Heartless

❆ One ❆

ONE

The people in our village always told us that death was an honor. They told us to be drawn for the offering was something to be praised, not feared. They said we should give thanks to those who give their lives for us to live, that we should not hate our fellow neighbors for picking our names.

    They lied.

    Cold morning air bit into my skin. After two hours of trekking through frozen snow, my feet had begun to turn to ice. I wiggled frozen my toes to awaken the blood inside them. Exhaling, I lifted my pistol. Several paces away, squirrel nipped at the nut between its paws and clicked its teeth, oblivious to the barrel pointed directly at it. I took aim.

    A twig snapped behind me.

    The squirrel started, jerking its furry head up and peering right through me. I hurried and pulled the trigger just as it darted along the branch. A loud crack whistled through the air as the bullet crashed into its tiny body. The first drop of red touched the snow, followed by the rest of the body. The white perfection of the landscape instantly turned red.

    "Damn it Kenji," I growled, lowering my gun and swiveling on my heel. I glared at him through puffy eyes, scowling at the stupid grin on his face. He lifted his small hands in an innocent gesture and shrugged with a pathetic excuse for an apology. "How many times do I have to tell you not to follow me? That was my last bullet."

   He huffed, walking toward the patch of crimson and plucking up the carcass. He turned back to me, bright green eyes smiling. "You hit it dead on," he said triumphantly. "It looks clean." The leg suddenly twitched and he dropped the body with a squeal.

    I fought back a grin and jammed the gun into my waistband. "Good," I said curtly, "because you're the one who's going to skin it." I narrowed my eyes, daring him to challenge me. He frowned but didn't protest. He gathered our meal up by its bushy tail and walked with me back to the gates, his shoulder nudging my arm. "Did you at least change the dressings on him before you snuck out?" I pulled my hood back up and tied the string of my coat tighter around my neck. I forced him to a stop and reached up to do the same to his.

    He nodded up at me. "The herbs, the poultice, the fire. I did it all."

    I chose my next words carefully, though I already knew the answer. "Did he wake up?" I asked, hoping my voice didn't sound as ridiculously hopeful as I felt.

    He paused. "Not since yesterday." My heart sank deeper into my stomach. My shoulders fell, but I nodded anyway and trudged through the snow. Kenji followed directly next to me, although a bit hesitantly. "It's not your fault, you know."

    I shrugged indifferently and kept lifting and stomping my foot. The lanterns on the gate burned not too far away behind the trees. I kept my gaze on it and trudged forward. "I know that."

    "You can't save everyone, Ada." I stopped in my tracks, staring down at the glistening snow. My breath puffed in front of me in icy crystals. "Mom and Papa weren't your fault, and neither is Hendric. You don't have to carry everybody's burden."

    "Well, no one else is going to help us, are they?" I snapped, hugging myself tighter. "Sorry." Then I started to walk again.

    The wooden walls of Kinnot came into clear view. It was too early for anybody to be at the entrance post, so we edged around to the back of the gate and lifted the loose board, slipping inside. Posha's hut spewed thin wisps of dead smoke out of the chimney as we passed behind it, sealing up the hole before we hurried along the wall toward the front of the village. We huddled in the shadows and tiptoed past the rest of the quiet homes until we reached our own. I whipped open the front flap and ushered him inside, glancing over my shoulder and following him in. Kenji took to the back space and brought down the sheet to screen us from his view. I could hear the grate of his knife as he sharpened it.