind of invasion of privacy.

With nothing in the rooms, and the welcome counter empty, Brian must have heard other animals outside of the building, and Cain was unnerved enough from having to fight off a damned bear of all things that he wasn’t keen on going out in the middle of the night hunting with nothing but a wrench.

He returned to the office and quickly entered the room without a word of warning. He saw Joe, Brian, and Rose tense up at his entrance, but relaxed upon seeing his face. It was a slight mistake, but one that reminded him that even in this world with technology and government, they still weren’t safe.

“Do you have any phones here?” Cain asked Brian.

“Cell phones?” Brian asked back.

“No, like a landline.”

“Uh, yeah we have a phone by the welcome counter, but the power’s off.” Just like Joe, when Brian finished his sentence, he also seemed confused. They had both noticed that so far nothing electrically had been working and that they could see in the dark without a problem. Cain went to check the phone at the front desk, but unfortunately it also didn’t work. He walked back in on a conversation he wasn’t sure he was ready to be involved in.

“-nd we thought the nausea was just because we drank too much, but it went away after a minute so we forgot about it. Then we kept uh, going about our business until the scratching started. And that was when you found us.”

“You two were going at it for over an hour?” Joe asked, impressed.

“Could you two check your phones for signal?” Cain interrupted, cutting off any retort Brian might have had.

Brian and Rose pulled out their phones, but both shook their heads after a second.

“No battery,” Brian said.

“Mine too,” Rose added, speaking for the first time that night.

“Thanks. And uh, could you two put on some clothes?” Cain asked. Joe laughed.

For a man and woman who looked 50, they sure could blush. Cain took a seat on the carpet of the office, back resting against the drywall. He let out a sigh and appreciated this mildly comfortable second of his night, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep and wake up realizing this was all a dream.

“This here’s Cain, he apparently saved all three of us tonight, so be sure to show him a little appreciation,” Joe said, breaking the silence while winking at Rose.

“Stop harassing my wife! Just because we used to be friends doesn’t give you the right to treat Rose like that!” Brian said, incensed.

“It’s alright sugar, I’m sure he didn’t mean it,” Rose placated Brian. Joe stifled a laugh.

“I think it’s high time our savior said a few words about what’s going on though,” Joe said, flipping his demeanor suddenly. “I’ve noticed some strange things happening, and that fight with the bear, badass as it was, just made those things stranger.”

Three pairs of eyes all turned to Cain, three minds all thinking their own questions, holding their own doubts about what was going on, three people who just wanted to regain a sense of normalcy, however well they adapted to the extreme. Cain sighed once again, stood up, and faced them, not quite ready to explain the unexplainable, but willing to try.