All of Our Mistakes Are Never Forgotten

==Day 1==
As much as I despise
having to type this, I’ve since come to terms with my wife’s suggestion. When I
first told her of my assignment in the Arctic, she refused to let me leave.
With time, she came to accept it, under one condition of course. She wanted me
to keep this log while I’m out there. If I’m going to be stuck with a bunch of
guys in an outpost for one month for what she calls ‘a total sausage fest’, she
wants me to have something I can share my feelings with. She’s convinced that
none of my fellow employees will be open for any personal discussion, and that
bottling up my feelings will cause me to have a mental breakdown. I can be
alone for weeks and not be bothered one bit, but there’s no convincing her of
that. Any effort I put forth at this point would be fruitless. 
I apologize for the long
explanation, but that’s just how I am. If I end up going off on some tangent,
hope that I catch myself before writing pages of irrelevant information. Wait a
minute, why am I writing like this, like someone is going to read this? I hope
no one ever reads this load of trash. I’m just keeping my promise to my wife so
she can stay happy. If anyone ever does read this, I hope they enjoy the
ramblings of a bland man. 
As I was saying, I’m
writing this journal while I’m on my arctic assignment. Actually, let’s call it
an expedition. That makes it sound a little more exciting. This ‘expedition’
was put together by the company that I work for called Hornbeck Offshore. We
specialize in machines called ROVs, which stands for Remotely Operated Vehicle.
They’re mainly used in the oil field for servicing rigs, vessels, whatever the
client pays us for. However, we were recently rented out by a division of the
federal government for some observation under the arctic ice. I can’t remember
which agency it is, since I had fallen asleep during the meeting. All I know is
that I need to go with the team because I’m one of the most experienced
machinists. Apparently, I’m going to have my own shop adjacent to the main
building. I have no clue how much that costs them build, but the government is
going to pay for everything, so I don’t really care. 
Oh, there’s a knock at my
door. I guess we’re finally ready to catch our shuttle to the airport. It’s
going to be a roughly nineteen-hour flight, so I’m going to bring a bottle of
NyQuil. I can hardly stand some of these people in the office. I can only
imagine what a pleasure they’ll be in the confined cabin of an airplane. 
I’m taking one last look
over the shop from my office window. Everyone’s left already, and I’ve just
been killing time at my computer. I better turn off all the lights so my boss
doesn’t fire me for running up the electric bill. 
I’ll try to update this every
few days, but no promises. Apparently one of our employees has an external hard
drive full of movies, so this excursion may not be as miserable as I originally
anticipated.  
==Day 2==
As I had been hoping, I
slept through almost the entire flight yesterday. As soon as the plane took
off, I took my NyQuil and waited for it to put me out. Before I fell asleep, I
had someone sit in the vacant seat next to me. I was so tempted to ask him to
move but decided to keep my mouth shut. If I managed to piss this guy off, I
would still be stuck in the same building as him for the next month. That
wouldn’t end well. 
I remember him shaking my
hand and introducing himself, but I can’t remember what he said his name was.
By that time, I was half asleep and not really paying much attention. He
remained silent after that but didn’t change seats. I feel asleep with my head
against the window and pressure building in my ears. 
When I finally woke up, I
let out long yawn and popped the pressure that built up in my head. I had
forgotten to take the decongestant my wife bought me, but it wasn’t that bad
compared to what had occurred on the flight while I slept. Apparently, one of
the computer technicians had too much to drink and ended up vomiting all over
the bathroom. It got cleaned up, but still took both flight attendants to do
so. As I left my seat to use the bathroom, I passed the drunk man. He had been
placed in his seat and had the seatbelt pulled tight. I guess either the flight
attendants or some of my coworkers had restrained him. No matter who did it, I
was thankful. I also prayed that he wouldn’t continue with this behavior when
we got to the base camp. 
I remained awake for the
remainder of the flight, which was only about an hour. I occupied my time by catching
up with the news on my laptop. Luckily, my company hadn’t been cheap and booked
us a plane with wi-fi. Although the base was supposed to have internet access
half the time at best, it didn’t really bother me. I vaguely remember my boss
saying that the signal was infamous for dropping out at random times.  
The plane touched down rather
roughly. The Jeep I drove back home was far worse. I stretched and grabbed my
bag from under the seat in front of me, following my fellow employees outside.
The wind struck me first, causing me to grab the brim of my hat. As I descended
the stairs, I had to keep my eyes narrowed to slits to avoid the stinging pain.
Once my feet finally touched solid ground, or possibly solid ice, I set down my
bag and placed my hand over my eyes. 
Nothing but white… I
don’t know why I was surprised. I acted as if I had expected to see rolling
plains or grassy hills. Instead, I was met with a barren white landscape as far
as the eye could see. Of course, there was a small one-story building a short
distance off. A radar dish barely taller than the roofline stood next to it on
a rusty steel structure. I felt pity for whoever had to work that miserable
place. 
“Alright everyone, I need
you in groups of three for the ride over to the base camp,” I heard my boss call.
He stood in front of all of us with a clipboard in his hand. Everyone refused
to move, instead of standing in silence and pulling their parkas tighter around
their bodies.
“Don’t just stand there.
I didn’t get paid an extra thirty percent of my salary to stand here freezing
my balls off while you assholes stand around like penguins. Move!”
He shouted the last word,
causing everyone to scramble into groups of three. By the time I had picked up
my bag, there was only one group left that had two people. As I walked over to
join them, I recognized one of them as the man who sat next to me on the
flight. Joining them, he looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with me.
“Hey man, it’s you! Did
you get enough sleep?” he asked with a tone that seemed unnaturally joyous. I
hadn’t noticed it the night before, but he spoke with a thick country accent. 
“Yeah,” I replied
hesitantly. “I got plenty. I’ll need it for the big day that we have ahead of
us.”
He smiled and nodded his
head in acknowledgment. 
“You seemed like you
slept hard. I had to switch seats because you kept leaning over on me.” 
I scratched the back of
my head and tried to hide my embarrassment.
“Yeah sorry… I don’t stay
still when I sleep.”
“What did you say your
name was again?” The man had flipped his sunglasses down to save his eyes from
the harsh sunlight reflecting off the snow. 
“John MacReady,” I said,
extending my hand to shake his. With both of us wearing thick gloves, we were
barely able to grasp the other’s hands. 
“I’m Drake Mason. Now
that I think about it, I think I remember seeing your face around the shop when
I’ve been there on occasion.”
I smiled, not really
knowing how else to respond. 
“Alright everyone, grab
your belongings and pile into a vehicle. We have another few hours to the basecamp,
so get comfortable.”
Our respective groups
walked over to the snow vehicles that sat in line. They were painted orange but
had long faded in the beating sun. The lettering on the side, ‘SM100S’, had
also formed brown spots due to rust. 
We all packed into the
snow crawlers, which rumbled to life with a plume of smoke from the exhaust. I
sat with Drake in the back while someone whose name I didn’t know sat up front
with the driver. 
As we pulled away, I
looked out the window towards the small building. There was what looked like a
person standing in the open doorway. I don’t know how, but this individual
seemed to be bent over in the doorway, as if too tall to fit under it normally.
Although hardly striking me as dangerous, I was filled with a sense of
unease. As we drove away, the person walked back inside, never breaking his
gaze from our departing fleet. 
I turned to Drake,
looking to see if he had noticed the man as well. He had occupied himself by
opening a book. I took it that he hadn’t seen the creepy guy, so I decided to
not bother bringing it up. It wasn’t worth freaking him out over such a small
incident. I barely knew him and didn’t want my first impression to be that of some
rambling lunatic. 
The drive to the base
wasn’t that bad, save for the driver trying to start up a conversation every
few minutes. I had never been a big social person, and I sure as hell didn’t
feel like starting now. 
When we finally arrived
at the base, I had grown tired once again. Perhaps I had jetlag, or perhaps I
was getting a taste of how low my energy was going to be while I was out here. Even
though I had gotten plenty of sleep on the flight, I was beginning to feel
fatigued. 
The vehicles finally came
to a halt and we all piled back outside in the cold once more. By this time,
the sun had mostly set, leaving the camp illuminated in the glow of
floodlights. As my boss talked to everyone, I only nodded my head. I wasn’t
paying attention to him, the hunger starting to rumble in my stomach or Drake
poking me in the side with his elbow to keep me awake. I only fantasized about
going to sleep once again. When I heard my boss say something about taking the
day off tomorrow to catch up on sleep and rest, I perked up. 
I was one of the first
people through the door. While everyone else looked around the basecamp in
curiosity, I consulted a bulletin board on one of the walls. I quickly found my
room number and walked in that direction. Once I entered the room, I shut the
door, dropped all my belongings on the floor, and collapsed onto the bed. I
didn’t bother removing my boots or parka. I simply went limp and let the grasp
of slumber engulf me.
I woke up this morning to
find that Drake had been assigned as my roommate for the duration of our stay.
I’m not going to complain. I’m just lucky that I’m not stuck with the drunk
from the plane or that loudmouth from the graphic design office. 
After I woke up this
morning, I went into the main area of the base. My boss calls it ‘the den’, so
I guess I’ll do the same. The den consists of a group of couches around a large
television, a pool table, a pinball machine, and some other things I don’t
really see myself using. 
I joined two other men in
the kitchen which overlooked the den. They had cooked breakfast and were
sitting at one end of a table. They offered me the remaining fried egg and
bacon strips, which I happily took. Before sitting down to join them, I scooped
some grounds into the coffee maker and turned it on. 
Breakfast went better
than I had expected. The two men, who introduced themselves as Roger and David,
were a pleasure to talk to. Roger is a muscular man who keeps his dirty blonde hair
spiked up with a large amount of product. He spoke with a booming voice that could
strike fear into anyone. David was a skinny man who kept his long black hair
combed back. He spoke with a quiet tone but perked up when we started talking
about books. We ended up talking about our favorite authors until around 2 in
the afternoon when everyone else began to wake up. We dispersed, saying how we
hoped to talk again the next day. Although I had never been big on long
conversations, these two were a joy to talk to. I guess this trip will turn out
to be decent if I can continue to fight off my usual fear of being social.
And so, that leaves us to
where I am now. I’m back in my room typing this up, Drake is on his laptop
watching videos whenever they manage to load over the crappy wi-fi. I better get
going. The boss just announced over the intercom that dinner was ready. Oh,
before I go, I only have one complaint. I forgot until now that I woke up last
night to a shout. Apparently, Drake screams in his sleep. I just ignored him
and buried my head deep into my pillow. I really hope he doesn’t do this all
the time. I’m hundreds of miles from a pair of earplugs. 
==Day 3==
Today is the first day
that we actually did some real work! I shouldn’t exactly be celebrating that,
but at least it gives me something to do during the day. I, along with Drake
and four other people, boarded a pair of snow crawlers and headed out to our project
site. The ride was about forty-five minutes. Compared to the ride from the
plane to the base, this one was short. A team had come out here a couple of
weeks ahead of us and set up a temporary building near a large hole in the ice.
Although the portable shelter was nothing to brag about, it had a heater, and that’s
all I cared about. 
After a quick tour of the
facility, we got to work. My job was to monitor the gauges on one of the
screens. If the pressure in one the pneumatic arms went out or something like
that, it was my job to go out to the ROV when it returned to land and remove the
broken piece. We had brought a spare part for everything on the robot. I would
place the new part on and fix the busted one when we got back to camp. Luckily,
nothing went wrong today, so I mainly sat at a table talking with Drake. He
would occasionally have to tend to a software issue with the computers, but it
never took long. Overall, the day went by at a decent pace. 
By the time we were ready
to head back to camp, I had worked up an appetite. One of the team members had forgotten
to bring our lunch, so I wasn’t too pleased with that. The drive back to base
seemed longer than it should have been, mainly due to my stomach only became
noisier. As we neared the base, the floodlights turned on to illuminate it. The
sun had begun to set while we were at the expedition site, and by now, had
almost completely gone down. 
