Eternal Winter

Lance whipped around, his hand landing on the holster of his gun, which hissed as he pulled it halfway out from the holster under his shoulder. He immediately froze as he saw the other man pull his gun more quickly.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, I wouldn’t do that.” The man said with a slight chuckle, voice distorted from the mask he was wearing. He was a figure in a black radiation suit, tattered cloth creating a cape on his back. Unlike Lance, whose suit was black and orange, his was black and red. The cape had a red stripe running down the right side. The man’s gas mask was a traditional style, dating back to before the nuclear crisis developed much more efficient ones. His eyes were blacked out, and the mask had two filters on either side rather than just one. The mask was painted with the pattern of a human skull.

“Who are you?” Lance called out.

“You don’t recognize me?” He responded.

“Take off that mask and let’s find out.”

“Always quick with a quip, huh?” Lance could hear the smile in his voice. Lance tightened his grip on the gun. The man noticed, “This doesn’t have to be hostile. We just want to talk, so let’s not do this.” Lance gritted his teeth.

“We?” The man held up his hand, and Lance noticed the men standing in the shadows of the ruined building, all holding weapons. They stepped forward behind the man, all sporting the colors that the man had. “Ah. We.” Lance noted.

“Who are you?” Angela asked out loud. The man mockingly looked surprised,

“Oh, you have a woman!” He shook his head. “Even during the end of the world, you were always a ladies’ man Lance.”

“Who. Are. You.” Lance said harshly. The man’s shoulder lowered, and he holstered his pistol.

“You don’t remember me?! Oh, I’m hurt! But I won’t tell you my name. Just remember me by little ol’ Anubis! That should be easy enough, shouldn’t it?” Lance staggered back as if he was hit. but nothing came into the spotlight he had created for this.

“Lance? Who is that?” Angela frightfully asked.

“Oh! She doesn’t know!?” Anubis threw his head back, laughing. “Well don’t worry, dear. You’ll hear all about that story about the mighty Lance and little Anubis when we get to a place to rest.”

“Shut up. Don’t talk to her like that” Lance mumbled.

“What was that?” Anubis asked.

“I said, shut up! Don’t talk to her like that. You have no right to do this.” Lance mumbled again, but louder so everyone could hear.

“Uh, I don’t think you are in a position to make demands, Lancey-Wancey.” Anubis teased. Lance staggered again.

That was something he knew.

That was something he could never forget.

That was the one thing left of her.

“Never say that again, you monster!” Lance yelled. He leaped forward, only to be shoved to the ground by Anubis’ henchmen who appeared out of nowhere.

“Ooh. Touched a nerve did I?” Anubis giggled. “Good. Come on! Move out!” He held up two fingers and made a circular motion and the rest of the men from the shadows grouped up around them. Lance reached down and helped Angela to her feet, who glared at Anubis.

“Where are we going?” Lance asked.

“Compound at the center of the city.” One of the men huffed.

“Why there? There’s nothing there.” Lance asked.

“Nothing you could get to. But she can!” Anubis giggled.

“What??” Lance blurted, confused, looking back at Angela, who just shrugged. She either didn’t know, or she wasn’t telling. “Tell me more.” Lance turned back but didn’t get an answer. He sighed as he fell into step with the men. He didn’t fail to notice the way the raiders held their weapons. There were seven of them, including Anubis. He didn’t think he could take them all, but if it came down to it he could stall long enough for-

Kalden.

Lance quickly looked up at the rooftops. Searching for-

There. An unmistakable glint of light drew his attention. His time in combat had made that glint ingrained in his brain. The glint of a sniper scope. He glanced around at the men around him, they didn’t seem to notice it. He subtly moved his hand over to his left forearm, where the screen was. He tapped a few buttons, then typed a message. He set the message to play on an obscure frequency. Lance was taking the bet that the raider’s communicators were not tuned to that frequency. He pressed send, and his communicator broadcasted his message, telling Kalden to stand down. Unlike a human, Kalden could think hundreds of times faster than anything left on Earth, so Lance knew that he would be monitoring everything, even the channels for an abnormality, especially now that he was alerted to the raider’s presence.

The tip of Kalden’s Barrett 95 lowered as he heard the broadcast. He pushed himself into a crouch and used the butt of the gun to help himself up, before fitting the rifle on his back. He stood there, watching the group shrink farther and farther away. Kalden slowly rotated the sharp piece of glass in his hand. Suddenly he whirled around and flung the glass. There, it struck home. A streak of pain sounded from the raider that was trying to sneak up behind him, holding their hand against their leg where the piece of glass was embedded. Kalden threw his arm to the side, the blade extending out as he rushed forward and grabbed the woman around the collar, moving around behind her.

