Page 100 of The Heart of Winter

When Sariel noticed me staring at the toiletry bag, he suddenly remembered something. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"No signal," he said in a disappointed tone.

"That’s not surprising," I muttered. "Honestly, I doubt we landed in Japan. If we were only a few hours’ flight away from Japan, then, as far as my geography knowledge goes, we could be somewhere over the Russian part of the Aleutians, Kamchatka, or the Kuril Islands."

Sariel’s expression told me that he wasn't very knowledgeable about those regions.

"Geography was never my strong suit," he admitted.

"The Kuril Islands are to the north of Japan. The Aleutians are even farther to the north," I said with a bit of sarcasm. "Kamchatka is somewhere in between."

"So, everything’s to the north, a cold place, that’s what you’re telling me?" he asked.

"Exactly," I replied. "The real question is, how cold is it? If we’re on the Aleutians, we’re screwed. Kamchatka is a peninsula, but not much better. My only hope is that we’re on the Kurils, even if it’s the northern part. The temperature may be more bearable and less likely to fluctuate that much between night and day."

"But that would mean we’re on an island," he said, "and there’s no way to walk to any towns…"

I stared at Sariel for a moment.

"Even if we were on Kamchatka, I doubt we’d find any towns. You know that since the Plague, not all regions have been repopulated. People only live in the largest former settlements. So I don’t think it would matter anyway, no one would be out there. Only plenty of bears. We’d still have to sit tight and hope for rescue teams."

Sariel wrapped himself tighter in the blanket. "Bears, huh? So, you’re saying we should just sit here and wait?"

"For now. The next part of the plan should be scouting. I’ll try to go take a look around, okay? The fog is blocking a lot."

Sariel didn’t seem to like that idea, but I could tell he was trying to hold back his irrational fear.

"I’m not going far. I’ll be back soon," I reassured him.

I wrapped myself in the blankets, gave him a comforting smile, and began walking off in… some random direction.

After a few yards, I came to the conclusion that I should try walking down the slope. It was still a grassy, snowy meadow, rocky in places, with some clusters of shrubs and what looked like dried, brown ferns. I kept following the downward slope.

Soon, I heard it—the sound of the sea!

After a few more minutes of walking, the meadow turned into something like marshy, rocky terrain.

Then, unexpectedly, I emerged from the fog and found myself on a beach. In front of me stretched the sea. Gray waves crashed against a rocky shore made of gravelly, ashen sand, nothing else.

For a few seconds, I stood there in a strange state of disappointment. But what had I expected? It was just a rocky beach, forming a slight curve, like a bay, closed off by a small peninsula on one side and a tall cliff on the other. The water stretched as far as I could see.

The sun was probably rising on the horizon, because it was getting brighter, and the coastline was slowly emerging from the grayness. With the increasing light, I began to see more and more.

The fog behind me was slowly clearing, revealing undulating hills, cliffs, rocky grasslands, and areas tinged with scattered patches of snow. I had liked geography as a kid, enjoyed running my finger along a map and discovering new regions. But I didn’t have enough knowledge to recognize exactly where we were.

I didn’t even know if it was an island or if we were still on land, but some gut feeling told me we were definitely on an island.

The wind was cold and damp, smelling of the open sea.

Wrapped in blankets, I started heading back. What was I supposed to tell Sariel? That I reached a coastline where there was nothing but rocks and water?

It didn’t look good.

Then, I noticed something: a stream was flowing into the ocean nearby. That caught my attention, not just because it could be a potential source of fresh water, but because I had the odd impression that, in some places, there was steam rising from the surface.

I moved closer to the edge of the stream. The water seemed clear, but of course, I knew that drinking it without boiling it could lead to poisoning. I knelt down, dipped my hand into the water, and a shout of joy escaped my lips. It was warm!

"Hot springs!" I exclaimed to myself.

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