As soon as the snow
crawler came to a halt, I flung open the door and ran inside. Rounding a
corner, I ran through the den and into the kitchen. I yanked open the door to
the fridge and grabbed my pre-made sandwich that the asshole had forgotten to
pack. I threw the crumpled plastic wrap on the floor, too consumed by my desire
to feast to throw it away. I tore the plastic wrap off and devoured it in a few
bites. Even after consuming my sandwich, I was still hungry. I joined the rest
of the team in the den while our cook prepared dinner. Although the Seinfeld
episode currently on had my attention, my nose would get distracted as the
smell of cooking meat wafted in my direction. 
Soon enough, all of us
sat down at the long table in the kitchen and devoured our meal. I sat with
Drake, along with Roger, David and a couple of other people I recognized from
the expedition today. In between bites of pork roast, we talked about our lives
back home and got to know each other a little better. I can’t believe I’m
saying this but, I’m actually starting to become social. I guess my wife was
wrong. Maybe I don’t need to keep this log. On the other hand, writing these
entries does give me some quiet time to myself. I guess I’ll keep writing.
Maybe I’ll enjoy reading these someday in the future.
After dinner, we gathered
in the den to watch a movie. The boss figured that after our first day of work
we needed to have a mild celebration. I had thought of turning in to bed early
but decided a social activity would do me some good. The employee who brought
the external hard drive of movies connected it to his laptop and then plugged
that into the television. After scrolling through a list, he clicked a movie
and started it up.
He had chosen a movie I
remember being in the theaters when I was a kid: John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’.
For those of you who don’t know what the movie is, wait… there I go again,
acting as if I have some audience interested in my ramblings. Never mind, I
just won’t bother correcting myself anymore. As I was saying, ‘The Thing’ is
about a team in the arctic who end up having a shape-shifting alien infect
people in the camp. It can take the form of any person, making it almost
impossible to tell human from monster.
Halfway through the
movie, I got up and went to the kitchen to grab a beer. No one seemed to notice
me get up and leave. They all had their faces glued to the screen as a husky
began to shift into some ungodly monstrosity. I opened the door to the fridge
and found a strawberry ale I thought would be good. 
As I turned back to the
den, I caught sight of Drake starring out the window to my left. Whatever he was
staring at had his full, undivided attention. He didn’t so much as blink when I
walked past him and sat back down on the couch. I followed his gaze out the
window. There was nothing there… All I could see was falling snow illuminated
in the pale glow of the floodlights. Shrugging it off as some obscure behavior,
I sipped my beer and turned my attention back to the movie.  
I don’t remember the
ending since I dozed off with about half an hour left. I woke up to Drake
shaking me, gently calling my name. After rubbing the drowsiness from my eyes,
I followed him back into our bedroom. I sat in bed and tried to go to sleep but
failed. I’m one of those people where if I fall asleep and wake up, I won’t go
back to sleep until one in the morning. So, I might as well entertain myself.
Currently, Drake is
cursing at his laptop for dropping the internet signal. The poor guy’s been
trying to send the same email to his wife and kids for an hour. I’m sitting with
my laptop, typing these words. I can finally feel myself getting tired, so at
least I can go back to bed. It’s two in the morning and we have to wake up at
eight to head back to the expedition site. Better turn in. I’ll need as much
sleep as I can get.
==Day 5==
Yesterday went by a
little rough for me. I woke up and went out to the expedition site. I had only
gotten six hours of sleep, making me groggy the duration of the workday. Drake
kept me company and made conversation as much as he could. I give him kudos for
trying to keep me awake. If only I could’ve put forth as much effort trying to
stay awake as he gave trying to keep me from faceplanting onto the table.
Close to the end of the
day, the ROV had to be pulled back up to the surface. One of the floatation
blocks had come off, causing the vehicle to be pulled back to the surface via
its tether cord. Apparently, the pilot had tried to explore a small cavern
structure and scraped the block clean off. By the time I had undone the bolts
on the frame that once held the flotation block, it was too late to put on a
new one and continue working. I was told that by the time the ROV could’ve
flown back to the spot of interest, we would have five minutes before it needed
to be turned back around. I relished the idea of a short work day. I kept my
excitement hidden, not wanting my boss to regret his decision. 
We all piled into the
snow crawlers and headed back towards the base an hour early. After dinner, I played
some video games with Roger and David, then turned in for the night. 
Instead of heading out to
the expedition site today, I stayed in my shop to craft a new floatation block
from the stock we had brought down here. I had never stepped foot in the shop
but expected it to be like a much smaller scale of the one back home. Upon
opening the door, I was greeted with new machines lining the walls. Although
the small shop was one quarter the size of my other one, it had half as many
tools. It felt a little more cramped than I would have liked, but I wasn’t
going to complain.
I spent the day machining
a solid block of condensed foam to a set of plans on a nearby table. Apparently,
the government had given my company enough money to where they bought a
Bluetooth speaker for me to use. As I worked, my playlist of Pink Floyd, King
Crimson, Rush and other such artists played in the background. I took a break
for lunch, sitting with David and Roger at the table in the kitchen. They had
been brought along to create maps, spreadsheets and other collections of data
that the ROV gathered. Whenever we brought back information one day, they would
spend the following making sense of it and storing it in a neat and organized
manner. I still didn’t know what we were doing, and the two of them tried
explaining it to me. I failed to comprehend the gibberish that left their mouth.
Roger had said something about mapping the ocean floor. David was a marine
biologist, so his explanations made even less sense than Roger’s. 
I finished my lunch and
went back out to the shop to finish my work. Spending another hour working away
the foam to the smallest detail, I finally finished. I glanced down at my watch
to find it was only four in the afternoon. Drake and the team weren’t due back
for another hour. I grabbed the floatation block along with other supplies to
bring with me to the expedition site tomorrow and turned off the shop lights. Stepping
out into the cold, I zipped up my parka and dreaded the short walk back to the
main base camp.  
As I walked through the
snow that had fallen overnight, I glanced over at the mountain range that
dwarfed our camp. Some members of the team had wanted to take the helicopter up
there and ski down, but the boss prohibited it. He had said something about
‘our insurance doesn’t cover you being a bunch of dumbasses.’ He had never been
too pleasant back home, but the cold only seemed to irritate him further.
That’s why I kept my distance.
Suddenly, something on
one of the mountains caught my attention. At first, I thought my eyes were
playing a trick on me. I used my free hand not holding the floatation block to
rub my eyes. I looked at the same spot again to see it was still there.
I couldn’t make out the shape
too well. All I could see was a tall, slender black shape. Although my guess is
rough, I estimate it was at least ten feet tall. It stood still, not moving a
single bit. Even while writing this, I find it hard to believe what I saw. 
This wasn’t like me
seeing Bigfoot or some demon. What I saw didn’t scare me or make me piss myself
on the spot. It just filled me with an overwhelming sense of dread. Even now, I
faintly feel its effects fatiguing my body and weakening my mind. I wish I could
describe in better detail everything I felt at that moment in time, but I
can’t. It filled me with trepidation that I have never come close to feeling
before. 
Drake is asleep now, and
I probably should do the same. I locked the door and drew the curtains over the
windows a few minutes ago. I keep telling myself that what I saw wasn’t
something alive, but merely a manmade structure of some sort. Jesus, I should
just stop. Working myself into a sleep-deprived fit isn’t the answer. I just
need to get some rest and think this through. 
==Day 9==
I’ve come to the
conclusion that what I saw was just a figment of my imagination. My wife had
warned me that being in an isolated place like this can make a man go mad, but
I know I’m not on the brink of insanity or anything like that. What I saw was
simply a trick my eyes were playing on me. Nothing more, nothing less. Ever
since that day, I’ve just pushed it to the back of my mind and ignored it. I
haven’t talked to Drake, Roger, or David about it. There’s no point in
bothering those poor men with my delusions. 
The past few days have
gone by without any problems. Drake and I have gone out to the expedition site
and sat in the portable building while the ROV does whatever it was rented out to
do. Luckily, the only part of it I had to replace so far is a flotation block.
Although I’m pleased that I haven’t had to replace any parts, the days are
boring just sitting in that building. Drake does a good job trying to keep my
attention, but I still wish that I was at least back at basecamp watching a
movie on the television. When we returned to base camp yesterday, Roger and
David were doing their work, but had the television on all day. I’m starting to
grow a little envious. They get to have a television, while the only
entertainment I have is the strange ice patterns that are forming on the
window of that building. I know it’s a crazy idea, but I’m tempted to
purposefully break a piece of the robot just so I can be in the shop with my
music. Even a little music will cure my boredom.
I seem to have forgotten
why I started typing this entry to begin with. It wasn’t to inform you how I’ve
spent the past few work days in a boredom-fueled daze. Something happened last
night. And to answer your questions right off the bat, the answer is no. No one
died. Drake just told me something that I still find a little unsettling. He
didn’t tell me that he was planning on killing everyone in the camp or doing
something else dangerous. He didn’t act like some stereotypical madman in a
horror film. What he said was just unnerving.
As soon as he finished
eating dinner, he left the rest of us and went back to our room. I stayed in
the den with a few of the others, had a couple of beers and watched ‘The Fog’.
It must have been around midnight when I finally left the den and came back to
our room. When I opened the door, I was met with the sight of Drake staring out
the window like the other night. However, this time his face was pressed right
up against the glass. Although I was hesitant to get closer to him, I found
myself inching forward in his Direction.
“Drake,” I asked him,
“are you all right?” 
He must have been in some
kind of deep trance, because when I asked him that question, he immediately
turned around and covered his mouth to stop a scream from escaping. His eyes were
open wide with fear, and the hands covering his mouth trembled.
“Seriously man, if
there’s something bothering you, you can tell me.” 
I was never all that
comfortable with people opening up to me, but I felt this time I had to do it.
I couldn’t have my roommate remaining in a constant state of fear the rest of
our time here.
Drake slowly uncovered
his mouth, his hands shaking even more violently as he placed them down at his
side.
“Y-you… you’ve seen it,
too… haven’t you?” He spoke with fear strangling his throat, causing him to
choke on every word. 
The only response I could
muster was letting my mouth hang open and let out of confused sigh. I shook my
head and finally found some words to say.
“What in God’s name are
you talking about? There’s nothing out there but snow and ice.”
Drake shook his head. His
eyes darted back up towards the window. His body shook, and he returned his
gaze to me.
“I know you’ve seen it… I
can tell you have…”
At this point, I’d
started to become more aggravated than concerned. I turned around and glanced
out into the hallway to see if anyone was listening to us. After I was certain that
everyone was either asleep or in the den, I shut the door and locked it.
“Alright Drake,” I said
with a tone of irritation in my voice I wasn’t bothering to hide. “You need to
tell me what in the living hell you’re talking about. Let’s just get this over
with and get to sleep. What do you mean by it?”
Drake sucked in a deep
breath.
“The Shape… I know you’ve
seen it, and I’ve seen it too.”
At that moment, the image
of that thing standing on the mountainside pushed to the front of my mind from
where I had tried to ignore it. I remembered it as vividly as the day that I
saw it. With that image burning in my mind, I also began to feel that sense of
dread fill me like it had the first time I saw it.
“How the… how the hell do
you know that I saw it? I haven’t talked to anyone here about it.”
Drake hadn’t broken his gaze
with me the entire time we were talking. His eyes had gone cold, conveying no
emotions to me.
“Because… you’re acting just
like my grandfather when he saw it.”
I widened my eyes with
confusion and let out an exaggerated breath.
“Well,” I said as I
pulled a chair up next to his bed, “I guess we’re going to be here a while.” 
I took my seat and motioned
for him to continue.
“You act just like my
grandpa when he saw it. What you’re seeing is something he called The Shape. I
know something with a name like that doesn’t sound terrifying at first, but I
haven’t seen anything terrify a grown man as much as this thing did.
When I was growing up, my
grandfather lived with me and my parents. Although his mind was still sharp,
his body had long since begun to fail him. My mother thought that putting him
into a retirement home would do nothing but strip away his dignity. So, she
renovated our old guest room and allowed him to move in with us. He sold his
house and used the money to renovate the room. Anything that was left over, he
put aside for me in a college fund. After a few months of him living with us, I
started to notice that he was constantly looking over his shoulder. He acted as
if someone was around every corner waiting to get him.”
Drake broke his gaze from
the wall and looked into my eyes again. 
“Although you’re not
acting exactly like that, John, you share that same look in your eye that he
did. I don’t know what else to call it except for a sense of fear that he tried
to keep tucked away in the back of his mind, a small bit of it breaking through
every once in a while and making itself known.”