“No, please don’t hurt me!” She whimpered. But it was too late. His blade came up to the woman’s neck, then ran along it. Blood dripped from the ripped suit. Kalden stepped to the side, right on the edge of the building, and guided the body off the edge. He coolly wiped the blood off the blade with his hand, then retracted the blade. His footsteps clunked on the roof as the muffled thump of the raider’s body hit the ground.

The snow crunched under Lance’s foot. He wove his way around debris, Angela trotting next to him. They had been walking for about half an hour deeper and deeper into the city. Lance spied the chain link fence that marked the compound, and he thought he could see the small hole he had made earlier that month. As they neared the compound he saw that there was a larger, newer hole in the fence. The group filed through, with Lance and Angela at the center of the party. They all moved towards the nearest building, which used to be the armory. One gunman moved in front and grabbed the door handle, opening the door and waving everyone in.

“Welcome! Camp sweet camp,” Anubis says. As they stepped inside Lance noticed that there were miscellaneous supplies and temporary bunks set up all around, as if they were getting ready to move. “Please, sit.” Anubis stepped next to a couple of boxes that formed makeshift chairs and a table.

“What do you want?” Lance asked. Anubis ignored him.

“Lucky, lucky girl,” He says to Angela. “She got swooped up by a man like you. She’d reject you if she ever knew.”

“Know what?” Angela’s eyebrows furrowed, looking towards Lance, but he looked away.

“About all the pain you have wrought,” Anubis said, looking at Lance. Lance looked down at his feet, his face hardening, muscles tensing, wound up. Poised to move.

“What. Do. You. Want.” Lance said through gritted teeth.

“‘Want’? We want everything,” Anubis responded.

“And what’s that Anubis? I don’t believe for a second you can get whatever you want,” Lance stated.

“I don’t care what you believe, Lance.” Anubis giggled. “All I want is Angela, you were a… pleasant third.”

“What’s the second then?” Lance asked.

“That robot you stole from me,” Anubis harshly said.

“It was broken!” Lance yelled.

“That doesn’t matter now as it mattered back then, did it?!” Anubis screamed back, jumping up. Realizing his mistake, he took a breath and sat back down.

“W-what do you mean?” Angela asked, confused, picking up an unspoken war between the two.

“It doesn’t matter,” Anubis said quietly. “But what does matter is you.” He said, holding his hand out.“Huh? Me?” Angela spoke up.

“Yes, you.” Anubis reached and grabbed her hand.

“Why do you need me?” Angela pulled her hand back, Lance glaring at Anubis, but not doing anything for he knew if he did his face would meet the ground.

“The one door my men can’t get into is the one only you can get into,” Anubis said to her. “No matter what we do, we can’t get in.” “What have you tried?” Angela frightfully asked.

“Well, we’ve tried picking the lock, burning the door down, breaking the door, explosives, going around the door, and shooting at the door. But every time we have tried something weird happens.” Anubis said quietly, leaning forward and looking around.

“What do you mean by “weird’?” Lance asked, trying to get his attention again.

“Well, whenever we do something, it destroys our gear. So we come back here to fix our gear, and when we get back it’s back to normal like we never did anything,” Anubis explained.

“You said something about explosives? Is that right?” Angela asked.

“Yes, we had used explosives a few times,” Anubis answered.

“What happened with those, then? Was there anything wrong there?” Angela asked.

“Yes.” Anubis nodded. “After we detonated the explosives, we went to the door to see if it worked. But each time it seemed to reinforce the door. So we stopped trying to break in, and instead decided to find the one person who does have access.”

“Me,” Angela said.

“Well, no. Your mother. It’s a retinal scanner, I don’t know if Lance told you but you have her eyes… literally. They’re a genetic match.”

“My mother?” Angela asked, tears forming in her eyes.

“Yes. Good ol’ Amelia.” Anubis said.

“You knew her?” Angela asked.

“Yes,” Anubis responded. “Did you know your father?” “No. I never knew him.” Angela shook her head. “Mom had said he died a few months after I was born, in a car accident.”

“I’m so sorry,” Anubis said, reaching over to grab her hand.

“It’s ok. I never knew him. And Mom never talked about him.” Angela said, pulling her hand away from his. “All Mom had said about him was that he was a great man. Definition of a saint.” Anubis chuckled

“That’s not true.” Anubis said under his breath.

“What?” Angela asked.

“I said ‘That’s not true.’” Anubis said again, with a smile.

“How do you know?” Angela asked, her breath caught. Lance reached over, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it.

“I know because I killed him!” Anubis said with a dark smile, pointing at himself.

“Why would you do that?!” Angela yelled.

“Just part of the job, m’lady,” Anubis responded with a giggle.

