I'd love to do more, but I wake up.

When your eyes open, you spot Scarlet standing beside the bed, staring down at you. Her red hair has now faded into a color of weird pink as her natural blonde color starts to come through. What confuses you, however, is her expression. You sit up and rub your eyes. “What?”

“You were moaning,” she tells you. Her eyes drifted to your waist. You had no morning wood presenting itself, but you were sure there would have been pitching a tent if Astrid allowed it. “And you were mumbling, mommy?”

You laid back down and sighed. “Just forget that you heard all that.”

Scarlet shifted her weight, her eyes lingering close to your crotch area like she was expecting to see a sign of your member waking up, too, but when she didn’t see it, she craned her neck and shrugged. “Whatever, Warren. I was thinking about dinner tonight, and as much as I hate to do it, we have a contract near Highlight, so maybe we should spend some time up there, even after our date.”

After taking a moment to wake yourself up, you swing your legs off the bed. “No rest for the wicked, as they say. Business as usual, I assume?”

“Actually,” she brushes her hair behind her hair. “Not exactly. This ‘contract’ is coming in more of a favor than something that needs to be done.”

“So, even Amara has people she owes favors to, uh?”

Scarlet seems rather unimpressed by this remark but replies to it nonetheless. “Amara isn’t a god. She’s pulled more favors and has more debts than your average gun runner… But less than your average Syndicate dealer.”

It’s suddenly come to your attention that you don’t know much about the ARS. A dozen questions come to mind. However, when you study Scarlet’s face, you figure she wouldn’t have much to offer regarding answers. Your eyes meet, and she narrows her gaze slightly. “What?”

“Nothing,” you stand up and stretch. “You think we should just move to Highlight now, then? Or do you want to lounge around before bothering with the whole thing?”

Scarlet sits down at the foot of the bed now that you don’t occupy it but doesn’t seem comfortable being around you. But, you suppose that might have been strange considering your history together. “The sooner we get to Highlight, the better, so how about you pack your stuff? I won’t be far behind.”

…

…

You had been to Highlight a handful of times before, but all other times were on horseback. On foot, you found the walk instead… strenuous, but you’re sure that’s because of the nearly waist-deep snow accumulated over the last few months. It doesn’t bother you much, and Scarlet keeps moving without conversation or useless banter. Instead, she remains about 20 feet forward, minding only the world as another snowfall starts.

Your mind goes off, unprofessionally, in the direction of memories of when you first experienced snow and cold that was so intense that winter actually lingered for months on end. The crunch and step is relaxing; the puffs of your steamed breath companies you better than your physical companion. You whisper quietly behind, hoping to get the chance to speak to Astrid, but she’s no one to be seen, and there’s no supernatural peace that comes to you, so you safely assume that she can’t get involved in your current situation.

A hot exhale of air leaves your mouth as you trudge up to catch up with Scarlet. She shoots a glance over her shoulder to greet you with a squinty smile. To say the least, you’re glad to see that Scarlet wasn’t intentionally giving you the silent treatment.

“Feeling lonely back there?”

“Very,” you reply, brushing against her shoulder. She quickly steps away to recreate some space, but she realizes it isn’t worth the energy getting away from you.

“If someone were to jump us while we’re this close, they’d get us both.”

You huff, feeling the burn in your lungs as you work yourself into an undesired sweat. “No one is going to be out here.”

“Never know,” she sing-songs. “THERE COULD BE ANYBODY OUT HERE.”

Her voice echoes in the snowcapped forest, her eyes outward, drifting tree-to-tree with her eyes squinting again. She pulls down on her facewrap, and you see her expression all bright with a smile. “You’re probably right, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Better safe than sorry? After all that yelling?”

“Even all that yelling,” Scarlet scans the tree line, eventually screwing her eyes upward to the white, endless sky above you. “But honestly, who would be out at this time of year on an unused trail? I’ve never been in a situation so **** for loot I’ve camped out on the side of a snow-filled path in the middle of winter in the north.”

Scarlet stops, prompting you to do the same. The sound of winter surrounds you. The soft crinkling. The slight breeze. Even the pinch of the cold comes together to make this dreadful season somehow beautiful in the snowfall. Your companion sighs deeply. “My dad used to take me out hunting in weather like this.”

“Yeah?”

“We’d go out and stay out for around four days.”

Silence follows after this small comment. Her eyes fix on random trees in the forest– looking at everything besides you. You watch her clean her teeth with her tongue, n0t-yet blinking against the cool breeze that cuts through the open area. Finally, she does, and she looks at you. “Sorry, that was seriously out of pocket. We should get moving.”

“No, it’s alright.” You start leading the way, and as no words are exchanged, you feel the need to create a conversation again. “If you want to talk about your life, you can do that with me.”

Scarlet shakes her head, but you don’t see it. “I’d rather not tangle up my personal memories with our job, but thanks for the offer. I don’t think it’d help much.”

“Alright, so what should we talk about?”

“That contract,” she chimes in. “It’s different from the others, so I suppose I should unpack that for the two of us.”

“I’m all ears. I've been dying to hear about it since you told me it was a favor Amara owed.”

This time, she catches up with you to brush against your shoulder. Her nose is slightly pink now, repainting her in a different color. Youthful, lively, full of dreams– all of which wasn’t technically true. Not noticing or pretending not to, at least, she continues with the subjects of the contract.

“There’s an old building near Highlight, an abandoned one just south of the actual town, and Amara’s pal– we’ll call him John Doe, thinks there’s some of his playthings are in there.”