I didn’t respond, not
knowing how to. Instead, I simply starred at Drake in silence.
“One day, I finally
worked up the courage to ask what was bothering him. He placed a finger over
his lips and lead me into his room. He locked the door behind us, putting his
ear to it to make sure my parents hadn’t followed us. He sat me down on the bed
and pulled up a chair next to me. With a stone-cold look on his face that I’d
never seen before, he made me swear to never tell my parents what he said. He
feared that they would take him away and lock him up in an asylum somewhere. I
gave my word and he took a deep breath before starting his story.”
"When he was in his
twenties, he was drafted into the second World War. He wasn’t sent into the
heart of the fight, but he was still near some brutal stuff. Although the name
of where he was deployed escapes me now, I remember him saying that during the
winter, it snowed at least six feet. He stayed with his fellow soldiers in a
makeshift tent in a field. The nights were cold and brutal, sometimes two
blankets not even being enough to keep him warm. One night, it got so cold that
he put on his jacket and went outside to make a run to the supply tent and grab
more blankets. The weather outside was well below freezing, but he felt it
would be worth it to be warm in bed. As he trudged through the snow towards the
supply tent, something out in the distance caught his attention. There was
enough moonlight for him to barely make out a shape standing at the edge of the
field by the tree line.”
“At first, he thought his
eyes were playing a trick on him. However, he soon found The Shape slowly
starting to move in his direction. He was frozen in fear for a few seconds, but
soon found the strength to move and run towards the supply tent. He sprinted to
it, throwing open the door and running inside. He slammed it behind him and
locked it tight. The officer on duty at the time gave him an extremely confused
look rather than one of worry. He asked my grandfather what had him out of
breath. He simply replied by pointing towards the window, motioning for the
officer to take a look outside. The man walked over to the window and looked
out over the field. My grandfather had expected The Shape to be gone, making
him look like he was absolutely mad, but it was there.”
“The officer told my
grandfather that it was now standing close enough to the tent that a spotlight
could easily catch it. He darted away from the window and immediately picked up
his radio. As he shouted into it, he flicked on the spotlights and illuminated
the entire camp. Within less than two minutes, the commanding officer had burst
through the door. He pulled my grandfather and the solider on duty aside and
questioned them.”
“He was never told what
happened that night. All he knew was that by morning, three soldiers had gone
missing. Although no one at the camp sent out a search party, he recalled
seeing Jeeps swarming the surrounding area. He had no idea where they had come
from, and they lacked any sort of identification. The vehicles remained there
for nearly four days, but nothing came of their activity. They simply left and
were never seen again. My grandfather never learned anything more about the
missing soldiers or the mysterious search party.”
“When he returned home
from the war, he told my grandmother of what he saw out in the field that
night. For years, he lived his life with her and enjoyed himself. He had gotten
a job at a machine shop when he returned home and loved every waking moment of
it. It wasn’t until ten years later that this incident resurrected itself. It
was a cold night in November when he saw The Shape again. It wasn’t standing
right at his window or in the corner of his room. Instead, it lingered in the backyard at a distance. No matter what time of day it was, the shape was always
there. Rain or shine, sleet or snow, it was always there. My grandfather lived
in a state of constant fear that it would come in the house one day, but it
never did. Every damn day… it just stood there and mocked him.” 
“He tried doing research
at the library to try and find even a shred of information as to what this
thing could be. After years of searching, he finally came across one piece of
information. It was in some obscure medical journal that had made its way into
the library from a mental hospital in Ohio. It had been in a private collection
donated to the library. The journal contained the notes of a doctor whose name
had long since faded from the cover. Inside, it contained three pages of notes
on a patient named Mark Squier. Mark had claimed to see a shape standing
outside of his house. It never got any closer but was always there. The Shape
soon drove the man insane, causing him to murder his family in a fit of rage
and confusion. The jury found him unable to stand trial, thus causing him to be
transferred to a mental hospital and into the doctor’s care. This doctor noted
that Mark could still see The Shape standing outside on the lawn. During the
day, it stood on the lawn and looked at his window. During the night, it stood
on the lawn and looked at his window. It was always there. After three weeks of
Mark being in the hospital, the doctor noted in his journal that Mark may need
even more intense care than originally thought.” 
“Mark had finally opened
up more, revealing to them that The Shape had started talking to him. When the
doctor asked what it said, Mark simply shook his head and clasped his hands
over his mouth. He refused to repeat The Shape’s words, stating that it would
be upset. After days of talking, the doctor finally convinced Mark to write
down what The Shape had said. Mark shook violently as he wrote on a sheet of
paper. That piece of paper had been taped inside the journal. Although it had
yellowed and faded with age, my grandfather could still make out the one
sentence written in scraggly handwriting.”
All of our mistakes are never forgotten…
“As they arranged to move
Mark into twenty-four-hour care, the nurses found him dead in his cell.
Apparently, he had bent the metal leg of his bedpost back and forth until the
metal fatigued and snapped. Using the jagged edge of the pipe, he cut a deep
gash in his throat and bled out all over the floor. The final note the doctor
left about Mark was that he had died sitting against a wall, facing out the
window…” 
“My grandfather never
found anything else about The Shape. He gave up his search, somewhat pleased
with the results he had found. That day, he went to the window overlooking the
backyard, and it was still there. He had been waiting years to build up enough
courage, and he finally felt able to do it. He opened the door to the backyard
and stood on the porch. With one deep breath, he shouted at it.”
“I’m not afraid of you!”
“At first, The Shape didn’t
respond, but soon turned towards the woods. It retreated into the trees and
vanished from sight. My grandfather couldn’t believe it. After all these years,
it only took a few words to make it leave. However, it didn’t leave for good.”
“My grandfather then told
me that it had returned, standing in our backyard. This caused me to shrink
back in fear. I asked if it had come into the house. He reassured me that it
was still in the backyard. He theorized that I was too young to see it. Over
the years, he constantly thought about those words Mark had written. ‘All of
our mistakes are never forgotten’. My grandfather had come to believe that The
Shape was a physical manifestation of all our wrong-doings. Its prime function
is to make us suffer for the error of our ways. Since I was still young at the
time, he thought that I hadn’t done anything bad enough for my wrongdoings to
take a physical form.” 
It was at this moment
that Drake paused. I pulled my mind from the story he had told and made eye
contact with him. He now had tears flowing down his cheeks. I had never seen a
grown man cry, except for at funerals. I wanted to find some way to console
him, but instead let him have his moment. 
“My grandfather died a
few weeks after that talk. During his last few days, he warned me about The
Shape. He said it had begun to move closer to the house and was now at the back
door. When I asked why it was approaching him but hadn’t done the same to Mark
at the hospital, he only shrugged his shoulders. He said it didn’t follow a
specific set of guidelines or acted in a pattern. Just like human nature, it made
unexpected moves. My grandfather said that it probably acted different for
everyone it stalked.”
“One night, he came into
my room and gave me a hug goodnight. He said that The Shape had made its way
right outside his bedroom door. He knew his time had come, and there was no
place he could run. With tears welling in my eyes, I told him goodbye. I didn’t
sleep that night. Instead, I lay in bed with the covers pulled over my head.
When morning finally arrived, my parents opened my bedroom door and rushed me
into the living room. They told me to stay seated on the couch. My mom ran into my
grandfather’s room while my father dialed the phone in our kitchen. He had
suffered a heart attack that night. Although my parents saw it as a surprise, I
knew exactly what it was. I didn’t speak a word of what my grandfather told me.
I simply sat on the couch and waited for the ambulance to arrive. To this day,
I haven’t told anyone what he said.”
Drake wiped his face on
the sleeve of his shirt and sniffled. I continued to sit in stunned silence while
my mind processed what I had just heard. 
“You’re the first person
I’ve spoken to about this, John. I would’ve kept this to myself had I not seen
you with the same look in your eyes as my grandfather. Like he said, The Shape
doesn’t follow a set of guidelines. It acts randomly and without notice.”
Drake slowly turned
around and faced back out the window. 
“I can see it high up on
the mountains in the moonlight. It hasn’t moved since I first saw it, but that
could change at any moment.”
I had begun to tremble at
this point, moving a shaking hand through my hair. My mind had long since shifted
from seeing The Shape as a figment of my imagination, and now I began to fear
it. 
“But why here,” I asked
with an obvious tone of panic in my voice. “Why is it coming for us here?”
“I wish I could give you an
explanation, but I can’t. The Shape works without reasoning.” 
Drake turned to me and
remained silent while we made eye contact again. 
“I just pray to the Lord
above that it doesn’t come down from the mountain before we leave…”
==Day 14==
I hoped that I’d never
have to type these words, but it moved. Drake and I woke up this morning and
checked out our window like we’ve been doing the past few days. When I asked
him if it was still there, he was silent. I called his name again, but he
refused to answer. I took it upon myself to investigate and walked over to the
window. I can still picture it just as vividly as I did this morning. It hadn’t
moved a tremendous amount, but it was almost halfway down the mountain now.
I let out a deep breath,
my body beginning to shake again. I asked Drake how long it would take for The
Shape to get to us, but he just shook his head.
“It could take weeks to
get here, or it could take days or hours. Like my grandfather said, it acts
differently for everyone.”
Drake and I spent today
at the expedition site. We didn’t want anyone to notice how nervous we had
gotten, so we did our best to hide our fear. It must have worked, considering
that no one gave us any questioning glares. While everyone hovered around the
screen for the ROV, the two of us sat at our table and whispered to each other.
Drake feared that when we were returned to base, the figure would’ve moved even
closer. I did my best to keep my calm, thinking that one of us needed to keep a
level head. I told him not to try and worry about it too much. Neither of us
wanted to work ourselves into a panic.
When we returned to the
base, it hadn’t moved all day. The two of us exchanged a glance of relief. That
night, everyone gathered around the television to watch another movie. While
everyone else had their eyes glued to the screen, Drake and I would
occasionally look out the window to see if The Shape had moved. By the time the
movie ended, neither of us could remember what exactly happened in it. When we
weren’t looking out the window, we were thinking about what we would do if The
Shape got too close. The entire time, I kept reminding myself not to overthink
it and to take breaks if necessary. A stressed mind yields no good solutions.
I’m sitting in bed right
now, typing all of this up. Drake fell asleep about an hour ago. He had told me
out at the expedition site that he hadn't slept well the night before. Although
this is the first time he’s admitted to me about not sleeping, I have a feeling
it’s happened on more than one occasion.
I just glanced over and
noticed that he has a cross grasped tightly in his hand. I’m not going to say
anything. I’ve never been someone to judge anyone based on religion, politics,
or anything of that sort. Although I’ve never been religious, a voice in the
back of my head is telling me that an occasional prayer wouldn’t do me any harm
right now.
==Day 16==
Something happened just
now. 
Less than an hour ago, I
woke up in the middle the night and needed to go to the bathroom. I got up
quietly, doing my best not to wake Drake. I slowly opened our door and made
sure to lock it behind me with our key. Our bedroom is at the end of the hall,
requiring me to walk a considerable distance to the community bathroom at the
opposite end of the hall. I wrapped my blanket tightly around my shoulders and proceeded
down the hallway.
The heater must have
blown another fuse, because the hallway was absolutely freezing. It had done so
maybe a week ago. My boss made Roger go outside and change it. It wasn’t until
later that I learned the man seemed to hold a grudge against Roger. David told
me one day that it was because Roger had hit my boss’s car in the parking lot
or something like that. I stayed out of their fight, not wanting to make my
relationship with my boss any worse. As I passed Roger and David’s room, I
noticed that the door was open. Roger must have taken it upon himself to go replace
the fuse. Although I would never do such a thing, I applauded the man’s kindness.
I turned the corner and
pushed open the bathroom door when I felt something. There was an almost painful
cold nipping at my ankles. The chill sent a shiver up my spine and caused my
entire body to tremble. When I looked to my side, I saw that the entrance door
was wide open. The bitter freeze was flooding into the building. 
“Damn it, Roger…” I muttered
to myself with no one around to hear me.
