Warning: this story contains explicit orientation play themes.
Ever since the Collapse, things had only gone from bad to worse.
Nate was pretty sure the whole earth trembled that day. Massive fissures rupturing with terrifying violence across the earth's crust in a series of shocks that hit them out of nowhere. By the time they stopped, the damage had been astronomical, so much of the landscape having been shifted out of shape and beyond recognition. Homes, neighbourhoods, towns and whole cities had crumbled and fallen into chasms that hadn't been there yesterday. Roads that you had walked countless times every day of your life and took for granted were now suddenly replaced by a gaping void. In short, it was a catastrophe so vast that as far as he knew nobody had quite bounced back yet. There were rumours that there were a handful of places had escaped unscathed, but most places weren't so lucky and had to some degree been affected by the Collapse.
Nate vividly remembered clocking into his 9-5 desk job when everything went to shit, the same boring tedium he'd grown to despise but had long since resigned himself to. He's hated it, intensely loathed it even, wishing for anything but being stuck sitting there in that creaky chair of his wiling his life away. But since then, he would have given almost anything to have it all back. It might have been boring, but at least it had been safe and familiar. Funny how things changed like that.
Sometimes Nate felt like he was trapped in a bad dream, where he was surely on the precipice of waking up upon realising how absurd this reality was. He'd wake up at his desk after having fallen asleep at his desk hungover from partying too hard, get a stern warning from his boss Pete and a slap on the back from his cubicle neighbour Ryan. It would all be fine if he would be able to just shake himself awake. But so far... no such luck.
Back in the early weeks, Nate could see what was coming. The devastation, fear and hopelessness quickly spiralling out of control with no order to cling to. No government. No rules. No help coming. It became clear that people were heading down a path that he had seen enough in post-apocalyptic films that it was better to take his chances elsewhere. So as soon as he could he gathered some supplies and high-tailed it, leaving the city and making it out to the woods where he'd been ever since. He didn't have a plan per se, but he had enough survival skills from summers spent with his uncle to get by. Sure, there were plenty of nights where he was too hungry, too cold, or both, but he liked to think that on the whole, he was managing.
As it stood, Nate could tell it was early July, but instead of enthusiastic hikers and campers enjoying the scenery it seemed to be just him. Granted, the woods were big enough that dozens of people could roam without crossing paths at any one time. He was thankful for that though, not wanting to run into any unscrupulous travellers that might pose him a problem which there had been plenty of in the past. It sure would be a ballache if he got robbed out here.
Nate let out a heavy sigh just as he made his way to the top of a small rise, stopping for a quick break. He'd been navigating all morning into the late afternoon around a fissure that under normal circumstances would have been less than half an hour to walk across to his destination, that was if the land was still intact. The woods had like almost everywhere been hit, but as far as he could tell was relatively okay, though there was still the occasional few chasms like this one.
A splotch of rain hit his head, making Nate look up.
Up above on the near horizon, angry clouds had been gathering in the sky after what had more or less been a clear day. He needed to find some shelter as soon as possible now though, just last night he'd torn more than one hole in his tent from a stray branch and hadn't gotten around to patching it up yet. Judging by the thunder booming and darkening sky, it was more than a promise of some heavy rainfall to come. Starting back up at a quick trot, Nate made a beeline through the trees, towards the direction of a nearby rocky formation on the hillside. If he was lucky there would be a nice, dry cave to hole up in for the night. Usually, he wouldn't chance it, what with wild animals or possibly the chance of other people but tonight it would have to do.
It was some time before Nate broke out of the treeline, by which more raindrops had started to fall and patter on the back of his hood. He moved even faster now, tracing the rock face with increasing desperation. He did not want to get sick being caught in this storm. He'd gotten ill a while back and without medicine, anyone to care for him or supplies that would gather themselves it was a situation he had no fondness in repeating. Within a few minutes, the light drizzle was rapidly becoming a downpour, cold torrents of rain lashing down at him with increasing fury. Fuck, he was getting soaked to the bone out here.
Nate was beginning to lose hope when out of the corner of his eye there it was, an almost unnoticeable crevice in the rock. He could have very easily walked past this if he was casually passing by at any other time but luckily he'd spotted it in his frantic search. Partially obscured by a hulking dead tree was a gap in the rockface, looking to stretch back an indeterminable distance. He rushed towards it, though as Nate approached the mouth of the cave he did his best to reinstate a measure of caution, not wanting to too eagerly walk into a danger despite his discomfort out in the storm.
He edged his way slowly inside, a footstep at a time. Nate could just about make out now that the cavern was roughly the size of a small classroom. He couldn't see much, the light of the dimming sky threatening to soon leave him in darkness if he didn't get a move on with building a fire. Not to mention his clothes which were thoroughly soaked now, he really could sorely do with the warmth. Yet another risk he had to take, but sitting in his sodden clothes inside of this frigid cave all night didn't sound at all fun. He scrounged around the cave floor quickly and from a overhang outside was able to accumulate just enough dry kindling and logs which he heaped at the centre of the cave floor. Soon, with the help of a matchbox he kept in handy for situations just like this a fire blossomed, a warm and steady glow that began to push back the dank chill.
Without wasting any more time Nate shed his clothes, laying them to the side of the fire to dry and stripping down to nothing but a pair of boxers and a old blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He sat cross-legged by the fire, letting out a contented sigh as he basked in the warmth of the comfortable heat. Now that he was resting the exhaustion of the day finally started to register, a dull ache settling in his bones.
Damn, he was sick of walking.
Nate had always been fit, a semi-regular gym goer kept in shape that since the Collapse had only honed his body, the relentless walking regime and humble diet he subsisted on doing wonders for him. His skin was now also quite tan, the fluorescent office lights swapped for the blazing sun of the great outdoors that bronzed him to a healthy glow. Altogether, combined with his naturally dark swathe of hair that sprouted across his face, down his chest and encompassed his arms and legs he thought he fit comfortably into the rugged mountain man aesthetic. It definitely would have been a hit for some of the guys he'd been seeing back home. Too bad there wasn't anyone to appreciate it now.
