The Winter Tyrant-Chapter 62: Answers

After returning to Elysium, Dean and the Peltasts quickly began to organize the supplies and equipment they had scavenged.

Anything that was of immediate and dire use was to be brought to the infirmary. While the rest could be stored for later use.

Katherine stared in awe as she witnessed the amount of supplies that Dean and the Peltasts had brought her.

Smirking as she shook her head in disbelief.

"I didn’t expect them to have so much left over. I hope you didn’t have any trouble out there."

Dean stacked down the blood testing kits into the shelving, raising to his feet and wiping the sweat off his brow as he turned to meet Katherine’s gaze.

"It was nothing we couldn’t handle. But... We did run across two nurses. By the names of Emily and Kayla. They seem to have recognized your name. Do you know anything about them?"

Katherine’s eyes widened in disbelief as she heard these words. Muttering the names beneath her breath, she leaned back in a nearby seat and stared blankly at the wall for the two minutes before finally opening up.

"I honestly didn’t expect anyone to survive.... When I left, that place was on the verge of losing what little power remained. It was just waiting to become a mausoleum rather than a hospital.... I abandoned them...."

Dean leaned against the wall and carefully observed Katherine’s expression. He had seen similar expressions on the faces of men before. It was the face of someone who had not realized there would be secondary consequences for the actions they had taken during a moment of crisis.

Because of this, Dean could only sigh and shake his head.

"You did what you thought was right. There was no guaranteeing that the moment you walked those doors you wouldn’t end up just another frozen corpse buried beneath the snow. Taking them with you was liable to get you all killed. Besides, they seemed more surprised you were alive than angry."

Katherine nodded slowly, she didn’t voice her thoughts. At least not at first. And then, after a long pause between them, she sighed heavily.

"Well, I suppose there’s no point in worrying about it... They will react how they react, and there’s nothing I can do to change that, now is there?"

Dean chuckled and shook his head. This only caused Katherine to narrow her eyes at him.

"What? What is so damn funny?"

Dean tried to subtly cover his light laughter with his hand, but that only made him look more guilty. Until finally he shook his head once more and sighed.

"It’s nothing, honestly... It’s just that what you just said reminded me of a quote from a great man. ’You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength".

This time it was Katherine’s turn to laugh at Dean’s remarks, prompting an almost mirror response of offensive from him.

"What? Did I say something funny?"

Katherine shook her head and laughed some more, far more audaciously than Dean had, before finally speaking.

"Like you said, it’s nothing. But I mean it just figures, right? Elysium? Peltasts, hoplites, the Agora and Acropolis? Of course, someone who decides to use such mythic imagery to preserve civilization would know the words written in Meditations."

The woman smirked at him smugly, but not conceitedly. It was as if she had gotten one over him, but wasn’t looking down on him.

Dean simply rolled his eyes in response.

"I honestly didn’t expect a woman like you to be a student of Stoicism."

Katherine’s smirk grew wider, as if Dean’s words only fueled her victory. Her words were both taunting and playful.

"You soldiers aren’t the only ones who can benefit from some ancient wisdom. More than once in my life I found that I needed something more than a bottle to steady my hands."

The words sat heavy between them. He was a soldier, she was a surgeon. Both had seen their fair share of death and despair. But Katherine did not allow that thought to linger as she spoke again.

"But Dean... If you really understand what those words mean, then isn’t there an outside event upstairs that you have no power over waiting for your response?"

Katherine left Dean alone with those words. And they instantly struck the calmness of his inner mind like a sledgehammer.

Yuki...

A single name... A single face... Together they appeared over and over again. Every moment they had shared together. Every joke laughed at, every painful misunderstanding they endured.

He had promised to give her an answer when he was in a place where he no longer needed to focus solely on survival....

The raiders were gone, for the time being. Walls were erected, a militia had been established to protect them. Housing, heat, food, and water were distributed to the survivors. And now.. a blood bank was finally starting to be formed.

When did survival end, and civilization begin? He knew the answer in his heart. He had already surpassed the point where his every waking hour was consumed by survival. And since that was the case he owed Yuki a proper answer.

Dean walked up the stairs from the subterranean level where the infirmary lay to the main level of his house.

There was an unusual purpose in his stride as he entered the kitchen. There Yuki stood over the night’s dinner. Her hair was tied up while she taste tested the main entrée.

Her lips seemed to curl into a satisfied smile, as a silent nod of satisfaction followed. Her voice, a low whisper, drifting off to nowhere in particular.

"I hope Dean enjoys this..."

"Oh? What do you I hope I enjoy?" Dean said as he shamelessly leaned against the wall and watched the young woman flush in embarrassment.

Her eyes widened with shock as she began to stammer in panic.

"What.. You... When... How?"

Dean walked forward and wrapped his arm around Yuki’s waist, pulling her close. For a brief moment her eyes searched his face, as if trying to understand what he intended.

Then he kissed her.

Her face only reddened more than her mind raced, clearly caught off guard by his sudden sneak attack.

The warmth of his breath gently grazing her ear as he released his grip.

"You have my answer..."