Reece Ran: Winter

8/20/2019 Reece Ran: Winter

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Winter

by

Reece Ran


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Winter / Ran 2

The Winter

December 21, 2049

I went over to shut the gas freezer—and I spotted another dead rabbit in there. I took it

out, then grabbed an old injection needle and puped the carcass full of hot water and soe

huan blood I had on hand for eergenc! transfusions, all fro ! fail!. I didn"t reall! know

wh! I did it, but I figured that ! #ousin $i"s therap! was working. I like to call hi $ibo. It

had indeed caled e down. %ut I guess I figured that it would be even better to shoot

soething with soe heat in its bod!, rather than a cold, hard carcass that just broke into pieces

when the bullets hit it—plus, the snow wouldn"t just let it lie there now.

&fter giving the rabbit a couple inutes to thaw a bit and get softer, I took it to the attic

window and threw it outside as high into the air as I could get it. I raised the rifle and fired a few

ties, but I onl! hit it one tie, and the bullet just nicked it across the back. 'he rabbit

plueted into the snow—and I waited, knowing what would happen with a war bod! full of

blood. With no hesitation, the snow sprung up in giant white tentacles that grabbed the rabbit and

began devouring it. It felt like I was watching soe old horror flick. 'he tentacles wiggled like

wors—each one ridged with ic! fangs along its entire length. 'he tentacles dragged the rabbit

down and out of sight, and I could soon literall! hear the bones of the rabbit cracking and

popping beneath the surface of the snow.

It reinded e how I alwa!s thought of the snow like a large bowl of sugar on the table

for ants to eat—onl! in our winters, the sugar would coe to life, for a hand or tentacle or

soething, and then eat the ant instead of the ant eating it. $ust like that, the rabbit was gone.

Researchers discovered that a particular icrobe in the air was the reason behind the

snow"s sentient nature. 'he icrobe la! dorant in warer cliates, but when the teperature


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dropped to a certain degree, it awakened. It froze into a snowflake and fused with other frozen

icrobes that settled on the surface. Individuall! the!"re harless, but together the! could for

dangerous appendages fro the snow.

'he icrobes relied on heat or heat based eleents to survive. )uans and fire were the

two best options for the icrobes in the winter. %efore World War *, we never knew the!

e+isted. nvironentalists claied centuries of pollution, global waring, and the depletion of

the -one caused the icrobes to awaken and seek out alternative sources for sustenance.

&fter the rabbit was toast I stared at the snow for a inute, and then I shook ! head and

siled.

01eah, whatever, I said. 01ou can have that old rabbit. )ph. 'oo bad !ou can"t reach

e up here, huh3

I e!ed the snow, as if it could respond or soething. 'hen I got another rabbit, puped it

full of hot water and huan blood, and went back to the window.

0)e!, !ou"re probabl! still hungr!, right3 I got another rabbit heating up for !ou, oka!3

4ot getting near e, heh.

& couple inutes later, I threw the wared rabbit carcass into the snow. 'his tie, the

rabbit landed in a ound of snow, and the snow created a sinkhole for the carcass to just drop

into. 'he drift closed over the ic! tob of the rabbit, and I could see the snow pulsating and

roiling, like soe churning vorte+. It puped and throbbed like it had a heartbeat. I just stood

there and watched as it devoured the flesh and crunched up the bones of the rabbit like a eat

grinder, then sucked the fluids out, like soe spider draining the fluids out a trapped fl!.

I took one ore rabbit and injected it with hot water and ore blood, then waited a few

inutes. 5! ind drifted for a bit. I pondered over the strange realit! I found !self in. It was


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now the official first da! of winter, although that eant little this !ear since the heav! snow had

alread! coe and once again interrupted our lives. I would never forget this winter, though,

because this was the first tie in a long tie that I had all of ! relatives with e, but alost

none of ! iediate fail!. 7a!s had passed since the lockdown, and ! wife 7aphne went

to her o"s house, as she alwa!s did whenever we got into a heated arguent. We had a nast!

fight a few da!s ago. 5! two teenage bo!s ach and 5ick! were stuck in a store with a bunch of

strangers. 'he! went out to get a few things before the snow poured, but it cae down sooner

than e+pected. I knew letting the go out was a bad idea.

8od, I wanted to go out there and do soething, to get the back. %ut I couldn"t. 4ot

with the shutdown, and not in this weather.

7ownstairs I could hear ! relatives9 having drinks and talking a lot, the kids pla!ing

video gaes, essing around on their tablets, and running around. 'he! had called e to ask if

the! and their failies could sta! at ! house for the winter. I didn"t understand wh! at first: but

I listened to the essages the! left e. I learned that each and ever! last one of the didn"t

;ualif! for the )&R insurance9 a heat and hot water service that the governent provided to us

ever! winter. I couldn"t believe it. 'his had never happened before. %ut the econo! had never

full! recovered.


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?ord, I hoped %ob didn"t coe over. %ut he did. )e alwa!s had soething to sa! about

the war in &frica, how bad it was and such. %ut ever! tie he was with 4anc!, she alwa!s had a

bruise soewhere on her ar, neck or face.

I reebered the da! the! arrived, rushing into the house with their heav! winter

clothing, bo+es of food, and plent! of luggage.

0)e!, he!, he!. 7on"t bring that snow in here, I told the.

0Rela+, ier!, %ob said. 01ou know the snow is onl! a threat when there"s a foot or

ore of it in one place.

I shut the door as fast as I could. 'he whole fail! cae in jabbering awa!.

05an, the snow is coing down, $i said. 0&nd it"s earl! too—just like the weather

reports have been warning.

0)a. 1eah, well, the! didn"t e+pect so uch so soon, %ob said. 0It"s like a blizzard out

there.

I glanced at 4anc!. =he had a ark on her head, like soething or soeone had hit her.

I leaned over and whispered in her ear, 0&re !ou alright3

01eah, she said. 0Wh! do !ou ask3

I glanced at the ark again, and she covered it with her hair. I looked over at %ob, and he

stared at e. I slit ! e!es at hi and shook ! head. ?ater on that da!, %ob and ! other

sisterinlaw $aie got into an altercation.

%ob cae bubling down the stairs with a bottle of sour whiske! in hand. $ibo and I

were trading war stories. )e"d served with ! now deceased brother #arl 5ac. %oth were 4av!

=&?s. $i and I talked about soe of our ilitar! eories, especiall! the heav! firefights


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we"d been part of. In fact, $i, #arl and I served together in the =oalia War back in 2A66. 'he

three of us were stationed in ast pistol

and had it aied at %ob.


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0Whoa whoa whoa, hone!, %ob said.

0I will bust a cap in !ou foolD

I stood there, with e, $aie, and %ob foring a triangle. I could hear soe of the kids

whipering. I glanced at ! little girl ?ane and otioned for her to get out of the roo.

ver!one else seeed frozen in place.

I knew $aie: she was arried to ! brother, #arl. =he was professional and sooth, but

she did have another side to her.

0$aie, put the gun down, I said. 0


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'he winter did do soething that no doctor or television show could"ve done9 it brought

us all together. =till, as I looked at all this technolog! we had, it boggled ! ind that ost of

this stuff was around decades ago.

It was the !ear 2A6F, so !ou would think we would have had fl!ing cars and c!bernetic

iplants in our heads b! now—or a!be space travel and settleents on the oon. %ut nope,

none of that was going on. &nd I knew it ight never happen, at least not in ! lifetie. 'he

winter shutdown in affected areas had been put into place decades ago, and that hindered a lot of

technological advanceents across the board. =o even now, we were no closer to solving

ankind"s proble than we were to finding a cure for the coon cold—and around this tie

of the !ear, catching the flu was a whole lot easier than it was decades ago.

'he air had grown thinner, and the snow was heavier and ore widespread than ever

before. %ut we as huans were at least partl! responsible for this hindrance in the first place.

5a!be it was a good thing, I thought, that we as a societ! couldn"t ove forward. =oeties I

wondered if this was 8od"s wa! of sa!ing, 0nough is enough. I knew that was not necessaril!

the case, but the thought still crossed ! ind.

Gnlike the old da!s, we had the poor, the rich, and the superrich. 'here was no such

thing as a 0iddle class. 'he rich had becoe the iddle class. I just happened to be in the rich

class because of ! father, and we ade out oka! during the winters because of this. %ut the

superrich3 Winter eant nothing to the because the! had all the resources the! could ever

need to get through. &nd the poor B Well, the poor are just food for the season—a #hristas

gift to the white wonderland that surrounds us during winter.

&fter ?ane did what she did, she asked if she could pla! with =tac!"s adopted son,


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Ranger along with hi too. I told her she could, and the two of the went into the baseent to

pla!. I didn"t ind. =he needed the copan!. %oth of the were around the sae age.


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'hen $ibo laid his hand on ! shoulder. I pulled ! finger off the trigger and looked at

hi. I let out a breath that I didn"t know I was holding. Right then and there, I knew what $i

had done—and I didn"t like it, because I knew he was a ps!chiatrist and he was assessing e.

I shoved the rifle into the safe and did the sae with the .>@cal, then locked it up and

headed for the door.

0i, stop right there, $ibo said. 0I know !ou don"t like what I did there, but I had to

see if I could get a clue about what"s troubling !ou.

0)ow do !ou know an!thing is troubling e3

0%ecause of the wa! !ou look B it"s that sae look !ou alwa!s had when 7aphne was

acting funn!.

I slit ! e!es at hi. 07id !ou and 7aphne talk when I was awa! in =oalia3

)e shook his head. 04o, but I knew what the deal was with !ou two.

I never liked ind gaes because that"s what the! did to e in the =oalia


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brain tuor he had about a !ear ago: he alwa!s seeed bus! during the open work season fro

spring through fall.

5ore than that, though, $i had alwa!s been a good friend. )e got into helping people

through their own issues once he left the ilitar!.

