I couldn't tell why, I couldn't understand how, but, I couldn't deny it. As my feet put themselves one in front of the other, I had begun counting out all the things that had escaped me, all the things I 'couldn't' do.

"Damn...."

In the heat of the moment, I had forgotten why I was running away. I had forgotten from whom that I was running, or, from what. I had forgotten everything, except how to breath, to run, and to not freeze to death. I hated the cold, but, as I began turning meters into miles, it was all that I knew. No matter how tight I pulled my coat, not matter how thick my gloves and boots were, the cold would not be thwarted. I succumbed to loathed, and annoyance, such would later drive me insane. Within a few hours I had developed a slight system of conquering distance under the conditions I was fighting; I would walk a half a mile, run a fourth, then rest for a few minutes. It was mentally and physically harsh, but, with nothing but thick, unforgiving snow and a frozen wasteland, I'd be dead by morning if I insisted on walking the whole way.

As I rested upon the wire mesh fence I was following I took the time to look about my grave, studying it's fangs. Nothing but a foot of hard, compact snow could be seen for farther than the horizon, off in the distance ahead of me, the Ural mountains' peaks broke the scene. From where I stood I tried to calculate the distance, and the time it would take me to reach the outpost at it's base. I figured I'd be walking unto the night, or perhaps running if not already dying. Turning away out of the wind I looked back, a mist skidded along the ground, snow falling everywhere towards the east. I sighed feeling lost, and hopeless. This, was the Russian winter.

It didn't matter, how long I lived in Moscow, after the revolution, nothing mattered to anyone anymore. We were all 'free', no, we were all 'equal' is what they said. I wanted to reflect on it more, but, time was becoming precious, as my hour glass of life was becoming frozen, any colder, and it would soon break. Turning back into the wind I lowered my head and pressed on. I couldn't wait to reach the outpost, I was certain that they would help me out, that little bit of hope, kept me from laying down in the snow to rest, to die.

Over the Urals the sun, or what I could see of it, was setting. Looking more closely I could see the smoke of a chimney. Perhaps the outpost was closer than I expected. A smile crossing my face I took off in a run. The hope I was hanging onto grew more and more as I got nearer. "Yes! Oh god- yes!" I would have wept with joy had I not been to exhausted, and had I not been so cold that any tears I had would have frozen on my face. It was then, I heard the wolves howling.

I stop dead in the snow, breathing harder than I had ever in life both with a need to catch my breath, and nervousness. Wolves, I had not thought of wolves, I had forgotten all about them. Why were they here though? Listening as closely as I could, their howls didn't seem to distant, and to my dismay, their barking sounded like it was getting closer. I wondered, if they could hear my footsteps, or if they could smell me, despite how frozen I was. Shaking my head, another fire burning in me I took off running again. Death had not felt so close to me all day than it did then.

I may have been running for an hour, still in fear of my life, running on nothing but pure adrenaline and my will to survive. When finally the outpost came into sight. It was only made up of a few buildings, and a few more houses with a large coral and a train station. I had left the comfort of following the mesh fence long ago, and since had been staring at train tracks that were not too far off, both were now proving fruitful. I slowed my pace, no longer feeling pain, I felt relief rushing over me. Relief that would only be tore away as a loud howl was let out only a half a mile or so behind me. Once more I stopped, seemingly frozen in my tracks, and slowly turned to glance over my shoulder. There three wolves stood glaring at me, their mouths hanging open as if they were glaring at their dinner. A silent panic gripped me and my first instinct was to run. If I were an adult, I probably would've been away to shoo them off but, being my size, I was nothing for them to be afraid of. So, once more I ran.

The only thoughts I could feel running through my head as I heard the footfalls of the wolves so swiftly gaining on me, was that if I could make it to the outpost before I was caught, I could get help. I pumped my arms harder shedding my furry coat as it caught in the wind like a parachute. As I threw it behind me I heard a wolf cry out in pain. Looking back my jacket had caught under the feet of one of them and at this speed, tripped it and face-planted the animal into the snow. I would have laughed if death wasn't chasing after me. The house closest to me was less than a 100 meters away when I felt something nip at the back of my boot. With surprise and fear I let out a wailing screech turning and swiftly delivering a kick into the face of one of the wolves. It cried out and then tried to bite me again, I screamed again and ran faster. My legs had gone numb, my chest burning, and yet I still was able to scream. A few lights from the out post came on.

"Help! Someone Help!" My screech echoed in the frozen night air. "Help! I don't want to die! Help! Please!" More lights came on and at one point I heard gun fire. I let out more calls for help when I felt four fangs dig into the back of my heel, pulling back violently. I shrieked falling face first into the snow throwing my arms over my head as the wolf dragged me back. I had never been attacked by wolves before but I tossed and turned as they began biting into the layers of my coats trying to get to me,I heard fabric rip as the growled at me frustrated that I was protected by so many layers. Then I heard two shots go off.

I covered my head again as more gun shots went off and the wolves yelped and cried. Gun fire and the wailing of malicious wolves filled my ears for what seemed like forever, but was only a few seconds. At last, silence came.

The silence was broken by footfalls approaching me. Two large hands grasped each of my upper arms and lifted me up to my feet. Two men were holding me up, but in the darkness I could not make out what they looked like. Panicked I fought them until one of them spoke up. "Don't fight lad! We just saved your life!" My legs gave out so suddenly and I collapsed. "He may be wounded." said the other man. "By god! He's just a child! What in heaven's name was he doing out here?!" said the first. The man on the left released me as the man on the right picked me up into his arms. I fainted.