āA deer. A few weeks ago it started crawling into my head, and now itās sneaking up on me in my dreams. Itās always the exact same thing; a deer in the snow, all gangly and frostbitten, but itās still standing. Itās standing like a human being. Not like a deer would stand, but tall and straight.
And, urh, it keeps looking at me. Thatās the first thing I remember when I wake up, then the rest of it comes. These death-like eyes, then I remember how pale it is, and how the pattern always changes when I stare too long. I canāt not look.ā
Claurine paused. She tossed Matty a bone, which he gratefully accepted,
āAnd then I remembered exactly where Iād seen that look before. I killed a big olā deer mother a while back, just when the snow was starting to thaw. It was the first time Iād killed a deer, and a big one like thatā a coues one, I think. But I couldnāt even give myself the pride of victory because she was such an easy target anyway. She was dying. Both of them were. They were lying together in the snow, and I got close enough to smell the rot on her.
It was.. disgusting. God, it stunk.
I finished the job even though I can still remember how shakey my hands were. I remember how the baby panicked and tried to stand, like.. like it was going to defend his mom or something. Those crazy eyes of itās started darting around and then it fell back. Then it just made strange noises at me, but i didnāt do anything about it. I left it to die. I was just too.. scared to shoot at it.
Before I walked away I made the mistake of looking at it one last time. It was just quietly staring at me..ā
āAnd now you think youāre being haunted by it?ā Anton smiled and rested himself against his elbows, feeling slightly amused by Claurineās recollection.
She waved her hand dismissively āOh no. Not in that sense. But those eyes, Ant..ā
āSo itās not the eyes of the men youāve killed, or the countless birds and ducks and cows weāve shot at.ā Anton smiled, āNo. A baby deer is what gets you.ā
āCould be the mother haunting me. It looked more like the mother in my dreams, reallyā¦ I canāt tell which oneās more dangerous. A startled, angry child? Or...ā
My OC girl she is cool and rides camels and sheās a superb shot and also sheās really funny and she is a cool girl. thanksš her name is weird on purpose because she lives in the apocalypse but her friends name is simple because hes also in the apocalypse but hes a loserš«¶