0)e!, I didn"t know !ou had one of these, $i said.

I looked over and saw hi adiring our gas freezer. In addition to keeping ever!thing

super cold, the beaut! of the gas freezer was that it wouldn"t ice up. 'herefore, when we would

take out food or an!thing frozen in the gas freezer, it would thaw out right awa!. =ee, it was

ipossible for us to have ice or an! kind of frost accuulating on an!thing in the house. )aving

an! for of ice in the house was far too dangerous in the winter. &fter a few ore inutes, $i

went back downstairs, but not before he gave e soe advice. )e told e to take out ! anger,

on soe gae in ! gas freezer. 'hat was the therap! he gave e: and that"s what I did.

/////

I shook ! head and returned to the present. 08od, I hate when ! ind zones out like

that. Well, at least I have her here, ! sweet precious little girl, ?ane.

I looked at the rabbit I held in ! hand and threw it outside. 'his tie, the snow created a

ridiculousl! large ar. It reached up and grabbed the rabbit before it hit the surface. I juped

back a little and closed the window.

I glanced back outside at the snow, and saw a large patch of snow that was stained red

with blood. It looked like ;uite a bit of blood and the snow was just sucking it in. I stared at the

blood and it hit e that it was wa! too uch for a few rabbit carcasses. I looked alost straight


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down, closer to the house, and noticed that the blood seeed to be coing fro the drain hose

connected to the washing achine, which was located in our walkout baseent. 'hen it hit e

like a bullet in the head. 0?aneD

I ran downstairs as fast as I could. I cae all the wa! down out of the attic: I heard a loud

screa coe fro the roo 4anc! and %ob were sleeping in.

0&hhhh, &hhh, &hhh, &hhhhh.

5! ind, though, was focused on aking sure ?ane was oka!. I started down the stairs

to the first floor and saw =tac! and ! brotherinlaw ric rushing up the steps, no doubt to see

what all the screaing was about. When I hit the first floor, I saw


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crept toward the laundr! roo, I stopped when I heard a lot of cootion upstairs. I recognized

%ob"s voice, then 4anc!"s, then $i"s and =tac!"s, all shouting and screaing at each other.

0=top, sta! awa!, 4anc! said.

0What the hell are !ou doing3 =tac! asked.

0)e!. )e!. Wait. 'hink about this, ric said.

What the hell was going on up there3 I knew it had soething to do with %ob and 4anc!,

but I couldn"t focus on that right now. I was still looking for ?ane. I entered the laundr! roo,

and I saw that it was leaking reddish water—blood i+ed with soap, oozing out fro under the

washer.

I clenched ! fists and took a deep breath, then went to the washer as the sound inside of

it got louder and louder. 'hup. 'hup. 'hup. 'hat"s what I heard now. I approached the

washer: ! heart raced inside ! chest, even as the shouts fro upstairs grew louder and louder.

'hen I heard thuping fro upstairs, just as loud as the thuping in ! washer. 'hup.

'hup. 'hup. 'he washer began banging and juping so hard that ! lips ;uivered. I feared

what was in that washer as uch as I feared what could be happening upstairs. 'he shouting and

all the cootion upstairs kept getting louder, and the thuping in ! washer felt like it was

going to ake ! head e+plode. 'hup. 'hup. 'hup.

I heard $i shout upstairs. 04o. 4o. =top.

I finall! noticed that ! shoes were getting wet fro all of the blood! li;uid leaking out

of the washer. With a trebling hand, I reached out and turned off the washer, then took another

deep breath. I cleared ! throat and whispered, 0-h ?ord, please don"t let ! bab! be in here.


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I reached to open the door to the washer. &ll of ! horrible eories of fighting in that

war in &frica went racing across ! ind"s e!e. 'he conflict in =oalia hit e like a ton of iron

balls. &t the sae tie, the screas and the thuping fro the !sterious conflict taking place

above e grew fiercer and louder. 'hup. 'hup. 'hup.

4anc! shouted upstairs, 0=ta! awa!. =ta! awa! fro e.

I held ! breath and opened the door to the washer. %lood and soap frothed out onto the

floor and ! shoes. 'hen I saw a tangled clup of dark hair flop out. I pulled on it and felt

soething heav! at the other end.

0-h 8od no.

&nd then the hair becae a head and a neck that had been severed fro the bod!.

04o no no no.

It was a feale.


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The Winter

December 21, 2049

2:00pm

0-h ! 8od—$aie.

I couldn"t believe ! e!es. I opened ! outh to screa—or throw up B or both. %ut

before I could, I heard a loud noise upstairs—%a.

&nd then, 04ooooo.

&nd then %a again—like a gunshot. %a—%a, again. ach tie I heard it, ! bod!

jerked and I lost ! grip on $aie"s head. It fell to the ground, and I collapsed ne+t to it, still

feeling like I was going to hurl an! second.

I looked down at $aie"s face and then into the washer. 4ow I noticed that other bod!

parts had been stuffed in there with her head. I kept !self fro hurling, and looked closer at her

head. What in the world had happened to her3 It looked like soebod! had sashed her head in,

disebered her, and then s;ueezed ost of her into the washer. I wondered where the rest of

her bod! was, because no wa! could it have all gotten shoved into the washer.

0-h an B I said.

I just couldn"t coprehend how and wh! this had happened. Is this soe kind of sick

joke3 I thought, again feeling read! to throw up. 5! head started to spin like a ;uarter read! to

fall off a table. I couldn"t believe that soeone in ! fail! had died in ! house. &nd the onl!

people in the house were ! fail!. Well, e+cept for a few.


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I was tr!ing to get it all figured out in ! head, but I thought of ?ane and wondered

where she was now. I also noticed that the racket above e had stopped, so I ran upstairs to find

out what had been going on. %ut I didn"t want to spill the beans just !et on $aie. &fter all, I was

still tr!ing to soak in what had happened. I closed the baseent door behind e and saw


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I rushed over to %ob and knocked hi on the floor. )e didn"t even tr! to defend hiself

at first as I started to punch hi in the face.

04o, stop, ric said, and then he, =tac!, and $ibo all tried to pull e off of %ob.

0)e didn"t do it, i. )e didn"t do it, ric said.

I finall! stopped and shouted, 0Well who did3

'he! all just stared at e, not sa!ing a word. %ob got up and e!ed e, but didn"t look

ad. I asked the all again who did it, but none of the responded. 'he! all had that look of

fear, all four of the looking at each other as though the! were hiding soething. =econds later,

I heard a screa coe fro downstairs.

0&hhhhhh 4ooooo.

We all rushed down to see what was going on now. I saw that the door to the baseent

was opened. -h no B

We continued on down into the baseent. 'here, I saw ?ateia and her oldest girl &liesa,

staring down at $aie"s head. &liesa was balling and holding onto her o ?ateia, but ?ateia

couldn"t even hold herself up.

0-h ! 8od. -h ! 8od. )ow B =he said. 0)ow did this happen3 -h ! 8od no. 4o

no no.

ric juped in front of the washer to shield &liesa and ?ateia, and I saw that


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I put ! hand on her shoulder. 0I B I don"t know, I said. 0I just cae down here B and

found her B found her like this. 'hen I heard the shouting upstairs and—

01ou, ?ateia said, pointing at %ob. 01ou did it.

?ateia juped up and charge at hi, screaing, but I stepped in her wa! and grabbed

her.

01ou onster, she said. 01ou killed ! B ahhhhhD

08et the upstairs, I said to $i and ric. 0I" going to clean up down here a little.

'he! led ?ateia and &liesa up to the living roo.

I hurried to get a few heav!dut! lawn bags, then proceeded to stuff $aie"s disebered

bod! into the bags, knowing I would have to coe back to place ever!thing in a governent

issued bod! bag later on. I surprised !self with ! cold efficienc!, but then I realized it was

because ! ind was so fi+ed on what could have happened to ?ane. & couple of inutes later,

I ran back upstairs to see ost of ever!one just standing around or sitting, all looking like the!

were still in shock. 7upree was holding ?ateia"s hand, cr!ing.

ric looked up at e fro a recliner. 0I can"t B I don"t B 'his is unbelievable, he said.

01eah, how in the world did B $i said. 0'his just B doesn"t ake sense. )ow did

ost of her bod! get in the washer like that3

&s ric and $i continued to ponder what had happened, I sprinted around the house

tr!ing to find ! little girl ?ane.

0?ane, ?ane. )one!, where are !ou3 I said.

%ut I didn"t see her an!where. 5a!be she"s hiding3

I went to


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Winter / Ran HF

%ut


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0Where is ?ane3

'hen it finall! seeed to hit ever!bod! that I couldn"t fine ?ane.

0-h 8od no, $i said.

0


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0Ghh, I think she wanted to go outside and pla! in the snow. =o I unlocked the door in

the garage for her and she went out.

0What3 I said. 0Ipossible. -nce the doors are locked for the winter, there"s no wa! out.

1ou know ever! building in a lockdown area is put into autoatic pressure lock. 4o one can get

in, and no one can get out—not without the code that onl! the hoeowners have B which eans

e and 7aphne. 4ow tell e the truth.

0'hat is the truth, she said, her e!es looking bloodshot and bagg!.

04o wa!, I said. 0&nd even if it was soehow possible, wh! in the world would !ou

unlock the door for her to go out and pla! in the snow3 1ou want her to get hurt or killed or

soething3

7ebra just shook her head and looked about read! to pass out.

07ebra, !ou oka!3 ric asked.

0I" fine. 7ebra replied.

=he went back down the hall into her roo and slaed the door. I didn"t trust her: in

fact, I barel! knew her. I glared at ric, then rushed down the hall to her roo and threw open

the door.

0What theB3 she said.

