The Annex

Chapter 1: Here We Are

Small specks of snow continued to fall, coating the ground and the tops of leafless trees in their white, fragile nature.  The sun somehow managed to seep through some of the white clouds that hung overhead, burning through the morning fog.  The wind stood still, and everything was quiet.

Seventeen year old Randall Luchen walked through the light snow with his girlfriend, Winifred Ludlow.  The duo stepped through the snow, trying to be as quiet as possible.  Their mission was to find any wild game, and bring it back to their group.  However, the woods were rumored to be picked clean, and there wasn't a deer or a squirrel seen for weeks. 

Tired from walking for miles, Randy found a large boulder and swiped some snow from the top of it, taking a seat and removing his tan beanie from his head.  The cold air was immediately felt, and his black hair was revealed. He laid down his wooden rifle next to him.

He sniffed, "There isn't anything for miles.  We should probably head back," and Winnie took a seat next to him.

"As much as you're right, there isn't much food left to provide.  That's why Patten sent us out here." She stood back up and extended her hand. 

Sighing, Randy placed his beanie back on his head, and grabbed her hand, hoisting himself up and grabbing his rifle and slinging it around his shoulder.

They kept walking throughout the forest, still maintaining their level of stealth.  Suddenly, Winnie stopped and Randy halted, looking around, seeing if there was any game.  Winnie then waved Randy over and he quietly walked up to her.  She was looking at the ground and pointed at a pair of wolf tracks. 

Or, they seemed like wolf tracks.  Randy wasn't positive, because they could be mistaking it for a large dog.  Randy prayed it wasn't a dog. He would rather starve than kill and eat one. Hoping that it was a wolf, he began to follow the tracks. Winnie was right behind him. Randy unslung his rifle and kept a sharp eye out for anything that moved.

Hunched down, they duck-walked through the trail, waiting for something to make a break and run.  The wolf tracks then veered into the forest, and then disappeared in the snow.   Looking as the trail ran cold, the two hunters stood up, sighing in losing their chance to find food. 

"Damn, I thought we had something." Winnie said in defeat, and she ripped off her ushanka and looked up into the sky. 

"It's okay, there's gotta' be more wildlife in here. I mean, it's a damn forest." Randy replied, trying to give Winnie some kind of hope.

Suddenly, not far in the forest, a wolf jumped up and ran further down the trail.  This caught the attention of both Randy and Winnie, and together, they sprinted after the speeding wolf.  Randy ran cross country when he was in high school, so running long distance was not a problem.  Well, that's if sprinting long distance was his strong suit. 

He could feel the tiredness in his legs already building up, but he was not going to let this opportunity get away.  Winnie had already slowed down to catch her breath, but Randy was in hot pursuit.  He chased down the wolf deeper into the trail, until it had to overheat. 

On one hot practice, Randy's coach had given the entire team a little factoid on how wild animals could not sweat while they run, so the early settlers chased down wild game until they overheated, then killed them. 

That was Randy's plan this time, but he had no idea how long it would take for this wolf to get tired and fall over.  Probably an hour or more of constant chasing, since the predator has amazing endurance.  This was something Randy could not continue, so he stopped.