The Winter Tyrant-Chapter 9: Deterrence

Yuki awoke the next morning in her bed warm and comfortable. Not a single thought about the state of the frigid world outside her windows, or the embarrassing scene from the night before entered her head.

Not at first, maybe she was still half asleep, but she went about her normal routine of showering, brushing her teeth, and getting dressed before finally realizing that something was wrong.

This wasn’t her house... This wasn’t her room. And then it hit her all at once. The snowfall, the media lying to the public trying to keep them calm and docile while they froze and starved.

And that she had entered her neighbor’s home.... The scene played itself again; how she had misunderstood Dean’s intent.

After all... Why else would an older man invite a younger woman like herself into his home, give her food, shelter, and entertainment without asking for anything else in return?

She stood at her door, hesitating to twist the knob and enter the house. Her hands practically twitching in anxiety as she hissed between her teeth.

"How can I face him after all of that?"

Ultimately, she forced herself to remain calm with a few deep breaths and forced herself into a state of false confidence.

Practically cascading down the stairs into the Kitchen where she saw Dean had already prepared breakfast, her portion kept warm in the oven, while sipping on his coffee and watching the news.

"Currently all public roads, bridges, ports, airfields, and train tracks are shut down for emergency use only. First responders are still working hard to assist all local residents who find themselves in need of emergency services. Please do not call 911 unless you are absolutely suffering from a physical or life-threatening emergency! We thank you for your cooperation. And the city would like to assure you that it is doing everything in its power to ensure that we all get through this troubling storm together."

Dean didn’t look up from the program, but he did recognize her presence speaking over the news report as he did so.

"Morning, how did you sleep last night?"

Yuki dropped the cup had just picked up, barely catching it mid-air before it fell to the ground and shattered. She forced her back to the counter as she looked over at Dean who was still facing the television.

"Oh! I... erm... I slept like a baby. It was really comfortable, thank you."

Dean nodded his head and took a sip from his coffee, switching the channel to another news station, one which wasn’t performing damage control and was instead actively reporting about the storm.

"Our meteorologists are having a hard time actively diagnosing the scale of this storm. This news comes straight from the executives; they have elected to reveal some news that is apparently being kept secret from the public by other broadcasting agencies. For several days now, we have had zero communication with our weather satellites. Which means that whatever is happening with this storm may originate from some extraterrestrial cause. We urge the public to take immediate long-term precautions as there is no telling–"

The channel went blank. Cut immediately off the air, no doubt by the local authorities. This only caused Dean to narrow his eyes as he finished his coffee.

"I should have known...."

He had missed this exact report in his past life. It wasn’t a channel he normally watched, whether for the weather or the news. As they were generally considered a heavily biased source of information.

But now that he had seen this report cut off mid-air, he knew it was absolutely true. The government must have known the storm was coming in advance, and that its cause was likely something well beyond the confines of Terra.

Yuki interrupted his moment with a thought of her own as she sipped her coffee, too internally dysregulated to even begin to comprehend what had just happened in front of her.

"Hey Dean... do you remember anything about what happened last night?"

Luckily for Dean, he had received a notice on his phone at that moment; otherwise he would have choked on the eggs he would have otherwise been chewing on when she asked that question.

However, because his attention was immediately drawn to the app on his phone that was tied to his own internal security system, he was spared such a guilty reaction.

"Last night? I recall nothing happening after I went to sleep; why did someone show up at our door?"

Yuki could finally sigh in relief, as realized whatever embarrassment she had felt was entirely in her own mind. That is until she realized the exact words Dean had spoken...

Our door.... Does that mean I’m really welcome here as more than just a guest?

She blushed and averted her gaze while sipping her own coffee. But Dean didn’t take notice. Instead, his eyes were glued to his phone as he immediately stood up and headed towards the stairs at a calm but brisk pace.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Hey Yuki, someone’s coming to our door. I want you to head to your room, lock the door behind you, and don’t come out until I give you the all clear. Okay?"

Yuki had no idea why Dean was asking her this, and was just about to interrogate him for his reasonings but he was already halfway up the stairs and cut her off before she could.

"Just do what I say."

Her thoughts raced through her mind, as all kinds of images and scenarios popped into her head. Yuki did not hesitate to do what she was told.

Rushing up to her room, she locked the door behind her and rested her back against it. Turning off her phone, she sat there waiting and listening for what came next.

All the while Dean prepared himself for the intruders.

---

Richard and Avery marched through the snow; they wore multiple layers of clothing to endure the cold and covered their faces with masks and scarves beneath their hooded parkas.

For days they had been spamming Dean’s phone with their messages. At first, they had largely stopped in their pursuit after their last encounter with the man, who seemed unusually hostile towards them.

