It heavily rained for the next three days, causing ripples to form across the flooded fields, valleys, sinking buildings and broken, crumbling streets.

I saw it all beneath us as I softly hummed a tune to myself, welcoming the burning sensation in my body. We had only left the mountains a week ago, but I was astounded by the amount of progress we had made so far in the waters. Not a single bird or tree or animal had met my eye.

With my right arm, I used a busted metal pole to silently row the floating patch of ice that we both were on. The strong smell of human decomposition grew stronger as the water began to rise. William sat shivering in his coat in the downpour, tightly wrapping his arms around his waist. He had been awfully quiet for a while, and his lips were silently moving, almost like he had been praying. To whom or what I did not know.

I continued to hum.

His eyes bore into my back.Turning my head to the side, I smiled at him. "We should reach the northern hemisphere soon. There should be plenty of food up there for everyone back in the mountains. And maybe we can find more information on this Michel fellow, see if anyone up there knows him. Hopefully there are less soldiers." I chuckled. "I think it's worth looking into."

"What will you do to the people up in the remaining cities?" he asked in a shaky voice. "Will you do to what you did to them down here?"

"Those weren't people, William. Soldiers." I continued to row a bit faster. "They're not people."

"What makes you so confident as if there were no casualties that occurred among the civilian population? With this tidal wave?" His teeth were chattering so badly that I was surprised they didn't shatter. "And yes, I do definitely mean people."

"You should get some rest." My hand tightened around the cold metal bar. "You haven't slept."

“No, you need to.” William fidgeted with his jacket. "Let me have a go at rowing, eh? You've been at it constantly."

"Nah, I got it. You get some shut eye." I smiled. "And when you wake up, I'll catch us something to eat." Then I squinted my eyes. "Hmmm. As soon as we find a scrap of land, I'll find a way to cook it nice and proper. And then we can talk about what you've read in my satchel. Of course, it would've been better if we had it with us, but I'm sure your recollection of events are far better than mine."

He said nothing, and the sound of the rain tapping against the solid ice block that I had created for us bounced off the surface. As a wind settled above my shoulders, I glanced up at the gray sky above.

And then I heard a heavy splash.

The weight of the ice block became lighter, and the metal rod in my hand landed with a plop. Foam and bubbles rose from the other side, and as I slowly turned around, the empty space behind me made my stomach drop. Slowly, I walked to the edge of the ice block, its surface cold and slippery against my dirty bare feet. I could only see my reflection, my face, but something wasn't quite right with my eyes and nose and mouth, and it was washed out completely. My chest felt as if someone had slammed it with a mallet, and when I looked around, there was nothing, just empty, worthless gray and blue, that seemed to go on forever. I waited for a moment, but when his head didn't come up under the waves, his name exploded from my throat.

”William.”

I leaped off.

The water wasn't as cold as I had initially thought it would be. But it was quiet dark beneath, pitch black. Bubbles rose from my mouth and nose.

When I resurfaced, the sound of the rain met my ears, replacing the sound in the water. I hoisted myself up on the ice block, beads of water dripping from my drenched clothes and hair. And in the distance, my eyes finally focused on a dark speck frantically swimming as fast as they could, arms and legs leaving fine white foam in the distance. William's head disappeared under a wave, and he kept glancing back at me, attempting to keep himself upfloat. He began to kick away as far as possible.

”I was going to take you home.”

The rain began to stop, and an ice sheet gradually grew on the now still water as I continued to stare at him, blood dripping from the corner of my mouth. My breathing grew heavier--the sound of crackling ice increased, like popcorn. It rapidly spread across the now freezing water, blues and grays disappearing. White. We were specks of paint on a canvas. I think I heard him scream, but it was muffled. Small patches of ice formed under my bare feet, and as snow fell heavily from the sky, he went down again. I continued to walk to his struggling form, attempting to keep myself upright.

His skin was pale but his eyes were open. Frost collected on his eyebrows and hair, and he scrambled on his knees and legs, making his way upon the broken, frozen chunks of ice. His figure became smaller and smaller until it disappeared. I waited for a few hours for him in case he were to return, but there was nothing but white space. In the meantime, snow piled upon the ground.

* * * * * *

Exhaustion: A strategy that seeks the gradual erosion of the enemy's will to exist.

There was no more water, it had completely disappeared. It was now pitch black, late evening, and although I was trudging up halfway in the snow, it didn't seem to be cold at all. The cold emitted from my own body, so very close to my skin. I slipped and fell a couple of times. Rather, a warm heat settled underneath my rags, and I kept softly humming to myself. The northern cities in the distance didn't have a single light on in the distance? But I knew I could hear people from afar. How strange indeed.

I stopped walking, my footprints visible in the snow. The scent of decay had faded away, only an extremely faint scent. But the air was cold and fresh, and although the water was gone, fresh snow fell from above, landing on my hair and nose. I stretched out the sleeves of my baggy coat, watching the snowflakes land on my glowing blue palms. Confused for a moment, I stared at them, then realized my face was covered in dried blood. But there was no pain in my head. My disheveled, matted hair hung over my eyes, knotted around my ears and neck. Slowly, I knelt down in the snow, hugging my arms tight as the winds swelled and howled.

A strange noise startled me as I quickly looked up. A young man stood a few feet in front of me. We stared at each other for a moment until I broke the silence.

”Hello,” I softly said. “You must not be too far from up north.” The wind whipped around us, coating our skin in frost. “You must be from among them. You must see the soldiers that came up here.”

A dense ringing came in my ears.

He had on a bright yellow coat, which he was tugging off his shoulders after unbuttoning it. His glasses were covered in snow, and a thick scarf blew around his neck. His boots were shiny in the snow as he stumbled closer to me. He began to extend it to me, but I shook my head.

"No, no, no thank you," I gently replied. Then I slowly smiled at him. "It's not that bad for me. I hardly even feel it at all.” When I held out my hands, I moved my fingers. “You don’t feel much after a couple of hours.”

He stared at me. My smile grew, my bottom lip trembling. I looked down for a moment.

“You think you could help me?”

Silence.

“Will you stay with me?” I whispered.

As I rose to my feet I continued to study him. He appeared thin and wiry, not too older than me. Slowly, I reached out with an index finger and lightly poked at his sleeve for a couple of times. It didn’t go through the fabric. He didn’t seem to flinch from my touch. It was just the calm, questioning look that came over his eyes—or what resembled eyes. They were pitch black and beady, like lumps of uneven coal.

I gently held out my palm to him. Appearing confused for a moment, he awkwardly accepted the handshake. But there was no warmth under his skin, no pulse. Caught up in a loud sneeze, he turned his head to the side to catch his nose into the crook of his arm. In the pitch dark, I released a shaky breath, reached out with my hand once more. And he shook it again, no hesitation, no question. With glee, I repeated the motion.

The man frowned. He paused to wipe the frost off his glasses with his coat sleeve.

"So there you are," I quietly said, taking a couple of steps towards him. He didn't move, just gave me an odd look. "You're...you're not running away.”

He stared at me.

I kept smiling at him behind my hair. Then my voice trailed into a faint whisper. "You're not." I closed my eyes for a moment, slowly opened them. He was still there, looking as dumbfounded as ever. I began to walk off, he followed behind me. I still couldn't make out his face well--it was changing between the shadows that passed us. The wind was so strong that it nearly swept me off my feet. I continued walking, nearly afraid to turn around because of how quiet the air was.

But when I did, he was there.

“Will you come with me?” I whispered.

He nodded.