“What job?” Angela asked.

“Lance didn’t tell you about it?’ Anubis gasped, putting his hand over his mouth, acting surprised.

“Shut up. Don’t you dare say that!” Lance yelled standing up. Guns behind him clicked as they pointed at him.

“Tsk tsk tsk. Calm down, Lance. It would be a shame to have you full of lead. That wouldn’t benefit anyone.” Anubis clicked. “That’s enough of this anyway. Angela, we need you to open the door. For me, please.”

“So you want her to open the door for you,” Lance stated, sitting back down, keeping an eye on the guns. “What makes you think she’ll do that for you?”

“Well, Lance, if she doesn’t…” Anubis stood up and lazily pulled out his pistol, loosely holding it. “Then I’ll kill you!”

“What? No!” Angela exclaimed, Lance’s face hardening. He moved his hand over to the communicator on his forearm.

“Now Lance doesn’t have to get hurt, so long as you open that door. It’s that simple!” Anubis laughed. Lance began tapping on his communicator. Three rapid taps, then three long ones, followed by three more quick ones.

“What’s that you’re doing?” Anubis noticed Lance’s distress signal. “Is that really necessary? We’re just asking you to open a door!”

“You’re just going to kill us afterward!” Angela yelled. “It doesn’t matter what we do!”

“Of course it does! See that’s all that’s…” Anubis trailed off.

“What’s…?” Angela looked to Lance, but he was also looking towards the door. The men that had been loosely listening to their conversation that hadn’t responded to Lance’s outburst all slowly stood. They grabbed their weapons, worriedly holding them.

“Titan! Go check that out!” Anubis waved towards the door, taking a step back.

“Yes sir.” The one called ‘Titan’ said. He walked towards the door cautiously. He grasped the handle and peeked through the crack in the door. He glanced outside and then immediately stumbled back. He fumbled with his gun and raised it, quickly and panicky, stepping back. The door slowly creaked open, revealing it to be night outside. Silhouetted from the light inside, a humanoid figure stood in the doorway. Lance immediately recognized the familiar hum.

“What…?” Anubis stepped back again. The figure stepped forward into the room. “You…” Anubis said, his voice sounding far away. “He really did take everything from me.” Kalden scanned the room, looking the raider’s up and down. Kalden turned to the raider closest to him, the one that opened the door.

“[Is your foot okay?]” Kalden asked, his voice having the same effect on them as nails on a chalkboard. The hum coming from Kalden grew louder, spinning up.

“What?” Titan asked, bewildered. Kalden hummed in displeasure, then slammed his foot down on the raiders. He yelled out as his bones shattered, howling in pain. Kalden grabbed him by the shoulders as the other raiders raised their weapons. He used the body as a shield as they opened fire, the body sprouting dots as he clung to it. He threw the dead raider’s body at one of the attackers, making them fall to the ground. Kalden had grabbed a knife off of the corpse as he threw it, and he turned and flung the knife into a second raider.

“Get him!” Anubis yelled. Lance used the distraction created to jump up and slam his shoulder against Anubis. His head hit a wall and he fell stunned. Lance picked up Anubis’s pistol and fired twice at a raider to his right, the bullets ripping through his chest. A second raider pulled his gun towards Lance, and he dove to the side and behind a wall of crates to find Kalden leaning against them.

“[That got interesting quick,]” Kalden leaned his head towards Lance.

“You said it,” Lance scoffed.

“Lance!” Angela screamed out.

“You don’t want to come out from there!” Anubis called out. Lance peaked around the corner. Anubis had his arm around Angela, a knife to her throat. A bullet sparked next to his head and Lance ducked back down.

“We have to get her!” Lance said, determined, to Kalden.

“[Understood.]”

“On three,” Lance said. “One… two…” Suddenly Kalden jumped out and lunged toward one of the raiders, and they both fell to the ground, tangled in combat. “Are you kidding me?” Lance scrambled out, he could hear the man Kalden grabbed scream as Lance pulled his gun. Lance glanced around, but Anubis and Angela were gone. Lance growled in frustration as he shot the second raider. A door on the other side of the room was open, revealing where Anubis and Angela went. “Kalden! Door! Let’s move!” Kalden rose off the man, pulling a dripping hand out of the raider’s chest. Lance looked at the man in horror, before shaking himself. They both ran to the door to reveal it lead outside. They went outside and Lance looked around, spotting the footprints in the snow. They ran after them, Lance sticking a fresh magazine that he scooped off a body into his pistol.

