- Bump in the night

I was doing my after work routine, sitting in what would be described as an old Mom and Pop's dinner like they had way back in the 1950's finishing my plate of food. The place did look the part, everything was a throwback to that era, even the paper calendar hanging behind the old style cash register. The only things that wasn't part of the 50's decor was the actual register under the old fashion one, the wall display that was on a news network, and the calendar itself which displayed December 223 AE on it.

“So, how was it?"

I looked up from my plate to see an older woman smiling at me from the other side of the counter that I was sitting at.

“Delicious as always Maggie." I say once I finished swallowing what was in my mouth.

“Good." she chuckled “I got a new guy working the grill."

“Oh?" I asked. “What happened to your husband? Is he okay?" I had came to the diner enough to know that Maggie was married to a guy named Clark and had been childhood sweethearts. While both enjoyed cooking, it was usually Clark manning the kitchen with a part time hire lending a hand while Maggie waited on everyone with her trademark smile.

“He's mostly okay," she said calmly. “Came down with the flu. The doctors already checked him out to make sure that it wasn't anything more serious or deadly."

“Such is the way the frontier." I say thinking of the possibilities of stumbling across an unknown virus or something that could prove deadly to unprepared humans. “Well, I'm glad that its just the flu than something else and hope he makes a speedy recovery." Maggie nodded in agreement and after taking my plate away, she came back with her data pad and I inserted my pay card into it and paid my bill, leaving a little more than my usual tip. “My complements to the chef."

Maggie turned towards the builtin window to the kitchen and spoke up louder than normal. “Hey Vin, you hear that? Keep up the good work."

It surprised me slightly when a brown and gray furred Lycan stepped part way out of the kitchen and gave both of us a toothy smile and a thumbs up before disappearing back inside.

I make a little laugh as I lightly spoke. “You do know that they do have better hearing than us, right?"

“Of course" She laughed herself before leaning in closer. “Sometimes though I enjoy razzing the 'fresh blood' a little. I got to have my fun too." She says in a lower voice than I used.

“Har... Har... Har..." Vin spats from the kitchen, earning another laugh from us.

“Well, I suppose." I say as I grab the few things of mine around me.

“Say Calvin," My head perk up in hearing my name. “When are you going to find someone?"

If I had just taken a drink, Maggie might have been wearing the liquids or I would have had to choke the liquid down quite hard when she ask. “What do you mean?"

“I mean," She says looking at me like any mother looking at their adult child. “When are you going to find someone? I've known you for the last 18 months since you've started coming here and I have yet to see you with anyone."

“Well..." Being put on the spot like this always causes my mind to blank out. More than a few arguments I had lost was because I froze to the silent anxiety attack I had. At least Maggie let me get some of my wits back as she crossed her arms in front of her. “It... never came up before." I wasn't fully lying as I did had a few crushes in the past, but I never acted on them as I did see them with other people and I didn't want to ruin anything for anyone. “Besides, who would want to date me? I'm almost a workaholic and a dork. I don't think I'm that good looking either."

“I think you're too hard on yourself." Maggie sighed and shook her head. I could almost see my own mother doing the same thing next to her.

“Maybe." I say as I put my heavy jacket on. “Who knows, maybe Santa Clause will come all the way from Earth to Severa to deliver a few presents if I behave for the rest of the month." I tap the bobble head of the Christmas decoration of the named character near us.

Maggie laughed and shook her head. “Just be careful heading home, the blizzards here are a little worse than they are on Earth."

I nodded as I approached the old fashion swing door. “I will Maggie, Happy Holidays."

“Merry Christmas Calvin."

I open the door and quickly left the sanctuary of the warm brightly decorated diner for the dark cold outside. From what I have gathered in my time here, Severa only had two actual seasons; the summer growing months that lasted for eight of Earth's months and changing over to the five or six cold winter months. There was almost no transition between the two seasons, when winter hits, you barely had two week to prepare for it. Once it comes, its almost a constant blizzard, leaving visibility to only 50 or so meters in unprotected areas which would leave the original Caushae colonist of Servera basically isolated for their winters due to the limitations of their technology in the blinding snow and never taking any other precautions.

As I start the walk home, I think of what I had been tasked with. My company was one of several that came here to “set up shop" and to provide protection for the settlements. One of the first projects I did was to over see construction of “snow fences." Arriving in the mild summer months I had quietly questioned why build the fencing and why the size of a four story building. Of course, once winter hit, I had my answers. While I did travel to the other locations to supervise the installment of other fences, I was more or less in charge of the fences at this settlement. Surprisingly to me, after the winter is done, there will be a lot of maintenance needed to prep each one for the next time the storms hit.

