Walter let out an extended sigh as he trekked up the slight incline. He watched as his breath was as visible as a fully active chimney on a cold night. It was an appropriate metaphor as he walked through soft powdery snow that was up to his knees. After a few more minutes, he reached a grouping of trees. Even in the thick of the trees, Walter still felt a heavy layer of snow. While it was no longer up to his knees, it was still up to his calves. With the continuous steady incline, it made a relatively easy walk into somewhat of an exercise. After about fifteen minutes, Walter let out another sigh as he finally broke the tree line. In front of him stood a tall watchtower positioned on a clearing atop of a hill. There were still trees, but nowhere near as numerous as the ring he had just spent twenty minutes slogging through. “Finally,” Walter said and smiled.
With one good inhale, Walter ran towards the tower. He stopped at the base of the ladder before rubbing his gloves together to remove the layer of frost. Even with the gloves, Walter felt the cold pierce through them as he grabbed the ladder. As he climbed, Walter paused halfway up to look at the scenery. From his hilltop position, the entire trail was beautiful. Normally, it would be a verdant green, but today, it was a nice bright white. There was a different energy that coated the trails during winter. While it was nice and lively during summer, the trail always felt so calm and serene in the winter. Walter loved the change of pace as he finally reached the top of the tower. He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a sizable loop full of keys. After a bit of sifting, he found the appropriate one and opened the door. As he let himself in, Walter sighed with relief as he felt the warmth. It was still cold, but it was definitely warmer than outside. Walter dropped his duffle bag and walked to the opposite corner of the tower and out another door. He was once again greeted by the cold as he leaned over the railing and took the view in once more. This time, it was for a shorter period as he walked towards a tiny generator by the corner. He flicked a few switches on it before tugging on the ignition. Within seconds, the thing was buzzing, and he saw the windows to his tower fog up for a moment. It put a smile on Walter’s face as he made his way back in.
As he closed the door behind him, Walter finally noticed the small pile of presents on his radio desk. He wasn’t surprised that he didn’t initially see them since there were no more than half a dozen and none were bigger than a globe. In fact, Walter believed that one of the presents probably was a globe. He chuckled before sitting down at the desk and flicking his radio on. “This is Tower Five. Does anyone copy?” Walter said over the comms.
“Hey, Walter, this is Basepoint,” a voice replied. “I hope you saw the presents we left you.”
“I did, Mike. How are you guys doing down there?” said Walter.
“We’re doing fine. We’re just finishing up some last-minute documents and we’ll be off,” said Mike. He took a long pause, the voices of the others bleeding through occasionally in the dead air before he spoke again. “Listen, Walt. You don’t have to do this. We have the all clear to shut the trail. Come with us. You can have a proper Christmas at my place.”
“I’m fine, Mike,” said Walter as he leaned back on his chair. “There are a lot of people on this trail having a lonely Christmas too. What kind of guy would I be if I wasn’t here for them. Besides, with all of them here, I’m not really lonely!”
“Walt…” Mike sighed as he spoke. “You’re always so selfless. Are you sure you don’t want one of us to stay with you?”
“Watchtower Five has a view of the whole trail and with how little people are here, it’s all we really need for emergencies. I’m fine! Honestly!”
“But… Walt…”
“Mike, I’ll be fine. Trust me. Go enjoy yourselves,” said Walter. He leaned back again and looked at the Calendar on the wall with the date saying the twenty-fourth. “The twenty-sixth will be here before you and I know it and you and the crew can show me all the appreciation you want. Deal?”
There was a long pause over the comms again before a crackle broke the silence. “Deal. Stay warm, alright, Walt?”
“You got it,” said Walter as he flicked his mic off. He stood up and walked to the edge of the closest wall, looking out the window and over the trail. Walter checked his watch before looking at the calendar again. “5pm… forty-six more hours and I’m home free.”
