The overcast sky offers another promise of snow as Dani and I trudge across the frosty ground, following the tracks the boys left this morning. Luckily, they're only a few hours old, making it easy to distinguish where they went. During our time at the farmhouse, I've tried teaching Dani, Josh, and Sparrow how to hunt and track, though Dani seemed to be the only one really interested. Sparrow got bored of it rather quickly, though he grasped the basic concept, and Josh didn't have the patience to learn how to hunt with a bow.

Dani, on the other hand, picked up on the concept quickly, and although her aim with a bow is still shaky at best, she can at least hit close to what she's aiming at. She offered to teach me how to shoot a gun, to which I declined immediately. Uncle Tommy had always taught me that when handling a firearm, it's a lot easier for an accident to happen than when handling a bow. 

When you pull back a string, you always have to mean it because when you let go, you're responsible for what the arrow hits. With a gun in hand, however, it's easier to point and pull the trigger by accident. Though I know the basics of gun safety, thanks to Uncle Tommy, I've still never been comfortable handling them. 

Besides, the sound of a gun going off scares other prey and attracts unwanted attention. 

The tracks the boys leave are easy enough to follow through the woods as they head southwest toward the cabin, and it takes only a short time on the path until I realize something is off about Josh's prints. I pause, holding my hand out as Dani runs into my arm, glancing at me, then scanning the surroundings, tense. 

Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary in the surroundings, though Josh's boot prints had suddenly changed patterns. For the last mile of tracking him, his prints had been small and zig-zagged, but now, they're small and squared. 

"What do you see?" Dani whispers, grabbing her shotgun. 

"The boys were being followed," I muttered back, scanning the steps we had already passed. Somehow, whoever is following them managed to cover where they came from, likely using a brush of sorts to re-cover their tracks. "Whoever it is has smaller feet, too. Look," I gesture to the footstep inside of Josh's as Dani crouches to see. 

It's hard to distinguish, but Josh's boot is just a hair bigger than the person following them, and their boot is narrower, too. "Do you think it could be..?" 

"Jessica? Possibly. Would she be the kind to follow them instead of just coming to us directly?" 

"Only if she wanted to bargain." 

I take a deep breath, taking out my bow. "Let's go. I want to find them alive and in one piece. If that psycho-bitch is there, I'm gonna kill her." 

Dani winces but otherwise nods, following my lead through the snowy forest. The tracks split up ahead, circling a tree a few times, then veer towards the cabin, the follower doing well to stay in Josh's tracks. I pick up the pace as the wind picks up, hugging my coat closer around me and putting my hood up, glad to have found some winter gear in the farmhouse before. Soon, we step out into a snowy field where the only thing poking out of the frost is an old cow carcass, bones picked clean, and what little remains of its flesh preserved in the cold.

It's the only other reminder of the state of the world outside of our temporary haven.

Further up ahead is the old cabin I had found earlier, though the front door sits ajar. Dani and I exchange looks as we notice the footprints leading directly to the front and follow them up. The cabin itself, though small and plain, has a sizable pond not far from it that has been frozen over, though it's hard to tell where the shore of the pond starts and the land begins. 

It looks as though the boys had entered the cabin and explored a bit, wandering around the kitchenette and living room before heading up the small set of stairs that leads to the balcony-style bedroom. The cabin is as devoid of living beings as it was when I first found it; moth-eaten curtains hang in the windows with dry-rotted linen sheets covering the couch. The kitchenette, though untouched by human hands since the fall, is covered in thick layers of dust from lack of use, and the fireplace remains cold and barren. 

"I'm going to check around back," Dani says, hefting her shotgun. "See if there are any tracks outside the cabin." 

I nod. "I'll check the front." 

Though the tension of finding the boys lingers in the air, it's nice to know that I'm not alone out here looking for them. Having someone else out here, knowing they will watch my back if a Feral, Widow, or bandit corners me, fills me with confidence. 

Most of the tracks I see out here are animal prints of sorts, though near the pond at the tree line, I spot the set of strange small footprints again, along with the erratic prints of Ferals. I can't see Dani anymore, but if these prints are as fresh as they appear, calling out to her would alert the Ferals and this mystery person that we're onto them, assuming they aren't the ones who led us into a trap. 

Bow out with an arrow knocked, I scan the pond, searching for a break in the surface in case one of the boys has fallen in. 

"Cass!" Dani calls, sounding panicked. "Ferals!" 

Springing into action, I whirl towards the cabin in time to see three Ferals barreling their way toward me, the barrage of crunching snow under their feet finally reaching my ears. Letting loose an arrow, it finds its mark in the eye of the closest one as I draw another and let it fly. The second one buries itself in the throat of the second, but there isn't any time for me to draw a third arrow as the last Feral lunges at me. Swinging my bow, I catch it in the face with the limb before it collides with me, knocking us both onto the surface of the frozen pond. 