Walking in with ric on ! tail, I said nothing, but looked on her bed and saw pills and

white powder. =he was doing drugs. 'hen I noticed a ke!chain l!ing on her bed.

0What the hell is ?ane"s ke!chain doing in here3 I asked her.

=he didn"t repl!, and ric went over to sit b! her. I picked up the ke!s and looked at

the. I had given ?ane those ke!s for when she would coe up to visit in the suertie. I

thought I had taken the back when she went back down to 5e+ico to live with her biological


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Winter / Ran 22

other during the fall. I shook ! head. )er ke!s couldn"t have opened an! of the doors during

winter, so the onl! wa! she could have gotten out was B

07an.

I rushed upstairs and then up to the attic. 5! lips pursed as I saw that I had indeed left the

window open when I saw the blood outside. %ut it still didn"t ake an! sense to e. ?ane had

still been downstairs when $i and I were shooting outside. ven when $i left to go back

downstairs, she still would"ve been down there. =o how could she have gotten past e and

ever!bod! else in the house without an!bod! noticing3


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that led outside—the door that 7ebra said she had soehow unlocked for ?ane. Ranger barked. I

shook ! head and closed ! e!es. 4othing la! be!ond the door e+cept for the death that

awaited outside.

=o B it"s true. 5! little ?ane B =he"s out there B all alone B in the snow.

&nd then I went into overdrive. I ran to ! closet and got ! heav! winter gear—4itro

clothing that would protect e fro the snow.

0What are !ou doing, i3 $i asked.

0I" going to get ! daughter back, I said. 0=he"s out there B soewhere.

0What3 Wait B wait. i. 'here"s no wa! she"s out there, ric said. 0?ike !ou said, she

couldn"t even have gotten outside.

I zipped up ! fullbod! coveralls and looked at hi. 0'hen where is she3 Where3 'ell

e where and we will go there to find her. Where in this house, ric3 Where3

0I don"t B I don"t know B but if she"s B if she"s out there, then B well, !ou know, u,

I don"t know wh! !ou need to go B

I stared at hi, daring hi to coe right out and sa! that if ?ane was out there, she was

alread! dead. I rubbed the dog"s head and then pulled on a knit cap and flipped up the hood of

the 4itro clothing. I was read! to go outside.

0Wait, i. 1ou can"t just go alone, $i said.

0Well, if !ou want to go with e, then tell e what happened to 4anc!.

$i didn"t respond, but just looked down at the floor.

0Kine, have it !our wa!, I said.

0i, coe on, ric said. 01ou can"t go out there in the snow. 1ou won"t survive out

there: !ou know that. 'he snow will get !ou before !ou even take two steps outside.


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0ric, I said, turning and looking at hi, 0it"s not often !ou coe to visit us, so !ou

obviousl! don"t know e ver! well to sa! that.

)e said nothing in repl!, so I went back up into the attic to get soe weaponr! to defend

!self out in the cold. -ver the top of ! coveralls, I strapped on ! ao belt and then !

favorite pistol. 'hen I reasoned that a single bullet would do nothing ore than just pass through

the snow if it rose up to attack e, so I also grabbed an assault shotgun with a fulllength barrel,

plus a shortbarreled tactical shotgun with a pistol grip. I loaded !self up with as an! shells as

I could carr!, and then I heard the steps creaking.

0i, $i said, as he cae upstairs. 07on"t go out there b! !ourself, an.

I finished loading ! gear and headed for the door. 0I told !ou before, $i, if !ou want to

coe, then !ou"re going to have to tell e what happened to 4anc!.

I et hi on the steps and he just looked at e, but once again didn"t sa! an!thing. =o I

headed downstairs to the garage to finish getting read! to go out. &fter I"d grabbed a survival

pack, coplete with food and water, I saw $i coe into the kitchen and into the garage, loaded

down with soe of ! winter gear and weaponr! fro the attic.

0What are !ou doing3 I asked hi.

0What does it look like3 I" going with !ou whether !ou liked it or not.

0I beg to differ.

I fastdrew ! pistol and pointed it at hi. $i"s e!es went wide, then he backed up and

slowl! raised his hands.

0=o it"s coe to this3 he said.

I nodded. 01eah, it"s a prett! craz! da!.


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%ehind $i, I saw ric look at %ob and then at $i. %ob looked at the and gave a little

shake of his head.

Kinall!, $i sighed. 0-ka!, oka!. I"ll tell !ou after we leave the house to go look for

?ane.

I didn"t trust hi—hell, I didn"t trust an!one right now. -n top of that, ! cobat senses

fro the war started to kick in. 7eep down, I knew $i and ric would never turn on e, but in

a tense situation like this, I just couldn"t be sure. %esides, I had the upper hand an!wa! with !

ultiple weapons and battle e+perience.

0-ka! B oka!. Kine, I said, 0but ric and %ob are coing with us too.

ric nodded, but %ob looked like soe giant owl with his e!es opened so wide.

0What3 -h hell no. I" not going out there.

0-h, !ou"re going, I said.

0I B i. &re !ou kidding3

I shook ! head. 0I" not laughing, Robert.

0I B I, uh, I got astha,

0%ull. I don"t care if !ou have onl! one lung to breathe with, !ou"re coing with us.

I pointed ! pistol at hi. 0&fter all, it"s better to have one full lung than one with a

bunch of holes in it, right3

%ob sighed and then nodded. 0&lright, alright, just stop pointing that thing at e an.

&fter holstering ! pistol, I went into the living roo where ?ateia and her kids were

sitting together on the couch. I approached her si+teen!earold son Ron.

0Ron, I said, 0get up, son. 1ou"re coing with us.

0-h no. ?ateia said, juping up. 04o, i. 4ot !—


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Winter / Ran 2@

I cut her off with a raised hand. 0)e"s the oldest of the bo!s here, and he"s close to being

enough of a an to find his little cousin. &nd we need ever! an we can get.

I then turned. 07upree.

)e held his head up, ;uivering in his chair.

0Watch over the while we"re gone, oka!3

0Gh B Gh B !e!eah, sure, oka!.

0-h, and no one is allowed in 4anc!"s roo or in the baseent again.

?ateia looked like she was going to throw up at the ention of the baseent. 0Wh! B

Wh! not 4anc!"s roo3 she asked.

I shook ! head. 0%ecause it"s better for !our health if !ou don"t go in there, so I"

locking it before I leave.

=he nodded, then gave Ron a hug. I headed back up to lock the door to 4anc!"s roo,

then on up to the attic for ore gear, and finall! out to the garage with %ob, Ron, $i, and ric.

0%ut how !ou know if ?ane is even B !ou know, still alive3 ric asked.

0%ecause the dog picked up her scent and followed it out here, I said to hi.

%ob shook his head again, and I glared at hi because I was reall! getting tired of his

attitude. I handed each of the a pair of 4itro coveralls and told the to get dressed.

0What if Ranger was just sniffing soe old scent trail of hers3 $i asked. 0-r a!be

soe old clothing of hers that"s out there in the garage3

Wait a inute.

0)er clothing, I whispered.

I ran back upstairs to ?ane"s roo. I opened her closet and e+haled with relief. 0'hank

8od, she put on the 4itro snowsuit.


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Winter / Ran 2C

?ane had on the sae kind of winter wear that the other gu!s and I were now wearing for

our fora! into the outdoors—e+cept that she had the kids" snowsuit version while we had adult

coveralls. 4itro coveralls kept all of the ajor parts of the bod! war9 ars, legs, chest, neck,

and head—thanks to a spaceage la!er of insulated aterial against the skin. &n outer la!er of

the clothing, though, reained just below (2 degrees Kahrenheit, due to a t!pe of coolant that

filled the individual icrofibers of the fabric. 'herefore, the 4itro clothing had been designed to

protect its wearers fro the sentient snow. 'he clothing"s outer la!er kept the snow fro sensing

that heat—although it wasn"t foolproof, as intense eotions and overe+ertion could spike bod!

heat levels to the degree that the 4itro aterial couldn"t copletel! ask a heat signature.

?ane ust have also put on the strider boots to help keep her fro sinking into the snow.

'hank 8od for that uch.

%ack at the garage, ric, $i, and Ron all had on 4itro coveralls just like ine—

including pullover ski asks, hoods that had builtin infrared goggles, a watch on the right

sleeve, and an ice pick attached to a sall holster on the left. %ob had on what I called the

0guest pair of coveralls, which were reall! just a basic pair we kept in case soeone needed

the, but this pair had none of the cool features of the other ones.

%ob got dressed: I kept ! e!es on hi, and he did the sae with e. %ut I didn"t care.

'his was no joke and I wasn"t going to trust an!one. 'wo people—no, two loved ones—were

dead in ! house. I could still hear ?ateia and her kids cr!ing in the living roo. I looked at

Ron. )e was tr!ing to be a an and hold it in, but I knew he loved his auntie ver! uch. -n !

wa! back to the garage, I had seen =tac! sitting there, shaking, ne+t to


28/308

Winter / Ran 2E

In the garage, tensions ran high aong us. I figured I was the ost wounded. 5!

thoughts were all jubled up, tr!ing to ake sense of ever!thing9 5! fail! is out there,

including ! wife, who hates ! guts. I sighed. I have a potential killer—a!be two—in !

house but have no idea who it could be. 5! one! was on %ob or 7ebra or both. ach of the

drank and did drugs. %ut I couldn"t prove it, and an! potential witnesses weren"t willing to help

e. &nd ! poor ?ane, ! precious ?ane B =he was out there in that nightarish winter—all

happ! and e+cited to pla! in the snow, the wa! a little kid used to feel in the old da!s. %ut this

ain"t It’s A Wonderful Life and this ain"t no Christmas Story or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

—or even Frozen or Jacie Frost and !er Ice "ri#ade.

