The wind is changing.
It becomes icy cold.
Heavier.
I can feel it even before I lift my head.
A rumble.
Distant.
That's not normal.
I get up abruptly.
Around me, the fire was still crackling. The others were talking and enjoying the games to rest.
Nobody understands.
Except for her.
The little girl.
She freezes.
His eyes rise towards the mountain.
– Oh…no.
Then louder:
– GET UP.
Silence falls.
Everyone stares at her in disbelief.
And there-
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
The noise is coming down from the sky.
Shaking the earth beneath us.
A mass detached itself from the mountain, even visibly in the darkness.
The mountain moved.
And I see her.
A white wall.
Huge, falling and rushing straight towards us
"EVERYONE HAS THEIR WEAPONS, THEY'RE ALREADY HERE," the little girl screams.
The village exploded in movement, men, women and children rushed about.
Goats with red eyes jumped over the fence; they had very humped wolf-like bodies and jumped on their hind legs.
Des cris fusai.
– A POSITION!
– CLOSE THE DOORS!
– CIRCLE THEM!
The leader appeared.
Whip in hand.
His gaze has changed.
Cold.
Sharp.
.
- TO MOVE BACK !
But it's already too late.
The animals.
There were dozens of them.
Perhaps more.
Panicked.
Starving.
A lot.
They are fleeing the snow…
and they're heading straight for us.
– SHIT! shouts the muscular man.
The barrier is useless. Incomplete and fragile.
– WE ARE NOT READY!
The chef cracks her whip.
CRACK.
An invisible line cuts through the first wave of beasts.
deviates from the group.
The others jumped over her and continued their trajectory with their mouths wide open.
– HOLD THE LINE!
the chief yelled
I don't think.
I run and grab the shovel that's lying against a wall.
I'll take it.
And I move forward.
Straight ahead.
– Ki-Moon!
Ask me.
I'm not stopping.
– KI-MOON!
A hand grabbed my arm.
I turn my head.
The little girl.
– Don't kill them!
I frown.
- What ?
"They're our comrades !" she said, sweating despite the cold.
Pause.
A second one.
I'm watching the animals.
And I stare at her
Comrades? That's something that wants to eat you.
I don't understand.
More…
I won't insist.
- …All right.
I'm turning the shovel.
And strike with the back of it to repel.
– MOVE!
I said to the little girl
I charge alongside the others.
These beasts keep trying to eat us and jumping into our ranks; I don't see why he's content to just chase them away without ever killing them.
An animal jumped on me.
BAM !
I just barely managed to hit him with my Pele.
She rolls onto her side and runs away.
Alive.
I was not far from the center, but I could hear the crack of the chief's whip.
This way
Following the sounds to find me
– HAAAAAAAAA!
A scream.
I turn around and see him.
A child also found himself isolated, lying on the ground, covering his head.
A beast lunges at him.
Its fangs were just centimeters from its throat.
I threw my shovel without thinking.
Impact.
BAM !
The shovel crashes down on the beast's skull.
She lets go and staggers back.
Grumbling.
Then she fled.
I hope she doesn't die near here.
The boy is trembling.
I approach and lift him up with a quick movement.
– we're not going.
He nods his head and grabs onto my jacket.
He behaves like a child
"RUN," I ordered him.
No time.
Another beast is unleashed.
The chief was at the forefront, cracking her whip in the air.
Snow is coming.
The ground is shaking.
The wind is howling.
Everything is mixed up.
Beasts.
Humans.
IT'S NEVER ENDLESS
We're pushing.
On guide.
We hunt.
Like them.
Like animals.
The minutes are passing.
Or the seconds.
It's impossible to know.
But little by little…
It's decreasing.
I want to leave here as soon as possible.
The last of the animals are fleeing.
They leave the village.
They disappear into the white.
A sense of peace returned, almost.
I lower the shovel.
My hands are trembling.
I look around.
Injured people crushed by sheep.
The walls and the fortress were destroyed.
Half of the fence... gone.
– …fucking.
The little girl is here.
Next to me.
Day is beginning to break.
Cold.
Even colder than night.
The village is organizing itself in silence.
repairs, carries the wounds
I followed the caretakers.
The shovel still in hand.
The little girl was clinging to me, whispering:
– That was only the first wave.
- …so much the better.
She looks at me.
– Let them all come.
Then I turn my back.
And I walk.
Towards the debris.
Towards work.
Continue.
Because it's a perfect rental.