I pulled the blanket even
tighter and made my way to the open door. With each step I took towards the door,
I could feel the air getting colder. I stepped over the threshold and out into
the night. Even though I was wearing my parka and had a thick blanket wrapped
around me, I could still feel the chill in the air penetrating the layers. I
shivered before turning in the direction of the fuse box on the side of the building.
I damned whoever designed this place. I wondered who would put the fuse box
outside instead of inside like a normal contractor. When I studied it closer,
however, I found it was closed. If a fuse hadn’t blown, that meant he walked
outside for another reason. I called out his name, expecting to receive
something in return. All I could hear was the sound of wind blowing.
Not knowing what else to
do, I started walking around the base and searching for him. By the time I
circled around the back of the base and I’d come up on the North side, I could
see him standing in the snow. A feeling of relief washed over me that he hadn’t
wandered off somewhere to die of hypothermia. I called out his name, but he
didn’t respond. He continued to stand motionless, the floodlights around us
casting his long shadow across the flawless white snow.
“Roger,” I yelled at the
top of my lungs as I began making my way in his direction. 
“Damn it, what the hell
is wrong with you? Have you gone deaf or something?”
I extended a hand and
placed it on his shoulder. As I gently started to shake him, he refused to acknowledge
my presence.
“All right, I’ve had
enough of this”, I screamed as I leaned forward to glance at his face. 
He wasn’t dead,
considering that I could still see his breath forming a cloud in the air. His
blue eyes were wide open, and his mouth hung open in a contorted frown. As I
studied him more, I could see his throat trembling as he tried to speak. With
each failed attempt, his mouth would utter a squeak that I could barely hear
over the howling wind.
“Roger…”, I let out with
a trembling voice, “what’s wrong?”
I nearly jumped out of my
skin when his head suddenly turned to stare into my eyes. After one big
swallow, he managed to choke out a few words.
“It moved… damn it… It
moved…”
I shook my head from side
to side, unable to comprehend what he was talking about. Suddenly, he lifted
his hand and pointed out into the night. I followed the direction his finger
pointed. He was motioning towards the mountain. That’s when I saw it.
The Shape had almost
reached the base.
“No,” I thought to myself. “How
could it have moved that much in just one night?”
I turned back to face Roger.
His mouth was no longer hanging open in a frown, but instead forming a demented
smile. Starting off slowly, he began to laugh. This wasn’t the laugh I’d heard
him use whenever David told a dirty joke or we were watching Seinfeld in the
den. This laugh was maddening. He sounded like someone who belonged in a mental
institution.
“What in God’s name is
the matter with you, Roger?”
He pressed his finger
over my lips and silenced me. Although he had stopped laughing, that sick smile
was still plastered on his face.
“All of our mistakes are
never forgotten…” he whispered with a laugh.
It was at that moment
that I ran. I didn’t want to stay and confront him, all I wanted to do was get away.
I sprinted, not so much as turning back to catch a glimpse. I crossed over the
threshold back inside, and quickly slammed the door behind me. I didn’t care if
I woke anyone up. All I wanted to do was get back to my bedroom and hide under
my covers.
Like I said earlier, I
can’t go back to sleep once I wake up. I’m now sitting in my bed typing this on
my laptop. Drake is still asleep with that cross gripped tightly in his hand.
There’s no point in me waking him to tell him what I saw. The poor man has been
exhausted the past couple of days and needs his rest. I’ll break the news to
him in the morning.
==Day 17==
When I woke up this
morning, I found Drake sitting at his laptop going through his email. Before I
even grabbed my supplies to go shower, I told him what I saw last night. The
entire time I spoke, he remained perfectly still and silent. When I finished, he
sat in silence. I didn’t exactly know how he would react, but I surely wasn’t
expecting this. For at least a minute, we sat without speaking a word to each
other while he stared at the floor and thought. I was a little spooked when he
finally lifted his head to look at me.
“So, The Shape is after
someone else, too. I guess we’re not alone in this situation anymore. Just make
sure that you keep an eye on him. God only knows what a man like him is capable
of.”
Without speaking another
word, he stood up and left our room. I didn’t really know what to make of his
statement. I came to the conclusion that I would talk to him more out at the expedition
site and left our room to go get breakfast.
When I walked into the
den, I was greeted with the sight of Roger and David sitting at the table
eating breakfast and inserting data into their laptops. They both paused and
looked up from their work to give me a smile and a quick wave good morning. I
returned their gesture with a forced smile, doing my best to not show my fear.
I wasn’t simply shocked
but mortified that Roger had returned to normal. After the incident last night,
I was expecting him to lock himself in his room all day. Yet, here he was. He
was fully functioning and treating this morning as if nothing had happened a
few hours prior. I was tempted to pull him aside and have a talk but decided
against it. I would have to talk to him when he was alone and no one else was
around to have any suspicion.
I ate my breakfast with
the two of them, making light conversation between bites of cereal. By the time
I finished and rinsed out my bowl in the sink, David had gone back to their
room to grab some supplies. I tried to take advantage of the situation and talk
to Roger alone. Just as I pulled back a chair to have a seat, I heard my boss call
that it was time for the expedition team to depart. I swore at him under my
breath and went back to my room to retrieve my backpack.
Drake and I spent the day
at our table in the mobile building at the expedition site. He had to go fix an
occasional software problem, and I had to repair a pneumatic line on the ROV.
The rest of the time that we weren’t occupied with work, we discussed how to
confront Roger about the previous night. Although we both started with ideas of
building up to a confrontation with him, we decided against it. When we
considered what we were dealing with, we decided it was best to flat out ask
him about it.
We ended up staying about
an hour later than we usually did. The team working the controls had been
delayed and wanted to finish up the day’s assigned work now instead of making
it up by leaving earlier tomorrow morning. By the time everyone piled into the
snow crawlers to return to base camp, the sun had completely set. We traveled
back under the guidance of bright fog lights bolted to the top of the vehicles.
Even with the massive amount of light that they gave off, we still found it
difficult to see through the heavy snowfall.
When we finally returned
to base camp, Drake and I leaped out of the vehicle and immediately rushed
inside. As we had hoped, Roger was sitting alone at the kitchen table drinking
his pre-dinner White Russian. We had no idea why he did it, but we were
thankful that he had kept a daily routine. The two of us each grabbed a beer
from the fridge and sat down with him. Before I could even open my mouth to
speak to him, he held up a hand. I sat in silence while he drained the
remaining liquid from his cup and rested it down on the table with a clink.
“I know exactly what the
two of you want,” he said while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. 
“I’ve been waiting all
day for you to return from the site.”
He let out a soft
chuckle. “You know, it’s really not that pleasant being left alone with your
thoughts all day. I never knew I had so much darkness inside me.”
Drake and I turned to
each other and exchanged confused glances. Neither of us knew how to respond,
so we simply sat there in silence and waited for Roger to speak again. After a
few seconds, he reached over and grabbed my open beer bottle. He wrapped his
lips around the neck and drank the entire thing down in a few large gulps. He
lowered the empty bottle from his mouth and stared at the label. Then out of
nowhere, he threw the bottle with all his might against one of the cinder block
kitchen walls. Drake and I jumped in our chairs as the loud smash sent fragments of glass flying everywhere.
After a few short
moments, I was able to choke out a few words to him. 
“Wha- what the hell is
the matter with you, Roger?”
By this point, some of
the others had left their rooms to investigate the noise that echoed through
the entire camp. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see David inching his way
towards us. Roger sat in his chair and glared at me with that same sick,
demented smile that I saw last night. It still managed to make me feel just as
uncomfortable now as it did then. He then slowly turned and looked over the
faces of our fellow colleagues who had gathered in the den to observe him.
“There’s nothing to worry
about here, boys,” he said with a chuckle.  “I think I’ve just had a few too many to drink.
He reached over and picked up Drake’s beer bottle, lifting it up to show
everyone.
Everyone must have
believed them, because they all walked away. Even though David left, I could
see a hint of fear in his eyes as he walked away. When the den has finally
cleared, Roger turned back to glare at me with intense hatred. He slowly stood
up and placed a hand on my shoulder. He leaned closer and whispered in my ear,
and I could feel his hot breath tickling my skin.
“It won’t spare a single
one of us. We all have our faults, but some have more than others. Compared to
me, you’re a saint. But that doesn’t mean it’ll spare you. It may just end your
life without any pain. I, on the other hand, may not be so lucky.”
With a final few pats on
my shoulder, he left the den. As I watched him turn the corner, I could still see
hatred in his eyes. I slowly turned to Drake, but he didn’t acknowledge me. He
just stared at the corner Roger had turned, a single tear rolling down his
cheek. 
==Day 22==
My hands are still
shaking, so please forgive me for any errors I type. 
I hadn’t slept well in
the days following my encounter with Roger. I found myself constantly looking
over my shoulder. As if having to keep an eye on The Shape wasn’t bad enough,
now I had to watch out for a threat that lived among us. Roger had returned to
normal since the incident. He acted completely rational whenever we ate dinner or
watched a movie in the den. At first, I thought the way he acted that day was
only momentary, but I was proven wrong. Whenever I would come to get breakfast in
the morning, he would be sitting alone at the table. I would walk over to the
fridge and he would stare at me as I passed. His eyes still burned with that
intense hatred I saw almost a week ago. Out of fear, I kept my mouth shut and
didn’t say anything to him. I’d hoped that simply ignoring him would solve the
issue, but I had no idea how wrong I was.
Everyone in the base camp
gathered in the den to celebrate only a week left out here. We all gathered
snacks and the last few cases of beer that remained in the fridge. That only
left us with the hard stuff. Although I wouldn’t turn down anything with vodka
or whiskey, it still wouldn’t be as enjoyable as a beer. For the first time in
a couple of days, I allowed myself to relax. With everyone in the base gathered
together, I wouldn’t have to worry about Roger springing an attack on me. I
took off my shoes and placed my feet up on the coffee table. For the first time
in days, I was able to let down my guard.
That’s when it hit me.
Roger wasn’t with us. At
first, I thought I must have overlooked him. As I glanced at everyone in the
room once more, my worst fears were confirmed. Roger was nowhere in sight. I
started to panic. He was sitting in a chair to my right whenever the movie
first started, but he had now vanished. Without drawing too much attention to
myself, I darted my eyes around the room and started looking for any sign of
him. Out the corner of my eye, I saw movement. I turned my head towards the
window to see someone’s shadow being cast upon the snow by the floodlights. It
slowly moved across my field of vision before vanishing out of sight.
“There’s someone outside…”
I whispered with my eyes still staring out the window.
David and Drake, who were
both sitting on the couch next to me, turned their attention towards me.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t
catch that. What’d you say?”
“I said there’s someone
out there," I spoke louder this time and managed to grab the attention of
everyone in the room. My boss paused the movie, and I could tell he was
irritated at my disruption.
“Dammit, MacReady! What
the hell are you blabbering about this time?”
I pointed out the window
and spoke again. 
“You damn well heard me.
I said there’s someone out there!”
My boss scowled at me,
and I returned it with an even fiercer one. He walked over to the window and
pressed his face up against it to look outside. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped
open.
“By God, he’s right.
Someone is out there.”
“It’s Roger…” I said
under my breath before leaping from my seat. 
I zipped my parka up and
rushed through the front entrance. While everyone else scrambled to gather
their jackets, I rushed in the direction the shadow had been walking. I soon
heard the familiar crunch of snow under boots as everyone else joined me
outside. I turned a corner of the building and was met with the sight of Roger
kneeling in the snow. I slowed my pace down to a gentle walk. I finally came to
a stop about six feet from where he knelt. As I heard everyone else run up
behind me, I held out an arm and motioned for them to stop. Everyone listened
and came to a halt, leaving the only sound being that of the howling wind. I
turned to face them and spoke with command in my voice.
“Stay where you are. I
don’t want a single one of you to move unless I say so.”
Everyone nodded their
heads. I turned and walked towards the figure that knelt in front of me. As I
walked around Roger, I glanced down at his hand. Clenched in his grasp… was a
straight razor, the blade shining brightly in the floodlights. My attention
then turned to the green stains in the snow.
“What the hell is that”,
I whispered under my breath as I leaned in closer.
“…Antifreeze…” he said
with a hint of pride in his tone.
I was surprised at
Roger’s sudden response. I took a few steps back and withdrew the knife from my
waistband. Pointing the tip in his direction, I motioned for everyone else to
gather around us.