I frowned as %ob wrestled his wa! into his coveralls. 'his is winter, dan it. &nd it"s

dangerous. It waits for the kill in the calness of the white wind. It wants us dead and gone. &nd

the snow—the winter—will devour us.

I let out a long breath as the other gu!s faced e, all dressed up and read! to go.

0?et"s go, I said.

We got our gear together and headed back to the living roo.

0-ka!, I said. 0?isten to e. 7on"t panic, and don"t touch an!thing. 7upree, tr! to keep

the cal.

7upree nodded. 0I"ll B I"ll tr!.

I knew it wouldn"t be eas! to have two dead people in the house for the, and I knew

that we needed to clean up a bit ore before we headed out. 'he governent had specific

procedures for civilians to follow in case of a death in a hoe during the winter onths. I headed

back into the garage and grabbed two selfebaling bod! bags. I had $i go upstairs with e,

and we placed 4anc!"s corpse into one of the bags to preserve it for a later autops!—and to keep


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Winter / Ran 2F

the odor fro getting worse. We then went down into the baseent and did the sae with

$aie"s bod! parts.

&fter we had lugged both bodies up into the cool attic and placed the in a corner under

a blanket, I went back to the living roo and found =tac!, then led her out into the kitchen.

0?isten to e, =tac!, I said. 0Watch out for 7ebra, oka!3 I don"t trust her, or an!thing

she said, oka!3 5ake sure ever!one is oka!.

Where =tac!"s e!es had been wild and darting all around before, the! now looked glass!,

alost catatonic.

0G B uhhhh B 1eah B oka!, =tac! said, then took in a sharp breath.

I put a hand on her shoulder and nodded to her. I didn"t like the idea of a junkie like

7ebra in ! house along with ! fail!, but I trusted =tac!—and ?ateia would definitel! never

allow soething bad to happen when it cae to 7ebra.

7upree was the onl! an left that could watch over the, because if he wasn"t

handicapped, it would"ve been hi coing with us instead of Ron. I headed back and told hi

what I told =tac!. )e nodded and I patted hi on the shoulder.

0i, 7upree said. 0What if B !ou gu!s don"t ake back3


30/308

Winter / Ran (A

We said goodb!e to ever!one and then headed back into the garage, with Ranger in tow.

=ince the snow didn"t har anials for soe reason, I figured we could use Ranger to help in

our search. We pulled on the 4itro ski asks, then placed ski goggles over our e!es to help block

an! bod! heat fro coing out of our e+posed skin around the e!es. 5! heart started to race.

0)ow long has it been since an! of us ever walked in the snow3 $i asked.

4obod! said an!thing.

0I guess for !ou !ounger gu!s, it"s been never, huh3 $i said. 0Kor us older gu!s, well

B soeties it feels like a lifetie ago.

01eah, %ob said, 0and the ones who did go out since then, !ou can find their bones in

the springtie.

0$ust shut up, I told %ob.

0-ka!, enough, !ou two, ric said. 0


31/308

Winter / Ran (H

The Winter

December 21, 2049

5:00pm

'he harsh snowflakes hit our faces and coats, but our goggles protected our e!es. I could

alread! feel the snowflakes biting and gnawing at ! coat, and I was grateful for the 4itro wear.

%ut then I started to see little holes for on ! coat sleeves. 'he snow was actuall! starting to

eat its wa! through, tr!ing to get to our skin. I realized ! heart was beating like a jackhaer,

which eant ! bod! heat was rising and a!be be too uch for the 4itro technolog! to

overcoe. I heard the other gu!s start to urur and gasp: I took a deep breath.

07on"t be afraid, gu!s. 7on"t get too e+cited. $ust keep it cool, I said in a soft voice.

0'he snow alread! senses our heat because of our an+iet!, so we need to sta! cal.

0&hhh. 4o. 4o, Ron said. 0I can"t do it. I don"t want to be out here.

I looked over at Ron as the snow continued its assault on us, striking us all over. It felt

like thousands upon thousands of sall little nails hitting us at once.

0i, let Ron go back inside, $i said.

04o, I can"t keep opening and closing the door. 1ou know it will just freeze up on us

because it"s so cold. We have to go now.

I heard that onstrous growl again. I looked over at Ron—a si+teen!earold weirdo who

loved scar! tales, but couldn"t handle this stor! that he was now a part of. Well, toda! he"s going

to have to handle it, I thought. )e"s going to be a an and help e find ! little girl.

0We have to go now, I said.

I reached into ! pocket and pulled out ?ane"s shirt, then held it to Ranger"s nose again.

Ranger sniffed the shirt, then the air, tr!ing to pick up ?ane"s scent. )e barked and plowed into


32/308

Winter / Ran (2

the snow down our drivewa!. I swallowed, hoping that a!be this eant ?ane was alive and her

scent was fresh enough for Ranger to pick up with ease. &s the cold air hit e, I knew I was in

winter now. I couldn"t sell an!thing, I couldn"t taste an!thing.

0?et"s ove, I said.

It felt like walking into the lion"s den. We were outside, in the snow, in the winter.

4ot onl! did we have to slog through about a foot of snow, but the wind fought against

our ever! step. We could barel! see an!thing, hear an!thing. I started to think the coats weren"t

going to last. &nd then I saw sall cracks foring in the lenses of ! safet! goggles—the sae

kind we all wore9 bulletproof pol!carbonate.

0Gh, i, %ob said. 05! goggles are starting to crack.

ver!one else started sa!ing the sae thing. I nodded.

0?et"s be fast, I said.

=oon I started to see sall white strains of snow crawling their wa! into ! goggles,

tr!ing to penetrate the heat coing fro ! e+posed e!es. I purposel! ade ! e!es tear up to

elt the snow wors Lthat"s what I called theM so that the! wouldn"t eat at ! pupils, since

water diluted the snow and kept it harless.

0'r! to ake tears with !our e!es to elt the snow, I said.

'o ! right, though, I could hear that Ron"s eotions were getting the best of hi,

aking wa! for the snow wors to enter his e!es.

0&hhhhD Ron said. 0&hhh, ! e!es, ! e!es.

07on"t ove, I said. 07on"t ove. =tand still while I get !ou.

0It burns.


33/308

Winter / Ran ((

I charged toward Ron, but a large snow! tentacle sprung up and tried to grab ! leg. I

slowed down and caled !self to keep ! bod! heat fro rising. I didn"t want the snow

ripping ! leg off. 'he ar seeed to sense that I had caled down. It proceeded to retract back

into the snow. I slowl! walked over to Ron as he was holding his e!es and screaing. 'he other

gu!s fored a wide circle around us.

I put a hand on Ron"s ar. I had to ake sure the snow didn"t get hi. ?ateia had alread!

lost her sister. &nd we had all lost 4anc!. We were not going to lose an!one else. If an!thing, we

were going to get back a eber of the fail!, ! daughter.

0-ka!, Ron, listen to e, I said, noticing a few snow tentacles foring and reaching up

his legs. 01ou"re starting to cr!, but I want !ou to cr! harder—as hard as !ou can.

04o, he said. 0I"—&hhh,—I" tr!ing to B to fight it B fight the pain.

04o, Ron, ;uit fighting it and let the tears coe.

0Wh!3 &hhhh, oh 8od it hurts.

I slugged hi in the ar and then did it again.

0-wwD he said, 0&hhh, what B What"d !ou do that B for3

I hit hi again, and this tie I saw the tears coing. 'hat took care of the snow wors

attacking his e!es, but he was still too wound up, and his bod! heat was no doubt rising.

07eep breaths, Ron, I said. 0'ake deep breaths and look at e. 7on"t look at the snow.

$ust sta! cal, oka!3 We"re here with !ou. -ka!3

Ron nodded, and then sniffled. I could see that his bod! started to rela+. & second later,

the snow tentacles retracted back into the ground—e+cept for one, and that tentacle honed in on

the two of us. It oved toward us like soe creature fro a horror ovie. I reached for !

pistolgrip tactical shotgun, but I knew I wouldn"t be able to fire in tie. 'hen, right before the


34/308

Winter / Ran (6

snow tentacle cae down at us, a flurr! of bullets blasted it apart. 'he snow tentacle broke apart

and fell back into the snow on the ground. I turned and saw that %ob and $i had fired the

autoatic rifles I"d given the, since I didn"t have an! ore shotguns. $i looked so cal

standing there, like a true =&?.

%ob also looked cal, like he had done this before.

'he gusting wind died down with the rifle fire. I was able to hear Ranger barking and

then spotted hi ahead of us. &fter the wind ceased, the sk! and field before us becae nothing

but white. It was a cal white wonderland, beautiful and peaceful as it should be. %ut we were

still standing in our greatest and deadliest ene!—even as it swirled in the air around us. 'he

snow was just waiting for us to ake a istake or a wrong ove.

0?et"s go, I said.

We all walked carefull! toward Ranger.

0I" surprise the dog cae with us in the first place, $i said. 0It never leaves


35/308

Winter / Ran (>

0-ka!, that"s enough, $i said. 0ver!bod! sta! cal. ?et"s not get ourselves worked

up again.

I noticed the snow starting to ove around our feet.

0)e didn"t kill 4anc!, i.

0'hen who did3 'ell e, $i. 1ou said !ou were going to tell e when we got out here.

4ow we are out here.

$i backed up and looked down at the pulsating snow. 0#al down, i. #"on, an.

I glanced down at the snow and took a deep breath. $i was right. I was just going to get

us all killed if I kept going off. I rela+ed B and so did the snow.

0Well3 I said.

0ier!, !ou don"t want to know, $i replied.

0I do want to know. -therwise I wouldn"t be asking !ou.

0i, ric said, his e!es darting between e and the snow. 0i, 4anc! killed

herself.

I looked at ric and just shook ! head, then walked over to hi, noticing that Ron and

$i oved in close as well, but %ob hung back a bit.

0ric, I said, 0)ow could 4anc! kill herself with three bullets in her chest3 4ot one, not

two, but three.

