.,«^†£@###                                          ###@£†^«,.
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...,«^†£@#                                          #@£†^«,...
....,«^†£@                                          @£†^«,....
.....,«^†£                                          £†^«,.....
......,«^† in  the   endless  winter  day,  on  the †^«,......
.......,«^ crystal white plains...  we trudge along ^«,.......
......,«^†   the train tracks... themselves slowly  †^«,......
.....,«^†£ snowed  over, in the  still hours  since £†^«,.....
....,«^†£@          the last supply train.          @£†^«,....
...,«^†£@#                                          #@£†^«,...
..,«^†£@##     bell-like sounds of the blinding     ##@£†^«,..
.,«^†£@### ground. rifles  attached to  our  wrist, ###@£†^«,.
..,«^†£@## sharing  in  our  bloodstream. my husky, ##@£†^«,..
...,«^†£@#      my warm-coffee-in-cold-snow...      #@£†^«,...
....,«^†£@                                          @£†^«,....
.....,«^†£ the  first  five  shots  you  can  spend £†^«,.....
......,«^† indiscriminately,  they hurt but deal no †^«,......
.......,«^ long  time damage  to  the shooter.  the ^«,.......
......,«^† next five  you  must spend wisely,  they †^«,......
.....,«^†£ will take days  to heal. the final  five £†^«,.....
....,«^†£@ you    must    not   spend    at    all. @£†^«,....
...,«^†£@#                                          #@£†^«,...
..,«^†£@## weeks earlier, in the  weak autumn dawn, ##@£†^«,..
.,«^†£@### in  the  blue-gray  fog... something  is ###@£†^«,.
..,«^†£@## burning   with  a  deep  crimson  flame, ##@£†^«,..
...,«^†£@#       untameable by water or wind.       #@£†^«,...
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.......,«^                                          ^«,.......
......,«^†                                          †^«,......