But as their supplies began to dwindle, and their neighbors no longer gave them aid. The two of them had decided to stay together in Richard’s house who lived down the street on another block in Dean’s neighborhood.

There they pooled resources; with Richard’s intimidating frame and natural aggression he was easily able to bully other residents into giving up their excess supplies. And for those who stood their ground, Avery was able to coerce them into standing down through her pitiful façade.

That had worked for a few days until it didn’t. But now... Now it was the fourth day since the snow started to fall, and three feet of snow were piling up across the neighborhood.

To the point where even those who had an excess of supplies, and encouraged others to work together to keep the snow off their roofs at a ’tolerable’ level, we’re refusing to go outside unless they absolutely had to.

When extracting resources from others through coercion and intimidation failed, Avery and Richard only had one mark left to take advantage of.

Avery cursed under her breath as she rubbed her hands, forcing her way through the snow as if she were swimming beneath a sheet of ice.

"Goddamn bastard... What the hell is his fucking problem, anyway? We were about to get married, and then out of the blue he broke up with me and threatened my life? He owes me! For all the bullshit I had to deal with after his parents passed away, at least half of what he owns belongs to me for my emotional labor alone!"

Richard didn’t respond to Avery’s complaining. Frankly speaking, he was getting really sick of her attitude. It was tolerable when the world functioned normally.

But his eyelashes were freezing up beneath the ever-decreasing temperature of this snowstorm that showed no signs of going away.

In fact, if anything, it was getting more severe with each passing day. Now was not the time to listen to her complaints; now was the time to make sure that they got something useful, and because of that he quickly shut her up as they passed by one of Dean’s motion detectors without even realizing it.

"Shut the fuck up and play the part of the reconciling fiancée. If you’re in a bad mood and start complaining, Dean will never accept you back. And if he doesn’t accept you back, we can’t use him, you understand that, right?"

Avery nodded her head after breathing into her hands to warm them. She instantly worked herself into a state of tears, like an actor preparing for a depressing scene. As she stepped forward towards Dean’s door that had just arrived on site.

Her hand approached the door, and was just about to knock, when she heard a voice surround her.

"Do not take one step forward.... You are trespassing on private property. Leave now, or I will consider your next act an invasion of my castle."

Invasion of his castle... the phrasing wasn’t accidental. Dean’s voice reverberated throughout his front porch, or what had once been his front porch if it wasn’t half buried in snow.

Avery’s pupils grew wide as her amber eyes stopped producing tears on the spot. Instead, her pitiful mask shattered completely, revealing the avaricious witch behind it.

"Goddamn it, Dean! This is bullshit! I’m your fiancée! And I demand that you let me into my house this instant! How the hell do you still have power? Let me in! Let me–"

A burst of gunfire echoed across the street as bullets flew right past Avery’s head and rounds struck the snowbank behind her, compelling the woman to fall to her knees in helplessness.

She stared up at the balcony above, which didn’t exist a month ago, and saw what appeared to be a machine gun pointed in her direction, its muzzle shifting slightly on its deployed bipod as the target swiftly shifted to Richard who stepped forward to help Avery.

Though neither of them could see Dean’s person from their angle, which was blocked by both the shielding of the balcony and the angled roof above. They could most certainly hear him shout at them, as he no longer used the intercom to speak with them.

"This is your final warning; if you come back here I will not miss the next time! Go!"

Avery, perhaps still in shock, or simply not believing Dean would actually kill her was about to protest as she clambered to her feet. But Richard grabbed her arm and began to pull her back.

"Avery! Let’s go! He’s not fucking around!"

All the while she kicked and screamed at him.

"No! This house is mine! His property is mine! He owes me!"

But Richard didn’t suffer her hubris and greed anymore. He slapped her across the face, stunning the woman into silence and submission before dragging her away.

All the while he looked back at Dean and shouted at him.

"Is this who you really are? You’re fucking dead to me, Dean! You selfish prick! After everything Avery and I have done for you, this is how you repay us?"

Dean didn’t say anything; he simply and coldly aimed the iron sights of his PKM down at Richard’s back. Waiting for the moment he was no longer a threat to him, to Yuki, or his property.

After Richard was gone, Dean sighed in relief, dropping the belt from his weapon and ejecting the chambered round with multiple pulls of the charging handle, ensuring it was cleared and safe before going back inside.

He had not spared Richard or Avery because of any sentimentality or softness. But because emergency services were still technically online, even if operating under suboptimal conditions. Killing them now would create noise he didn’t need.

Avery and Richard were a threat that could wait to be dealt with until after the last vestiges of civilization had collapsed beneath the weight of the snow.