The blizzard has ended by the start of the next day though very dark. The snow was a foot high since most of the trees became extinct due to the cold the trees have no become only evergreens. The animals have evolved for more fat and fur, and the cabin’s windows though had gunshots still was warm and let in starry morning.
Anya blinked her eyes open to see the man missing from the bed. She put on her goggles back on and worried that Akakios might end her life she waits for his return to shoot him. Then she hears footsteps and dragging, she shoots at the door and through it.
“Hey, it’s me! Why are you shoot at me?”
“Because you left I didn’t know where you went! You might’ve killed me for Christ sake!” She shot again. “I’ve got a ton of bullets so speak up
“I just went hunting some saber deer!”
“Show the deer through the window!”
“Okay, jeez” a deer with its neck broke was being held by the antlers and its mouth and tongue were open. Half of its saber teeth were broken
“Hey, I’m a deer. Huuuueeeehhhhuu” Akakios laughed. Anya didn’t think it was funny. She shot the deer in the head leaving a message.
“Aww, I guess she didn’t like you bud. Time for the skin to come off.” The sound of dragging continued. Anya stepped outside to see the searing brightness of light against the snow. She turned the dimmer switch on the side of her goggles.
“Hey, you’re doing it wrong.” Anya critiqued
“No, I’m not.”
“Watch out all the guts are going to spill out.”
“Since when are you the authority on deer.”
“Since forever, give me the knife.”
“Who said I was sharing this deer.”
“I did. Now give me the knife.” He reluctantly hands her the knife.
He walks over to a pile of neatly stacked wood and puts them into a pile shape. He walks over to the nearby trees and pulls out a branch, and repeats several times on different trees until there is a full pile in his arms. He makes the branches stand up in a tent like order. He heads back inside.
Anya skins the deer elegantly. A Mozart with a knife she separates the skin, intestines, hooves, any other not needed organs, and head. Like a ballet dancer, she separates the meat into different chunks. By this time Akakios came back with the hide sac and lit the pile of wood on the fire. He then made a spit for them to cook the meat with.
“There we go. So the meat is about to be cooked.”
“Yeah.”
“How comfortable was the corner?”
“The rags I have on act like a mattress.”
“Oh, what are those goggles about? Why didn’t you wear them during the fight?”
“I forgot where I put them. I made them myself, it’s just these lenses that I push down to change the view. The only hard part was the night and thermal vision part.”
“Cool, do you have a second one?”
‘No…” silence fills the nearby air “What’s a soldier?”
“A person affiliated with a group of people that fights for them and in return the groups gives him and and his family food/money/shelter.”
“Food is ready, I take this piece.” She grabs the stick and break it in two. The two slabs of meat separated. She tosses the slightly less cooked one to Akakios. He catches it but not before he fumbles it in his hand.
“So, what’s a drifter.”
“It was a person that would go from town to town and do odd jobs like hunt 3 clawed squirrels, hit jobs. Then the drifters became slightly organized and became the sort of protectors of the small communities. Then they became greedy, that’s when I left. Towns still don’t let me in.” The man tried to reach out to her but is interrupted by the crunch of snow. In one movement Anya lifts her revolver in the direction and aims.
“You still have your pistol! Where do you keep it?” The Akakios surprised tried lower her gun but her aim and grip was too strong.
“Calm down it's just a saber-to-” he was interrupted by a gunshot grazing his shoulder.
“You think it was a deer now!”
“Not a deer, not a deer, not a deer!” He runs inside the cabin and screams out “You can take care of him can’t you!”
“The same person that killed a whole gang of drifters with a shitty knife!”
“It’s not that bad!”
“Really!” She shoots again.
“Fine! I’ll get out my gun!” He shuffled around the room until he found a circled star. Under the floorboards there was a double barrel shotgun. Akakios pulled the gun out. Anya was following the the footsteps made by the entity into woods.
“Ánya!”
“Over here follow the steps!” He follows the pairs of footprints east. The words are becoming more and more dense as he runs across the forest.
In the distance there are two figures fighting. The bottom figure kick the top one back. The bottom hesitates before lifting a revolver. The second figure runs while the owner of the revolver drops to the floor. The bottom figure is revealed to be Anya when Akakios reaches the location of the fight.
“Ánya, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I think we should leave soon.” She looked like she seen a demon, her eyes empty.
“Not yet, we have to find the guy.” He picks her up upon his back. “Here hold this.” He gives her the shotgun.
“We have to leave if we kill the guy.”
“As long as you with me no one will hurt you ever.” She blushes. “Ok we’ll kill him and we book this place and go somewhere different maybe up the mountains or go down to the valley.” He started to run in the direction of the second figure.
“Valley, definitely”
“Ok, I think you might of got a shot him, the footprints have slowed down and becoming erratic.”
“There he is!” There was a frozen lake in front. Behind it a truly beautiful vision of morning sunlight hitting a large mountain. The man lay back in the middle writhing in pain. Anya drops down from Akakios’ back.
“You want to do it?”
“No...I don’t think I can.”
“It’s okay. I’ll do it.”
“Here.” She gives him back his shotgun. He walks over the aggressor, lifts his shotgun and a loud bang rings through the air. Ring tailed squirrels fall from the trees and scurry away.
“Let’s go.” Anya said with tired eyes.
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