Right after dawn, once the team had woken from their sleep, they left the house at once and began walking through the alleys and the ruined buildings all around, trying to avoid any direct encounter with any non-human creature.
After a while of walking, they reached the edge of the city.
There the houses stopped appearing, replaced by a vast road full of snow, leafless trees, and wrecked cars.
Ethan took one last look at the dead city, focusing on its ruined features, his childlike face full of curiosity, and a question in his mind that left him puzzled.
What was the city like before it became this way?
But he let it go once they had moved a little away from it, and occupied his mind with only one thing: finding a suitable goal for himself.
Meanwhile, Jenny turned to Joseph with a puzzled look, as if she had just remembered something, and called out: "Joseph."
Joseph turned to her with tired eyes before answering: "What?"
Jenny went on: "I wanted to ask you about this earlier, but I forgot. Now that we finally have enough time to talk, I wanted to ask you about that night."
Joseph raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? What night?"
Jenny answered: "One night, in the middle of the night, I found you walking alone through the village, which really struck me as strange, so I followed you. And when I followed you... well, I found you with one of those creatures, and it looked like you were telling it something. So please explain to us what happened that night."
Nicholas spoke up, backing Jenny's words without turning to them: "Oh yes, I was with her too... I was going to ask you about that, but she beat me to it."
A mix of humor and nonchalance appeared on Joseph's face before he answered: "First of all, you scoundrels, what were you even doing out in the middle of the night? Second, you idiots, that creature is a message carrier between villages. We tell it the words we want sent, and when it reaches the target village it repeats them. I went out in the middle of the night and lost my sweet sleep because that Marcus woke me up and told me to send a message to Willwood village to let them know ahead of time that we were coming... Are you satisfied now?"
Jenny answered with a mix of curiosity and bewilderment: "But why didn't anyone tell us about it beforehand?"
Joseph answered, turning his eyes forward again: "Why would they tell you in the first place? Everyone's busy with their own things."
Jenny answered with a bit of embarrassment, looking away from him: "Oh... yes, that makes sense."
Then they kept walking until the city's outlines vanished completely from their sight, passing the time talking, laughing, and enjoying themselves, so that they didn't feel how long the journey was.
Two hours after they had started walking.
Thirst and hunger began to show on the travelers' faces.
Joseph said wearily: "Nicholas, waaaater..."
Nicholas answered: "I only have a little canned food. As for water, there isn't any at the moment... but I know a river near here that I always used."
Joseph answered with suspicious eyes: "Near, huh? I bet it's another two hours away."
Nicholas laughed at him for a few seconds before continuing sarcastically: "No need to say that. We're actually close already. Not much is left."
Joseph answered, his patience gone: "Just give me your damn lighter so I can light a fire and melt some snow. Better than dying of thirst on the road."
Nicholas answered with angry sarcasm: "And how are you going to light a fire, genius? With your ass, maybe? Just be patient and shut up."
Joseph answered with a mocking smile, putting a hand to his chin: "Hmmmmmm, good idea actually, hehehe."
Suddenly Nicholas stopped where he was, and everyone stopped behind him in silence.
Jenny stepped forward a few paces toward Nicholas, worry on her face. "What's the problem? Is something there?"
But as soon as she stepped up to him she was surprised to see a frozen, icy river stretching as far as the eye could see, as though it had no end.
Nicholas then said in a calm tone: "Hmm, it seems we've actually arrived, but I didn't notice because of the snow."
Joseph said sarcastically and irritably: "Wow, the river's frozen too. Looks like we really do have to burn our asses to get water."
Nicholas answered in annoyance: "The only thing that'll burn is your ass."
A wicked grin appeared on Joseph's face before he went on: "Hahaha, relax, man, I'm just joking."
Jenny put a hand over her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter while she looked at Joseph with a laughing face.
Nicholas took a deep breath and said: "Just be quiet and follow me."
Then he turned and began walking along the frozen river.
Joseph said, irritation plain in his tone: "Let's rest a little, man. My throat's gone brittle from thirst."
Nicholas answered calmly: "Don't worry, we're close... closer than you think."
The other put a hand on his face in anger and impatience before answering: "You've been saying that since the beginning of the trip, and it's obvious we haven't gotten any closer."