0=he pointed the gun toward her chest and fired, but one issed. -ne hit the wall.

0i, just back off, an, $i said.

0'hen tell e the truth, $i, I said. 0'ell e what reall! happened up there.

4o one said an!thing, and I cut ! e!es at %ob, then leaned in close to $i and ric.

0What did he do to !ou that !ou won"t tell the truth3 I asked the.


36/308

Winter / Ran (@

I glanced over at %ob again, hoping to catch soething fro hi. %ut he just stood there.

0i, c"on, let"s look for ?ane so we can go back hoe, oka!3 ric said.

0=hut up, I said. 0It"s !our fault we are out here in the first place.

0What3 )ow is it ! fault3

0If !ou didn"t bring !our junkie girlfriend into ! house—soeone who is wa! too

!oung for !ou an!wa!—then ?ane wouldn"t be out here.

0&re !ou freaking kidding e3

'his tie, I could feel the snow trebling beneath us. I could hear that heinous growl

rising.

I took another deep breath and lowered ! voice. 0Wait, wait, wait. ver!one cal

down.

0Reall!3 %ob said in a low voice. 0)ow are !ou the one asking ever!bod! to rela+ when

!ou"re getting ever!bod! heated up3

$ust then, I heard Ranger bark again. )is barking brought e back to wh! we were out

here. We had braved the snow to get ! ?ane back. &nd if she was still alive, then I had to find

her. I stepped out of ric"s face and went on ! wa! toward the dog. We all followed along as

Ranger continued to sniff and guide us to ?ane. 5! ind was a juble of thoughts—about ?ane,

the bo!s, 7aphne B and I couldn"t stop ;uestioning ! trust of ! own fail! ebers as we

walked along this white field of danger and eptiness.

0)e!, Ron said. 0What"s this3

I stopped and looked back to where Ron was pointing at soething in the snow. )e ust

have caled down a little if he was noticing soething out of the ordinar!, but it was obvious


37/308

Winter / Ran (C

that he didn"t want to pick it up. I saw that he was shuffling his boots around in the snow also,

like he wasn"t even cofortable standing in the snow.

I walked over to see what Ron was talking about, and I saw a gold chain in the snow. I

bent down and pulled the chain out of the snow to find that it was a necklace, but not one that I

recognized. =oeone had lost their necklace in the snow. ), I thought. %ut how could it still

be near the surface when it"s been snowing so—

&ll of the sudden, %ob grabbed the necklace fro ! hand before I got a good look at it.

08ie that, %ob said.

I let go of the chain and shrugged. I didn"t reall! care whose it was, but I wondered wh!

%ob acted so funn! about it.

0)ow did !ou lose it3 ric asked %ob.

0hh, %ob said, 0it ust have broken off when I was tr!ing to get the seiautoatic off

fro around ! neck.

ric nodded.

01eah, and I want that weapon back when this is over, %ob, I said to hi.

%ob rolled his e!es and started back toward Ranger"s barking.

With all that was on ! ind, I now thought of soething that was bugging e.

0=o, %ob, I said, 0where did !ou learn how to defend !ourself with a weapon like that3

'hat was a ilitar!level response with how !ou handled that rifle.

0-h, %ob said. 0Gh, in a defense course.

0Reall!3 What course3

0=oe gu!s in the ilitar! I hang out with soeties. 'he! taught e how to shoot a

few !ears ago. 1ou know, to protect !self. &nd I practice at a local range whenever I can.


38/308

Winter / Ran (E

I nodded and walked in Ranger"s direction. I didn"t know that uch about %ob: none of

us did, reall!. 4anc! never said uch about his background. We all did know that %ob was a

bu—and a redneck bu, to sa! the least. )e had no job, and hadn"t for a while. )e"d been in

construction, but got fired. &fter that, he oved in with 4anc!, and he"d been living off her for

the longest tie—true white trailer trash. 'his gu! even went to prison a few ties while dating

4anc!. 7aphne and I never could understand wh! 4anc! loved this an, this nobod!. 'hat"s

wh! it shocked e to see %ob handle his weapon like a pro and shoot it so well. It seeed like

he ight be alost as good a shot as $i or I.

Whatever, enough about %ob B

&nd with that, ! focus went right back to ?ane. =he"d never left ! ind, but I had to

adit that it felt oka! to think about soething other than her issing out there in the snow

soewhere. 5! thoughts then drifted to eories of ?ane B and then back to ! green e!ed

7aphne B and %ob B and ! tie in &frica B and the bodies in ! house B and ?ane

issing B and on and on it went as we all plodded on through the snow for ile after ile.

/////

&s the hours progressed, I worried ore about ! bo!s and 7aphne—especiall! our

bo!s, given the tension that reained with ! wife. %ut, our bo!s B 'he! were out there in the

snow in a store with 8od knows who. &nd of course, there is ?ane. =he"s the ain reason we are

out here in this frozen hell. I turned ! head to look at ric and $ibo. %oth of the panted

through the snow. I reebered how uch energ! the! had when the! told ?ateia"s kids those

scar! stories. 'hat was onl!, what, a few hours ago3


39/308

Winter / Ran (F

ric and $ibo had to start talking about soe of the ost insane killers in our countr!"s

histor!.

0=o who do !ou think is the worst, huh3 ric asked $i. 0#harles 5anson B 7r. 7eath

B 'ed %und! B the odiac B the


40/308

Winter / Ran 6A

05an, !ou take too long. I"ll tell the, ric said. 04ow, fro what I"ve heard, the

=nowan onl! coes out during the winter tie. )e dresses up like a snowan !our great

grandparents used to ake back when it was safe to pla! in the snow. &nd he travels to different

hoes, pre!ing on little children—just like !ou gu!s. 'hat"s how he got his nicknae.

I turned ! head a bit and saw ?ane and


41/308

Winter / Ran 6H

I just rolled ! e!es. =uch idiots B

0)aha, ver! funn! gu!s, ?ateia said. 04ow knock it off.

0)ehheh, $i said, ignoring ?ateia. 0%ut, !eah, the =nowan, he disappears in the

warer onths. 4ow, though, he"ll be back. -h, and he leaves a sign of his presence b! putting

icesculpted carvings of a snowan ne+t to the dead corpses. &nd, like ric said, since the police

hardl! operate in the winter, the! never find hi or the bodies.

?ateia"s three kids were trebling now. %ut, at the sae tie, the! seeed to love the

stor! ric and $i were telling.

&nd it"s those t!pes of stories that will get !ou killed one da!.

0%ut, he!, ric said, 0this !ear, he"ll be looking for soe new eat. &in"t that right,


42/308

Winter / Ran 62

faces. We had all been walking on adrenaline for the ajorit! of the search, and now we were

hitting the wall.

$ust then, Ranger stopped and started to bark again. 5ust have spotted soething, I

figured. Ranger then proceeded to dig in the snow. )e"s found soething. I jogged forward and

stood over Ranger, but a part of e was hoping it wasn"t what I thought it ight be.


43/308

Winter / Ran 6(

0i, ever!one B $i said. 0'ake a deep breath and cal down. $ust take it eas!.

'hat"s it. #al. We"re no good to an!one if we can"t keep a cool head now.

)e was right, of course, and he helped e to refocus and look at the facts. Kinding these

ites seeed to sa! that ! little girl was gone—that the snow ust have gotten her. %ut I

wondered wh! just one boot had coe off her foot, still tr!ing to hang on to hope that she ight

be alive. 5a!be ?ane hadn"t put it on tight enough3 5a!be soe snow got in it3 %ut none of

that ade sense. It was over, I figured. I unzipped ! coat, stuffed the bear inside, and then

zipped back up before ore bod! heat could escape.

0I" so sorr!, $i said, la!ing a hand on ! shoulder. 0We should B We sh— )e

stifled a sob, then finall! said, 0We need to head back to the house.

%ut then Ranger started to bark again. &nd then he proceeded to dig soe ore. I stood

up and looked into the pit that Ranger had e+cavated. I saw a pair of gloves, then a hat, and then

a couple of goggles and two coats.

0)uh3 I said.

4one of these ites were ?ane"s—just the boot and the bear.

0Where did all this stuff coe fro3 I said.

01eah B and whose is it3 $i asked. 04ot ?ane"s, right3

I shook ! head.

#rackblaD

We all turned our heads at what sounded like a gunshot in the distance.

0What the hell was that3 ric asked.

I stood up and shook ! head again. 07on"t have an!—Wait. ?isten B


44/308

Winter / Ran 66

4ow I heard a whooshing sound, like soething was fl!ing through the air—toward us, it

seeed, the wa! the sound was getting louder, but I couldn"t see an!thing through all the snow

that was coing down. &nd then—

0&hhh, look out, Ron said.

& giant net appeared aidst the falling snow—and landed right on the entire group of us,

even the dog. It knocked us to the ground, and I could feel the weight of it on e. I turned !

head and grabbed at the net, but it barel! gave at all.

=oe kind of etal allo! B

0-h, an. ?ee out of here, Ron said.

0)elp, oh 8od help, ric said.

'hen I felt the snow oving around us.

0uiet, I said. 0Rela+, oka!3

%ut ric and Ron kept s;uiring. -nl! $i, %ob, Ranger, and I kept cool. We scooted

our wa! to the edge of the netting, but it held fast in the snow thanks to soe kind of weights

that held tight to the ground.

08od no, ric said.

Ron, eanwhile, sobbed.

0=hhh, gu!s, %ob said.

'he snow, though, alread! started to attack ric and Ron with sall tentacles. I could

onl! think that this was the end—that we were all going to die out there. %ut then I heard

gunshots in the distance again. &t the sound of the shots, Ron and ric ;uit cr!ing and !elling

and anaged to get theselves together. We sat there for a few oents, then I saw a group of

en eerge fro the swirling snow.


