The man’s neck was scratched, the fur coat on his chest was torn into small pieces. The victim first held his hands in front of his face, then carefully laid them on the snow. Fingers on both hands were seriously injured. What was left of them looked more like minced meat. The frightened eyes of the older man stared at Marianne. His face was also covered in blood, his mouth was twisted in pain.
Marianne shouted:
– Help! Anyone! “Perhaps the robber is not alone here. Then his friends will come to the rescue. – Help!
Marianne screamed and screamed until he was exhausted. Nobody showed up and shouted back.
The man was breathing heavily and looking at Marianne. It was clear from the wounds and blood loss that he would not survive without medical attention.
– Are you alone here? Marianne asked. – You need a doctor. Tell me where is the nearest village or at least one person, and I’ll go for help!
The robber was silent. Marianne looked around. See no one. I tried to remove my hands from the wound, but the bleeding intensified. I had to press on my chest again.
The man stuck out his tongue, then swallowed and asked:
“So you didn’t kill Cassius?”
– What? Whom? – did not understand Marianne.
“What he says? About whom? Is this the time to think about some Cassius?”
“And Barclay was furious. Thinks you killed him with an ax. – For a moment a smile flashed on the lips of the man. – I didn’t believe it… But Barclay thinks differently. Damn him with his ideas! I see you are just a child, you could not have done this.
– Cassius? Maybe you mean Viator? – did not understand Marianne. – I did not kill anyone! Didn’t kill! – He was shaking. – Better tell me where to find your friends. I will bring them, they will call doctors, rescuers. They will help you!
The man shook his head.
– Its end. And I managed to move here. In such cases… There is no one here. Even wild animals bypass these places… Here is my payback. And this damned Wolf Mountain is very close. So that she was wrong!
The man was confused in his thoughts, but the words about grief abandoned in agony alerted Marianne.
– Do you know where Wolf Mountain? – blurted out Marianne. – Are there people there? Can they help?
– Wolf Mountain? I saw her from afar. What kind of people are there! Inhumans! That’s who is there. A strange place. Damn anyone. No, people don’t live there. They look like you and me, but they are not. Even animals feel them and are afraid. Nobody knows how many there are and where they came from…
The man exhaled and closed his eyes.
– Oren Hadley. That’s my name. Tell people if you get out of here that I am dead. Tell me where it happened.
– Why don’t you tell me where to look for help? Marianne asked, not noticing that he was shouting. Now he was sure that this was one of yesterday’s robbers. – Where are your friends? They are close? I will call them…
Oren shook his head and croaked:
– Maybe before I die I will do at least one good deed. I will save you. And my soul will be sent to heaven. But my heart is still heavy…
Marianne did not know what to say to this.
– You have to leave these places. Go east. Oren tried to nod in the right direction. – Sooner or later you will go out on the road. On it you will come to the city.
Marianne shook his head. Tears ran down his cheeks.
– Only to the east! Do you hear? To the East!
Oren fell silent, closed his eyes. It seemed that he had already departed into another world, but his chest was still faintly heaving.
“Stay away from anyone you meet…” Oren said in a very weak voice. – There are different types here. Trust no one and…
The chest froze. Oren’s lips never moved.
Oren Headley.
Marianne slowly climbed off the blood-soaked body. He looked at his bloody palms. He felt very sorry for Oren, he was impressed by the death of this stranger. To distract himself from his worries, he began to wipe his hands on the snow, not noticing the cold.
A familiar sound sounded somewhere. Motorcycle motor.
The roar of the engine grew louder. Marianne stood up. Someone was riding a snowmobile on the ice of the lake. Another appeared after him. Marianne wanted to wave her hands and scream. But Oren can no longer be helped.
“What if they are yesterday’s robbers?”
They will be glad if Marianne falls into their hands. He was afraid of any person in these places. If he’s already figured out anything, it’s that he must stay away from everyone in this forest.
Marianne hastened to retreat from the open area, then rushed to his camp. They may not have noticed him yet. The sound has become quite loud. Marianne bent down by the tree and looked at the lake.
On the snowmobiles there were people dressed in white overalls – winter camouflage. They raced across the ice of the lake and were in full view. Having approached closer, we slowed down and parted in different directions. Then one, the one that was closer to the dead body, screamed. People on snowmobiles drove up and rushed to Oren.
Marianne heard the words of one of them:
– Who was that? Who attacked you? Was it a werewolf? Speak! Have you seen a werewolf here?
“He’s already dead, don’t you get it?”
– Yes, I just gave up the spirit. Did our werewolf do the job?
– Ha, this is too cool for a sucker!
And they both burst out laughing. In their hands, the people were holding some kind of short shotguns wrapped in white cloth. The first poked his weapon at the snow nearby.
– Look. What is it? It looks like scales. Aha! So the trail goes on the ice. Saber-toothed fish!
– There are still traces.
Two men in camouflage stood with their backs to Marianne and, bending over, looked at the find.
Marianne rushed to his camp, seeking cover.
He jumped to a hole dug in the snow – a hole in which he slept at night, and rushed into it. He began to quickly dig deep into the snow. One second, one more. Time is too short. Marianne hit the roof of the hole. She crumbled, covering him with lumps of snow.
The young man listened.
The snow was thin, and the light of the setting sun filtered through it.
Marianne was afraid that his hiding place was not enough for him and people in camouflage would notice him. And the snow could crumble unevenly, somewhere stronger, could bare legs or shoulder and give Marianne.
The footsteps came very close. And then he heard something that overtook even more fear, if he had not been scared half to death.
Loud frequent puffing. This man was sniffing the air. The wheeze grew louder. Marianne held her breath. He was smelled. A small lump of snow in front of my eyes shifted, opening a small hole outward. Marianne saw the shoes of a man who had approached.
– You are not looking there, Ersus! His breed should be looked for in the trees, not under them. Look, the branches over there were jammed. It was as if someone was climbing on it.
Footsteps rang out a little further. The boots trampled in place.
– Nobody.