AllFreeNovel
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In the distance, a pair of glowing eyes emerges from the blackness. Then another. And another. Oh, God, they’re all around. They’re fucking everywhere.
“Absolutely not. Fuck this.” My teeth clack so violently they slice my tongue. “Let’s just go.”
“No.”
He takes two steps away before I haul him back and hold his stare.
Goddammit.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Tears freeze my lashes. “Don’t you fucking die.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He kisses me hard and deep with ice in his beard and a promise on his lips.
Then he’s gone.
I’m going to puke. Or piss myself. Probably both. My heart can’t handle this. It’s too dark. Too quiet. There are too many of them. If I shoot, I’ll probably shoot Leo.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Where did he go? I strain my eyes, blinking through snow and tears.
Twenty yards away, Harry sits at the end of his rope. Chillin’ in the snow. Licking his paws. He must know the wolves found a better meal.
Oh, God, Leo. Please, come back. We’ll find another way. I can’t lose you. I won’t survive it.
Forever comes and goes. An eon of hell holds me captive.
The need to call out to him becomes a chant in my head. But I can’t. He’s hunting, and the wolves are skittish. I won’t interfere until I hear something.
The silence is unbearable.
Every breath, every beat of my heart is unendurable.
When will it end?
Harry perks up. Wriggles his nose.
My heart stops.
Then boom!
The report of gunfire reverberates in my chest. I can’t move. Can’t think.
Another boom, followed by the rapid bursts of a rifle being emptied.
“Leo!” I scream, stumble forward, scream again. “Leo, answer me!”
Choking, I wildly scan the landscape. The rifle shakes in my arms, swinging back and forth with my jerky movements.
There’s no sound. No howling. No footsteps. The quiet slowly cleaves me apart.
A sob crawls up my throat, and I swallow it down. Sniff it back. Straighten my shoulders.
I’m going out there.
One step. Two steps. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
I only have one gun. Should I go back for the others?
Panic rises. The thudding in my chest overwhelms my senses. I sway, dizzy and weak. I bet my blood pressure has reached severe hypertension.
Slow it down, Frankie. Just breathe. In for four seconds, hold for seven, exhale for eight.
I repeat the technique as I pass Harry.
He hops away, yanking on his leash.
“Leo?” My whisper floats away on a clouded burst of dread.
“Lower the gun.” He appears from shadows like an apparition, head down and eyes up, glowing like the wolves.
My lungs empty in great, wet gasps as I skim him from top to bottom, hands and feet, and everywhere in between. He’s all there. No missing parts. No blood.
“Are you okay?” I flick the safety on the gun and run to him, stomping through the snow and stumbling into his arms.
“Told you I’d come back.” He rests his chin on my head and gives me a minute to compose myself.
“What happened?” I peer around him, craning my neck. “Did you get one? Are they gone?”
“They’re gone. Had one in my sights. Missed it. They started circling me, so I had to fire. Tried to mow them down, but the fuckers are fast, and I can’t see in the dark.”
“Can they see?”
“Superior night vision.” He turns, staring into the distance. “The gunfire sent them scattering. I would’ve chased them. I wanted to.”
“But you wouldn’t leave me.”
“Never.” He grips the back of my head, holding me against his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I would’ve killed you if you left me.”
I can’t control my shivering. It hits me in waves, racking my body and siphoning my energy.
“We need to get back.” He sets me away, rubbing my arms to stimulate circulation and generate heat.
We stare at the rabbit.
I know what he’s thinking. I’m thinking it, too.
It’s a meal.
Like a can of peaches.
An extra day to live.
He hands me his rifle and kneels in the snow, pulling the squirming critter toward him by the rope.
Heart hammering, I clasp his shoulder. “The life of one bunny won’t save us.”
“This isn’t a bunny.” He wrestles Harry into his arms and peels back the lips. “Look at the incisors.”
Jesus. Why are they so long and sharp? I’ve never seen a rabbit with teeth like that.
Still…
“Harry will only give us one more day at most.”
“Harry?”
“That’s his name.” I squat beside him and pet the white fur. “How will you spend that extra day?”
“Not counting days, Frankie. I’m looking at forever with you.” With a twist of his fingers, the rope falls free, and the rabbit darts into the night.
A white puff of surprise leaves my lips. “You let him go.”
“We’re not going to measure our lives in meals or time or heartbeats. There is no possible measure for what we can do or the lengths we will go to survive. What we will do is live hard and love harder and never stop dreaming about forever.”
