"You wanna tell me why you have the pistol and are standing in the rain?" The tap on the shoulder and the voice are what brought me out of my head and realized I was soaked to the bone. Turning my head I seen, a wide chested, red bearded, massively put together man. My husband's sparkling green eyes and smirk told me he was finding this hilarous.
"Had a pretty big wolf problem." I shivered and turned toward the door.
I glanced back to see him following and with one eybrow raised. "You wanna elaborate on that?" he mentioned while putting down his keys and mail.
Looking at him most people see a gruff man, hardened from years of service in the military. The scars that you could see and the ones that you couldn't. He was no longer the clean shaven man I had met 11 years ago, he had devolved to a back woodsman of a sort. Though the dreads were new. Something he had randomly decided to do one day. Always trying new things, wanting people to talk or balk at him.
"I met two dire wolves today." I finally laid the wet towel on the rack next to the fire going in the hearth. "You know those monster looking wolves from the prehistoric age." I shrugged and melted down on the mini chair next to the warmth of the fireplace.
"Dire wolf? Bigger then Fluff?" He asked about size of the livestock guardian dog we had.
"Oh yeah, about the size of our mini mule. 40 inches at the shoulder and teeth had to be a third of that." I glanced up to see his reaction. Curiosity was the only thing that met me.
"Big then it sounds. Pretty sure you should have brought the rifle for that size." He raised an eyebrow. A smirk tipped the corner of his eyes and lips.
"I repeat myself, you and fluff must be related." I heard his deep chested laugh, his green eyes danced under his shaggy red hair. I know my rolling eyes did not go left unnoticed. I felt him put a feather light kiss to my forehead. No matter how abrasive, rude, blunt and devil may care he was in his soul he knew who I was to the core. No secrets, no regrets just us against the world. Even if the outside world was on fire.... Literally...
Sitting back in his chair, he took a serious tone and look. "The chaos that had been mostly confined to the cities is starting to edge this way. The small town we have to the south is starting to have random events. I don't know how long it will hold together." I heard the sigh before I seen its aftermath. He was a warrior yes, but tired. The fighting he had seen for so many years before the events that brought the now literal craziness had left its mark. He would fight again, but I didn't know if he could be pulled from the darkness again.
"I have seen the signs. The bits of news I get suggest it will cover all of the United States." I finished with a sigh of my own.
"War it sounds then." He rose, quietly opened the door allowing the old hound a chance to come in.
I stood with towel in my hand to rub the old dog down. This old hound had been with us a long time. I hunted the woods with his music, danced with the death devil many times chasing his heels. We shared many scars together. Courage and grit would always be associated with his memories. "The wolves met some 5 miles from here, to the east. The female is lead though the red male she does not trust." He said while I dried.
"How do you know she does not trust him?" I asked. My thoughts slipping easily to his mind.
"We spoke, her name is Lada."
I smiled, sneaky old fellow. "So you chatted with her?"
"I did." He found his favorite spot next to the fire. plopped down and promptly went to sleep, faster then I had seen in a long time.
"What news did he bring?" My warrior looked at me.
"It seems the wolves met some 5 miles to the east of us. I guess there is not much trust between them." I stood going back to the small chair at the fire. Sitting I looked back into those curious emerld gaze. "I guess we will need to be ready for the wild that will arrive."
"Indeed," he looked at the storm lashing at the window.