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Zane stared out the frost-coated window and sighed, once again taking in the depressing sight. He hated the snow. He hated the cold. He wished it would stop snowing. But he knew his wishes were in vain. He had never known what it was like to feel the warmth of the outside, instead of the fire that he kept indoors. He had never seen the sky without a sheet of dark gray clouds, obscuring the entire supposedly blue sky. It had never been clear once his entire life. It had never stopped snowing. Zane once again caught himself wondering what it was like before the never ending snowstorm began. His parents told him of a time where it was relatively peaceful, and going outside was a regular thing, but the cold darkness was all he had known his entire life. He couldn't envision it.

Instead, he stayed in a barely insulated wooden shack that had been abandoned and worn down by the harsh conditions. It served him well enough, though. The wind couldn't pierce the walls, so he was safe inside, at least. Comfort was another story. The shack had no electricity. No working outlets or appliances. Not like they'd be very useful anyway, since there weren't any places that had power. Everything started shutting off a long time ago. All that kept him warm was a makeshift fire pit located in the center of the living room, dug out into the dirt floor. Other than the living room, there was a small kitchen in the back that was barely ever used, save for washing dishes and what little clothing there was; and a room to the side that Zane could imagine was supposed to be a bedroom, but was instead used as a room for storing the firewood that he collected from the forest that lay just to the side of the shack. The room, in fact, was very nearly empty; almost all of the firewood has been used. But that was an issue he imagined would be fixed very soon.

His thoughts, however, were interrupted by a loud and frantic knocking. "Zane! Open up! Quick!" The arctic fox recognised the voice and hurried over to the front door to let in the source. A chilling wind blew some snow in when he opened it so he made sure to quickly close it again after a young wolf hurried his way in. The wolf shivered and shook himself, getting the snow off of his fur, and sat down by the fire pit to warm himself up. "Urf... huhuhuh... sh-shesh, I think the wind's picking up again," the wolf shivered as he spoke.

Zane sat next to him and wrapped an arm around him, holding him close for warmth. "Yea, I could hear it picking up from in here. Did anything bad happen to you, Vexx? Also, did you get the firewood?"

Vexx was grateful for the warm hugs and shifted his way towards Zane as his shivering began to slow down. He shook his head after finding the words to respond. "N-no. I found something even better that couldn't wait. I found a live feral deer."

Zane couldn't keep the surprise off his face after he had heard and processed what Vexx had just told him. "What?? Where?? Did you kill it? Please tell me you killed it and brought it back."

"Easy, easy! No, I didn't bring it back. It was too big, so I couldn't. But I did kill it and bury it in the snow. That's why I'm back so early. You think you can come out with me in a bit and help me bring it back?" Vexx asked, visibly tired from being outside in the blizzard for even a short amount of time.

Zane frowned and hesitated. "But... what if something happens to-"

"Don't worry 'bout that," he interrupted, knowing full well what Zane was gonna ask, "I buried it in the snow, remember? I can remember where it is. Besides..." he waved a paw dismissively towards the blizzard. "The wind and snowfall is starting to pick up again anyway. Whomever gets caught in this blizzard is probably gonna get killed by it anyway. No one's gonna steal it. Even if they're dumb enough to try," he spoke without emotion, not caring if anyone did, in fact, die out in the unforgiving blizzard.

Zane shifted around uncomfortably at his friend's harsh words, but decided not to say anything further on the subject. He looked at the ticking wall clock that they kept in the corner of the room. It read 5:47 PM. In truth, they had no idea if that was the actual time or not. It might as well not be, since Zane found it when it was unwound, but it was their only way of keeping track of time, so they had to make due. "You wanna go out and get it in an hour if the blizzard has let up by then?"

Vexx nodded wordlessly and stared into the fire, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his arms on them as he stared into the fire.

Zane pulled his arm away from Vexx, sensing that he has warmed up enough, and sat by him wordlessly, listening to the crackle of the dying fire and the increasing howl of the chilling wind outside. He glanced at his friend, whose eyes were fixated on the flickering firepit. He saw an emotionless expression, but Zane knew better. He knew his friend long enough. Vexx was in distress. Given the circumstance, it wasn't surprising to him, but Vexx... he had always been the strong one. Even though he was only 14, an entire two years younger than Zane, he had always been the one to lend his friend a helping paw. He had always helped him through the impossible times. To be under this much distress, Zane figured that it was getting to him again. He wasn't the best at cheering people up, but for his friend, he had to try.

"Soo... what do you think the city under the lights is like?" he asked softly, hoping to steer the topic to a much happier topic.

Vexx glanced at Zane, still seemingly emotionless, then resumed gazing into the fire. "You mean the city that doesn't exist?" he replied, simply.

Zane felt his ears drooping at his response. That was the exact opposite of how he hoped he would respond. "Oh come on, Vexx, it totally exists. Haven't you heard the stories?"

Vexx turned to face Zane, who recoiled when he saw the firm glare he was given. "Yea well haven't you ever asked yourself if they're just that? Stories? Tales parents tell their children to give them something to hope for? Well I have. And guess what? My hope died out years ago," he huffed, turning back to the fire again, this time glaring at it as if it was someone who has stolen some of their food.

Zane couldn't believe what he was hearing from him. They had always talked about how they were going to someday go out and venture out into the icy wilderness in hopes of finding the only city in the world that not only survived, but thrived in the cold wasteland. How that same city had working lights, a fireplace in every well insulated home, and a system to make sure everyone had the necessary goods to live comfortably. "Why are you acting like this...? I thought we were gonna find-"

"Find what?" Vexx demanded forcefully. "Find what?? More abandoned cities that froze along with the vast majority of fur kind? A bunch of bandits that will kill us if they even get the slightest chance? More frozen dumps? Cuz we sure as hell aren't gonna find any 'special city' that only exists in stories!" he spat, mockingly.

Zane could only back away slowly and stare at his friend in horror, unable to find the words to respond, as Vexx didn't give him the opportunity to.

Vexx stood up and angrily around the room. "I mean, how would a city like that even survive anyway? Every other city's power grid froze. Why not this one? What makes this one so called city so special that it survives when everything else died with this... thing always outside our door?? Did you never once stop to think about how such a place could even be possible? *Did you?!*" he shot, accusingly.

Zane stood in fear of his friend's outbursts for several seconds, before struggling to come up with a response. "I-I just... thought that it'd make our lives better..." he explained, quietly.

"How, Zane? How? Even if it did exist, we have no idea where it is! We would have no idea where to even start looking! We'd only end up ruining our lives even more. They'd be worse than when we were alone," he growled, bitterly.

"But we're not alone anymore... we're together-"

"Yea, well sometimes I wish we weren't! Sometimes I wish I had been killed with my parents so I wouldn't be suffering like this, day after day after fucking day! I wish I had died along with them, but I didn't! And it's your fault! WHY, ZANE? WHY COULD YOU NOT JUST LET ME DIE IN THE BLIZZARD?!" he shouted at him in despair, before storming off into the firewood room and slamming the door behind him.

Zane stood in shock as his mind slowly registered what just took place. Tears began to well up in his eyes and he collapsed by the fireplace, silently sobbing.