“Stay back and remain on
guard,” I let out. Outstretching a trembling hand, I watched as Roger kept his
gaze pointed out into the void that surrounded us. 
“Please, Roger… hand over
the razor before something happens that you’ll regret.” 
With breath leaving his
mouth in a white cloud, Roger slowly turned to me. I’m not sure how long he had
been outside, but his face gone pale and his hair had been frosted over. He
slowly raised the blade. Everyone behind me gasped and moved forward. As they
got closer, Roger quickly swung the blade around.
“All of you better back
the fuck up right now!”
They listened and retreated.
“Listen to me, Roger. You
need to consider what you’re about to do.”
He chuckled and brought
the blade closer to his face. 
“What I’m about to do?
I’ve already fucked up my life beyond repair. Anything else I do can’t possibly
make it worse…”
Roger stood up, never
breaking eye contact from me. I remained perfectly focused on him. I didn’t
want to give him any chance to make a move on me. He lifted his head up towards
the sky and took in a deep breath. He let it out slowly, letting his breath go
out into the air like cigarette smoke. 
“It’s not happy with us
right now. In fact, it’s down-right fucking pissed with a fair amount of us. You
all have a little more time, but my time on this Earth has come to an end.”
He slowly lifted the
blade and as he continued to stare into my eyes. 
“It says my death will be
easy since I go first.”
Roger then placed the
blade up to his throat and sliced a deep gash into his flesh. The blade made a
tearing sound as it ripped his neck open. I watched as the dark crimson fluid gushed
from his neck and splattered onto the snow. As it traveled through the air, the
flood lights caught the liquid and reflected on it with some kind of sick
beauty. Behind me, I could hear multiple people vomiting. I’m not sure if it’s
entirely correct, but I could swear I heard someone faint and fall to the
ground. 
Roger dropped down to his
knees, and the razor slipped from his hand. It fell into the snow and vanished
from sight. Even though I thought it was over, blood continued the pour out of
his gaping neck. It sounded like he tried to speak, but all that escaped from
his throat was stomach-churning gargling noises. I had to place a hand over my
mouth to stop myself from vomiting. I watched as Roger’s eyes rolled up into
his head and he finally fell forward.
At that moment, anyone
who had not vomited or fainted crowded around his fallen figure. I didn’t join
them however. I stood in place and stared out into the night. While everyone
else was losing their sanity in front of me, I tuned them out. 
The Shape had gotten
closer. It was now halfway between the base of the mountain and our camp. I’d
been watching it over the past week, and it had barely made it a quarter of the
way as of last night. Although the physical proof stood before me, my mind
refused to grasp the fact that it had moved that quickly. As everyone else hovered
over Roger, I stared at The Shape. Even though all I could see was a solid
black mass, I still had the uneasy feeling that it was staring right into my
soul.
==Day 23==
We’ve come to learn that
Roger cut the radiator tubes of the snow crawlers. There’s antifreeze all over the
snow. It didn’t take long for the engines to freeze over and become completely
useless. We can easily patch the tubing, but there’s no point. Any extra
antifreeze that we stored, Roger had cut the containers wide open.
My boss sent out a call
on our radio asking for assistance this morning. It’ll take a couple of days,
but we should have new snow crawlers coming to pick us up. We’ve all made a
decision this morning to cut our assignment short. As soon as new snow crawlers
arrive, we are all getting the hell out of here.
While everyone else just
seems saddened by Roger’s suicide, Drake and I know what really killed him. He
was manipulated, but we’re not going to tell anyone that. Could you imagine
what everyone would say or do to us if we told them Roger killed himself due to
elements completely out of his control? I surely can, and it wouldn’t be a
pretty sight.
==Day 24==
Someone destroyed our
radio in the middle of the night. We had all gone to bed saddened by the news
that snow crawlers would take an extra three days to get here. They’re being
brought in by a fleet of army helicopters. Apparently over the next few days,
the weather is supposed to be too bad for them to fly.
When everyone woke up
this morning, we discovered that the weather had died down a little bit. My
boss went to the radio room to see if the helicopters could make it through
today and discovered the damage. It looked like someone had taken an ax to it.
Shards of metal, broken glass, and fractured bits of circuit littered the
floor. While everyone either stood in the room or looked through the doorway,
my boss slowly turned to us and glared.
“I’ve had enough of this!
I’m instituting a curfew. If I see a single one of you outside of your rooms
past 10 p.m. without my permission, I will shoot.”
I tried to speak up in
protest but was silenced by the loud bang of a gunshot echoing throughout the
room. My boss had pulled a pistol from his waistband and shot it into the
floor. 
“I’m only going to say
this one more time. I don’t want to see a single fucking one of you outside of
your rooms past 10. Do I make myself clear?”
No one spoke a word, including
myself. We all nodded our heads and shrank back in fear.
“I said, do I make myself
clear,” he roared.
This time, everyone
responded with a unison, “yes sir…”
“Good. Now get the hell
out of here. I don’t care what you do, as long as you stay inside. I’ll be
patrolling around here. I don’t want to catch anyone somewhere you’re not
supposed to be.”
As we all shuffled from
the room, I felt Drake place a hand on my shoulder and keep me at the back of
the group. He leaned in and whispered into my ear, being extremely cautious not
to let anyone overhear him.
“Follow me back to our
room. There’s something I want to show you.”
We returned to our room
and he locked the door behind us. He then went over to the window and made sure
no one was peering inside. When he confirmed that we were completely alone, he
crawled under his bed and slid out a long metal case. He pulled a key out of
one of the pockets on his parka and used it to unlock the case. When he lifted
the lid, I was met with the site of a double-barrel shotgun.
“Jesus, Drake. Why the
hell did you feel the need to bring this with you?”
“Because I don’t trust
some people. I know it seems like a paranoid thing to do, but I care about my
protection as well as the safety of my friends and family. Right now, you’re
not only the one friend I have here, but you’re also the only person I can
trust.”
He removed the shotgun
from its foam cradle and held it up in front of me.
“I want you to take this
to your shop and cut off the barrels. That’ll give this thing one hell of a
kick.”
When he thrust it into my
hands, I found myself unable to speak. My father had always kept guns in a
cabinet in our living room, but I’d never touched one. This was my first time
holding a firearm, and I was supposed to take it to make an illegal modification?
“Drake, have you lost
your mind? How the hell am I supposed to sneak past our boss and get outside?
If he sees me out there, he won’t hesitate to put a bullet through my head.”
Drake held up a finger
and motioned for me to pause. He reached into another pocket and pulled out an
orange pill bottle. He twisted off the lid and emptied a few of them into his
palm.
“That’s why we’re going
to give him one of these.”
I raised an eyebrow, not
liking where this discussion was heading.
“And may I ask just what
exactly those are?”
“Suvorexant. They’re
pills for people with insomnia. I took one the first few nights we were here
until I got comfortable. I have trouble adjusting to sleeping anywhere that’s
not my bed, so I thought I should bring these with me. All we have to do it
slip one in his drink or grind it up in his food and he’ll be out like a light.”
I massaged my temple
where I could feel a headache beginning to grow. Letting out a slow groan, I
finally mustered up the courage to speak.
“Have you just completely
lost it? I mean seriously; we’re talking about drugging our boss so we can
sneak into my shop and modify a firearm. Do you not see how asinine this
sounds? This isn’t normal.”
“Normal? What part of any
of this would you consider normal? We have something waiting outside that’s
drawing closer by the day. It drove someone in this camp to slice open their
throat and destroy our snow crawlers. And now, I think it made someone destroy
the radio. When you consider what’s happening all around us, I would consider
this plan to be quite normal!”
At first, I didn’t
exactly know what to say. I’d never seen this side of Drake before. I was
unsure whether to be proud of him for standing up or be afraid of how
commanding he could be. I went with my first option, and then reached out and
grabbed the pill bottle from his hand.
We waited until dinner
was cooked. As food was set out on the table, Drake and I went into the kitchen
to make ourselves a drink. When I asked if anyone wanted me to make one for
them, my boss and a couple of other people said yes. I was thankful that I
would be able to drop it into his drink and not have to put it in his food. With
all the drinks made, I took out a plastic bag from my coat pocket. I had ground
up the pill to a fine powder earlier that day. I emptied the little bag’s
contents into one of the drinks and made sure to mix it well. I made a mental
note of which drink to bring to my boss and set it down in front of him. He
took a sip and then stared at the glass with a raised eyebrow. I felt my
stomach turn at the thought of being caught.
“My God, this whiskey is
terrible.”
A wave of relief washed
over me. I gave a laugh and set down the rest of the drinks on the table.
“I don’t really know what
you expected,” I said with a laugh. “Don’t expect good quality when the federal
government is paying for all of our supplies.”
He shrugged his shoulders
and finished off the drink. I looked over to my side and saw Drake wink at me.
Now all we would have to do was wait.
It was around 11 p.m.
when our boss finally crashed on a couch in the den. We left our room with the
shotgun concealed underneath my parka. Drake had put a pistol in his waistband
in case we got into an altercation and needed additional protection. He had
managed to grab it out of the supply room before our boss locked the door.
We opened the front door
and ran outside. Drake made sure to shut the door quickly, but not slam it and make
a sound. As we made our way around the side of the building, we crouched under
any windows to avoid detection. By the time we reached my shop, I could feel
the cold penetrating my clothing. I opened the door and fled inside. The two of
us basked in the warmth that filled the small building.
I pulled the shotgun from
my jacket and placed the barrel in a vice. I was able to use a powered saw to
cut. No one would be able to hear it over the howling wind outside. The saw
made easy work of the barrel and was able to cut it off in under 30 seconds. I
filed off any burs that remained from the cut and released it from the vice. We
both exchanged satisfied glances and left the shop. As we entered back into
camp, we made sure to shut the door quietly again.
“Well, well, well…”
Drake and I both turned
to face down the hallway. Our boss stood at the entrance to the den, an axe
gripped tightly in his hands. My throat tightened and I struggled to breathe as
terror filled my body.
“It’s not happy that you
disobeyed its commands. You will have to be punished.”
I reached into my parka
and wrapped my finger around the trigger of the shotgun. By the time I removed
it from underneath my clothing, he had already sprinted to us and swung the ax.
Drake and I dropped to the floor as the metal blade pierced the door behind us.
While he struggled to dislodge it, the two of us scrambled away with our backs
still on the floor. With one final grunt, he pulled the ax from the metal door
and turned back towards us.
“All you boys had to do
was listen to me. Was it really that fucking difficult?!”
He swung the ax again.
Drake and I both rolled over to the side as the blade made contact with the
floor. The concrete chipped under the immense force of his swing, sending small
fragments flying. By this time, others had poked their heads out of their
rooms. I could see the desire to help in their eyes, but they were too fearful
of their own safety. 
My boss lifted the axe
over his head and prepared to swing down on me. I pointed the shotgun at his
chest and took a shot. The loud bang echoed throughout the entire base and left
my ears ringing. The impact of the close-range shot sent him stumbling back
into a wall. I watched as his arms slowly lowered, and the ax slipped from his
hands. It hit the floor with a loud clang. I watched as the white shirt
underneath his unzipped jacket began to grow a red spot. He slid down the wall
and ended up sitting on the floor. He took one last breath and then toppled to
one side.
“You… you killed him…”
I turned to find Drake
still sitting on the floor and shaking with fear. It was at that moment I
realized what I had just done. I had taken the life of another human being. The
fact that I was justified in doing so still didn’t settle right with me. I
continued to sit on the floor and gather my thoughts as everyone left their
rooms to come investigate. I tuned out their hushed voices as I stood up and
walked towards the nearest window. 
“Oh God…” I let out under
my breath.
The Shape had moved even
closer. It now stood within the reach of our floodlights. They could barely
reach it, but I could still see it. I didn’t hear the shotgun hit the floor as
I dropped it. All I could hear was a ringing in my ears. My vision began to
blur around the edges and soon faded to black. The last thing I remember was
falling to the floor and my head making contact with the concrete. 
==Day 25==
I woke up this morning to
Drake and a few others in my bedroom. As soon as I sat up, he rushed to my side. 
“Take it slowly.”
