The quiet of the twilight was pierced by a howl. It wasn’t one of the predators he knew and it increased his desire to find shelter before true night fell. The chill was already seeping into his joints. He needed to get out of the cold before he froze entirely.

The howl came again and he stopped. Though it had been years since he’d last heard it, the second cry brought recognition. He shuffled over a slush-covered car towards the noise. Someone had tried to create an emergency haven in a circle of dead cars and grey ice. It broke the wind but without a roof their was no way to warm the area with fire. And it did nothing for predators.

To the right, the remains of a body were frozen in the snow. The brackish slush around the body showed the gore and violence of the man’s last moments. He stopped beyond the body and looked into the closest car. By some miracle it had survived the After with all the doors and windows intact.

He opened a door, yanking it hard to break the hold of the cold. The man had probably died trying to reach the car. In the back seat, a dead woman held a squirming bundle. It was well wrapped and it took a moment for him to pull the cloth aside enough to reveal a child.

He covered the face back up and looked for anything useful in the car. A bag next to the woman and child had basic supplies but not enough to survive long. The man had probably gone scavenging, but there was nothing left in the areas around here. He’d passed this way enough times to know.

It was hard enough to survive on your own in this world, but there was little hope for the infant. Even with proper care few children survived the fragile stages into adolescents. He closed the car door and turned his back to it, closing his eyes. The human race deserved to die out. They’d had plenty of chances to change, but they never learned. The world of snow and ice was their doing.

And yet, the infant was innocent of that.

He turned back to the car, grabbed the backpack, and slung it over his shoulder. He took the squirming bundle as gently as he could, then slammed the car door behind him. He didn’t know if the baby would have any better luck with him or not, but he couldn’t just leave it. The man and woman had tried. He would honor that at least.

He tucked the infant into his arms and began the trek to his favorite hideaway in the area. He was days away from his home base, but he needed supplies. Doubly so if the child survived the night.