“[Lance! You go right, I’ll go-]” Kalden was cut off as a loud screech of metal tearing made him fall to the ground. His shoulder was a mess of twisted metal and wires. He was shot. Lance glanced up to see Anubis with his sniper rifle, the same one that had killed shshsh. Lance gritted his teeth before diving to the ground behind a destroyed car. He grabbed Kalden by the leg and pulled him behind the cover.

“Are you ok?” Lance called.

“[Damage assessment: twenty percent damaged. Left arm operating at ten percent. I am okay Lance.]” Kalden said, looking up at him.

“Lance!” He heard Angela scream.

“Angela! I’m coming! I swear!” Lance yelled, panicked.

“[We need to move!]” Kalden said and they both got up and ran toward them. Automatic gunfire rang out from in front of them. The raiders had regrouped and were covering Anubis’s escape.

“Get down!” They ducked behind a concrete barrier. Kalden grabbed the Barrett off his back and raised the gun. Lance was deafened as the tip of the gun’s barrel exploded as Kalden pulled the trigger. He pulled the bolt back, and the gun clanged and chambered the next round.

“[Go! I’ll cover you!”] Kalden yelled as he fired again, and a wall was splattered with blood. Lance tossed his arms over his head, then threw himself out of the cover and bolted towards the raiders. One was so preoccupied that he didn’t notice Lance, until he looked down and found the raider’s own knife in his chest, with Lance holding the handle. Pushing him to the ground, Lance picked up the raider’s rifle and provided cover fire for Kalden to move up. Together they regrouped and ran after Anubis, who dragged Angela into a building. Lance slowed to a stop as he saw something in the window.

“Is that- Is that a machine gun?”

“[Move!]” Kalden turned and slammed his hands into Lance’s chest, flinging him over and down behind a wall as bullets peppered the area. Kalden fell to the ground.

“Kalden!” Lance yelled, horrified. Kalden raised a hand and dragged himself towards the wall.

“It’s still moving, you idiot! Make it stop!” Lance heard Anubis screaming from inside the building. Lance raised his hands over his head as the rapid machine gun fire slammed into the wall and everywhere around him. He lunged forward and grabbed Kalden’s hand, dragging him behind the cover, and leaning him against the wall. Kalden held a hand to his side, hot fluid leaking out between his fingers and sizzling in the snow. His Barrett’s barrel was steaming against the cool snow beside them. Kalden’s leg was torn up.

“Kalden!” Lance yelled. “Kalden! Talk to me, man!” Kalden responded with painful static noises. Lance looked around the wall. They couldn’t stay there. Lance could see through the window Angela reaching out towards them. The sound of gunfire slowed. She needed him. He needed her. Lance watched in slow motion as Anubis threw her aside, that terrible mask looking up through the window.

At him.

Lance was brought back into harsh reality as more automatic gunfire joined in a chorus. More raiders were approaching them from all sides. All except…

Lance looked to the side as he heard crackling. Kalden’s blowtorch stuttered and flickered out just as he completed cutting a hole in the fence next to them. There was a building right past a street. Kalden pushed his hand against the fence; it took him three tries to push in the hole he’d made.

“[A choice,]” Kalden weakly said.

“What?” Lance peaked back around at where Angela was. “We can’t just leave her!” Kalden didn’t respond, just looking at him. “She needs our help!” Lance glared at the raiders but quickly ducked down as they fired. Lance looked from the building to the raiders, then down at Kalden. He stayed crouching there for a while, contemplating what he was doing. He was horrified at himself, but he was considering what Kalden said. A sharp pain promptly seared into his left arm.

“Agh!” Lance ducked, then whipped around and returned fire. Blood dripped from his arm, where a bullet had taken a chunk out of his arm and radiation suit. Lance knew that gamma rays would be pouring into his body unless he patched the hole quickly. He glanced around to find a crate held down by a tarp. He flinched as more gunfire pinged the concrete around them. Lance tore a piece off the tarp, quickly settling next to Kalden, who was subtly writhing. Lance inhaled sharply as he pushed the ripped portion of the suit back into place over the dripping wound, then used the fabric to hold it in place. It would do… for now. Lance glanced back over towards the building, trying to get another glimpse of Angela, trying to see if she was ok. He couldn’t see because of the light glinting off of a-

Lance’s eyes widened. He pulled back as a sniper shot nearly took his head off. He growled in frustration.

“Angela!” Lance yelled.

“Lance!” Angela screamed back.

“I’ll get you out of here! I swear! I’ll- I will be back!” Lance yelled, Lance hated himself. He turned, running out of the hole Kalden made.

“Don’t leave me! Lance! Help me!” Angela faintly yelled. Gunshots ripped around Lance as he ran out, leaving Kalden and Angela behind, not knowing the next time he would see them, not knowing if he could save them. All he did know was that this won’t be the last time Anubis will see him, and he will save them no matter what.