45/308

Winter / Ran 6>

0?ook, Ron said. 0Who in the world—

0=hhh, I said.

I s;uinted to see all the individuals that were circling around the net, surrounding us.

5ore than thirt! eas!, I thought. ver! one of the wore the sae kind of protective gear we

had, but theirs looked uch ore advanced. 'he! all carried autoatic weapons and pointed

the in our direction as the! looked at us. 'hen one of the en gave a loud whistle and several

of the others ran forward, then started to cut the net to free us.

'he an who had whistled walked up to e. 0What are !ou all doing out here3

I e!ed the an, keeping ! finger on the trigger of ! tactical shotgun. 'hrough his

goggles, I saw e!es that appeared to be of &sian origin.

0We"re searching for soeone, I said.

0Reall!3 Well, we"re looking for soeone too, the an said, then stuck out his hand.

0'he nae"s &kin.

I nodded and shook his hand. 0ier! B or just i. =o what"s with the net3

0#ouldn"t be too careful, he siled, but offered nothing ore. 0-h, this is #hris,

Russell, and 7evon. )e gestured to the three en closest to hi. 0We"re kind of the unofficial

leaders of our search part!.

I shook each of their hands. 0'his is $i B %ob, ric, and Ron. -h, and the dog"s

Ranger.

#hris and Russell looked like the! were white fro what I could tell, while 7evon was a

tall, darklooking an—black, I figured.

0&n!wa!, we"re looking for soe children who went issing, &kin said. 0#hris, 7evon,

and Russell here are the dads of the issing kids.


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Winter / Ran 6@

It was a bit odd that the! were also looking for issing children.

0We set up a point of return in soe nearb! woods across the snow field, &kin said.

01ou"re invited to coe with us.

%efore I could answer, Russell stepped forward and pointed at ever!thing we"d found in

the snow. 0Wait, what"s all this3 he asked, with an accent that I arked as #ajun.

0'he dog found all this stuff in the snow, buried deep, ric replied.

'he four of the crouched down and looked at each of the ites. I had alread! taken

?ane"s boot and bear, but we"d left ever!thing else where we"d found it. 7evon reached down

and picked up the gloves.

0-h ! ?ord, he said. 0'hese gloves are


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Winter / Ran 6C

Ranger, eanwhile, proceeded to dig even deeper in the snow and soon found one last

thing. )e lifted it out of the hole with his teeth and turned toward e. I reached down to take it

fro hi aidst the blowing snow, but then I saw what it was and ! hand stopped.

07an, 7evon said.

0-h no, $i said.

In his jaws, Ranger held an ice carving of a snowan. 'he words, 0I" back. were

written on it in blood.

We all knew what it was. 'he stories we heard on the news B 'he hundreds of issing

children and the grieving failies that later found their dead bodies after the weather cleared B

'he onster had coe to our town, to =cranton. 'he infaous serial killer had coe to

our area this season, the vicious child predator, the =nowan.

ven as I felt ! blood pulsing with rage, I felt ! heart race with fright, didn"t atter

though. 'he rage had con;uered ! fears. 'his tie the sadistic =nowan had picked the wrong

fail! to ess with.


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Winter / Ran 6E

The Winter

December 21, 2049

8:30pm

&fter soe discussion with &kin, we decided to all head to the base he"d set up nearb!, as

it was a lot closer than hiking back to ! house. &fter we arrived and started a fire, we got to

talking about how our children had wandered off.

Russell shook his head and sighed. 0&le+is and &le+ went outside to get soe wood fro

the back of the house. We bring in firewood ever! winter, so I figured it wouldn"t be an issue.

'he kids are twelve !ears old, and the! both had on 4itro wear, so I argued with ! wife that

the! were old enough. )e looked down at the ground. 0-h an, I" gonna hear it fro her.

& few of the gu!s around the fire grunted, and then 7evon cleared his throat.

0Well, 7evon said, 0


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Winter / Ran 6F

around hi. 'o afford to send !our kid to the %ahaas for school ever! winter and to hire a

s;uad of en with a coander leading a rescue part! for !our children, #hris had to be part of

the rare class known as the 0superrich. &kin and his en had to be hired guns or ercenaries.

&fter a few oents of silence, I asked, 0)ow did !ou anage to trace the children to

the e+act spot where the =nowan placed their clothes3

0I had a 8


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Winter / Ran >A

Ranger was barking toward the north. )e seeed to be acting on the scent of the different

clothes.

0)is sniffing could lead us to the =nowan, #hris said.

07o we reall! want to find hi3 Russell asked.

0I do, I said, hoping that Ranger"s barking iplied that the children were indeed still

alive. 0%ut ost of all, I want to find ! kid.

08od, I hope the!"re oka!, #hris said, and then he started to sob. 05! bo! is out there

with that aniac.

#hris fell to his knees, but 7evon pulled hi back up.

0)e!, boss, 7evon said, 0I know how !ou feel. I feel the sae about ! girl being out

here too. %ut losing it here ain"t gonna get the back.

#hris nodded and started to cal down, and I felt good about that, because I had seen the

snow starting to ove around us.

0What in the world is $anet going sa! when she finds out about this3 Russell asked.

)e got up and paced around the fire. 07an it.

0'here is a good chance that the children are still alive, $i said. 0'he =nowan alwa!s

cuts off the libs first to get his sick ental fantasies started. We onl! found the clothes and

stuff, and we haven"t found an! bod! parts !et or an! sign of a struggle.

%ob, though, had other thoughts. 0Whatever. 'he snow itself could have killed the

children B and the =nowan. Wh! are we wasting our tie out here3

7evon grabbed %ob and pinned hi against a tree. 0We are out here because of ! girl

and the other issing kids.


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Winter / Ran >H

04o, we are out here because of soebod!"s stupidit!. &nd that led us out here to find a

bunch of kids who ight be alread! dead.

01ou bastard, I said.

7evon held %ob tight against the tree trunk: I raised ! shotgun and stuck the uzzle

against %ob"s head, read! to put hi out of his iser!. &kin and two of his en stepped up to

surround the three of us.

0#al down, one of the en said.

I ignored hi. 0I" going to rip !ou a new one, !ou little prick.

'hen one of &kin"s en tasered all three of us, and we all fell to the ground, writhing.

04ow cal down, dait, 'aseran said.

&nd right then, the snow rose up and grabbed hold of 'aseran"s lower half and started

to pull hi under.

0&hhhhhh, help, helpD he cried.

=everal of &kin"s en ran toward hi, but then the an"s head went under. ven as his

screas died beneath the white death, the snow around us cae alive. -ur heated arguent

finall! caught up with us. 'he whiteness began to rise up in tentacles, soe with pointed ends of

hardpacked snow. Ranger barked at the snow.

0ver!one, be cal, &kin said.

01eah, gu!s. #ool it, I said.

%ut it was too late. 'he snow began to suck soe of the en under. -ther en shouted as

the snow ipaled the on the pointed ends of the tentacles.

08et to higher ground now, &kin said.


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Winter / Ran >2

%ob ran up a rock! hill that the wind had ostl! swept clear of snow, and &kin and I

soon followed. & few seconds later, 7evon joined us. I didn"t see where $i and ric got to in all

the cootion and swirling snow. Ron, though, looked frantic, and he tried to run toward the

rock! hill.

0Ron, I said. 0$ust cal down and head this wa!.

%ut Ron fell into the snow. 04o. -h 8od no, he said.

I started down the hill. I wouldn"t let ?ateia lose a child after alread! losing a sister. %ut

as I saw Ron flailing around and screaing in the snow, I knew I couldn"t reach hi in tie. 'he

snow ade an ar and latched onto Ron"s head, copletel! engulfing it.

04ooooD I said.

'he giant snow ar twirled Ron"s bod! like a rag doll. %ack and forth, back and forth. I

reached the botto of the hill and prepared to plow into the snow to save hi.

%ut 7evon grabbed e b! the ar. 04o don"t.

0?ee go.

I tried ! best to free !self fro his strong grip. %ut then I saw the snow around Ron

open up like a pit—with teeth that looked like icicles.

0-h ! 8od no, I said.

'he snow pulled Ron"s bod! under, like he was soe pre! for a onster to feast on.

I fell to ! knees on the hill! slope, feeling the hard rock on ! knees. I sta!ed there for

a while, just staring out at the snow as it worked on the en it had pulled under. &kin finall!

gathered all of us together, and we clibed into soe nearb! trees. I didn"t see Ranger

an!where, but I figured he was safe since the snow wouldn"t attack hi.


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Winter / Ran >(

/////

With all the gra! snow clouds, it got dark real ;uick. 'he clouds, though, soon gave wa!,

and the oon began shining in the sk! like a blue beacon of light. 'he trees seeed as cal as

the night sk!. %ut the snow wasn"t ;uiet. We could still hear it rending and consuing the flesh

of the en it had taken under its vast and deep white fields. We even heard soe of the en

screaing and cr!ing in agon! under the snow.

0)elp. -h 8od B -h 8od B )elp, I heard faintl! fro under the snow.

We sat above it all, thankfull!, and I was grateful that a few of us were left. &round

twent! of us ade it into the trees, but I had no idea where $i and ric were. I ended up in a

tree with 7evon, on a branch to his left.

&fter listening to the deadl! snow for a bit, 7evon said, 0?ooks like we ade it out of

there at the thin of our skin.

I wasn"t in the ood to talk. Ron"s face roaed through ! ind. What could I have

done different to save hi3 =hould I have even brought hi out here3 &ll these thoughts started

to tear through ! head. %ut it was too late. &ll of it eant nothing. I felt like ! head was

about to e+plode all over 7evon.

