Cold

Cooper trekked through the snow to his predetermined outpost for the day with a tiny trace of a smile tugging at his lips. Each step up the hill to the shack and pipeline felt easier and easier. For the first time in a long time, he felt somewhat well rested. Even through the biting chill of the cold air, a small hint of warmth clung to him like an invisible blanket, making the outside world simply not feel so bad.

He reached the shack and placed his rifle by the doorway upon entering. As with the previous day, there was no one stationed at the pipe upon his arrival, but this time the fire was out. He grabbed the nearby can of gasoline and poured a small amount onto the fire. A quick shake of the can confirmed that there was only a few more days worth of gas left.

Should probably tell Gabe or Adrian about that, Cooper thought.

Cooper reached into his pocket, pulled out a lighter, and attempted to light the fire. It took three flicks before the flint ignited the butane, and a small flame took its first breath. He gently brought the lighter down to the wood and ignited it.

With that taken care of, Cooper simply grabbed the shovel laying against the wall and headed back outside. As he dug up shovel-fulls of snow, he still felt the twinge of pain in his shoulder, however it felt much less severe than the day before; allowing him to work faster and with much higher spirits.

He smiled to himself at the simplicity of the work and lost himself in his thoughts for just a moment. Then a sound reached his ears.

What the...

Cooper glanced toward the camp, a frown forming on his brow as the sound increased in volume.

Sounds like a lot of yelling...

Then gunfire rang out. Slow, and distant at first, but quickly growing louder, and more frequent until it sounded like an all out firefight was raging just a mile away. Cooper sprinted for the door and grabbed his AK-47 as he pushed into the snow to look back at the camp.

From the distance, he could barely make out the flashes of gunfire and the screams against the cold breeze as it picked up against his back.

"Twilight..." Cooper whispered, his eyes widening as he surveyed the battle

Without another thought, Cooper sprinted down the hill and back toward the town, sending powered white snow in all directions as he closed the distance to the fight. The closer he got, the louder and more clear the screams became. Men, women, and even the children could be heard through the small lulls in the thunderous gunshots. As he arrived at the site, he finally saw the cause of all the screaming.

Over a dozen bodies were littered all around the center of the camp and behind various buildings in the lot. Over two dozen more men were running through the buildings, setting fire and shooting where they went. The screams shrieked out through the windows as bullets tore through the plaster walls, sending a chill down Cooper's spine.

His eyes immediately darted to the capitol building Gabe used just as the long tapestries were set ablaze. Billowing smoke poured out into the sky, darkening it even more than it already was.

With his anxiety quickly rising, Cooper looked back over to his building to see that his floor was still relatively untouched, and the window to his room was still slightly cracked open. As if to confirm his worst fears, he saw a brief glimpse of lavender flash by the window, along with a dark purple mane, and two fearful eyes.

"Dammit Twilight... Why are you still in there?" Cooper cursed under his breath.

Twilight peeked out of the window several times, her eyes wide and fear clearly displayed on her face. She looked three times before ducking back out of sight, and presumably hiding.

Cooper let out an angry sigh before flicking the safety lever down to fire, then pushed forward toward the building. He was almost immediately spotted by several of the attacking group and the sound of whizzing bullets quickly came his way.

Cooper broke into a sprint to the nearest cover, which happened to be a broken down car. Diving down behind the engine block, his shoulder stung, but he grit his teeth through the pain and ducked into the snow as the car was quickly riddled with bullets.

"Fuck, how much ammo do these guys have?" He muttered to himself.

Cooper rolled to the side and pushed himself up to a kneeling position while shouldering his rifle. He peeked up from the front of the car and took stock of where the greatest threats were. Once he had their positions, he ducked back behind cover just in time to dodge a hail of gunfire.

Cooper scurried over to the opposite side of the car and peaked out again, this time aiming his rifle and finding the easiest man to shoot.

He was rewarded with a clean shot on one of the men trying to maneuver around for a better shot against him, and fired two rounds. One struck the man's chest while the other sailed just over his shoulder. He fell to the ground and writhed about in agony before Cooper had to hide behind cover once more, lest a hail of bullets tear him apart.

He quickly made his way over to the other side of the car again as the rounds tore through the withered frame. Cooper reached the engine block and shouldered his rifle once more. He popped out and fired three more rounds at the second assailant. The last round tagged him in the shoulder, sending him falling to the ground as he clutched the bleeding joint.