The next few hours passed like a blur. Walter spent them looking over the old snippets attached to the plywood that formed a makeshift barrier and blocked the window on the wall where his bed was. Throughout this period, he had opened his presents despite it being short of Christmas. To no surprise, the presents were what he expected. He got some gift cards, a mug, and as he predicted, a snow globe. He thought it a fitting gift considering the season. After a bit more reading, Walter reached into his cooler and filled his new mug with milk. He put it on top of the mug heater and pulled out a packet of hot chocolate before turning on the radio and nestling in his twin. “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all you listeners! This is Danny Donahew on 99.7 FM here to provide you music! I know most of you are with your families, but for those of you unfortunate enough to be working, this next block of tunes is for you! Now, to the music!”
By the time Danny had finished, Walter was already pouring his chocolate into the milk and stirring it. A few minutes passed before he blew over the mug and took a small sip. He let out an audible satisfied sigh before walking back to his bed and reaching into his duffle bag to pull out a book. Walter took occasional sips of his hot chocolate and lost track of time until his mug was finally empty. When he stood up to make more, he took a quick glance at his watch and noticed that there was creaking going on outside of his tower. It seemed the weather had really picked up while he was engrossed in his book. Walter once again walked up to the closest wall with a window and looked out to the trail. Many of the lights were looking dim with the snow blowing in. “Hey there folks!” Danny said on the radio catching Walter’s attention. “I hear that the weather’s getting pretty rough, so I advise you stay indoors tonight! For those of you out on the trail, I’d do my best to find a safe haven to set up camp. I love nature as much as the next guy, but you guys are crazy if you wanna sleep out there! And with that tidbit, let’s get back to the music!”
“You got that right,” Walter said as he looked out the window. He walked around each wall of the tower to get a full circular view of the trail. He wished the wall where his bed was positioned wasn’t completely covered in plywood. As it was now, a quarter of the trail was not viewable without stepping out into the harsh cold. Walter approached the wall to see if he could move the plywood. To his surprise, one of the pieces came right off, giving him access to the window behind. Walter carefully positioned the wood on the floor as to not knock down any of the snippets attached to it. He looked out the window and wondered why he cared about the view since it was no different from the rest of the windows. All it confirmed to Walter was that anyone not camping at a designated safe haven was insane. Suddenly, Walter jumped as his radio crackled and cut out the music. “H-Hello? Hello?! Fuck, is this frequency working? Can anyone hear me?”
Walter rushed to his mic and flicked it on. “Yes! This is Tower Five! I copy!”
“Oh, thank god!” said the voice. “Listen, the snow threw me and my girlfriend off the trail! We’re totally lost! Could you help us find out bearings?”
“Um…” Walter stalled as he ran to grab one of the trail maps. He rolled it out on his desk and started looking over it. “Okay! I have a map here. What was the last landmark you saw?”
“Well, it looked like this big rock. It was standing straight up like a pillar and had two other rocks supporting it. It kind of looked like a dick, honestly!” said the voice.
Walter held back a chuckle as he knew exactly what he was talking about. “Monument Rock,” said Walter. He had heard that description of the natural formation more than a handful of times. “How long ago was that?”
“Uh… maybe fifteen minutes ago?” said the voice.
“Fifteen minutes? Shit… Okay, taking that into account…” Walter traced his fingers on the map. He cursed since there was no real way he could help them. “Listen… until you’re back on a trail I can’t really tell you which way to go unless you have a compass. Do you have that?”
“No, we don’t!”
“How about a phone with an app?”
“Don’t have a compass app either. Plus, I can’t get a signal even if I did!”
“Way to come unprepared…” Walter said under his breath. “Okay, I need you to retrace your steps until you find a clearing or path. Once you do that, I can direct you. I can’t really do much as of right now.”
“Are you fucking serious?! My girl and I can barely see anything out here!” said the voice. “C’mon, man!”
“I’m sorry, but there’s not much I can do! Look, get back on a path and get to an emergency post. They have flare guns. If you fire one, I’ll have an idea of where you’re at and I can get you out of there in no time!”
“Fuck… O-Okay! We’ll do our best! Thanks!”