5! daughter has been kidnapped b! soe ps!cho killer. 'wo of ! inlaws are dead in

! house, and ! fail! is hiding the truth fro e. 4ow Ron B is dead. I sighed and just

stared up at the oon. 'o top it all off, there we were outside in winter, sitting in a tree and

wondering if we would ever be able to get down fro there without the snow eating us. I knew

that was going through ever!one"s ind. &nd apparentl! 7evon picked up on ! brooding.


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Winter / Ran >6

0#oe on, an, he said. 07on"t worr!. -ka!, I ean, !ou will worr!, just like I a. %ut

we"re getting out of here and getting our kids back.

'o ! surprise, those words reall! did lift ! spirits a bit. &nd then I saw &kin, clibing

fro tree to tree.

05ove fro these trees and head to the ones on the north side, &kin told us.

0Is he craz!3 7evon asked. 07oes he e+pect us to hang and swing fro a tree like a

onke!3

0Well, isn"t that what !ou people are3 said soeone in a nearb! tree.

0Who said that3 7evon replied.

I shined ! flashlight and saw it was %ob who ade that racist coent.

0Watch !our outh, Robert, I said.

07on"t tell e what to do, %ob said. 0We"re in the iddle of nowhere in the snow, read!

to be ripped apart b! it, and it"s !our fault. %ob then turned his attention toward 7evon. 0I

ean, what kind of father loses his child, especiall! out here3 1ou gu!s—all of !ou—are so

stupid.

0If we weren"t out here, !ou wouldn"t be alive, 7evon told %ob.

'hen I noticed that %ob"s tree looked like it was B oving. 5! 8od, that tree is actuall!

oving its branches.

0%ob, get out of the tree, I said.

ven as I said it, several tree branches bent toward %ob fro his rear, as if it was a sneak

attack.

04o wa!, an, %ob said. 0I" not getting off this tree. 1ou"re tr!ing to kill e, aren"t

!ou3


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Winter / Ran >>

0'he tree branches behind !ou.

05an, shut up, %ob said. 0I" tired of !our bull B and this thing !ou got against e. I

didn"t do an!thing to 4anc!.

'hen 7evon shot a bullet at one of the oving tree branches to shut %ob up. 08et out of

the dan tree !ou idiot. 'he branches are oving.

%ob laughed. 0Whatever, !ou gu!s are so full—&hhhhD

& tree branch knocked %ob fro his perch and he fell downward, but caught onto another

branch that wasn"t oving. 'hat was when I noticed that one side of %ob"s tree had a lot of snow

on its branches. 'hus, the snow on the tree actuall! began to ove the branches.

I shined ! flashlight in &kin"s direction. 4ow I knew wh! &kin had told ever!bod! to

ove to the trees to the north. 'he! had alost no snow on an! of their branches.

08u!s, I said. 0?et"s do what &kin said. 5ove to the northern trees. 'he! have barel!

an! snow on the, so we"ll be safer there.

=o we all began to clib fro tree to tree, still not wanting to chance stepping foot on the

ground after seeing so an! en die in the snow. =o we tried to do it ;uick and cal. If we got

too eotional like %ob had, or if we worked up too uch bod! heat, then the snow on these trees

would go after us. &nd off we went, swinging and clibing our wa! to the ne+t stand of trees to

the north. & few of us, though, ust have either gotten scared or been generating too uch heat,

because several tree branches grabbed at soe of us and tried pulling us downward into the snow

on the ground.

0&hh, nooooooo, one an said.

I watched as soeone plueted to the ground not far in front of e.


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Winter / Ran >@

0ver!one cal down, &kin said, his voice carr!ing through the crisp night air. 0$ust

take it slow and eas!.

%ut others began to slip off, falling down to their deaths, screaing in horror, soe

calling on the nae of $esus to save the. -thers cursed like a sailor all the wa! down.

I griaced as I watched &kin continue to ove forward like soe jungle cat. )e was

easil! the ost fle+ible and agile of all of us. &kin stopped and positioned hiself on a tall oak

tree in the northern stand of trees.

0What"s he doing3 7evon said in a tree ne+t to e.

I stopped and hung fro a branch, then pulled !self up to watch. 7evon did the sae

and then pointed.

0?ook, he said.

&kin then took out a collapsible sniper rifle fro his backpack and opened it up, then

took ai in our general direction.

0What the hell is he doing3 7evon said. 0-h an B

04o, he"s not aiing at us, I said.

&kin started to shoot rounds at the tree branches that were tr!ing to grab us. 'hen he fired

at soe of the en that had alread! fallen into the snow and were screaing in agon!.

I saw 7evon turn and look at e. 05erc! killings, he whispered.

I nodded. 0?et"s keep going.

7evon and I kept swinging fro tree to tree as best as we could. We cae upon %ob, who

had apparentl! gotten ahead of us when we stopped to watch &kin.

08u!s, %ob said. 08u!s, help e.


57/308

Winter / Ran >C

7evon kept oving, but I stopped and looked over at %ob—and that"s when I saw soe

snow on a nearb! branch began to crawl in his direction. It ust have sensed %ob"s heat fro a

distance.

0%ob, watch out, I said.

%ob turned and saw the snow heading toward hi. 0-h an. 'hen he clabered down

to the branch beneath hi. )e !anked out his gun and shot at the snow above hi. It worked—

for the oent, at least, as the snow scattered and fell to the ground.

I nodded and started swinging again. -ne of &kin"s en grab onto a tree trunk to take a

break. %ut fro below hi, soe snow began clibing the trunk to get hi.

0)e! look out, I said.

%ut it was too late.

'he snow covered his right hand and instantl! frostbit hi. 'he an screaed in agon!. I

clibed up onto a branch, hoping for a chance to fire ! tactical shotgun and save hi. I pointed

! flashlight at the gu!, and I could see his hand had turned black and blood was alread! oozing

out of it.

0-h 8od help. =oeone help e. the an said.

I raised ! shotgun and flashlight together, but I couldn"t get a clean shot. 'he snow was

starting to cover his bod!. 'hen the tree leaned over toward a snowbank, which in turn opened up

into a giant hole, looking like a white hill with teeth poking out of it—and one that had a taste for

huan blood.

04ooooo, help e, the an said

I watched as a long tentacle of hardpacked, ic! snow cae up out of the snow! hole and

grabbed the an.


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Winter / Ran >E

'he an screaed fro beneath the snow. 0&hhahhhhhh. 4o. &h 8od no.

I looked ahead and flashed ! light across the trees. &kin was alread! aiing his rifle

down into the snowbank. -ne shot, and the an ;uit screaing. &kin threw a glance in !

direction, but I doubted he could see ! face. I shut off ! flashlight and oved forward,

wondering how an! of us were going to be left.

& few inutes later, I heard 7evon curse to ! right.

0&hh, I" stuck, he said. 07an foot is caught between soe branches.

I pulled !self up onto a branch close to 7evon and shined ! light at hi. & line of

snow was alread! heading toward his stuck foot. I reached out and tried to grab his hand. %ut his

foot was snagged in the branches prett! good.

0)ang on, I said.

0#an"t go an!where an!wa!, he replied.

'he snow got closer and closer to his caught boot, read! to attack. I kept pulling at the

branch, but it was just too strong.

%laD

0&hhhhh, 7evon said. 0What the hell. Who the hell just—oh dan that hurts. Who shot

e3

'he shot, however, had released his foot fro the branch. &nd the snow began to absorb

and feed on the blood left on the branch b! the gunshot wound. I looked down and saw that %ob

had shot the bullet, but before I could sa! an!thing, I heard &kin"s voice.

0?et"s ove, people, he said. 0'here"s a cave just ahead where we should be able to find

shelter.


59/308

Winter / Ran >F

I saw the reaining gu!s, including %ob, all clib and swing forward as fast the! could.

%ut 7evon just looked at e.

0I can"t ove, an, he said. 05! foot B It hurts too uch.

I nodded and then looked down. We were prett! close to the ground, and onl! about

twent! !ards fro the cave. 'he snow had drifted to at least a couple of feet deep below us. I

twisted around on ! branch so I faced 7evon"s back.

0$ust sta! cal and be read! to ove, oka!3 I said to hi.

)e looked back over his shoulder at e. 0Wh!3 What are !ou going to—&hhhhh.

7evon sailed through the air thanks to a doublefooted push fro e. )e landed softl! in

the snow below and tried to stand.

07an an, he said.

0=hhh. $ust sta! cal, reeber3 I said.

0I can"t B 5an, I can"t walk, he said in a ;uiet voice.

0#rawl. $ust crawl. 4ice and eas!.

I swallowed hard as I watched 7evon crawl the last few !ards toward the cave. &

oent later, &kin ran out and helped hi the rest of the wa!—just as a few sall snow

tentacles fored and took ai at 7evon.

I took a few deep, caling breaths, and then juped down into the snow !self. It was a

harder fall than I e+pected, and I alost split ! left leg in two. %ut I ade it.

0I think !ou"re the last two. Neep going B deeper, &kin said. )e handed 7evon off to

e and shined a bright flashlight ahead of us. 0It"s a lot warer and oister deeper in, so we"ll

be safe there.


60/308

Winter / Ran @A

I nodded and helped 7evon along. =oon enough, 7evon and I heard soe of the other

en illing about ahead of us, then we saw the in the light of &kin"s bea.

0)e!, !ou hurt, 7evon3 one of the en asked.

We walked forward and helped 7evon into a seated position against the side wall of the

cave. It was #hris who had asked, I now saw as he walked up to us.

07evon, he"s been shot, I said.

0What3 %! who3 #hris asked.

'hat"s when we all heard soebod! screaing and shooting fro the direction of the

cave entrance—and he was getting closer to us. We all turned and aied our weapons. %ut when

we saw who it was, ever!one e+cept e put their guns down. It was %ob, running fro the snow

like a adan.

0It"s e. I" oka!, %ob said.

0'hat"s the proble, I said.

0)e!, lower !our weapon, #hris said to e.