Lost in thought, I start to walk pass the alleyway that leads behind the building where the diner is when a commotion draws my attention towards the darkness. I barely had time to register the shouting in the alien dialect before a figure wrapped in tattered rags plowed right into me, knocking the two of us onto the ground. I had instinctively grabbed the mystery figure as we fell, making me take most of the punishment of the fall and knocking the wind out of me. Thankfully the body was light when it fell on top of me. Glancing at the figure, I could see two emerald eyes looking back at me.

“Hey," I said lightly, “What's the rush?"

I watched them turn back towards the alleyway with fear in their eyes as soon scrambling to get off of me and ran as I heard heavy feet crunch the snow underneath. I watched the figure dart off into another ally as a string of alien curses followed after them.

“Bitca!" I recognize the Lycan's language just as a brown and gray Vin appears out of the shadows of the alleyway as he starts to throw more curses at the fleeing figure before ending with a word that I don't recognize “Kruut'ir!"

He stands there, making sure that the figure was gone before he took notice of me. “Ailaes..." He apologizes as he reached an arm out to help me up. “You hurt?"

“Only my pride." I say as I take his arm and get pulled up.

Vin nods as I brush the snow off. “Nice night." he says as he walks back into the alleyway.

“Good Night" I say after the wolfish tail that vanished in the shadows. I started to continue my walk home, not realizing that I was following the figure that bumped into me a few moments ago. My apartment was about a half mile or so from the diner, but I didn't mind as I was doing a lot of sitting recently with nothing more than paperwork so I didn't mind the walk.

I was about 2 blocks away when another noise dragged me out of my thoughts again. It was the faintest of sneezes, followed by a sniffle that stopped me in my tracks. Again, I found myself by a dark alleyway, though this time no one came running out. I considered my options, on the one hand, I could just continue on like I didn't hear anything, or I could investigate what sneezed. No matter which I choose, I am thankful that despite the poverty than was prevalent after the war, crime in the settlements were low. I closed my eyes as I made my decision and stepped into the shadows of the alley.

It took a few blinks as my eyes adjusted to the lack of lighting, but I couldn't help but to be reminded of some of the old shows from the start of the Millennium. Even after 300 years of advancements and 40 light-years from Earth, garbage hoppers, trash bags, and other miscellaneous junk littered the ground. After having a quick thought, I pulled out my pen light from my pocket and started to shine the powerful little light into the darkness. Even with the protection of the snow fences, everything still had a coating of snow on everything. As thick as some of the snow was, I might never of noticed the person hidden in the alley if they wouldn't of moved. I moved closer and they pulled away from me, scrunching into a corner trying to make themselves as small as possible.

“Hey..." I say in a low and soothing voice that I can manage as I squat down to eye level. “Are you okay? What are you doing out here?" From my knowledge, I remembered reading that when Humans took full possession over the planet from the Caushae, they had enacted programs and development projects to help the settlement with their war refugees. It was almost unheard of to find someone still living on the street, especially during the winter months. But the figure just stared at me as I attempted to keep the light off of her. Last thing I wanted or needed was getting mauled by a homeless person that I just wanted to help.

“Look," I say softly as I hold out my hand to her, “I just want to help. Will you let me?"

It was hard to say what was going through their mind as I sat there holding out my hand to them, but those green eyes stared back at me from under that makeshift hood. I could still see the fear and uncertainty in them, but the shuffling plastic of the tarp they had wrapped themselves told me what was happening. A dainty fur covered hand reached beyond the confines of the snow covered tarp and took my hand. The hand felt cold to the touch, something that I wasn't accustom to when dealing with any of the furry aliens. Usually, their paws was warm to the touch, even in this 10 degree weather. They must have been out in this cold for a while.

I lightly pulled on the arm as I stood up, pulling the figure up and of the corner that they were in. The tarp slid off their shoulders leaving them only in the tattered rags that even looked thread bare in the darkness. The shadows that shown through the rags gave them a feminine figure, so I would rightly guess that this person was female.

I momentarily took my hand away from her shivering form, as despite the added protections of the buildings and the snow fences around the settlement, the wind and snow was still a factor and an ever reminder that it was winter. I took off my thick winter jacket which she just blankly stared at me as I draped it across her shoulders and pulled the jacket closed around her. Luckily I was still partially dressed from work, wearing my orange zip-up work hoodie I had brought with me from Earth because of my dislike of pullover sweaters, but the wind still cut through the warm material like a knife. I put my arm around her and guided her out of the alley and back into the main road. I had thought on what my options where to get her out of the cold. Of the two options I had thought of, I escorted her to the closest one. We were quiet as we retraced our steps with me holding on to her to try and warm her up as much as keeping myself warm.