The radio went silent as Walter leaned back on his chair. “That was way more action than I expected tonight…”
“Fuck! Tower Five! Tower Five?!” the radio sprung back to life.
“Shit!” Walter jumped and almost fell backwards in his chair. “This is Tower Five, what’s wrong?”
“My… My girl… Something got her!” the voice said.
“You lost her in the storm?” said Walter.
“No, man! Something fucking got her! She was right next to me and now she’s not! There’s something fucking out here!”
Walter furrowed his brow. He took in what he had just heard and was unsure how to react. “Okay… so… you think something’s out there?”
“Yeah! For fucking sure!” the voice sounded a bit out of breath. “I’m back on the path! I’ve never ran so fast! Fuck, what do I do?!”
“Just calm down!” said Walter. “There are emergency posts every half mile on the trail. Just walk one way or the other and we can go from there. I’ll get you to a safe haven. They have signal and you can call for help.”
“Okay! I’ll tell you when I’m firing a flare!” said the voice.
“Yeah…” Walter said as he looked out the window. It wasn’t the worst snow storm, but with the layer left behind from yesterday, he could see how it could disorient someone. His thoughts went to what the man was saying. He lost his girlfriend out in the woods. Something got her. He felt a shiver go down his spine at the thought. There were reports of the occasional bear or wolf, but bears would be well into hibernation at this point. A pack of wolves would also be very noticeable if they got that close even in the snow storm. To make it even odder, there was no more than a few minutes between both exchanges. “What are the chances…? Tonight of all nights…” Walter looked back out the window. For several minutes, he looked to the trail before the radio started to buzz.
“I’m here! I’m here! I just opened the case on the post! It’s right fucking behind me!” said the voice.
Walter bolted for his mic and flicked the switch. “Okay! Fire the flare!”
“It’s gonna see me! It’s gonna fucking see me!” said the man. His voice was desperate and cracking.
“Just calm down, it’s probably just a stray animal!” said Walter.
“Stray animal my ass! No stray animal is twelve feet tall on two legs! It’s a fucking monster!”
“What…?”
“I’m firing and forgetting! I’m keeping the comms open. Just tell me where to go!”
“No, wait! You don’t understand how hard it is to…”
“Okay, flare out!” the voice said before comms went dead silent.
There was a dim light streaking through the air as Walter saw the flair on the trail. He quickly grabbed the map and immediately scanned for its position in relation to his tower. “Son of a bitch… he could be running in any direction…”
“Fuck, I’m off the trail again! Fuck!” the voice came back on the radio. “It’s right behind me! Fuck! I don’t wanna die!”
“Calm down!” Walter screamed into the mic. His eyes widened as he heard a fierce growl followed by a screech. Then, there was nothing but silence. Walter backed away from the radio before he noticed another flare streaking through the sky. He froze as he saw where it originated from. It was in the tree line leading to his tower. Walter twitched a bit before taking several deep breaths. He put on his equipment, grabbed his first aid kit, and walked out of the tower. He made his way to the power box at the corner of the railing and opened it. With a flip of the lever, the floodlights turned on and lit the area around his tower. He walked back inside and grabbed the fire axe on the other door. Then, with another deep breath, he opened said door and made his way down the ladder. Walter’s heart was racing with each rung of the ladder he descended. When he made contact with the snow, he looked around before focusing on the direction of the flare. He slogged through the snow once more until he reached the edge of the tree line. To no surprise, it was also where the floodlights began to lose their strength. Walter pulled a flashlight from his pack and shined it into the pines. He swung it back and forth before focusing it on one direction. “Okay… okay…” Walter repeated.