Even more bullets came his way, forcing Cooper to duck down yet again and move. He attempted to peak out from the other side of the car, only for a bullet to whiz just a few precarious inches by his face. He jerked back behind cover, falling to his back in the process, and took a deep breath.

"Fuck me." He whispered.

Cooper looked to his left to see there was another car he could maneuver to. With a small grunt, he pushed himself back to a crouched position and shouldered his rifle. He pushed out from cover and opened fire, sending a hail of bullets toward the raiders.

Gunfire echoed out in front of him while more bullets cracked and whizzed past him as he ran.

Cooper's shots flew wildly between, and over the raiders engaging him, but it had the desired effect and forced them to duck their heads behind cover. Just as he reached the other car, the enemy fire ceased completely under his overwhelming volume of fire, and he was able to take cover once more.

Once behind the engine block of the new car, Cooper pulled the magazine from his rifle and inspected to see how much ammo he had left.

"One round, fuck me." He muttered.

Cooper placed the magazine in the magazine pouch of his plate carrier and pulled out the second magazine. He rocked the fresh mag into the rifle and re-shouldered it. He pushed out just long enough to fire two more rounds at one of the men as they moved from cover to cover, striking the raider in the leg.

He fell to the snow and cried out in pain as he struggled to crawl to the wall he was running to. Before Cooper could finish him off, another hail of bullets tore into the engine block he was using for cover, and he fell back as one round penetrated through the car completely and rammed into his body armor.

As Cooper rolled over to get to his feet, more bullets whizzed next to him, kicking up snow all around him. He moved over to the rear of the car and looked over to the building. There was only about a dozen feet between him and the closest door. He bit his lip in concentration as he calculated the probability of making it to the doorway under the intense enemy fire.

Christ, how much ammo do these guys fucking have?! Cooper thought, again.

Cooper looked back and forth for any other options, but found nothing viable aside from simply continuing the gunfight. It took all of a second for him to make up his mind and wait for a lull in the firefight once more.

The seconds ticked by in slow motion, and as he waited with his muscles tensed, he let out a slow, calming breath. With a good push off of the car, he re-shouldered his rifle and fired at a much slower rate. He quickly shuffled back to the doorway as he continued to fire, keeping the group's heads down and allowing him precious time to reach the door. Once he felt his back collide with the steel frame, he instantly turned and grabbed the handle. With a heavy jerk, he pulled the door open and dove inside just as dozens of rounds tore into the doorway around him.

From his position on the floor, Cooper crawled forward, away from the firefight until he was far enough away from the door that bullets weren't dancing just over his head. He quickly pushed himself to a standing position and sprinted toward the staircase in the center of the building. Smoke billowing out from several of the rooms along the way slowed his progress some, and the occasional dead body on the floor almost made him stumble.

Once he reached the staircase, Cooper aimed toward the top and ascended, making a point to keep his finger on the trigger. He reached the top of the staircase with ease and found himself in his hallway, already filled with smoke. The smell of sulfur and burning wood wrinkled his nose slightly, but he pushed forward in the direction of his room without another moment of hesitation. He ducked low to avoid as much of the smoke as possible, until he reached an impasse.

One of the rooms was open and flames were spreading out through the doorway into the hallway. From his position, several feet away, Cooper could feel the intense heat filling the air around him and a frown formed on his face.

Fuck... how am I gonna get through this shit?

He looked back and forth for an answer, but found nothing. With time running low and his anxiety quickly rising to a boiling point, Cooper slung his rifle and backed up for a running start. He took a breath and held it before sprinting through the hallway and jumping through the fire. He closed his eyes as he entered the flames. Heat seared at his cloak and plate carrier as the flames licked at his body, threatening to turn him into a human torch.

Within two seconds, he was clear of the doorway and the spreading flames, but as he reached the other side and opened his eyes, he nearly panicked at what he saw. His plate carrier was burning, the flames dancing precariously close to his beard, and his cloak was burning at the heel.

With no time to think, Cooper tried to put the flames out on his plate carrier with his hands, but only succeeded in setting another small fire on his glove. He waved the appendage off as he unclipped the plate carrier with his other hand, dropping the body armor to the floor. The flames were smothered much quicker, allowing him time to put out the small burns on his cloak and grab his nearly empty magazine from the plate carrier.

Just as he was about to grab the body armor and reattach it, he heard a distinctly feminine scream come from his room, just three doors down. He pushed himself to his feet and sprinted for the door, leaving his armor behind.