Nicholas raised his middle finger toward Joseph without turning to him or answering, then put his arm back in his pocket and kept walking as if nothing had happened, which enraged Joseph.
The sun was hidden behind the clouds, the wind swept across the landscape, and our heroes' feet sank into the snow, walking a journey into the unknown with no idea what this snowy road held for them.
And before Joseph could start complaining as usual, Jenny said, a note of shock in her voice: "Look over there!"
Everyone glimpsed something like wreckage: broken, shattered wooden structures that looked as if they had once been houses.
They drew closer and closer to the place, until they entered the heart of the area.
It was a group of ruined cabins, some of them flattened so much they were nothing but rubble, while others had managed to hold on to their usual shape.
All of it was covered in white snow that was trying to erase the tragic story of this place.
Jenny felt a mix of bewilderment and worry, then said anxiously: "It looks like this place was attacked by those creatures."
Nicholas answered, a mix of seriousness and sorrow on his face, as though he were recalling intimate memories of the place: "Yes... this village was once a thriving place full of life. Despite how harsh the world was back then, they managed to coexist and bring safety and happiness to everyone... See all this? It wasn't done by zombies, or monsters, or any of those creatures... but by something worse."
Jenny answered with bewilderment, tinged with sorrow for the villagers: "Then who did this?"
Nicholas answered her at once, in a tone full of hatred and loathing: "The Kataran. Those degenerates. They killed everyone, destroyed the cabins and the farms, and even so their thirst for blood is still unquenched... They captured and enslaved everyone who survived this massacre, and treated them and their children like animals, as if they were worthless creatures... And that's why I swore I wouldn't rest until I took revenge, not only for myself but for everyone who was hurt by the evil and bestiality of those creatures."
After hearing Nicholas's words, a mix of sorrow and pity crept into her heart, and she asked him, though she already knew the answer: "So that's why you came all this way... revenge."
Nicholas nodded firmly, then began walking quietly forward, through the snow and the wreckage, glancing from time to time at the burned houses, a deep burning in his heart for the people of this land.
Ethan and Jenny followed him, pity and sorrow in their eyes, for Nicholas and for his people.
Meanwhile Joseph walked around the place, gathering pieces of wood strewn here and there.
After five minutes of walking, Nicholas suddenly stopped where he was, his face turned to stone, carrying regret and sorrow within it.
Jenny and Ethan stopped beside him, looking at the same place he was looking at.
They saw a wide stretch of land, full of the whiteness of snow, with pieces of wood of various shapes planted in it. Some were black in color, some broken, some tall and some short, like withered flowers growing on dead earth.
Jenny looked at Nicholas, puzzled, and asked: "You've visited this place before, right? So can you explain why these pieces of wood are planted here like this?"
Nicholas sighed with sorrow before answering: "I think it's clear enough... they're the graves of those who died in the Kataran attack."
Jenny asked another question: "Graves? What are those?"
Nicholas turned to her with a mix of surprise and disbelief. "Are you joking with me? Who doesn't know what graves are?"
Jenny shifted her eyes to the ground in tension and embarrassment before answering: "Oh... ahh... well, you know, I haven't talked to many humans in my life except my father, so forgive me if my question is stupid to you."
The other took a deep breath before answering: "A grave is the place where we bury our dead. It's a way of showing respect to them and to their bodies... and also to keep the smell of the corpse from spreading through the place... As I told you before, the Kataran are a bunch of sick people, so of course they didn't bury the bodies of those they killed. But when I escaped from them and found this place for the first time, I couldn't leave their bodies rotting like that, so I buried everyone in this place, and I used the wood of the houses where I found them to mark their graves..."
Jenny and Ethan looked at the graveyard again, but not with a look of confusion or indifference, rather with a look that showed the sorrow and pity forming in their hearts.
In the midst of this sad atmosphere, Joseph shouted at them angrily from a distance: "Are you going to stay there until you turn into snow statues, or what? Come here, quick!"
When they arrived, they found that Joseph had gathered a pile of wood and lit it into an enormous fire, big enough to burn a whole horse, and shock and astonishment spread across everyone's faces.
