To anyone watching, you might have looked out of place: one hand grazing the air ahead, eyes unfocused. But you listened harder than they saw.

Cold sharpened things. Sound moved differently in the snow — clearer, crisper, less room for things to hide. Even with your sight gone, or what little haze of it remained, you walked steady now. Not like the first day. You knew the rhythm of boots, the sound of crows. You could tell where the trees opened just by the pressure of wind on your left cheek.

Footsteps crunching — six pairs, spaced uneven. Craig up front, talking too loud. Ellie muttering now and then beside him. Two others behind her. Joel, a silent shadow at your back.

Then it changed.

The air shifted.

The birds had gone quiet — not suddenly, but slowly, the way life draws breath before something breaks.

You slowed.

Raised your chin slightly.

There. Something beneath the bark-stink of spruce and snow: iron. Decay. Like old meat left too long in a cellar. And beneath that — the barest rasp, like breathing with lungs full of rot.

You turned your head sharply toward the treeline.

Raised your hand in a fist — silent signal.

The group halted.

Joel turned to look at you, whispering: “What?”

You took a beat.

Then: “We’re not alone.”

Craig, one the group, laughed. “Did you hear something?” He followed your gaze, towards the tree and annoyed, stepped forward. “There’s nothing here.”

The next second happened all at once.

A sharp clicking erupted from the woods. Fast. Erratic. Too close.

The clicker came from the left, straight into Craig’s side. He screamed — not long — and vanished beneath its weight. Blood hit the snow in bursts.

The rest of the group scattered.

Ellie swore, ducking for cover.

Joel grabbed your arm — hard but sure — and pulled.

You ran.

Not blindly. Not you. You followed Joel’s breath, his momentum, his hand steady on the back of your coat. You could hear the others crashing through the brush, two more clicks erupting behind you.

A cabin loomed ahead — half collapsed but standing.

Joel barreled through the door, dragging you in with him. Ellie and another made it inside just after. The door slammed. A bar slid across.

You were panting.

Joel let go of you only when the lock clicked. He turned immediately, rifle up, checking windows, corners, any breach.

You stood still, ears straining. Sweat cooling too fast on your neck.

Ellie saying what everybody was thinking. “She caught it before any of us. Next time listen to her."

Joel turned back to you then. His breath was heavy. "Y’alright?"