Eternal Winter

“Oh no! It’s too late for that! We’re done with all that!” Anubis raised his arms. “You had your time, but now we don’t need you! We can get your woman here-” He placed his hand on the back of Angela’s neck, pulling her to her feet and in front of him. “To open the door without holding you at gunpoint. Unfortunately for you, that means we no longer need you alive.” Anubis flicked his hand toward the raiders. The two that had restrained Kalden before stepped forward, raising their glistening rifles towards Lance. He cursed, lowering his arms and sprinting forward, diving behind a cracked concrete barrier as rapid pops of automatic gunfire sparked the rough he was leaning against. Lance ducked reflexively as a bullet whizzed past his head.

“Oh come on, Lance! This doesn’t need to be harder than it has to be!” Anubis raised his arms.

“Oh really? Then stop this!” Lance yelled back.

“You know I can’t do that!” Anubis giggled, pulling his hands close to his chest.

“Why do you want me dead? What’s the real reason? Nobody’s tried this incessantly to kill me!” Lance asked.

“You already know the answer to that Lance,” Anubis turned his head slightly

“Then let’s stop this. I’ll give you what you want and you leave us alone,” Lance proposed.

“You already know it’s too late for that! You can’t give me what I want!” Anubis called. His voice gained a dangerous tone.

“What do you even want?” Angela asked quietly. Anubis whipped around towards her, pointing in her face, growling.

“It doesn’t matter! That life is over! All that’s left is this!” He said, gesturing around him

“No it isn’t!” Lance yelled. “You can still go back!”

“No, I can not!” Anubis straightened back up and pointed at the ground. “You did this Lance!” Lance frowned.

“Did… what?”

“Don’t play games with me,” Anubis snarled, voice low.

“WHAT?” Lance screamed over the gunfire. Anubis waved his hand in front of his neck towards one of the raiders, and the firearms stuttered off. Lance cautiously peeked over the barrier.

“This was your doing. We both know that if you hadn’t decided to commit treason, she would still be here,” Anubis chuckled dryly, looking down at Angela and holding a hand to her chin. “What a lucky girl. If only you could protect Liza as you could this one. She might actually be here to see what you’ve done.” Lance fell back onto the ground, looking like he had been hit with a hammer.

“Li-Liza.” He put a hand to his forehead. “Her name. Her name was-”

“Liza, yes,” Anubis snarled. “You caused her death, then you don’t even have the decency to remember her name?” He shook his head in disgust. “How pathetic.”

“IT WAS YOU!” Lance roared. “YOU KILLED HER!” Anubis stared back at Lance, his posture stiffening.

“You were supposed to die. Not her. Not Liza. If you had done your job then she wouldn’t have stepped in front of the bullet. If only you had followed orders then maybe, just maybe, she would still be alive.”

“You pulled the trigger! You took her from me!” Lance hissed. Anubis looked up at the sky, clenching his fists.

“I had no choice! If it were up to me she would…” Anubis looked back down at Lance. “Command gave you an order. You should have obeyed it. Now, because you didn’t, her blood is on your hands.” Lance looked down at his fingers. He could see the scarlet on his hands. He slowly clutched them as he looked to the sky and closed his eyes. If only he could have saved her.

“Anubis, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” Lance’s voice came small and quiet.

“You cannot possibly think all can be forgiven, and expect everything to go away? Just like that?” Anubis hissed furiously. “No- no, all is not forgiven. It never will be! You will pay, in blood, for what you have done!” Anubis raised his hand and then threw it down toward Lance. The raiders opened fire back on him, and he fell backward and undercover. The gunfire suddenly stopped; they were reloading. Lance pulled his pistol with his back to the barrier, pointing it towards the ground. He quickly stood up and raised the gun toward the sky, praying Anubis would understand. He did, and raised his hand, stopping the other raiders.

“Honor. I’d like to think your honor still exists. Lance.” Anubis called. “I challenge you. Once and for all. Winner takes all.” He motioned to Angela.

Lance sighed. “Only on the condition you let us go! That and your men will not interfere.” “Yes, yes. All of that, if you survive!” Anubis laughed, waving his hand. The raiders around them hesitantly stepped back towards the bunker door, lowering their guns. “There you go! Now come on, Lance.”

“Release Angela and Kalden first!” Lance yelled still behind the concrete. Anubis narrowed his eyes.

“No!” Anubis yelled back. “They will stay with my men until we finish.” Lance gritted his teeth. If he demanded they be freed, would Anubis revoke the offer? He couldn’t put them in danger like that. Against his better wishes, he stood up, the wind whistling outside his mask.

“Where should we do this then, eh?” Lance yelled.

“Oh, I think right here shall be good!” Anubis laughed. He gripped his rifle, pulled it off his back, and swung the barrel towards Lance. He quickly ducked back down behind the concrete barrier. With an explosive gunshot, a large chunk of concrete to his left suddenly was erased from existence.

“Do you like my new weapon, Lance?” Anubis called. Lance put his hand on the side of the barrier, and his breath quickened.

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap

His thoughts flew through his head. He could hear the snow crunching under Anubis’s foot as he crept closer, and his body tensed as he heard the clink of metal as Anubis pulled the bolt of his rifle back. He needed a plan, and he needed time, but the time that was needed was already gone. Lance took a deep breath, clenching his hand around the pistol. A countdown in his head began ticking off.

Five…

“Come on Lanceeee~, come out and play!” Anubis said in a sing-song voice, taunting him, waiting for him to break.

Four…

Lance’s breathing condensed on the inside of his mask.

Three…

Angela’s frightful movements sounded in his head, as the raiders restrained her.

Two…

He only had one goal, and Anubis wasn’t part of the future that was needed or wanted.

One…

Fine. If Anubis wasn’t going to play by the rules then neither would he!

Zero