Nicholas asked him with a mix of shock and surprise: "How did you manage to light a fire? I'm the only one here with a lighter!"
Joseph answered with a sly smile: "Yes, you're the only one with a lighter, but you didn't notice that your dear lighter was stolen from you."
A faint, worried smile formed on Nicholas's face, and he sat right in front of Joseph and the others.
Though they were far from the flames, its strength was enough to carry its warmth to their completely frozen bodies.
Suddenly Joseph held out a clay cup full of water toward Nicholas, saying: "Want a drink?"
Nicholas took the cup and began drinking from it quietly at intervals, relaxation on his face in contrast to the worry and anger rooted in his heart.
Joseph said in a happy tone after finishing his cup: "Ahhhhhhhh, finally some refreshment. Lucky for us there are cups lying around everywhere."
Nicholas answered in a weak voice: "Yes..."
Silence filled the place for a short while. None of them had anything to say. All they wanted was to relax a little.
Nicholas reached toward his torn bag, took out some canned food, and tossed it quietly in front of the others.
Each of them took a can and began eating quietly, the sounds of chewing coming from their food-filled mouths.
All except Nicholas, who stayed seated in his place with empty hands resting on his knees, which were drawn together, lost in his own thoughts.
Jenny raised her head after noticing his strange silence, swallowed what was in her mouth with difficulty, and said in a cautious tone: "Why aren't you eating?... You need food more than any of us right now."
He answered calmly: "I don't feel hungry."
Joseph and Ethan exchanged brief glances, then Joseph shrugged indifferently and went on devouring his food, while signs of doubt and worry appeared on Jenny's face as she said anxiously: "Is something wrong?"
Nicholas took a deep breath and put his hand on his forehead before speaking in a tone tinged with regret: "There isn't much left before we reach the Kataran's place. The distance between us and them is only two hours on foot... So to make it short for you, from this point on you don't have to follow me. You've been in enough danger by coming with me, and you have nothing to do with my problem in the first place. So I want you to stay here while I go to them alone. The place is safe, far from those creatures. I lived here for a while and nothing ever happened to me, so there's no need to worry."
A heavy silence settled among the four. No one dared interrupt him as he finished his words, as if the fire in front of them had gone out for a moment, leaving behind a pure coldness that crept into all their chests.
Jenny murmured, a slight tremor in her voice: "You want to leave us here?... Alone?"
Nicholas didn't raise his head. He kept staring at the ground as he answered calmly: "It's better than you coming with me. The Kataran have no morals and no mercy. The moment they catch you, they'll kill you in the most horrible ways... or worse than that..."
Joseph burst into laughter despite the seriousness of the moment, then said mockingly: "Sounds like a great idea to me, being left alone in a ruined village while the cold tries to kill us in the most manly way. The funny thing is you're the one who forced me to come along."
Jenny answered him, trying to defend Nicholas: "B-but he at least has a convincing reason... His family is being killed by these Kataran, and you want him to just sit in place and do nothing?... He needed you, Joseph. He had no choice."
Joseph took a deep breath and then began scratching his head in annoyance, saying in an ordinary tone, though irritation lay beneath it: "Forget it. It's too late to back out anyway."
Suddenly, as they spoke, a strange sound began to reach their ears, which made them all fall silent, focusing on the sound with worry filling their hearts.
Joseph whispered in a cautious voice: "Do you hear what I hear?"
Jenny answered in a barely audible voice: "Yes."
While Ethan simply nodded yes.
Nicholas reached for his rifle before turning toward the source of the sound, thinking: "That sounds like Jesse's car... Could it be him? Or someone else?"
Nicholas didn't spend much time thinking. He rushed toward the sound with cautious, quick steps.
The sound led Nicholas through the wreckage of the ruined village and the snow scattered about, toward the frozen river.
And the sound of the car grew louder and louder the closer Nicholas got to its source.
Nicholas stopped immediately and hid behind one of the walls that still stood, though eroded by time.
He stuck out part of his eyes from behind the wall.
He noticed a white car that looked old, its wheels of different shapes and rust covering it in various places.
And beside it stood two men, both wearing wide red winter shirts with woolen edges and necklaces of bones. One of them had thick black hair, narrow brown eyes, a small nose, and tired features, and carried a metal sword on his arm.
