2060

Part Two; Bear traps

I woke up with my left arm completely numb. Sebastian was still sleeping on it, but as soon as I moved, he meowed, or tried to, and I got up and sat on the edge of the bed. My brother was still asleep and snoring quietly, Bailey was laying on his feet, looking at me, but then went back to sleep as well. I got up from my warm bed, and cold shivers went through my body as my bare feet touched the cold wooden floor. I opened the closet and took a bag of dry food. We were lucky enough to come across a small pet store on our way to safety, and my brother had to carry two huge bags of dog's and cat's food. I still remember how in pain he was. I put a spoonful of food for both of our pets when I got to the kitchen, that's all they eat in the morning. I know they're hungry, but they mostly find themselves something else to eat, something we couldn't cook for ourselves. Like mouses and voles and such. I decided that I should open the kitchen curtains to let some light in. It was at least 9 am already, since the sun was up. The curtains were still shut because of yesterday. I opened them to reveal a beautiful morning. A winter morning. It had gone below 0° Celsius at night, since the ground was white and frosty. And the puddles from yesterdays rain were frozen on the surface. This is fun, but at the same time, it's going to be harder to find food now.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and tensed up, froze like the puddles at night. "Morning, Mia. What are you looking at there?" My brother said. Oh, thank God. My brother. Who else could've it been? I could relax. "Morning. I was opening the curtains. Look, it's been below 0 last night. Everything's frozen", I told him. "Oh. Huh. Would you look at that! Same thing happened yesterday morning, I don't think you were there to see it though. It melted pretty quickly as the sun rose", he told me. Sweet, I thought. Soon we might see snow. That would remind us of our childhood. "Oh, do you think it'll snow? Yesterday rained for a while, but the clouds are still very dark. If its cold here, that means it's even colder up there, right? And the snow wont have time to melt as it hits the ground. Right?" I said, brimming with excitement, thinking about the amount of snow that would be ideal for building snowmen and a fortress. "Yeeees we should build snowmen and a fortress!" My brother said just as I was thinking about it. Yay! We walked around the house, or cabin even, checking that everything was like it was supposed to be. That the things were in the right place, untouched, and opening the rest of the curtains to let the sunlight in. The animals had eaten, and both wanted to go outside.

We opened the door for the two little friends of ours and let them go outside, and we ate breakfast. Some crackers and a bit of water, like every morning so far. Usually after breakfast my brother goes and checks the traps he's set while I stay in or around the cabin, checking and counting the food and other supplies and all that and this morning wasn't any different than the other. Except, it was. "Eat and go dress up, you're coming with me", my brother said as we ate. "What?" I asked and almost chocked on the dry cracker. My brother is taking me with him? But he's always said it's too dangerous. "You heard me", he said and got up from the table, sat on the couch and took his boots, "you're coming with me, we'll go together this time." I took a sip of water. "But, why? Are you sure about that? Shouldn't I stay here?" I asked him, in confusion. That's weird of him, to just change the way we do things without talking to me about it at first. "You're coming with me because I say so. And yes, I'm sure. And no, you shouldn't, because I told you to come with me", he told me, strictly, with a little tired voice. "Since when have you been the boss here? This isn't a dictator ship!" I told him and laughed a little. I wasn't even sure why and instantly regretted saying that. I didn't mind going at all, in fact, I was really looking forward to get to go with him one day. But the fact that he decided it just like that? That's not fair.

"I'm not telling you again, you're coming with me. Come on, Mia, it'll be fun", he begged. "Fine, fine. I'll come with you. But I need to do one thing first", I told him and went back to the bedroom. I opened the closet door. When me and my brother fled, I packed way too much stuff, including these mittens and beanies and scarfs I knitted for him and myself one Christmas. I can't quite remember what year, like, 2057 or something. Seems so far away. I took them all, and closed the closets door. As I left the bedroom, my brother was taking the key. I threw the mittens and rest at him. "Owh! Hey! What?" Was all I heard. I was putting mine on already. The mittens were small, and I thought they wouldn't fit anymore, but turned out that I'm still small and my hands haven't grown at all. "What are these? A scarf? Mittens? Ohhhh..." My brother rambled. "Yes. You are correct. The scarf goes around your neck, not too tight you don't want to strangle yourself. The mittens go in your hands and the beanie there goes on your head. Please, put them on already", I told the big monkey. "Very funny, Mia. I know how to wear them" He said as he put the mittens on his feet, wrapped the scarf around his head and held the beanie in confusion and looked at me, crossing his eyes. We couldn't help but laugh for a good few minutes but we then proceeded to dress up. I put on my boots and I felt badass with my pistol in my back pocket. Could you imagine? A girl like me with a gun? Daymn. And I even know a lot about it. It looks a little bit like the very old, ancient GLOCK 21 SF, or so said my uncle, but it's completely made from the new metal found from Mars back in.. what ever that years was. Ancient years, I wasn't even born yet. And it's slightly bigger, and does way more damage. Apparently your best buddy for hunting and "The SF model reduces the circumference of the receiver at the rear, or "back strap," offering increased comfort and control-especially for shooters with smaller hands", said some site I searched information from back a few years ago. It's literally made for me! But damn, this gun is ancient too, though. As I was thinking about how cool I looked, my brother dressed up and we went outside, pushing Sebastian in with his foot. From the blood around his mouth I could guess he had found something to eat. Gross. I need to wash that later. At least he's gotten used to that procedure. My brother checked twice that he had the key inside his pocked, that was on the inside of his jacket, and he then locked the door. It was a good thing we both dressed up well, because now it was well under 0° and I bet it was getting colder by the minute, even though it was just morning.