22. In The White

**Outskirts of Cantwell, Alaska-**

Theo took another step in the fluffy yet deadly snow, doing his hardest to not get his foot stuck into it again. His every movement felt heavy due to the blizzard that was flowing with ferocious intensity. He saw the white covered mountains at the distance, making him grumble profanities under his breath. *Still too far*.

Two more miles before he could be in the safety and warmth of his bed, he cheered himself and moved ahead.

This morning he had to go out to collect woods, and he had collected a lot of them. However, now he cursed himself for it. Dragging the heavy trolley made him realize that he had overestimated his strength. Few logs would have been enough.

His brown hair fell to his eyes and he huffed blowing them away. He was twenty-one and looked like any other boy his age. His mother always commented that with each passing day he was becoming more like his late father. Theo, no wonder, took great pride in that. Since he had been a child, everyone engraved into his head what a wonderful man his father was. But unfortunately, he had passed away when Theo was only two, leaving no lasting memory in his mind. It was an avalanche that took Theo's father away. *Life was never easy in these mountains.*

Theo trudged along pulling the stupid heavy cart behind him.

After a long and heavy hour of pulling and panting, he finally reached the threshold of his small village. But something felt wrong.

The dark black clouds were puffing out at the distance from every corner. *Fire!*

He immediately let go of the cart and ran to help his fellow villagers. His tiredness was long forgotten as adrenaline pumped into him, sensing danger.

He stopped midway when his eyes fell on a black lump lying in the white snow. With hasty movements, he removed the white flakes covering it.

Theo's breath hitched when he discovered it was not a lump but a body. Not just any body but Mr. Barnsley, his old neighbor. Theo quickly pulled out his gloves and hovered his frozen palms on Mr. Barnsley's mouth. No heat, no breath. He was dead. As horrific realization dawned on Theo, he immediately scrambled himself away from his dead neighbor.

For a minute, Theo just sat there in shock, looking at the old Barnsley from the distance. His mind turned numb.

After recovering, he hurriedly got up. He had to get to his mother. He could grieve his neighbour's death along with others, but first he had to get to his mother.

He chose to not run mindlessly this time because a small voice in his brain urge to not rush or he could get into bigger trouble. With slow and analysed movement, he reached further into the village. As he moved closer, he heard the ear-piercing screams and cries of help. His whole body was now shaking, his heart drummed wildly in his chest. He stalked closer even though every nerve in his body was screaming to turn back and run.

Finally, the view of the houses came into his sight. Theo's eyes widened in horror as they fell on the scene in front of him. Without thinking, he immediately hid behind a large boulder, which fortunately was lying only a couple of metres away. After catching his breath for few seconds, Theo tentatively peaked from the side.

A horde of strange men and women were running around, killing everyone they could get their hands on. Their faces were covered in blood and snow. Theo gasped in horror as he saw them moving. Their speed was inhuman, they were too fast for anyone to anticipate their next position.

His whole village was on fire, most of the houses were already falling down into flames.

Theo's eyes fell on one of them, who was on a killing spree. He watched helplessly as the man took hold of a village girl and dig its elongated teeth into the poor girl's neck. Theo couldn't take his eyes off him even though his gut wasn't strong to digest that grotesque scene. When the man threw the limp girl away, Theo got the glimpse of him. He didn't get a good look of his other features or blood splattered face because he was too grasped in looking at his eyes. The man's eyes, they were white, pure white, not a trace of black pupil in them. He saw the others of his kind and they shared the same dead white eyes.

When the man started looking around, Theo quickly pushed himself behind the rock. He didn't want to be the next victim.

Few moments late he again dared to take a sneak. This time his eyes fell on the roof of his village's church. There stood a tall man, clothed in all black just before the cross. His long silver hair flew with the strong wind, caressing his white marbled face. This man was different than the rest. His eyes weren't white, they were icy blue but not a speck of shine in them. Those pair of eyes too were dead like the rest.

However, Theo could feel some kind of strange aura radiating off him as he stood there, looking at everyone beneath him if they were all his pawns.

*What is he? What are they?*

Theo didn't know the answer to that. He turned around and bolted away from his dying village, tears running down his cheeks, and swearing to himself that he'd find answers if he survived.