The other had short red hair and red eyes, one of them white with a burn-like scar around it, a small nose, and serious features. He carried an iron axe in his hand and was striking the ice in the river, trying to get water, while talking with his companion.
But the thing they shared, and the strangest thing about them, was that both had a strange symbol on their bodies.
A circle with a dot in the middle, imprinted on their bodies like a burn.
One was drawn on the first man's neck.
And the second on the other's hand.
The moment Nicholas saw those symbols, his grip on the pistol began to tighten, and anger began to form in his eyes as he grasped the truth about the two men standing in front of him.
"After all these years, I finally meet you, scum of the earth... the Kataran."
At the same time his friends had reached his spot.
Jenny waved at Nicholas to get his attention so he could tell them the problem.
But the other paid her no attention at all. He didn't even bother to look at her, because he had two prey his eyes were watching.
"One of them has a long sword and the other has an axe. The distance between us is the width of the river, which makes a good gap between us. The red-haired one moves a lot, so shooting him would carry some risk. The other is nearly still, so the chance of killing him is far better... What matters most is what comes after I kill him... Will the second one run, or will he try to take revenge?... It doesn't matter. In either case, I'll kill him."
Nicholas raised his rifle toward the first, aiming precisely at his head, his body steady and his eyes burning with hatred. He put his finger on the trigger and pressed it as fast as he could.
The bullet shot from the barrel of the pistol at maddening speed toward the Kataran's head within a few seconds, easily piercing his skull and making a medium-sized hole in the middle of his head.
Blood seeped out and the Kataran fell dead to the ground.
This terrified his companion.
He gripped his axe tightly, worry and tension on his face, then dashed quickly behind the car.
Nicholas lowered his rifle calmly as feelings of satisfaction and joy began to seep into his veins. He let out a faint sigh and raised his face toward the sky, releasing a slight mist from the cold, relief and satisfaction in his features.
Jenny hurried toward Nicholas and asked him anxiously: "What's going on here? Did you kill the monster?"
Nicholas lowered his head calmly, a faint smile on his face, and answered: "Yes, I got rid of the monster, but one is left."
Then he stepped over a pile of debris in front of him and headed toward the car.
The Kataran man peeked lightly through the car and saw Nicholas approaching him calmly. His face was unclear to him, but he knew he was the reason for his companion's death.
Worry and fear appeared on his features as he spoke inside himself, his heart full of hatred: "This filthy ape killed Jarnas. He has a pistol, so I won't have a chance against him, and the car key is with the other one, but he's dead now. Damn it..."
Suddenly the Kataran glimpsed something that planted a glimmer of hope in his heart: the car key, fallen near him.
This raised his hopes, and he said in his mind: "Jarnas, you filth, even after your death you're still useful."
The man lay on the ground and reached under the car, grabbing the car key, then as fast as he could he got into the car and tried to start it.
He took a quick look at Nicholas and was terrified to find him too close, only a few steps from reaching him.
Anger dominated Nicholas's features.
The man turned the car key quickly and ran the engine's sound for a few seconds, then turned it again, and the engine roared loudly, starting the car completely.
A mix of joy and hatred appeared on his features, and he put the car in motion directly forward, intending to run Nicholas over and kill him.
Time froze for a brief moment, between the roar of the engine and the sound of snow cracking under the tires...
Nicholas didn't retreat a single step. He stared at the front of the car speeding toward him with eyes filled with anger and defiance.
Jenny and Joseph screamed at the same moment:
"Nicholaaaas!!"
"Get away from the car, you idiot!!"
The moment the car got close enough to him, he leapt straight to his right, away from it, so the car passed him by.
The man gritted his teeth in frustration as he looked at Nicholas in the car's mirrors, his heart burning.
He tried to turn around and come back at him, but the frozen river beneath him disrupted his control of the car. He tried to turn it right and left, but the car only skidded randomly.
He pressed the brake with all his strength, and the tires screamed beneath him as they rubbed against the ice, to no avail.
The car immediately crashed into the ruined cabins, smashing everything in its path and causing the wood to collapse over its front.