The first step was the most difficult. Everything in his body told him to turn around, but he continued. The floodlights grew dimmer as he went deeper into the forest. Eventually, they were but a mere flicker as the only source of light he had came from his flashlight. At this point, the storm had died down. There was no longer snow inundating him at every moment. Despite this, Walter was unsure if he found the sudden deathly silence any more comforting. He was unnerved when the silence was broken by a faint sound. Listening more intently, Walter realized that it was the static from a radio. He pointed his flashlight in the general direction of the noise before following it. It eventually led him to a horrific sight that made him rear back. He struggled to remove his scarf before leaning over and vomiting. As he tried to compose himself, he leaned back down again and vomited some more. Walter looked towards a pine stained red. On one of the branches, a man was dangling by his entrails, the flare gun still in his hands. “Holy fuck…”
Any monologue Walter might have started was stopped as he heard a noise from behind. He shined his flashlight around to the sight of nothing. There was only another pine that he found odd. It took Walter a bit to realize that what made it odd was the absence of white as if something shook the snow off. As he came to this realization, the pine rustled as a dark figure appeared from behind it. Walter decided against a thorough inspection and ran for his tower. The noises behind him grew louder as whatever it was stomped after him. A woman’s body flew and splattered on a tree in front of him, making grotesque bone breaking noises as blood and guts profusely spilled out of her. Walter stumbled back and screamed, only getting up as fast as he did out of realization that the creature behind him probably had similar plans for him. He unhooked his backpack and dropped his flashlight at the first sign of the flood lights.
When he broke the tree line, he ran to the base of his tower and faced the evergreens. There was no sign of anything chasing him. The trees did not rustle, and the ground did not shake. Walter held the axe firmly and whipped back and forth, looking around at all the trees. A creature that big wouldn’t simply disappear. Then, he saw a massive figure behind a section of the trees. It was pacing back and forth both on fours and on twos. Any other part that could be distinguished was obscured by the trees. In fact, it was as if it had its own localized darkness obscuring it. Walter noticed that whatever it was, it did it’s best to stay out of direct contact from the floodlights. As of this moment, Walter assumed that he was safe. He looked at the creature for a long and unknown amount of time before he felt an ounce of relief. His grip loosened on the axe as he finally decided to make his way towards his tower. Looking at his watch, it was a little after 1am. “Merry Christmas, Walter. Here’s a fucking monster to keep you company.”
As he made the joke to keep himself somewhat composed, a loud noise shook Walter and almost made him let go of the ladder. It sounded like wood being snapped. Suddenly and only for a moment, Walter heard a faint whistling sound followed by a loud and furious clang. He looked up and noticed there was now a pine branch piecing through the power box. The floodlights began to flicker before going out. Walter’s mouth opened a little as he felt his heart skip a beat. Loud thumping followed by a steady growl echoed through his ears as he looked behind him to see the creature rushing his tower. The sight sent enough adrenaline through Walter that he climbed the rest of the ladder with little problem. He got inside his tower and locked both doors just as a loud thump shook the entire structure. He looked out to see a twelve-foot behemoth standing right outside of the window. Its massive hand pressed against the glass before disappearing. Luckily for Walter, the lights inside the tower were activated through a separate power box that was positioned right next to the radio on his desk. Walter hurried to his duffle bag and pulled out an old revolver, loading it and never looking away from the figure pacing back and forth outside. When he finished, Walter looked at his watch just as he felt the heater go out. He looked out the window to see the creature chuck the generator off the tower. The change in temperature coated the window in fog again and obscured the beast. Before the fog even disappeared, the snow storm started anew and kept the windows frosty.
Even after everything, Walter still couldn’t get a good look at whatever it was. The room grew cold and he pulled his blanket off his bed to keep him warm. It didn’t really work, but he felt better with it on. The cold caused the light to dim a little and Walter could hear the creature outside getting restless. Some of the windows cracked, but it never hazarded to try and break in. Walter sighed as he sat on his bed in the dimly lit room. With how big the creature was and with how it paced outside so aggressively, the tower was getting in worse shape by the minute. The lights flickered off for a second, causing the creature to break one of the windows before it reared back as they flickered back on. Walter chuckled and cocked his revolver as the cold invaded the room and sapped away whatever warmth he had left. “Some Christmas…” he said as the lights flickered once more before going out permanently.