As I sat up in bed, I immediately
grabbed the side of my head. A pain rushed through my mind, causing me to
squeeze my eyes shut.
“Shit,” I yelled as the
pain began to subside.  
“Consider yourself lucky
that you didn’t get a concussion. There’s a nasty bruise on the side of your
head now. It’s not pretty, but you got off easy in my opinion.”
Drake handed me a glass
of water along with a couple of pain relievers. I gratefully took them. 
“If you feel up to it, we
would all like to have a meeting. I think the reasons for it are obvious
enough.”
“After what just
happened, a long talk is in order,” I said while slowing lifting myself from
the bed.   
We all gathered in the
kitchen at the large table. An eerie silence filled the air as everyone sat and
refused to speak a word. My eyes darted from person to person as I waited for
someone to speak. Every time I made eye contact with someone, they would
immediately look down at the table or up to the ceiling.
“We’re not going to get
anywhere if all of you just sit here with your traps shut. Someone needs to
speak up.”
To my left, I heard a long
sigh. It came from David. I hadn’t heard him speak since Roger’s death.
“Please tell me I’m not
the only one who’s seen it.”
Drake tried to speak but could
only mutter squeaks. Although I was able to get my words out, it was rather
difficult.
“What did you just say?”
I can’t believe what my
ears had heard. I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew it was true.
“I know I’m not the only
one whose seen it standing out there. It was there not long after we arrived.
I’ve kept my mouth shut thinking it was some figment of my imagination, but
I’ve since come to know better.”
He threw his head down in
his hands and stared down at the table. All of us remained quiet as we observed
him. When he finally looked back up at us, I could see tears streaming down his
face.
“A few days before Roger…”
He struggled to say this
next part, and I honestly couldn’t blame the man.
“… had his incident, he
started talking about that thing. He had noticed it when it first appeared.
Just like me, he thought it was his mind playing a trick on him. When I told
him that I could see it too, he was relieved that he wasn’t going mad. We
didn’t know what to say to anyone else in the camp, so we just kept our mouths
shut.”
He paused and walked into
the kitchen. He returned with a glass of ice and a bottle of rum. He didn’t return
with anything to mix in with it, but none of us said anything. He filled the
glass and gulped down its contents in once swift motion.
“One morning, I woke up to
find him staring out the window. I tried speaking to him, but he didn’t respond
to me. I finally reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. His face turned
and I saw blood running his neck. He had this nosebleed that was just gushing
from his nostrils. I’d never seen someone bleed that much, and it started to
run down his shirt. The entire thing was soaking wet. After a few moments of me
trying to speak to him like some bumbling idiot, he left the room and went to
the bathroom. He stayed there for at least an hour. When he finally returned,
he acted as if nothing had happened. He asked if I wanted to go make breakfast.
We spent his last few days talking as we had this entire time. I wanted to say
something to him or anyone, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
He filled his glass once
more and swallowed it quicker than he had the first time. Although he had
stopped crying, I could still see wet streaks running down his cheeks.
“What the hell do you
mean you couldn’t bring yourself to do it? Is it really that difficult to tell
one of us that your roommate is acting like a complete nut?”
This came from someone
sitting at the far corner of the table. I recognized him as the doctor we had
brought on duty. David glared at him and slammed his glass down on the table.
This caused a small part of it to chip off.
“What? You think it’s
easy to tell everyone that your roommate is acting like his sanity is about to
completely meltdown? You think it’s easy to tell your friends and colleagues
that you’re seeing this… this thing out
in the distance?”
“You’re not the only one
who’s seeing it.”
We all turned to face the
end of the table. One of the mechanics we brought along to repair generators and
the snow crawlers were staring down at the table. David rested his glass on the
table and let his mouth hang open in shock.
“You, too?”
“You’re not the only one
who’s seen it,” he repeated.
Everyone in the room had
their eyes on him. The room went quiet and an awkward silence hung in the air.
“That thing has been
tormenting me since the day it first appeared. It began by standing on the
mountain side. Then it started invading my dreams. I saw that thing night and
day. It’s getting closer, and I don’t want to know what it wants us for when it
finally reaches us.”
I took in a deep breath
and looked over everyone sitting at the table. It was hard to imagine that we
were actually having this conversation. What started as me thinking that The
Shape was an isolated incident, had grown. It suddenly hit me that it was here
from more than just one person. After snatching David’s glass, I swallowed its
contents and mustered the courage to speak.
“Alright, I want a show
of hands. How many of you have seen it?”
I watched as everyone at
the table raised an arm in the air.
“This is a good starting
point. Now, have any of you seen it do anything besides stand there? Have you
seen it move, or heard it make a sound?”
A few them shook their
heads, while the rest remained silent. I made eye contact with everyone who
kept their mouths shut. They still did not say a word. I slammed my fist on the
table, causing a few people to jump.
“I don’t want to see a
single one of you sit here and sulk and refuse to acknowledge me. We’re not
exactly in the best of situations here, so I expect all of you to follow my
orders without hesitation.”
“And may I ask just who
exactly made you our leader,” someone scoffed.
“This did.”
I reached underneath my
jacket and withdrew the shotgun that had been lying on my desk. Luckily, I had
been able to sneak it out of my room without anyone noticing.
“Not to mention the fact
that I’m the only one willing to lead us in a direction of progress instead of
sitting here in silence. I intend on making it out of here, and I won’t be
stopped by one of you. Those who wish to join me are free to do so. Anyone who
doesn’t, just try not to get in our way. I don’t want another violent
altercation.”
Up until the past couple
of days, I lacked the ability to speak with any sort of authority. I felt a
sense of pride in that moment until I heard laughing and turned to see you it
was. The mechanic from earlier was now throwing his head back and letting out
an almost maniacal cackle.
“What the hell is so
funny?”
He turned and stared into
my eyes.
“Nothing you do is going
to make a difference. It won’t let you escape…”
A chill ran down my spine
as I came to the realization. The Shape had gained control of another person…
“Everybody back away from
him,” I shouted as I pointed the shotgun at his chest. 
Chairs toppled to the
floor as everyone scrambled behind me. Even with all the rustling going on, I
kept my eyes focused on the mechanic and my finger on the trigger. To my side,
I heard Drake withdraw the pistol from his waistband and cock it.
“Don’t you already see
what’s happening? There’s no use in resisting. The plan has been made and there’s
nothing you can do to change it.”
“What the hell are you
talking about? What plan,” Drake asked.
“It doesn’t want me to
reveal any details.”
The mechanic lifted his
wrist and glanced at his watch. 
“Now if you’ll all excuse
me, I really should be going. Feel free to join me later. I don’t know about
you, but I’m not really a fan of this chilly weather. It says the weather is
warm where I’m going.”
While we all tried to
make sense of his words, he pulled a pistol from his jacket pocket and wrapped
his lips around the barrel. Before any of us could so much as speak or make a move,
he pulled the trigger.
The loud bang quickly
echoed around the room. I watched as the back of his head exploded outward.
Shattered fragments of bone and clumps of hair and flesh went flying through
the air. Chunks of brain matter and other tissue shot out the hole in his skull
and stuck to the wall behind him. His eyes rolled back into his head, and his
whole body slumped forward onto the table.
I could hear some of the
people standing behind me begin to sob while the others began to shout
obscenities. Drake and I paid no attention to them. Our focus was directed out
a nearby window. The Shape stood motionless in the snow. Even with the full
blast of the spotlights upon it, I was unable to make out any details of its
body. All I could was black.
==Day 32==
Some of them have given
up hope. The snow crawlers were supposed to arrive this morning, but nothing’s
come yet. I tried convincing them that they have just been delayed, and that
they would probably be here within the next couple of days. None of them bought
it. Although I’m just as upset about all this as they are, I can’t let them see
that. I’m their leader now, and I have to act like it. 
==Day 35==
I can feel the tension
between everyone getting worse. A few days ago, we would greet one another in
the morning. Although we did it with a forced smile, we at least had some sense
of respect for one another. Now, everyone just stares at each other. Although
Drake and I are still close, I’m starting to notice that everyone else is
isolating themselves.
The only time I’ll catch
a glimpse of someone else is when they run from their room to go to the kitchen
or the bathroom. This morning, one of the ROV pilots sprinted from his room and
into the kitchen. Drake and I were sitting at a table in the den, going over
possible options if we had to suddenly leave camp. We watched as he flung open
the door to the fridge and pulled out a pack of raw hamburger meat. He took it
and retreated to his room. For the next ten minutes, all Drake and I could hear
was the sickening sound of him devouring the uncooked flesh.
I'm becoming extremely
worried about everyone else’s behavior. It’s not as if they’re just getting antsy.
What I’m seeing is not leeriness, but distrust. Although they’re just acting
strange for the moment, I’m fearing that it can grow violent in the coming
days.
==Day 37==
Drake and I came to a
decision today to repair one of the snow crawlers. Although Roger managed to
drain them of antifreeze, I’m starting to think that I could repair one of them.
There’s some rubber hosing in my shop that I can use to repair the lines that
he sliced open. As for all the antifreeze, we’re going to use water for the
time being. After the two of us spent a good hour reading through the owner’s
manual, we came to the conclusion that water can act as a substitute. The
manual warns that this is only a temporary solution when antifreeze is unavailable.
I don’t need this thing to run across the continent. I just need to make it to
the radar station where our plane landed.
I went into David’s room
and asked if he had a map of the surrounding area. He pulled one from a
container by the door and followed me back out into the den. The three of us
then determined the path we would need to take back to the radar station.
Although it may be difficult for us to navigate in this weather, we figured
that we have nothing to lose.
I’d rather die trying to
escape then remain here and die like a trapped animal.
==Day 38==
It took a lot of work,
but I was able to repair the snow crawler. David kept watch over the camp while
Drake and I repaired it. We spent a good part of the day under that thing
trying to get the hose clamp tightened down correctly. Although I’d helped my
father repair his car many times when I was younger, this was a little bit
trickier. Before dinner, the two of us were able to fill up the radiator with
water and fire the engine after warming the oil pan with an external heat
source. After a few promising grunts, we finally got it to turn over. We rejoiced
in our success and then returned inside.
As we trudged through the
snow, I could see some of the other team members staring at us from their
windows. Their eyes were blank and their faces expressionless. At first, I
thought they were just staring out into nothing, but then I turned behind me.
The Shape had moved a little closer during the night. This gave me a surprise
considering that it hadn’t moved since the night my boss attacked us.
We walked inside and
quickly shut the door right as David pulled dinner from the oven. As the three
of us sat down to eat, no one else came out to join us. I tried calling for
them on the intercom but received silence in return. David told me that he had
seen none of them leave their rooms for at least a whole day. Although I had a
strong inclination as to what they had been eating, I didn’t want to believe
it. I walked over to the refrigerator and opened it.
Almost all the raw red
meat we had been keeping was gone. Just like I’d seen a couple of days ago, I
knew that they had eaten it raw. My stomach churned as I began to recall the
sounds of them devouring the raw flesh days earlier.
I left the kitchen and
returned to my shop. When I came back inside, I had chain and a padlock in my
hands. I wrapped the chain around the door handles and locked it shut.
“I don’t want a single
one of them going back in there. If we’re going to be leaving, I want to make
sure that we have enough food to last us a few days if something happens.”
I pulled the chains to
make sure they were secure, and then dropped the key into my jacket pocket.
“What do you mean ‘in
case something happens,’” David asked with a puzzled look on his face. “We’re
not taking some month-long expedition. I think if we just bring some granola
bars, water bottles, and bags of chips, we’ll be fine.”
“Going to the radar
station should take less than a day, but I can guarantee you that The Shape
will do something to interfere with that. It wouldn’t surprise me if we end up
walking there on foot. If the worst-case scenario happens, I want to make sure
that we’re prepared.”
They both sat there in
silence. It occurred to me that they hadn’t thought about the worst-case scenario
for us until that moment. Although I thought about it multiple times over the
past few days, they apparently hadn’t.
“What are we going to do
about them,” Drake asked.
“Once the three of us are
prepared and ready to leave, I’ll unlock the fridge. They’ll be fine for a few
days just eating the raw meat like they’ve been doing. Once we reach the radar
station, we can radio for a team to go out and rescue them.”
David gave me a puzzled
look.
