Without having much of a choice, Allison was forced to quickly accept the fact that she wouldn't be seeing Portland that night, and all of her plans for the rest of the night had been shot to hell. She supposed that if she had to be stuck in the middle of the woods with a total stranger, he at least seemed friendly and harmless enough. Pushing every horror movie cliché from her mind, the dark-haired doctor put her faith in this man, and hoped that by morning, things would be back on schedule. As it was, she had given herself the weekend to get to Oregon, and Monday was only a day away when she was supposed to be at the hospital for the beginning of her residency program. Missing it would render the last ten years of her life completely useless, and Allison had worked too hard to let all of it go to waste. She was determined to get to the city tomorrow by any means—even if that meant a long hike.

“Where are you from?” she asked curiously as she walked beside him toward the cabin. Allison didn't think that she had ever heard a name that complicated before, although she could tell that he wasn't American. It was sort of funny, she supposed, their accents were so different and their conversation probably would have sounded ridiculous to anyone who was just passing by. 

The cabin was cozy, and Allison was happy to take a look around with assistance from the hurricane lamp. For the space being on the small side, the interior was warm and welcoming, and the couch looked comfortable, a nice place to curl up with a book. The chairs, however, left little to the imagination, and Allison thought that her back hurt from simply looking from them. That could have been from all the driving she had done in the last two days, though, and let the thought slip from her mind.

As the fire roared to life, the room quickly became bathed in a pleasant, orange, glow and Allison warmed her hands by the flames after perching herself on the edge of the couch. The bearded man seemed pleased with himself, and happy in general to have some company. She supposed that he didn't get many visitors up there in the mountains, and his excitement was rather sweet. Allison found herself smiling, but her expression quickly changed to something of need when he mentioned food. It had been hours since she had eaten, and even then, it had just been a greasy burger from a fast food window. 

“I'm starving,” she admitted, looking thankful that he had even offered her anything. “I was going to get something when I got into the city.” Standing from the couch, Allison rubbed her warm palms against her jeans, feeling they were a little too warm from the fire. “Do you need any help?” The least she could do was offer when he was being so accommodating. 

It was easy to forget that something strange was going on when faced with the opportunity for distraction, and safe from the outside world in the sturdy cabin. More than likely, it was better for the two of them to be up in the mountains and away from the chaos of the city in its shadow.