The vehicle shook violently before coming to a sudden stop, and the sound of shattering glass echoed the impact throughout the abandoned village.
The Kataran's body jolted inside the car from the force of the crash, his head snapping hard against the steering wheel. He lifted it with difficulty, his eyes half closed from the shock, and began breathing hysterically, the pain never leaving his battered body, as he let out sounds of agony and suffering.
He put his hand to his head because of the pain and was puzzled by a strange warmth on his hand.
He slowly lowered his trembling hand to his eyes and was shocked to see blood filling his palm, planting fear and terror in his depths.
He undid his seat belt and opened the car door, then climbed out, barely standing on his feet, clutching his bleeding head, nausea evident in his movements.
He began to walk in a zigzag, trying to flee the place before he was caught.
But he fell to the ground from the shock and the accumulation of wounds.
Yet his desire to live was stronger than all this. He got to his feet despite having lost his strength, and began forcing himself to walk despite his injuries.
But life doesn't always go as planned.
(Gunshot)
The man fell to the ground clutching his foot, which the bullet had pierced, letting out a short, muffled scream of pain as he writhed on the snow stained with spots of warm blood.
Heavy footsteps approached from behind him, planting terror and dread in his heart.
He turned back quickly with a pale, broken face and found Nicholas above him, looking at him with features full of contempt and scorn, gripping his rifle in rage.
The Kataran's body shook, and he crawled a few inches backward, staring at his doom with frozen eyes, his teeth chattering, not from the cold of the snow but from the sense of death drawing near.
Nicholas crouched on his knees and pressed the muzzle of his rifle into the center of the Kataran's forehead. The man then spoke in an angry tone, trying to hide the fear that ran through it: "I didn't expect any of you slaves would still be al—"
Before he could finish, he took a powerful punch to the middle of his face, which broke his nose at once, and the man clutched it immediately from the pain. At the same moment, Nicholas spoke with pure hatred and mockery: "Ohhh, Farger, no need to worry, there's no one here but me. How could animals like you leave this place in peace anyway? Oh! How could you forget me so quickly, Farger? It's me, Nicholas!"
The moment Farger heard his name, his eyes widened in shock and terror, and he stopped groaning, as though Nicholas's name had lit up a forgotten memory.
Nicholas went on: "What despicable days those were, you know. When we were kids, you loved hurting my family, remember? So much that to this day I still suffer because of this damned blind eye. (A long sigh.) And now here you are, with your whole fate in my hands..."
Nicholas let out a short, mocking laugh, then in a single moment placed his foot on the wound in Farger's foot, pressing down hard and making him scream in pain.
At the same time he began speaking in a tone full of loathing and hatred toward him: "Do you feel this pain? Do you see how burning it is? How agonizing? All of this isn't comparable, even for a moment, to the burning I felt every day all these years toward you. The psychological pain of knowing that my mother and my friends were suffering in your filthy fortresses."
And with every word he said, he increased the pressure on the wound, and the man's screams grew sharper and sharper.
All the while the rest of the team watched the scene in silence.
Jenny with a pale face, terrified by the horror of the sight.
And Joseph with a shocked face covered in worry and tension.
And Ethan with a mix of curiosity and a kind of fear at the brutality of the sight.
Nicholas bent down to the ground and picked up a small wooden stake with a sharp end, smaller than a finger.
He looked at it for a moment, then turned his gaze back to Farger, and within a few seconds...
Nicholas pounced on him and forced his eyes open, then drove the stake directly into Farger's right eye.
Planting branches of pain and torment in it, leaving him screaming with all his might, hands over his eyes as he writhed beneath Nicholas's feet, his hands trying desperately to remove the stake.
Nicholas stood over him, looking at him with eyes empty of pity, as though the fire in his heart were slowly dying down at the sight of him suffering.
Then he said to him in a mocking tone: "Oh, look at yourself, now we're alike! Neither of us has two eyes."
Farger gasped a loud gasp choked with pain, putting his hand to his wounded eye as blood trickled out through his hand, then screamed in a hoarse voice full of pain and hatred: "You won't get away with what you did! You won't get away with it! They'll notice my disappearance and they'll come here sooner or later. They'll skin you alive, cut you apart, burn your skin and bones, and turn you into food for your brothers the animals! You filthy bastard!"
