The snow was crushed underneath the hooves of eighteen horses. Clouds of vapor drifted from horses mouths and froze, ice ringed their mouths. Men where tired, sagged in their saddles. The past two days had been hard on them. Sure, they had found tracks of human movement, horse tracks and tracks of large feet. But, never did the see anyone. Glenburg was still miles and miles to the west, they had only just crossed the Fall river. Ten more miles to the upper reaches of the Pit river and from there two dozen miles downstream. Three more days, or so the lieutenant guessed, three more days plodding through the thick layer of snow.
That evening Rudolf had to stand guard over camp, his fellows trusted him and now he was one of the four men guarding a corner of the small camp. A group of men huddled around a concealed pile of growing embers, horses standing side to side to keep warm. Guns at a ready, blankets around their shivering bodies, the men tried to sleep.
And Rudolf sat, every hour he took some crumbs of old bread swallowing it with a few sips from the little flask of brandy in his pocket. This helped him keep awake but he was extremely tired. At two in the morning, the moon was shining trough the snow covered trees throwing grotesque shadows on the white soil in front of him. Every time he dozed of he was scared awake by the shadows. Rudolf closed his eyes and off he was again, in a world of dreams.
He was standing again in the valley of the upper Fall river. It was spring, the flowers where blossoming as they had not done since the 'Appocalypse'. The sun was shining and the grass was waving with the gentle breeze of the wind. Olga was at his side, both of them sat on a massive boulder while their son played in the river below. He was having fun and they where all feeling happy. Olga laughed, kissed Rudolf on his cheek and smiled at him. He held one of her hands tight within his own. He did not wish to let her go, never, never ever. Olga and Jeremiah, they where everything to him. A tear ran across Rudolfs cheek, he was crying from joy and his view was temporarily blurred because of it. Jeremiah pointing at something the far distance, he was laughing, he was enjoying himself.
“Do you see him.” Olga must have sad as she put her large, green hand on his shoulder. Rudolf turned his head,
“Seen what?”
”Be quite, whisper Rudolf.” Rudolf turned towards the face of his beloved Olga, her massive green hand was still clutching his shoulder, trying to break it into pieces. Olga's face was covered by a gray beard. She had three old winter coats across one another, ice was bungling from her nostrils.
”Stay quite!” This time she hurt him and smacked him in the face with her fist, hard.
Rudolf fell into the snow and heaved himself into a sitting position once more. He shook his head and cleared his eyes from the tears.
”Must have dozed of.” Rudolf said to no one in particular, he had not recognized the man besides him yet. But by the darkness of the voice, the broken darkness, the recognized the man as Frank.
”I don't care you dozed of, take a look at that damned hulk in front of you. He is staring at us for minutes but I can not wake the boys, maybe there are more of them. I hoped you knew what to do.”
Rudolf watched at the large, dark man in front of him. It was no human, it was one of the strange, massive brutes they had seen in Glenburg.
Seconds passed, seconds in which nothing happened. The big man was watching the camp and Rudolf and Frank where watching him.
”It is a fucking mutant. I despise them. But if I kill him now his mates will be running all over us within seconds.”
Rudolf was brought back to his senses completely now. They could be attacked any moment. He grabbed for his rifle pointed at the hulking shadow. The mutant had some guts for sure. He would not have a chance to live if Rudolf opened fire. Three, maybe four salvos he could give of before his enemy was safe behind the threes. And then he was counting just one gun.
What was he doing, why had he ventured into such a close vicinity?