%ut I didn"t respond.

0If !ou gu!s got soe issues to work out, then settle it when we all get the hell out of

here, 7evon said.

0)e shot !ou, 7evon, I said, still e!eing %ob with ! shotgun leveled at hi.

0Well B !eah, but it saved ! life, didn"t it3

I sighed and lowered ! weapon. I couldn"t just shoot %ob at pointblank range. I didn"t

have proof that he killed 4anc! and/or $aie. %ut I knew that if I let hi live long enough, the

truth would coe out, especiall! in this environent—in this white death trap.


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Winter / Ran @H

We settled in and one of &kin"s en ade a fire, and we all sat and watched as the soke

wisped its wa! up through cracks in the cave ceiling. 'he night outside seeed to grow even

darker. We heard the cold wind oaning at the entrance. =oething told e that we were going

to be in here for a while. I didn"t ind, though. I needed the rest.

%ut a part of e felt that in this cave were ore than just us en looking to save our

children. I had a feeling that we needed to be saved fro soething lurking in this cave.

I ight have been paranoid, but soeties being paranoid can keep !ou alive.


62/308

Winter / Ran @2

The Winter

January 1, 2050

It was 4ew 1ear"s 7a!. I"d be fort!one !ears old in two onths. In those coing two

onths, I hoped the snow would die down. =oe !ears, we"d had just noral winters. 4o real

blizzards or snowstors and hardl! an! snow. =oeties the countr! never even reall! shut

down. It was just put on standb! depending on the weather. &nd we had soe winters that were

so nice, !ou would have thought it was suer. =till the governent took no chances. =o the

kids and all us grown folks didn"t have to go to school or work. 'hose warer winters with no

snow ended up being a lot of fun—but not this tie. 'his tie, the winter was terrible. &nd not

just the weather.

'his winter was worse because of all that had transpired. I didn"t have to sa! it again to

the gu!s I was with. I"d said it an! ties in the cave that we were all in. I"d said it too an!

ties, how essed up this whole situation was. &nd these en knew it theselves all too well

after these past few weeks. We"d been stuck in this hole since late last !ear, thanks to blizzard

like conditions that never let up, starting the da! after we ade it into the cave. &kin, though,

had packed plent! of survival food, and we found a sall spring deeper in the caves. &fter all, it

wasn"t like we were going to go out and collect soe snow to elt it for water.

&fter I got soewhat cofortable I started to think about the last tie ! iediate

fail! and I were all together. It was a few da!s after I got back fro a recent tour in

$ohannesburg, the final weeks of autun passed b! ;uickl!. 7eceber 2H was around the blasted

corner. %ut the wa! the weather forecast looked, the heav! snow would likel! coe earlier than

that. It becae clear to e that it was going to be a dangerous winter. 5! plan was to finish


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Winter / Ran @(

getting ever!thing read! and then lock down and spend soe ;ualit! tie with ! wife and

kids.

0ach, is the winterization furnace on3 7aphne asked.

04ot !et, 5o—but alost, ach replied, while running back down the stairs again.

'he light snow had continued on and off since I"d returned hoe the last da! of

4oveber—going back and forth fighting with autun—but we hadn"t even gotten close to a

foot of accuulation, so we were still safe. If !ou would ever e+perience winters like what we

have, !ou would start to think of the fall season as !our friend. 1ou view the fall as tr!ing to hold

back the old an in the frost! blue coat fro peeling his wa! into !our lives for three to four

onths or even longer.

01ou got the firewood an3 5ick! asked ach.

04ot !et. 5o wants e to keep checking the furnace to see if is revving up, ach said,

still running around the house.

0)urr! up bo!s, 7aphne said.

?ane was too bus! bouncing around the house. 0Winter is coing, winter is coing, I get

to see the snow.

=oon enough, 7aphne got on the phone with the insurance agenc!. 01es, I like to speak

with soeone about getting the supergenerators turned on in ! house.

7aphne turned around and snapped her fingers at e. 0Gh, i.

01eah, hone!.

0'ake these fors to the agenc! for e3

0What3 #an"t we just subit the fors online3

01eah, but I need !ou to pick up a few things too. Nill two birds with one stone.


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Winter / Ran @6

0Gh, oka!, but it"s easier to just do the fors online, isn"t it3 -r give the the codes on

the fors and verif! our info since !ou"re on the phone with the and—

01ou know what3 I" not tr!ing to argue here. #an !ou please for once just do what I

want3

I stopped and stared at her for a oent, wondering where such an outburst cae fro.

0What"s that suppose to ean3 I asked.

=he rolled her e!es, got out of the chair, and went upstairs. I don"t like it when people

don"t answer e—I reall! don"t—so she had e about as wound up as I can get.

07add!, 7add!, let e coe with !ou, ?ane said, running toward e like a happ!

pupp!.

0hh, I don"t know, I said.

0


65/308

Winter / Ran @>

01eah, no probs


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Winter / Ran @@

I looked at the fors again and signed on the dotted line. ?ane juped into ! ars and

we both headed back to the car.

$ust then, I reebered ! bo!s and their trip to the store. I opened ! phone and

turned on the 8


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Winter / Ran @C

0?et"s sing that song.

0What song3

0'he JI ?ove 1ou" song.

01ou still reeber that song, sweetie3

0Gh, !eah, 7add!,

0-h, oka!. I guess. 1ou start.

0-ka!. =he cleared her throat like she was getting read! for a usic recording. 0I love

!ou. 1ou love e too. ?ane loves 7add!, ver!, ver! uch—ver!, ver! uch.

I siled and reached back to pat her on the leg.

01our turn, 7add!.

0&lright, get !our ears read! for this, I said, laughing. 0I love !ou. 1ou know it"s true.

7add! loves ?aaaane, ver!, ver! uch—ver!, ver! uch.

'hen ?ane joined in and we sang together9 0I love !ou. 1ou love e too. ?ane loves

7add!, ver!, ver! uch—ver!, ver! uch. I love !ou. 1ou know it"s true. 7add! loves ?aaaane,

ver!, ver! uch—ver!, ver! uch.

We sang the rest of the wa! hoe. When we arrived, I picked up ! ?ane and carried her

into the house. =he looked tired, so I put her to bed in her roo, which was decorated fro top to

botto with stuff that featured Red %ear, a cartoon character that ?ane just adored. I knew she

didn"t like naps, so I had to trick her.

01ou don"t have to go to sleep, bab!. $ust lie down and rest !our e!es, I said to her

softl!.

=he listened and rested those little e!es, l!ing down cofortabl! on her Red %ear bed.

=he soon fell asleep—it worked ever! tie. &fterwards, I pulled out ! phone and pulled up the


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the best partner I could"ve been for !ou. %ut whenever !ou were hoe, !ou alwa!s had the

attitude. 1ou would alwa!s get ad when things didn"t go !our wa!.

0Woan, what are !ou talking about3 What things didn"t go ! wa!, huh3

0-h please. 1ou know what I ean—when !ou couldn"t visit !our 5e+ican whore.

When !ou had to stare outside the window here, looking at the snow and wishing !ou were down

there with her and ?ane rather than spending tie with e and our bo!s—especiall! knowing

the little tie we had in the fall.

With her final words, she was so close to e that I felt her spit on ! face.

01ou have got to be joking. 1ou think I want to be with her3 Is that what this is about3 Is

that wh! !ou"re so angr! with e3

0Wh! else !ou would volunteer to go on another tour3 'hat"s !our chance to go to

another outpost soewhere, like !ou did the first tie in 5e+ico B where she lives. &nd where

?ane lives.

0=top it. =top. 1ou think I would risk ! life to go soewhere to be with another

woan3 &nd besides, 7aphne, it"s not voluntar!. It"s re;uired service. I still had two ore !ears

on ! activedut! contract to fulfill until I was cut loose. 'he onl! reason I" back now is

because of how far we got in the war. %esides, !ou never acted sad or angr! when we were going

out and having fun.

0Well, I guess I" just as good an actor as !ou are, i. &cting like !ou care, acting like

!ou"re such a good father to our sons—when all !ou reall! care about is !our other life.

&s we both continued to !ell at each other, I thought about ?ane—how she would be

disturbed b! all the screaing and shouting. -r worse, she could actuall! be listening to e and

her stepo screaing at each other. =he would probabl! think that being here with us was no


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different than being at hoe in 5e+ico. 'his e+perience would probabl! reind her of the

relationship her biological other and I had when I was able to visit there.

With all this in ind, I stopped shouting and tried to cal 7aphne down. 0-ka!, listen

let"s lower our voices and talk about his like grownups, oka!3

%ut 7aphne just kept getting louder. 04o. What kind of husband wants to go to war

instead of spending tie with his fail!3 What kind of husband and father is never here, alwa!s

working, and alwa!s putting dut! above e and ! needs3 1ou never called e while !ou were

deplo!ed—never once did !ou call e.

0-h, stop l!ing. I did too call !ou.

01eah, once or twice—out of the ten different deplo!ents.

0)e!, he!, lower !our voice.

=he laughed, shook her head, paused and then began cr!ing. 0I had B =he sobbed and

wiped at her e!es. 0I had to raise the bo!s—two bo!s—and then ! stepdaughter since she

arrived B all b! !self. I had to avoid advances fro other en—because whenever I went out

soewhere, I was alwa!s alone. I would tell the that I was arried. %ut the gu!s would never

see !ou—never, i. 'he! would never see !ou, i, even when we were together. 4ever.

0What3 =top it. 1ou"re not aking sense. Where is all of this coing fro3

=he just continued to rant. 0&ll I had to prove it was a wedding ring.

I wanted this nagging to end, ostl! so ?ane wouldn"t hear it, so I decided to be the bad

gu!.

0-ka!, I realize what !ou"re sa!ing, and how iportan

Reece Ran: Winter

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