The teens were off before dawn. By the time the sun was rising they were out of the woods and walking along a frozen stream. It had snowed that night. dazzling, clean, white snow. However, there was nothing pretty about it to the five trudging through. Every step left behind its mark.

Shivering, cold, hungry and tired, no energy was wasted on words. The group walked in single file with Mav leading the way.

Shai took up the rear, his gloveless hands were stuffed in his pockets to try and keep them warm. His gaiter was pulled over his nose, protecting most of his face from the biting cold. Before him, Asumi stumbled, a scarf covering half of her face. Her head, however, was left to the mercy of the weather. Shai watched her cover her reddening ears with her hands as a particularly cold gust of wind whistled past.

Reaching for his beanie, Shai slipped it off. Cold instantly nipped at his ears. Increasing his pace he came up behind Asumi. The hat was slipped on her head in moments. The girl turned briefly, mouth opening as though to protest, but Shai hurried past her, taking up the spot in front.

"You don't have another to spare, do you?" Roanna's teeth chattered as she appeared beside him.

Shai shot her a glace. "Only one. Sorry."

"Hmm..." Roanna picked up the pace until she was behind Lake. "Yo. Anything you can spare for a cold girl?"

Ignoring her, Lake increased his pace.

"Wow, what a gentlemen." Roanna huffed before lapsing back into silence.

They continued for a good while, the cold steadily sapping their energy. However, the knowledge that they were most likely being pursued kept them moving. They came across several wandering infected. Those that saw them and made a move to attack were shot, those that didn't register their presence were left along due to the low supply of ammo.

It was Lake that dropped first. One moment he was walking and the next moment he simple collapsed.

"Hey!" Being right behind him, Roanna was the first there. She fell to a knee. "You okay?"

Lake didn't reply, his breathing heavy.

Reaching the pair, Asumi and Shai stopped. Shai dropped the gun he carried, relieved by the sudden burden that was lifted. Asumi leaned over, catching her breath.

Realizing Mav was still lumbering along, Roanna turned. "Mav!"

The leader stopped. He hesitated a moment before backtracking.

Shai joined Roanna in kneeling by Lake. "You okay?"

With chattering teeth and blue lips, Lake shook his head. "I'm s-so c-cold."

"Tell us something we don't know," Roanna grumbled. She got to her feet. "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that stopping and lying down in the cold leads to never getting up." She eyed the boy. "You close your eyes now and they'll never open again. Got it?"

Asumi pushed her to the side. She ignored the glare she got as a result.

"Just a little longer," she urged.

Lake shook his head.

"Well, I'm not carrying him." With that, Roanna turned and walked a couple of paces away.

Shai and Asumi exchanged a glance.

"J-just leave me," Lake spoke through blue lips. His lashes, like the others, were frozen on the ends.

Shai shook his head. "Can't do that."

Asumi nodded. "No one else is being left behind if I can help it." She grabbed Fabian's arm and slung it over a shoulder.

Joining in, Shai took the other arm. Together they hauled the boy to his feet.

Mav had reached them by now.

"Any chance there's a town nearby?" Asumi asked.

The leader hesitated. "We should avoid..."

"We need to warm up," Asumi cut him off. "If we keep going like this we'll all die of hyperthermia."

Again, Mav hesitated.

"There should be one a few miles south," it was Shai that spoke up.

Surprise flickered across Mav's eyes followed by something unreadable.

"What?" Roanna inched closer again. Her eyes narrowed. "Do you have the map memorized too?"

Shai shrugged.

"Phew. That makes it better. At least if we lose one we still have the other to lead us home." Roanna seemed cheered by the thought.

"A town means infected," Mav warned. "If the infector is still tracking us it could gather a hoard."

"It's a chance we're going to have to take," Shai replied. He nodded to the right. "That way."

He and Asumi turned, forcing Lake who was between them to do so too.

"Only a little bit longer," Asumi encouraged the boy with blue lips.

"Well...that's decided." Roanna turned to Mav. "You coming along or going solo?"

The boy grunted before falling into step behind them.

Despite the white covering it, the town was a welcoming sight when it popped up. This time no one asked Shai to scout with the scope of his rifle. The group was too cold to care.

Half sliding and half tripping, they skidded down the hill toward the closest shelter. The door of the first house wouldn't budge. Giving in, Roanna smashed in a window and the teenagers scrambled through it.

Lake collapsed on the floor not far from the point of entry. The others spread out, searching the area by force of habit.

Shai went for the kitchen. Drawers were pulled out and dropped on the floor, cabinets torn open. Matches, food, anything that would be of use was searched for. There was nothing. He tried the tap. Not even a drop.

Roanna's head popped in. "They have a basement."

Shai nodded. That's the safest place for now. He took one more look around before heading back to where Lake was curled up. Shai tapped him but there was no response.

"Blankets." Asumi stumbled in with armfuls. Mav was right behind her, carrying more.

"Basement," Shai replied.

The two nodded and headed off.

"Come on." Shai gathered what strength he had left to drag Lake back to his feet. Their top priority was warmth. They could worry about the rest later.

The two boys stumbled through the house and down the stairs leading below. The muffled smell of earth greeted them as they found the others already setting up. To Shai's relief, someone had found matches and lit a candle. Mav was using it to try set alight a pile of books he tore from a bookcase nearby.

Depositing Lake near the growing fire, Shai grabbed several blankets and draped them over the boy. He paused and shot a glance at the stairs.

"I'll help." Roanna caught on.

The two of them headed back to the kitchen. Here they each grabbed a pot before going to the window. Keeping an eye on the exterior, they piled snow into their pots. Throughout the process, they didn't see anything in sight move.