“So, your solution is to
just leave them here and lock them up like animals? John, do you realize that they’re
human beings?”
I pointed towards the
hallway that led to their bedrooms.
“Whatever those things
are, they’re not human anymore. All I see is a husk of what used to be a man.
Whatever is filling that shell now is not human. They don’t speak anymore. All
they do is make grunts and other weird noises and run away into their rooms with
raw meat. Right now, they’re more savage than human. I don’t want to take them
with us and risk jeopardizing our escape. Do either of you have a problem with
that?”
None of them said a word.
After they gathered their thoughts for a few moments, they both shook their
heads.
“I want to leave here
tomorrow night. As soon as I’m done packing and we’ve made meals to take with
us, we’re heading out of here.”
“That sounds good with
me,” Drake said.
I then turned to David.
Cocking an eyebrow, I gave him a look asking for his response.
“You’re right. The sooner
we get out of here, the better.”
We finished our dinner in
silence. We dumped our plates in the sink and retired back to our rooms. As I
sunk into bed and prepared for my last night in the camp, I heard something. At
first, I thought it was just my drowsiness, but I soon saw Drake perk up. He
was hearing it too.
I rose from my bed and
slowly tiptoed over to the door. I tried to make as little noise as possible as
I slid the thick bolt that locked our door. I cracked open the door just enough
to lean my head outside.
The door to one of the
rooms that had remained shut for days was now open. In the hallway, I could see
light coming from the den. There was a shadow dancing around in the pale,
yellow light, and I could hear laughter drifting my way. This wasn’t laughter
like someone watching a funny movie. This was the laugh of a demented creature.
Whatever was letting out those blood-curdling cackles, it sure as hell wasn’t
human. 
==Day 39==
We woke at the crack of
dawn to prepare. It turns out that I was not the only one who had trouble
sleeping. Since David’s room was closer to the den, he could hear one of them
laughing all night. We walked into the kitchen this morning to find a mess.
Whoever had been in here during the night had thrown the equipment all over the
place.
Drawers had been ripped out
of the cabinets, the contents emptied all over the floor. The oven and
microwave both had their glass smashed in. Any shelf that wasn’t bolted to the
wall had been toppled over. We saw no point in cleaning all of it up, so David
just gathered ingredients he needed from the floor.
While he prepared our
meals, I gathered supplies. I unlocked the storage room at the back of the camp
and gathered anything we might need and placed it in a metal storage locker. By
the time I took any supplies I deemed necessary, I was barely able to close the
lid. I grabbed one of the handles and turned to drag it out to the snow
crawler. As I faced the doorway, I was met with the sight of one of them
standing in the doorway. I immediately let go of the locker and grabbed the
pistol from my waistband. I aimed directly at his head and put my finger on the
trigger.
“What do you want,” I
asked with a hint of fear in my voice.
It stood there and just
stared blankly into my eyes.
“I’ll give you one more
chance. What the hell do you want?”
Its lips slowly peeled up
into a smile. As its lips parted, I watched as a fair amount of blood spill
from its mouth. As I looked closely at him, I was able to see that various teeth
were either missing or chipped. He reached down and placed a hand in his
pocket. I remained attentive with my gun trained on him.
From his pocket, he pulled
out the remains of a metal spatula from the kitchen. The flat end had been
drastically misshapen. I soon came to realize that the imperfections in the
surface were bite marks. Small dents covered the surface of the metal, along
with a few blood stains.
“You won’t let us eat
anymore, so I had to improvise. But don’t worry. It says that soon all of us
will be able to feast.”
He licked his lips and
looked over my body.
“I hope your meat is
tasty.”
I couldn’t control myself
any longer and fired a shot. I heard the bullet bury itself into the wall
behind him. I couldn’t believe it at first, but I had missed. I stood there in
astonishment, not knowing what to think. He continued to stand there and stare
at me.
“It grows stronger every day.
Your feeble weapons can no longer stop it. Give up and join us.”
I fired another shot at
him and missed again.
“It’s not so bad where we
are. We no longer have to worry ourselves with problems of this world.”
I shut my eyes and continued
to fire. As I emptied my clip, I turned my head away from him. I didn’t want him
to see me cry.
“John, what in the living
hell are you doing?!”
I looked up to find Drake
standing in the doorway. The creature that had been there just moments before
had left and retreated to its room. I stuttered over my words as I tried to
speak.
“One of them… It was
there… it wanted me to join them, but I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“Look man, you need to
sleep. You’ve barely slept more than five hours over the past couple of days.
Just go lie down in bed and I’ll finish packing everything into the snow
crawler. Drake is almost done preparing our meals, so I’ll have him stand guard
over the camp once he’s done.”
I nodded slowly and placed
the gun back in the holder on my waist. Drake placed a hand on my shoulder and
walked me back to our room. I laid down in bed and shut my eyes. As I began
drifting off into sleep, I thought I could hear them laughing again.
When I woke up, Drake was
standing over me shaking my shoulder.
“The sun is almost down.
I think it’s time for us to go.”
I quickly hopped out of
bed and grabbed the shotgun leaning against the bedpost. I grabbed my laptop
bag and portable charger. Turning around and looking around our room one final
time, a thought crossed my mind. 
I sure as hell wasn’t
going to miss it.
Drake and I met David in
the den. He had removed the chains from the fridge so that those things could
eat while we were gone.
“Does everyone have
everything?” David asked in a hushed tone.
The two of us nodded and
turned to show him our backpacks. 
“Alright, good. Now let’s
get the hell out of here. I’m getting more and more creeped out by the minute.”
We all turned around and
walked towards the exit. As the door handle came within an arm’s reach, I heard
something coming from down the hallway. It wasn’t laughing this time. It was… grunting.
“Am I the only one he’s
hearing that,” Drake asked as he turned in the direction of the noise.
“No,” I said. “I hear it,
too.”
We all stood completely
still and didn’t make a sound. I turned to face down the hallway and waited to
hear another sound. At first, there was nothing but silence. Then, I heard that
same grunt again. It was louder this time.
I concentrated and listened
to which room it was coming from. After a moment, I could hear the sound again.
This time, I could hear a gut-wrenching scream along with it.
“It sounds like one of
them is hurt,” I heard David say from behind me.
“I don’t care,” I let out
in a stern tone.
“But John, shouldn’t we
go help them? They could be seriously injured.”
I turned and scowled at
him.
“I told you already that
those are not people. They’re lucky that I’m leaving them with raw food in
hopes that a rescue team may find them and try to return them back to
normality. Can’t you tell that they’re just trying to lure us into a trap?”
David shook his head at
me and dropped his bag on the floor.
“If you won’t help them,
then I will.”
He walked past me and
down the hallway towards the source of the noise. I tried to hold him back, but
he ignored me. I couldn’t think of anything else to do but follow suit.
“David stop!”
He continued to ignore my
warnings, and soon reached the door. As he grabbed the handle and slowly opened
it, I sprinted to reach him.
“Dear God…”
What I saw in that room
will forever be burned into my mind.
The first thing I noticed
was the metallic stench of blood as it invaded my nostrils. One of them lay on
the bed. His clothes had been ripped to shreds and thrown all over the room.
His eyes were wide open, unmoving and staring at the ceiling. There were
several craters all over his body where the others had taken large bites from
his flesh. Other parts of him were covered in deep cuts from his attackers fighting
any resistance he gave. Since I had locked the fridge, they needed to eat. They
chose the weakest out of all of them. After I got over the initial shock of
what was laid out in front of me, I began to realize the stench of fecal matter
and rotting meat that hung in the air as well. I turned my attention to a
corner of the room as I heard movement. I quickly withdrew the shotgun from
under my jacket and put my finger on the trigger.
Slowly, one of them
emerged from the shadows in a corner and came into the light. Blood ran from his
mouth all down his body. He clothes sagged with the amount of blood that they
held. More began to emerge from different parts of the room. As they gathered
in the center, I came to realize that they were all gripping kitchen knives. I
grabbed David’s shoulder and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
“Run…”
The two of us started
back down the hallway. From behind me I heard one of them scream, followed by
many footsteps chasing us.
“Grab our stuff and get
outside,” I screamed to Drake down the hallway.
He took our bags in hand
and quickly sprinted towards the door. He ran out into the night, and the two
of us were close behind him. As my boots came in contact with the snow, I
turned on my heels and slammed the door shut. I grabbed the crowbar propped
against the building that we had used to scrape ice from the threshold and
brought it down with all my might on to the door handle. As it sheared off, I
heard the locking mechanisms inside break as well.
The three of us continued
and ran towards the snow crawler parked a short distance from the building. David
and Drake took the front seat while I quickly threw my stuff in the back and
slammed the door behind me. The engine roared to life, and the searchlights on
top of the vehicle illuminated the snow surrounding us. We began moving, and I
turned to face out the back window.
The Shape now stood before
the front door of the camp. I hadn’t seen it move during our escape, and I was
thankful that it didn’t get us. At first it remained motionless in front of the
door. Then, the door flew right off its hinges. I watched as it soared through
the air and landed in a nearby snow embankment. The screams of everyone still
inside the camp echoed out into the night louder than naturally possible. I
turned away and faced forward. I knew that whatever was about to happen to
them, I didn’t want to see it.
We’ve been traveling for
a couple of hours. I wanted to sleep, but every time I close my eyes, all I see
are the faces of those monsters in that room. I’ve come to the conclusion that
it would be the best use of my time to write everything that’s happened over
the past couple of days. 
==Day 40==
We finally made it to the
radar station. We got turned around once or twice but were lucky enough that
David was able to correct us before we veered too far off course. The three of
us took turns driving during. We had not gotten much sleep during the days
prior to our departure and needed to rest up. I had never driven a vehicle like
this before, but there’s a first time for everything.
We had one person driving
while the other sat up front and read the map. Whoever sat in the back seat
would keep an eye out behind us for The Shape in case it followed us. I don’t
know whether to be grateful that we lost it, or fear that it could appear at
any moment. Either way, I refuse to let my guard down.
We’ve secured ourselves
in the radar station until a rescue team can come for us. We radioed them and
were told that it would take two days for a team to reach us. There’s no bad
weather in sight, so we don’t need to worry about them getting delayed like
last time. The only thing that we need to be vigilant of is The Shape.
We’ve agreed to take
shifts on watch duty during the night. We're not even sure if it knows that
this building is out here, but we don’t want to take any chances. All the
lights or anything that could give us away are going to be turned off at night.
We just finished putting sheets of plywood over the windows. We found it around
the back of the building. We’re lucky that it hadn’t rotted outside in the
weather yet. Each one has a small slit cut in it so we can see outside.
I better finish typing up
this entry. We need to get some sleep so we can be on high guard in the next
coming days. I’m not sure how well I’m going to sleep on a cot in this room
though. There’s one bedroom here, and we gave it to David. The three of us
agreed that we should lock ourselves in our own separate rooms at night. Even
though I trust the two of them, there’s no telling what The Shape could make
them do if it finds us. It’s best to keep away from each other at night in case
something happens. I can never see either of them wanting to hurt anyone. But
right now, any logic just needs to go out the window. We aren’t exactly in a
normal situation.
==Day 41==
Today went by without any
kind of incident. We looked out one of the window slits every 10 minutes to
scan the surrounding area. All we can see is white and the mountains very far
off in the distance.
Since we don’t have the
hard drive full of movies anymore, we spent the day entertaining ourselves by
talking. We discussed our political views, got to know each other on a personal
level, and spent the day in good company.
I know it doesn’t seem
right to be thinking this kind of way, but I would be happy to call them my
friends if we make it out of here.
==Day 42==
I have both good news and
bad news.
We received a call on the
radio this morning. The rescue team took off and should arrive here early
tomorrow morning. The three of us are overjoyed that we’re finally going to get
rescued.
Now for the bad news.
David spotted The Shape
on the horizon early this afternoon. He said it’s far away, but that didn’t
give any of us a sense of comfort. It could easily reach us before nightfall.
Although it moved slowly when we first saw it back at base camp, I doubt it’ll
move slowly now. We managed to escape from it, and it’s most likely not pleased
with us right now. I highly doubt that it will so much as hesitate to rip the
door to this building right off its hinges.
I know I’m not thinking
positive, but I’m starting to get scared. I’m not ready to die. 
