Russel & Maux

Two men walked through the heavy, thick snow, more falling on them and the ground. However, it could barely combat the heavy pieces of clothing that the two had. The trail seemed to be getting narrower and narrower, with thicker snow and trees surrounding them. The sky was foggy, or just too covered with clouds and snow to be seen. Soon enough, there was a clearing, just the ice, and snow, no trees to block vision. However, there seemed to be an object on the ground, so the two men went to investigate.

The snow was pure white. It was as if it had never been tampered with. “Who is that?” One voice asked, it belonged to one of the men. The man had a heavy coat on and every inch of his body was covered by clothing, shielding him from the cold. However, the man’s eyes were locked onto a shivering figure, red footsteps on the white snow and the red connecting to the figure, contrasting the purity. His eyelids rose as if he had just seen something he didn’t expect. “What the...” Another deep voice muttered as it trailed off.

Two men towered over the shivering body, not sure who this was. “C’mon, we can’t leave ‘em here.” One of them said as he lifted an arm from you, it was cold as if it had never touched the sun. “Right, right...” The other said, his hand grabbing the other arm. Both of the men held and carried you into the cabin.

The cabin was warm and caused the two men to break a sweat with the clothes they had on. “Get ‘em on the bed. It will be warm enough.” The one with the deeper voice commanded what to do. The other just agreed and put you on the bed, the shivering had gone down quite a bit by the warm cabin. The man put you underneath a good amount, of four, blankets and tucked you in perfectly. “Jesus, they’ll burn under those, Russel...” The man groaned when he saw the other putting this godly amount of blankets in this warm cabin. “Sorry...” Russel muttered before taking one or two off.

The two men then just watched you, not knowing what to do further. “Ah...Just let ‘em sleep. They’ll eventually wake.” The man, seeming older than Russel, spoke as he looked away to the fire with a grumble. However, the younger man just looked at you, a somber tone on his expression. The man noticed and glanced at him with a sigh. “Russel,” A warning in his tone as he spoke. The man mentioned looked at the older one with an upset expression. “Maux, I can’t just...” Russel’s voice trailed off as he sighed and looked at you instead.

“Can’t what? Ya don’t have to do anythin’.” Maux spoke, his voice gruff, as his piercing eyes looked at Russel. “Well...I feel like I have to do something. I can’t just watch them, unsure if they are even alright.” The younger man spoke softly, his tone showing that he did truly care. Maybe he cared too much; he didn’t know. A sigh left Maux, a sign of annoyance or disbelief. “C’mon, they’ll be fine-” His voice was cut off when Russel quickly looked at him, speaking over him, “What if they’re not fine? I mean...they were shiverin’.” Maux paused, thinking carefully to choose what his next few words would be. He grunted, looking at the fireplace. “They’re gon’ shiver, it's as cold as ever out there,” Maux grumbled, not helping the situation much.

“Oh, don’t start,” Russel snapped back. The younger man sighed softly, looking away from Maux. He couldn’t believe how nonchalant Maux was as if finding an almost dead person in the snow wasn’t new. However, Maux just stared at him, his gaze unmoving. It wasn’t something to completely freak out about, but it wasn’t something laughable either. “This what I want,” Maux started, demanding attention with his tone. “I want to first have that person wake up and then make sure there ain’t any issues. We clear? I ain’t about to just bombard ‘em with worry or questions.” He explained simply. Russel paused, unsure what to think about this predicament.

There were so many things going through his mind that he couldn’t help, but worry. However, the idea of waking up somewhere unfamiliar with strangers and one of them being overly worried... didn’t sound the best to Russell. With a reluctant sigh, Russel nodded, “Alright,” There was no argument about it, even Russel backing down. Not that he could argue with Maux easily anyway.

Just as things were calming down, the intensity increased again. There was a quiet groan coming from the bed that Russel had put you on. The younger man’s head quickly snapped over to the direction, eyes wide. The once unconscious you were now sitting up, slowly going on high alert. Your eyes were wide and breathing ragged, panic in your expression. “Hey, hey,” Russel started, looking over at the panicked individual.

“It’s alright, you looked hurt.” He explained, his voice softer and trying to reassure you. Maux watched carefully, looking for any sign of discomfort, which was written all over your face. A sigh left the older man’s lips, “Let ‘em be, Russ. We’re strangers.” The younger man paused, realizing that, but that didn’t change how he acted. “Oh, right...Well, make yourself comfortable.” Russel muttered, soon backing away from the bed to give you room.