Day #7: Subzero by Elizabeth Averay
Finding it bitterly cold in my research tent I grab another blanket to wrap around myself. The generators ran out of fuel last night and we are waiting for the supply ship to bring more as well as other things needed – but mostly fuel.
Trent’s hood pokes through the tent flap. ‘Supplies are here and the generators are being filled up right now. They’ve brought us one extra barrel on top of what we had.’ Beaming in delight he goes back out. Trent’s always smiling; he has endless energy for this expedition.
I wish I did.
Our team leader keeps changing what we are studying. First it was the rapid melting of the icecaps; then she changed it to sea lions. Then fur seals. Now penguins. It seems to me she has no clue. The constant change is why I can’t get excited about the work.
Leaving the tent I go to look for our team leader, Dr Fiona Fielding. I find her with the eight huskies. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are the next study subject.
‘Dr Fielding, could I have a moment of your time?’
She looks up, sees me, looks back to the huskies and motions with her hand for me to carry on.
‘Would it be possible for me to take a couple of days to study polar bears? There is a family of them just over the next ridge. It would be a great help for me so I can finish writing my thesis.’ Holding my breath and fingers crossed inside my thick mittens.
Sighing deeply she mutters under her breath but nods.
Racing to my tent I gather what I need and head out past the ridge, staying two hundred yards from the polar bear family. Spending several hours observing and taking notes I head back to camp before it gets dark. Walking in to base camp Trent rushes up to me, worry etched on his usually happy face. ‘Thank God you’re back! Three of our party have vanished. Dr Fielding suspects the polar bears. But there are no tracks in the snow.’
I shake my head. ‘Look, I’ve been watching the bears for the last seven or eight hours. It can’t be them. All of them have been in my sight the whole time. And Dr Fielding knew I was studying them.’
Gaping at me, he looks surprised. ‘She said she had no idea where you were.’ Shaking his own head, he continues, ‘I think we should stay together from now on.’
Nodding in agreement, we head to the mess tent. Everyone is subdued, no talking – just silently eating. Trent moves his sleeping bag into my tent as I have more room and we each bed down for the night.
At about two a.m. I wake to Trent shaking my shoulder, his finger pressed to his lips. Outside the tent there are a lot of grunting and scraping sounds that slowly fade away. In full silence we agree to investigate. Dressing rapidly we silently leave the tent and follow the drag marks on the ground to an underground cave. Glow sticks are scattered all over the place, showing large clear cases all filled with the missing people. They appear frozen and there are hundreds of them, not just the three gone from our team.
How long they have been here is impossible to say. Hearing another scraping sound, followed by a loud thud coming from the very back of the cave, we follow the noises and find Dr Fielding in a case – though not yet frozen. Together we pull her out. She is still alive but very cold. Trent removes his jacket and wraps her up in it. We hide her in a dark corner and cover her with an old tarp.
Searching the rest of the cave we come across an enormous person covered in furs from head to toe. He grins at us then stands up. He is at least eleven feet tall!
He reaches out and shoves us both into clear cases and seals us in. ‘Now I can complete my studies of the human race!’
The giant walks out as everything goes dark.
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