Sergei and Hans Chapter 4 Part 9

I retraced my steps and decided to return to the cave, but I had to pass the vertical rocks. My hunger got the best of me, and I had a queer feeling that I was being watched. Maybe it was a hallucination. Maybe it was my angel. Or maybe it was just a deranged German, but I sensed someone following me. 

I made my way through as discreetly as I could. Then a bullet exploded above my head. The shot rattled me and I fell to the ground. I got up and rushed and took cover against a boulder. I saw the smoke of the shot rise up to the air. I loaded my rifle and squared myself to get a better angle. The sun was blinding and all I saw was a sea of white. Considering where it was coming from, I knew he had the better view. He kept me waiting. He knew what he was doing. And it felt oddly familiar. 

The silence broke. He fired again and missed. All I heard were the screams of the bullets shattering the ice above me. I took my rifle and fired to the sky, letting him know I wouldn't go down easily. I took cover and waited for his retaliation.

Whomever I shot at, he was as quiet, gentle, and disciplined a being as they came. He probably thought the same thoughts I was thinking: How many bullets I had left. How many bullets he had left. He was probably right behind me all this time, just waiting to charge. But in all likelihood, he was probably pinned to a rock. Pinned and tired. Tired and ambivalent.

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