“Plaything?”

Scarlet clears her throat. “Not sex dolls. I wouldn’t help someone who would subject humans to such treatment.”

“I’m aware of where you lean on such things,” Scarlet takes the lead now, so you follow her through the snow as it starts to fall faster. “Is this an average kind of contract for the ARS?”

You watch her shoulders bounce when she shrugs. “Isn’t the first time I’ve had to go fetch people for someone else, especially for John Doe.”

“Is John Doe a familiar face?”

Again, she shrugs. “Not to these parts, but I’ve worked with him before.”

“You sound unimpressed with him?”

“He’s gay,” she deadpans and then says nothing else for the rest of the walk.

Finally arriving at Highlight, you notice that almost everything is already closed. Slow hours and the staggering amount of late snow have stopped virtually all remaining traffic along the sidewalks and streets. There aren’t any shops open, and there aren’t any criers in the corners. Scarlet is focused, however, and guides you to the local pub– Betrunkener. You’ve been here before, but it didn’t have anything that left a favorable opinion.

Scarlet shakes herself clean of the snow that snuck to her during the last few yards spent walking and then kicks off the remaining pieces by kicking her heels together. You do the same, and between the two of you, there’s a small pile left at the entrance.

“Welcome to Drunk,” a girl says from somewhere inside. The dark interior makes it difficult to spot anything other than shapes at first. Behind the counter, you manage to spot a girl with green hair, however. “What are you 2 doing out there?”

You know, by the sound of the girl's voice, this isn’t going to be someone Scarlet will get along with, so she doesn’t answer at all. This leaves you to approach the girl. You take off your hat and then your gloves. Thankfully, you’re already acquainted with the girl, and she’s familiar with what you do for a living.

“Marcelina,” you give her the best smile you can manage. “You remember me, don’t you?”

Marcelina blinks. “Holy shit, you’re alive still? I always thought you contractors died this time of year.”

You exchanged information with this girl a few times before when you were still independent and new to Montana. You could easily spot her because she was the only person, other than some of the “show-girls” with her hair colored. You’ve seen candy-red, neon blue, and bleached blonde, but Macelina was the girl with green hair, a well-kept shade of emerald. Macelina sized you up and then Scarlet as she slid into view.

Marcelina made it clear she had a distaste for contractors and bounty hunters alike. She gave you offensive stares, and she blew a pink bubble. She crossed her pale arms together and shot daggers from her sharper blue eyes, especially at Scarlet. Her hair was a little wild, but you supposed she didn’t have to dress or get ready to impress anyone this time of year. “Who’s your friend?”

“Uh,” you looked at Scarlet. “Scarlet?”

“Cute,” Marcelina says. “But I’m looking for a real name.”

“You know this witch?” Scarlet whispers close to your ear. “She’s kind of a bitch.”

You try to ignore Scarlet’s comment as you lean in. “Honestly, her name doesn’t matter much. You got a room here that we can rent for the rest of the week?”

“Of course,” Marcelina pulls a cork-backed notebook and jots down your name in wavy penmanship. “Room for 2? Or separate?”

“Just 1 room,” Scarlet chimes. “This place has a restaurant, too?”

“Closed this time of year,” Marcelina glances back. “Unless you want cold turkey sandwiches and cheese half-passed it’s expiration.”

“We’ll pass,” Scarlet says. “Where then?”

Marcelina starts to relax, and her voice comes to its naturally lazy draw as her narrow chin starts to sink lower and lower to the counter. “Beaver’s Creek is open all year long. The prices are absolute shit right now, and just between the 3 of us, the quality takes a nose dive because nothing is fresh.”

“Well, shit,” you look at Scarlet. “I’m sorry, I thought everything was going to be fresh. Let’s go back to Tiny’s Tavern.” She smiles but says nothing.

The girl behind the counter starts cleaning her teeth with her tongue. “Speaking of hiked prices… It’ll be 500 dollars for you both.”

“Fuck,” you fish out your wallet and produce the desired amount. “Why’s the hotel got to be so pricy?”

“Call it an investment for the busy season,” Marcelina says. “This pinch is hard now, but the prices are drastically reduced during spring, summer, and all the way until the next snowfall. You know this, Warren, you got history here.”

“It’s my first winter, sweetheart.”

Marcelina scoffs, but the corners of her lips turn into a **** smile. “Huh-uh.”

Without anything else to talk about, you both go inside your room. Unsurprisingly, it’s much more cozy than the one at Tiny’s Tavern. There are two beds, a coffee table, and a window that spies down on the street and up towards the forest. The bathroom is well-lit, but honestly, it is the worst part since it features more or less the exact structure of the room at Tiny’s. There’s a nice smell of pumpkin spice in the room, too. But you can’t find the source.

Scarlet wastes no time getting out of her winter clothes. Her boots are stuffed in a corner, her hat is thrown on the coffee table, and her coat is placed around a chair. She falls into bed and closes her eyes.

“You’re going to sleep? Just like that?”

“This bed is so much more than the one we’ve been sleeping on,” she groans. “I’m going to shower here, too.”

“Maybe we should stop at one of the stores and get resupplied for our stay. I didn’t bring a lot,” you spy your backpacks on the floor. There are more guns and ammo than toothpaste and hairbrushes.

Scarlet groans again. “We ought to, but that can wait a little while. Lay down and take a snooze. All that stuff can be done later.”