"I loved her; I hated her; I poured all the world's love into her; I poured all the world's fury into her; I wanted to kill her; I wanted her to save me; I made her my Messiah; I made her my Antichrist; She was my heaven; She was my hell; I am a monster."
"A gift for all who walked on the edge of the abyss; In memory of all who lost themselves within it;"
By G. Willian Zanckeyy
Two years after Kholm
It's been two years, and I still don't know what place this is. They told me it was Russia, but it's so different from what I remember from the internet. Weren't they supposed to be used to the cold? Where is everyone? Don't tell me they died in the middle of this hellish snow — what a bunch of softies, they can't even handle a little chill. And where is that bastard Carl? Didn't he flee to this place?
I need to get out of this colony. There's nothing worth a damn left here; they've already picked the place clean and didn't even leave the blankets behind. If I'd made it here just two days earlier, I might've actually found something. I glance at my watch — 14:34. There's still some time left to keep searching.
"The name of this colony was Benshenaya Sobaka, if I'm not mistaken. It's located in the north, so there should've been more people here; I guess they fled to the hills. Anyway, there wasn't much to see — just some patched-up tents and frozen clothes, hard as rock. But there are a few shell casings scattered on the ground. A fight must've broken out. They look like shotgun shells. A trail of blood leads toward the nearby forest. There's a lot of it... whoever it is couldn't have gone far."
I tightened my grip on the axe in my hands and headed that way. I don't care if he's armed or not; in the end, he'll dead either way. As I drew closer, I heard rapid footsteps—looks like he's realized I'm here. Perfect. A good run will help warm me up.
"Where do you think you're going!?"
No response. Did someone slit his throat? I could make out his silhouette through the trees, stumbling into everything in his path. He wasn't moving very fast.
"I can see the trail of blood! You'd better just give yourself up!"
Dammit, he just won't quit. A tree trunk splintered right next to me from a blast — he's got a sawed-off mini-shotgun. It's a powerful weapon, if only he had decent aim. Pity that model only holds two rounds. I just waited for him to whiff the second shot and made my move. His clothes were thick as hell, but legs are always in the same place.
"What's the rush?"
One clean swing of the axe was enough to sever the leg... Wait. It was a woman? Of course it was — that ear-splitting scream could only have come from a woman. She stayed there, thrashing on the ground without stopping for a single second.
"Where did the others go?" I asked calmly.
"Go to hell!!!"
"So rude."
I yanked the cap off her head and finally saw her face. A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. A bit on the older side, I'd say, but she'd fit right in with a certain terrorist group I know — pity she isn't my type. I grabbed her by the hair and readied my axe; if she so much as tried anything, her head would be rolling across the ground.
"Where did they go?"
"Are you with the New Brigade?" she asked, clutching her leg on the ground — or rather, what was left of it.
"What the heck is this 'New Brigade'?"
She was becoming delirious, the constant blood loss must have already scrambled her brain. She wouldn't last long if I didn't apply a tourniquet, but I wasn't about to waste resources on an old hag.
Taking advantage of her being pinned to the ground, I reared back the axe with both hands.
"No no no, wait!!!" — SPLASH
Dead. One swing of the axe to the neck and her suffering was over. At least I got a sawed-off out of it, even if she only had one ammo box with three shells on her. It's better than nothing. Her clothes look pretty warm, too — I should probably take them. I've still got food in my pack, so I won't need to carve off any pieces of her.
Let's see... Two more cans of beef stew, a bottle of water, a map, and a mirror.
Too bad. She wasn't carrying much of value. I tried to look in the mirror, but the reflection is still a blur. I still can't see my own face — just hope this ends soon. I've heard from others that I have black hair and brown eyes; my mother used to say my eyebrows were on the thick side. I'd just like to confirm that for myself.
Hmph... At least her blood isn't glowing yet. I think I can hold out for another two hours before taking the medicine.
The world has changed so much since I was a kid. I remember going to the beach with my father, even if I can't recall his face anymore. The summer heat... the ice cream I used to love back home in Munich... the good food from the city center. Everything felt so much brighter before the cold took over.
But one day, during a midday news report, the TV announced that the sun was progressively losing mass — at a rate far beyond anything normal. As a result, the Earth was drifting away from it. Year by year, the cold intensified. Bit by bit, summer was being stolen from us
Over time, crops and livestock began to die off, and food was no longer a guarantee. The rule of law crumbled. Some nations fell into anarchy; others descended into war. Bit by bit, people ceased to be human. Sometimes, I think this cold didn't just freeze our surroundings — it froze the human heart, too.
But then again, who am I to talk? I'm a man who literally decapitated an old woman just a few minutes ago.