Tower in the Mountains

Steam danced around the surface of the hot dark liquid residing in Igor's mug. He had placed it upon the heavy wooden table in the center of the room a moment early to let it cool while he stared out through a pair of binoculars, across the cold rocky landscape around him. The large man sat in the top floor of an old tower nearly seventy feet in the air, but he still felt uneasy every time he peered outside.

As it had been for nearly three months now, there was nothing, not even a bird or one of the lean brown rabbits he had been told burrow out in the mountains. Igor turned and hung the binoculars on a large nail that had been pounded into the window frame many years ago. The room contained little else, a few chairs, three other windows, a shelf containing several books, and a long black rifle set into the corner. The old hard wood floor and dated wallpaper the color of a cool autumn afternoon reminded the man of his childhood home, a decade and a thousand miles separated him from its warm smoky embrace now.

He blew the steam off the top of the mug as he raised it to his dry lips, drinking deep he shuddered slightly as the chill was forced from his breast. It would be dark in a few hours when Nico came to resupply him with a hot meal and a briefing from the front. News from town and a full belly always put his nerves to rest, the plague had yet to show its ugly head this far north.

Igor sat in one of the rickety chairs, causing it to produce a loud creek. He stuck a meaty hand into one of the chest pockets of his heavy coat, and fumbling for a moment drew out a small plastic bag. He picked a small green ball out of the bag and set it into his mouth softly, poking at it with his tongue as the sweet taste of sugar and melon began radiating out. He sighed as he leaned back and rubbed his eyes and cheeks, letting his hands slap down into his lap a moment later.

After a chapter from one of the miscellaneous books, a tale of when they rode horses across the deserts in a far away land, Igor rose off the chair and returned to the window. He saw more of nothing as he swept his vision back and forth across the rocky hills that surrounded him, repeating this several more times as to watch out each window. The south window, the one above the hatch that led down to the next floor, did not require the use of the binoculars. A face of rock that started no more than fifty feet behind the tower rose up into the sky like a black impenetrable wall.

The road that took Nico back and forth to town once a week sat along the base of the wall, vanishing a mile away where the land began to plunge back down to meet the level of the sea. He glanced at the small garage the road terminated into, a single stall that contained tools, gear, a motorbike he was to use to get himself back if anything were to happen, or if he spotted something of concern. Igor had no need to enter the garage yet and had no desire to make the trip back on that bumpy road through the cold, thin air.

The sun was tucking itself in behind the mountain range to the west now, taking with it the gift of sight. His nerves began to rise once again, twisting and pulling in the back of his mind. This was the hardest part of any day, Igor had yet to spot a living soul, but he had no doubt one day they would come and it would be by the cover of the sheets of dark shadows the night provided.

He let out a loud sigh as he made another round, the candy in his mouth crunching now as he chewed down the last bits of it. Taking full advantage of the last rays of light, he held the binoculars up to his face for a long moment, gazing down into the valley beside him, then up along the round peaks. The magnified lenses found themselves pulled back down into the valley in a sharp jerk, the large mans breath caught in his throat for a moment as he studied a spot he was sure had not been there. He could not tell if it was moving in the dying light, his eyes struggling to focus as the spot began to fade into the all consuming darkness.

The hatch thumped loudly, causing Igor to spin wildly and raise his hands out in front of him. His heart skipped a beat as his wide eyes looked down at the dark void that sat underneath the heavy door, the seconds stretching out to what felt like an eternity.

“I startle you?” Nico questioned, poking his smirking bald head out of the dark.

“Aye, am I glad to see you friend” Igor responded, a smirk growing on his own face.

“Beans and hamburger this week, and a pot of stew for us tonight” Nico stated as he pulled himself up into the small room and went for a chair.

He met Igor's eyes as he did, a concerning look spreading now as he examined his friend’s wide eyes and pale skin, the beads of sweat forming near his hairline. There was something wrong he could tell, and there was only one thing that could be wrong in this place, only one horrible thing that could have happened.

“When did you see it?” Nico asked quickly.

“As you opened the hatch” Igor answered, retrieving the rifle from the corner.

“No, we go now, grab your things, we are going back” Nico said frantically.

The scream came a moment later, unnaturally loud and shrill like a woman being nailed to a cross, cutting off whatever Igor was about to say in response. The two men looked to each other, locking eyes for a moment before glancing down at the open hatch. Before they had the chance to start their decent another scream sounded, and another after that, until there were dozens from every direction. A howling echo that bounced off the rocky earth before running down the valley like a landslide.

Igor pulled the heavy steel bolt back on the rifle and drove a long brass shell into the chamber while Nico slammed the hatch down and tipped the shelf over on it. The two men shared a handshake before taking seats around the table, dishing out bowls of stew and filling themselves to the symphony of screams that had began rattling the very tower they sat in.