The surface cracks loudly, the noise a haunting reminder of the dangers of winter, and as both the Feral and I slide to the middle of the pond, wrestling to keep it from biting me, I spot Dani out of the corner of my eye, sprinting toward me with three more Ferals hot on her heel. 

"Cass!" She shouts as a Feral lunges at her, taking out her legs as they both fall into the snow, the other Ferals circling her like a pack of wolves as I fight to throw the one on top of me off. The ice cracks again, and I can feel freezing water seep into the back of my jacket as the Feral above me gnashes its teeth. My bow is pressed firmly in its throat, my elbows digging into the ice below me. 

With another cursory glance at Dani, she's brawling the Ferals as a lean figure in black quickly approaches, but I can't tell if it's a Feral or a Widow. I pull back as much as I can and punch the Feral above me squarely in the jaw, stunning it as another loud crack warns that I'll be taking a freezing plunge sooner rather than later. "Cass, get the Hell out of there!" Dani's voice is wrought with panic, and I want to tell her that I'm working on it, snark something back to let her know that I'll be fine so long as I don't fall in, and as I draw my knife to finish off the Feral, I lock eyes with her. 

The ice breaks. 

"Cass!"

My body seizes as frozen water engulfs both me and the Feral. The shocked gasp that leaves my lungs bubbles to the surface far above us as the Feral above me writhes and wiggles, its self-preservation instinct overriding its desire to feed. It attempts to fling itself back to the surface, kicking me in the chest as it does so. As I sink further, my body is too overcome with fear and shock to move, the Feral attempts to break the icy surface for air. I watch as it writhes, too weak to break through, and my vision slowly blackens, my body becoming unresponsive. 

'Come on, Cass, move your ass!'

I will my arms to work, but my muscles are stiff, and it's impossible to tell if I've dropped my knife or if it's still in my hands, locked in a frozen grip. 

'You can't die like this!'

Moving my legs is a struggle as I attempt to push off the bottom of the pond, my knees locked in place as I fight to keep myself from swallowing a lungful of water. My head is foggy, and my chest burns, my lungs screaming for air. 

The ice above the Feral shatters, and the last thing I see is the Feral being wrenched from the pond and a blurry shadow moving over me. 

Everything is black. 

It's quiet now, almost peaceful, as I drift into forced slumber. 

Something warm presses against my face and my mouth, and the sensation of air being fed into my lungs brings back the burning sensation as the feeling of liquid moving around in my chest gets expunged. 

Everything hurts, it aches, and my fingers and toes prickle as more air gets pushed into my lungs. My body spasms as I'm thrown into a violent coughing fit, water coming out of my mouth and nose, and my head throbs with migraine levels of pain. 

"Oh, thank God." Dani's voice is soft, familiar, and tight with tension. The warmth doesn't leave my face as I pry my eyes open, staring blearily at the relieved blobby face of Dani hovering inches from my own, her hands on both of my cheeks as she squeezes her eyes shut, pulling me into a hug. My limbs don't want to work, screaming at me as I attempt to reciprocate, and the only thing my limbs allow me to do is to curl in on myself, halfway in Dani's lap, as my frozen flesh begs for warmth. 

An unrecognized voice calls from behind Dani, calm and alert, "Take her to the cabin. I'll get a fire going." It's a woman's voice, deep and commanding, and I can feel Dani carefully pick me up, following the orders of the mysterious woman. 

Though my mind is too foggy to process much, the snow is stained red as Dani carries me to the cabin, gingerly placing me on the couch. I hadn't even noticed that I'd been holding onto her for dear life until she gently pries my hands from the back of her coat and uses them to hold my face once more. I know they must be cold, her fingers tipped red, but the warmth from her palms gives me something to concentrate on. 

"Cass?" She says, her voice still a little muddied. "Did you hear me?" Her voice anchors me as I try to look at her, but her face is a blobby mess, and I shake my head. 

"Can't..." My mouth doesn't want to form words; I have to fight to get my jaw and tongue to move, and my head throbs painfully. "Can't... see you..." I manage. "Want... sleep..." 

"Not yet," she soothes, her hands moving to my arms as she vigorously attempts to rub some warmth into them. "I can't let you sleep just yet." 

The commanding voice sounds once more behind Dani, and a looming shape appears over her as the mysterious woman says, "You'll have to passively rewarm her. Her clothes are too soaked to allow her body to retain heat." 

I can barely make out the sympathetic nod she gives as the tall stranger strikes a fire. The warmth hardly reaches me as I shiver uncontrollably, Dani working to gently remove my jacket, keeping watch over the stranger over her shoulder. 

"Who are you?" Dani finally asks, sounding tense as she hangs my wet coat in front of the fire.