§§¨¨¨¨§§§§                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨§§¨¨§§¨                                          §§§§§§§§§¨
§§¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨§§§§§§§¨¨
¨¨¨§§§§§§§                                          ¨¨§§§§§¨¨¨
§§¨¨§§§§§§                                          §¨¨§§§¨¨§§
§¨¨¨¨§§§§§ 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.       ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨§§
§§§§§¨¨§§§                                          §§§§§§§¨¨§
§§§§¨¨¨¨§§                                          §§§§§§¨¨¨¨
¨§§¨¨§§¨¨¨                                          §§§§§¨¨§§¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨§§                                          ¨§§§¨¨¨¨¨¨
§§§§§§§¨¨§                                          ¨¨§¨¨§§§§§