"You think there are any here?" Roanna asked through chattering teeth.

"Probably." Pot full, Shai turned.

The two went back downstairs, careful to close the door to the basement as they went.

The fire was now roaring but not emitting much heat yet. Mav was dutifully feeding it books. Asumi seemed to have taken it upon herself to start breaking apart the bookshelf. It lay on its side while she stomped a hole through it. When wood splintered, she grabbed a handful and tossed it in the fire.

Shai and Roanna wasted no time in placing the pots by the flames. They knew that warming one's interior was just as important as doing so for the exterior.

Done, Shai grabbed an end of the blanket Lake held and put it around one of his own shoulders. He got close, sharing some body heat.

No one spoke for a while. Mav kept feeding the fire books. Asumi gave up with the bookshelf, seeming to want to get warm. Roanna sat as close to the flames as possible. When the water boiled the eager teens barely waited for it to cool a bit before wolfing down the contents. It warmed their stomachs and soon they went from chattering teeth to an occasional shiver.

Energy that had been sapped by the cold slowly returned with the warmth.

"How far do you reckon we got today?" Roanna voiced.

Mav tore off a page of a particularly colorful book. "Not as far as we should."

Another moment of silence was broken only by the sound of page after page being torn.

"You think the infector was slowed by the cold?" Lake ventured. Color was returning to his face and he looked a lot better than before.

"The dead don't feel cold," Mav replied.

More silence. More tearing of pages.

"Instead of running, why not turn around and kill it?"

All eyes turned to Asumi. Roanna stared as though the other girl had just done something ridiculous like sprouted a flower out of her head.

"I mean, if you look at it this way. The prey that acts the way the predator expects usually dies." She nudged an empty pot with one of her feet. "It's the ones that act in the unexpected way that live." She lifted her eyes and stared at Shai right through the fire, as though addressing only him. "Instead of waiting for it to get us, let's kill it first."

Silence.

"Oh boy." Roanna shook her head. "I thought maybe she was coming out of that whole unresponsive stage, but it looks like she's progressed to crazy."

"Why is it crazy?" Asumi challenged.

It was Mav that answered, "Ever heard of someone killing an infector?"

"No."

"Exactly."

Another page was torn.

"Has anyone ever tried?" Asumi asked softly.

"Yes. An armed population with bombs and an arsenal of weapons." Roanna cocked her head to the side. "Every heard what happened to them?"

Asumi didn't reply.

"They were nearly wiped out and ended up fleeing to the islands." Roanna gave the answer anyway. She stood and stretched. "Infectors are superior. As much as we don't like it, there's nothing we can do to kill them right now...especially not us."

Asumi kept her eyes on Shai, as though willing him to speak in her steadfast.

The boy sighed. He had expected this decision to come and had just been waiting on it. "Do you have a plan?" he asked.

Heads turned to his direction. A smile spread across Asumi's face.

"Has the cold frozen your brain!" Roanna exclaimed.

"Shai," Lake began. "That would be certain death."

Shai sat up straighter. "If there's anyone that could do it," he pointed a finger at Asumi, "It's her."

Roanna's eyes narrowed.

"I trust her," Shai continued.

Mav shook his head. "We don't have the firepower."

"Not true," Roanna disagreed. "We have three flares a grenade and the best shot on the islands."

"Do you even know how to kill one?" Roanna asked.

"Blow it up. Nothing survives that."

"No." Roanna whirled to face the others. "Absolutely not. If you want to go out to die do it on your own."

Asumi lifted her eyes to stare at the other girl. "Would you rather keep looking over your shoulders as we move?"

Silence.

"That thing can pick us off at any moment. If it decides to put an end to it it's over." Asumi leaned back, eyes scanning the group. "It won't be expecting us to stand and put up a fight."

"We won't see that thing coming!" Roanna glared. "It's too fast. That being said, there's no way it would go anywhere we want it too. There's too many uncontrollable factors."

Asumi didn't blink as she said the next words. "Then we'll need to get it to go where we want."

Roanna' eyes narrowed. "And how, would you suppose we do that?"

Asumi turned her eyes back to the fire. "We put out bait. We corner it. I kill it."

"I what?" Roanna cupped a hand to her ear. "Did she just say I?" She turned to the boys. "I didn't hear wrong, right?"

"I have a vendetta." Asumi let her gaze roam over the other teens. "That thing killed my brother and a friend. I'm not letting it pick off any more."

"It's not that simple!"

"Or maybe..." Asumi got to her feet, "It's not that complicated."

There was silence. Mav had stopped tearing pages as he gazed into the fire instead, eyes full of thought.

"They were my friends too." Lake surprised the others when he got to his feet. "I'm tired of knowing it's out there, hunting us." The desperation is his voice wasn't hard to detect. "I want it gone."

"You'll be the one gone if you try this," Roanna muttered.

"I can kill it," Asumi sounded convinced. "If you help me." She turned to Roanna.

The other girl held her gaze but didn't respond.

Shai slowly got to his feet. "We better move before it gathers a hoard."

Roanna let out a growl of frustration. She whirled. "Mav?"

The boy looked up from an open book with missing pages. Slowly, he tore another paper without looking down. He crumbled it. "Shall we hunt us an infected?"

The unreal words sent shivers through the others standing there.

Shai watched a smile stretched across Asumi's face. This is crazy, his mind reasoned. But he also knew that if they just kept going the infector would attack them sooner than later. When that happened there wouldn't be much they can do.

"So?" Roanna asked after a moment of silence. "What's the plan?"