==Day 42 – Part 2==
It’s almost midnight.
David is currently standing guard. When I finished my shift just a few minutes
ago, The Shape had moved. It was no longer just barely visible on the horizon. It
managed to make it within about 300 yards of the building. Because there aren’t
any clouds obscuring the sky tonight, I could see it illuminated in the moonlight.
The entire time I stood
watch, I never stopped staring at it. I had a feeling deep in my gut that if I
looked away, it would move closer. I didn’t want to give it any chance to make
a sudden move.
While I was staring at
it, I got to thinking. What exactly happens to us when we die? That thought
never crossed my mind until now. Is there a heaven and hell? Do we just get
reincarnated as another person or some animal? For the entire two hours I stood
on watch, I could never come up with a conclusion I was happy with. All I
gathered was that we’ll just have to wait and see when we die. It may be
decades before I find out the answer, but I can wait.
There’s one more point I
wanted to add to that that I can’t believe I didn’t think of until now. The Shape
says that after we die, we go somewhere warm. I honestly wouldn’t mind that
considering that we’re freezing our ass off in this building. It asked me if I
wanted to go to this ‘warm place’. I may have to consider that offer. I’m not a
big fan of the cold.
==Day 42 – Part 3==
I tried telling David
what The Shape told me once his turn to stand watch was over. I thought he
would be interested in what I had to say, but instead he looked concerned. He
left me standing in front of the window and went to find Drake. I was a little
offended that he didn’t take me with him. I wanted to tell Drake about the warm
place.
The two of them ended up
talking in a distant corner of the room. No matter which one was talking, one
of them always had an eye on me. David looked slightly upset, but Drake just
seemed depressed. I don’t understand why he would be upset. He should be happy
that we’ve been invited to go to the warm place.
When the two of them were
done talking, they approached me again. I noticed that David kept his hand over
the pistol strapped to his waste. They then proceeded to tell me that I should
probably go lie down. Drake was even kind enough to let me sleep in his
bedroom. I tried telling them about the warm place, but they told me I should
just go to sleep. They said that they wanted to hear all about it in the
morning.
I’m currently sitting on this
bed typing on my laptop. I’m too excited to fall asleep, so I figured that this
would be a better use of my time. I just can’t wait to tell them about the warm
place in the morning. I hope that they’re excited to go there as I am.
That’s strange. I can
hear them hammering something over my door. I’m not sure why they’re trying to
trap me in here. If I’m unable to get out, then we won’t be able to go to the
warm place together.
==Day 43==
It’s almost four in the
morning and I can’t go to sleep. My mind just keeps racing with thoughts about
the warm place. I can’t sleep because I can’t bear that David and Drake don’t
know about it yet. I don’t want to be taken there and leave the two of them
behind. They don’t deserve to be left here in the cold.
I’ve managed to remove
one of the metal legs to my bed frame. One of the ends has a flat plate riveted
to it. Maybe I can use it as a crowbar to open the door. If that doesn’t work,
I can always just use my body weight as a battering ram to break it down.
Although the two of them
took the gun from my waist holder when I came in here, they didn’t know about
the one I kept in my hidden pocket. What I love about this jacket is that it
has a hidden pocket on the inside. I kept a pistol in there the entire time. I
took out the clip and found that I have seven bullets in it.
I’m so happy. That should
be plenty enough to take the two of them with me to the warm place. I should
get going now. I want to make sure that we have plenty of time to leave before
the rescue team gets here. This may be the last entry I type.
To anyone who reads this,
I hope that you’ll be able to join me in the warm place eventually. The Shape
says that no matter who you are or what you’ve done, everyone gets to go to the
warm place in the end. That means that my wife will be there with me one day. Everyone
will be in the warm place one day. I can’t wait for you to join me there, too.
== Epilogue ==
Susan walked down the
long hallway as she had been doing for years. She had grown accustomed to the
routine she had formed while working at the hospital. It wasn’t a thrilling
job, but it paid the bills. At least she hadn’t ended up like her sister who had
to sell herself to make rent.
She came to a stop in
front of one of the rooms. John MacReady had been in that room for a couple of
weeks now. The entire time she tended to him, he had not spoken a word. That
made him her favorite. She had grown tired of the other patients making disturbing
gestures and saying creepy things behind her back.
Susan grabbed the key
ring that hung at her side and used it to unlock the door to his room. Just
like every other day, John was sitting in the far corner of the room. His eyes
darted to her and then quickly returned to face out the window. Every time she came
in, he let her change the sheets on his bed and leave his meal on a nearby desk
without ever moving a muscle.
She tucked the corners of
his sheets under the mattress and fluffed the pillows before placing them at
the head of the bed. She then returned to her cart and fetched a meal tray from
one of the racks. The gray plastic tray was covered with a piece of plastic
wrap, squishing the bland food underneath it. As she laid it down on the desk,
she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of candy. She placed it next
to his bottle of water as a way of thanking John for not making her job more
difficult than it already was.
Turning to face John
again, she saw that he had made eye contact with her. She gave him a soft smile
and then turned to leave the room. She had many other patients to attend to and
needed to start moving if she wanted to leave work early to catch a movie.
“How much longer do I
have to be here?”
Susan froze in her
tracks. She could hardly believe what she had just heard. This was the first
time John had said a word to her, or to her knowledge anybody in the hospital,
since his arrival.
“What was that, John?”
He remained sitting in
the corner and continued to stare at her.
“I just wanted to know
how much longer I have to stay here. I don’t like it, and I really want to go
home.”
As strange as it was, Susan
had never heard a patient ask her about leaving. She was used to them making
obscene comments and graphic suggestions, but this was unexpected. 
“I really don’t know,
John. If you want, I can ask your doctor how long you need to stay here. Does
that sound good to you?”
John nodded his head and
then turned to face back out the window. Without offering another word, Susan
quickly turned on her heels and walked out of the room. She locked the door back, quickly
grabbed her cart and walked in the direction of Doctor Carpenter’s office. She
didn’t stop at any other room that was on her schedule.
When she reached his
office, she knocked on the door quickly. She heard movement inside, and soon
enough, the door opened to reveal a thin and aging man. He was holding a book
in one of his hands, the cover closed with one of his fingers in between the
pages he had been reading to mark his place.
“Did one of them try to
touch you again?”
Susan shook her head and
pointed down the hallway in the direction of John’s room.
“It was John. He… spoke
to me.”
Doctor Carpenter’s eyes
went wide, and he dropped the book he was reading on the floor.
“He actually spoke to
someone?”
He looked around the
hallway to see if anyone else was within hearing distance. After a moment he
motioned for her to step into his office.
“Get in here. Now.”
Susan did as she was
told, quickly entering his office. Doctor Carpenter shut the door and locked it
behind her. He walked over to his desk that was covered in different papers. On
the few rare occasions that she had been in his office, Doctor Carpenter’s desk
had been completely clean. She found it odd that he would let his workspace
fall into such a state of disarray.
“What did he say to you?
It’s an absolute miracle that he said anything to anyone.”
“He wants to know when he
can leave.”
Doctor Carpenter froze midway
through shuffling a stack of papers. He gave Susan a puzzled look, not really
knowing what to say at first.
“He wants to go home?”
“Yes, sir. He says he
doesn’t like it here and that he just wants to go home.” 
Doctor Carpenter stood up
and let out a big sigh.
“Well, this is great. It’s
the first time he’s spoken a word since he’s been here, and he doesn’t remember
a bit of what he’s done. He’s acting like he’s here for some unknown reason and
that he can return home and life will be normal.”
“Doctor, why exactly is
John here? He’s the only patient I’ve seen come into this hospital where I
wasn’t allowed to see his records. What is it that you’re not telling me?”
The man didn’t say a
word. He only motioned for Susan to take a seat in the chair in front of his
desk. She did so and waited patiently for him to begin.
“John is here because he
was a member of an expedition team in the Antarctic. Something happened, and he,
along with two others, had to be rescued from a radar station miles from their
camp. When the rescue team found them, John had been tied up and kept in a
closet. The other two that were rescued told me that he had tried to kill them.
I first approached this as being a case of Cabin Fever. Granted, that would
make this the most severe case I’ve seen, but I really have nothing else to
call his condition.”
Doctor Carpenter reached
for a binder on his desk, picking it up and handing it to Susan. She took it
and opened it to begin reading. As she looked over the first couple of pages,
Doctor Carpenter leaned against his desk and remained silent. After a few
minutes, Susan looked at him with a questioning look on her face.
“It’s his journal… Where
did you get this?”
“Those pages were taken
from his laptop. One of the two people who were rescued along with him told us
that he had been updating it while they were there. I had a feeling that it
would contain some information as to what happened at that camp, but I wasn’t
expecting what I read.”
Susan flipped around more,
looking over the pages for any detail that might stand out to her.
“What did you read in
here that was so shocking?”
Doctor Carpenter hesitated
at first, not wanting to tell her the truth. He soon gave up and grabbed a folder
off his desk. The front had writing on it, but it looked rushed and illegible. 
“I’m just warning you
that whatever pictures are in that folder are extremely graphic.”
After a short pause, Susan
opened the folder and immediately placed a hand over her mouth to stop a gasp
from escaping. One by one, she flipped through the images. A few times, she had
to stop herself from vomiting on the floor of the office.
“Where the hell did you
find these pictures?”
“They were given to me by
the rescue team that returned to the base camp. Anyone who had been left there was
found dead in the snow outside. When I first read John’s journal, I didn’t want
to believe anything that he wrote. He talked about something they called The Shape.
According to his writing, it’s a physical manifestation of a person’s
wrongdoings. This thing tormented them there, driving some of them to suicide
and complete madness.”
“When I finished reading
his journal, I thought that it was nothing more than the senseless ramblings of
a madman. After looking over those pictures, I’m starting to think that what he
was writing may have some truth to it. Those people out in the snow were killed
by some nonhuman force. One of them was torn in half as if his legs and arms had
been tied to two trucks and ripped apart. Another one had his skull crushed in.
The rest were found at different distances away from the camp. If John’s story
holds true, then I theorize that these people escaped the camp while The Shape
attacked others. Although they failed to survive, it sounds to me like freezing
to death isn’t nearly as bad as the way others perished.”
Doctor Carpenter paused.
He stared out the window to his office, watching the leaves fall. After a
moment of the two of them sitting in silence, he stood up and walked over to
the door. Unlocking and opening it, he motioned for Susan to follow him
outside. The two of them exited his office and walked down the hallway. As they
walked, Susan glanced in the small windows of passing doors. Sometimes there
would be a face watching them from the other side and glass, and sometimes
there was nothing.
The two of them reached
the door to John’s room. Doctor Carpenter looked inside, studying the man he
had been getting to know all too well over the past couple of weeks. 
“Whether or not the
entries in his journal are true, I have pity for that man. One part of me is
saying that he made it all up. The other part says that he experienced
something that no person should ever have to go through.”
As the two of them
observed John sitting in his corner, Susan noticed that he was muttering
something. She was unable to hear him through the door and pulled the keys from
her waist to unlock it. She turned the key and swung the door open. The two of
them slowly stepped into the room, making sure not to startle him. Doctor
Carpenter stepped closer to John, unable to hear what he was muttering from a
distance.
“Susan told me that you
said something to her, John. Would you like to share that with me?”
John stopped moving his
lips and immediately turned to face Doctor Carpenter. At first, the man remained
silent, but he soon began to move his lips once more. Whatever he was muttering,
it was at such a low volume that none of them were able to hear it.
“You’re going to have to
speak up for me John. Will you please do that for me? Remember that I’m here to
help you.”
Doctor Carpenter pressed
a button on the digital recorder in his pocket. He was about to make a
breakthrough with the most unique patient he had ever seen and wanted to
document every moment of it. He watched as John stumbled over his words for a
second, and finally corrected himself.
“Can you please close the
door?”
This was not what Doctor
Carpenter had been expecting, but he wasn’t going to complain. Every word out
of his mouth was a step towards progress.
“Sure, I don’t see why
not. Is it letting in a draft?”
John lifted a trembling
hand and pointed towards the open doorway. 
“The Shape is standing
outside. It’s best that you don’t let it in.”
Category:Beings
Category:Diary/Journal
Category:Mental Illness
Category:Longpasta