Suddenly Nicholas shoved his rifle into the Kataran's mouth, pushing it right down his throat, leaving him choking in despair and humiliation, then said to him in a mix of madness and fury: "No need to worry. I'll go to them myself. There's no need for them to come. And I'll make sure, I'll make sure I kill every one of them in the most horrible ways. I'll burn your homes, strip your flesh from your bones, leave you suffering in the cold, naked, bound, unable to do anything but pray for your deaths. (A heavy breath.) And lucky for you, you won't be alive to see any of this."
He immediately pulled the trigger, and the bullet pierced his throat and his blood burst across the place, not only as a mutilated corpse, but as the beginning of Nicholas's grand plan.
Nicholas slowly pulled the rifle from the corpse's mouth, giving it a look of contempt.
He turned his gaze toward the car ahead of him and began walking toward it as if nothing had happened. He opened the half-closed door and got inside, then tried to start it, but he didn't know how to move it since he had never driven a car.
He quickly got out of the car and shouted to the others: "Does anyone know how this thing works?"
They stayed silent for a while with hesitant eyes, before Joseph answered: "Lucky for you I'm here, man."
He stepped toward the car and started it with ease, and the others began climbing in.
But before they left, Nicholas approached Joseph, who was inside the car, brought his face to the window, and said in a cold tone: "Try to get the car out of here for now. I'll go get some things and come back."
Joseph stayed silent for a few seconds before nodding his agreement.
As soon as Nicholas left, the other began driving backward, trying to get away from the place. He struggled a little because of the snow but got past it as fast as he could.
He crossed the frozen river with difficulty, the engine's sound mixing with the echo of their exhausted breathing and heavy, tense breaths.
A heavy silence settled over the car. No one dared say a single word.
Jenny's eyes were full of worry, and a kind of fear and unease weighed on her heart.
Ethan, meanwhile, was looking out the window with a calm face, enjoying the view of the snow, while at the same time thinking about the dead Kataran and wondering what they had done to Nicholas to bring him to this point.
Joseph was leaning back comfortably in his seat, eyes closed, trying to make use of these few moments of peace to rest.
Half an hour after they got into the car, Ethan glimpsed Nicholas coming from far away, carrying a large white bag full of things on his back.
When he reached the car, he quietly opened the trunk and found it full of large water bottles. He was surprised for a few moments but simply tossed them outside and put his bag in their place, closing it right away.
Nicholas sat in the front seat beside Joseph, exhaling his cold breaths, which turned to mist in the freezing air.
Joseph looked at Nicholas out of the corner of his eye and asked him quietly: "Where are we headed now?"
The other answered in a serious tone: "The Kataran settlement, of course."
The white car set off into the depths of the road, the traces of its wheels slowly fading behind it, while in the distance... the fortress awaited Nicholas's coming fire.
(In the village center)
Jesse was sitting in one of the chairs, his hands clasped together, staring at the floor beneath him, feelings of agitation and tension dominating his heart.
He stayed silent, not uttering a word, while his right foot trembled with tension, as though he were waiting for someone to arrive.
Suddenly Mira entered the place, and Jesse greeted her at once with a worried question as he raised his eyes to her: "Did you find them?"
Mira took a light breath before answering him, her face pale with exhaustion and worry: "I'm sorry, but we haven't found any trace of them so far. We sent a group of volunteers to search for them in various places within a one-kilometer radius, but we haven't found a single trace of them."
Jesse put his hands over his face in despair and anger after hearing Mira's words.
Mira moved a little closer to him and sat on another chair beside him, then began patting his back, trying to comfort him while not knowing what to say.
Suddenly Jesse spoke, his hands still covering his face: "Didn't you find any footprints of theirs in the snow?"
Mira answered calmly: "No... the snow must have covered them up..."
Unexpectedly, Jesse struck his foot hard, revealing the left half of his face, which was filled with worry and sorrow.
He said inside his troubled mind: "Damn it, I wish I'd stayed with them that night. I would have been able to stop it from happening. Can't I do even one thing right? Ethan, if anything happens to you, I'll never forgive myself as long as I live, so I hope with all my heart that you're safe."
(The End)