When he got out, it was no longer snowing, about two inches stood on the ground. Fog hung in the air. Gus picked Susie up off of the ground and helped her steady herself. She noted the blue stain on his stomach.

"Gus. Oh my god. Did she get you?"

"Yeah." He said, pained, taking the injury in stride. "Don't worry about it."

"How can I not, Gus? She stabbed you! She fucking stabbed you! You need a doctor, you need-"

"There isn't one here right now. I'll just have to wait."

Susie fell quiet.

"Did you make those calls?" Gus asked her.

Susie nodded. "Th-they'll be here soon."

"Good, good. We need to move. Your mother's not a problem anymore but she set the house on fire..."

"Just how she did yours, huh?" Susie asked. "Good. She deserves it."

Gus wheezed.

"She's dead, isn't she?" Susie sniffed. "I won't ask how. It doesn't matter to me. It really, really doesn't."

"Then I won't tell." Gus said. "Let's just... let's sit and wait."

Susie and Gus sat down next to the road, waiting.

And out of nowhere, the fog cleared up. Within seconds. And all was silent. No wind, no leaves. Only the crackling of the fires burning away at their homes.

The earth began to rumble. Softly at first, but within seconds it intensified. Susie looked around fearfully, and hugged Gus tight. The shaking was so violent that what birds were around to stick on the trees immediately left, cawing, tweeting, and cooing into the morning as they flew away. A bit of the snow that stuck to the branches flaked off, and Gus watched helplessly as his flaming home caved in on itself, no longer able to support its own weight. The shaking got so severe that it upset his fresh wound like a bumpy car ride would. The pain tore through his stomach, and it nearly made him scream in agony, but he composed himself, and held on tight.

The shaking subsided.

The sound still echoed around and grew farther and farther away. Gus realized it was moving west. Like a genuine ripple in the earth.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Knowingly, Gus turned his gaze toward Mount Ebott. The towering behemoth to the West, the father of the valley itself. He breathed deep, in anticipation for what he was certain would come next. And he heard the sound of stones smashing in the distance. He began to chuckle.

"I think Pa was right about something."

And then it happened. Right down the middle. Mount Ebott cracked in half. Like a walnut. There had to be an unimaginable amount of force in that split. And it registered when the shockwave hit them. An enormous crack, like a clap of thunder happening right outside your window. A mix of sprat, dirt, dust, and snow was kicked up, the trees themselves bent at unnatural angles, every flake of snow blowing off.

From betwixt the two halves of Mount Ebott an impossibly black geyser shot with such force that the speed it moved with was nothing short of impossible. If you blinked you would have missed it transforming into clouds that enveloped the landscape. Suddenly everything changed around him. What ground was not still covered in snow was pitch black, the grass burgundy, the bark of the trees emitted light, and shadows ceased to be. He no longer felt cold. He looked down and his entire outfit had changed. Whatever strange force was at work had a better fashion sense than he did, that was for certain.

Susie had changed too. Suddenly she had an axe in her right hand. Without questioning anything, she opened her left and she was enveloped by a green light, all of her wounds closed up, and she no longer seemed hurt in any way. She directed the same green light toward Gus and he felt a gentle warmth. His wound closed, and he was in perfect spirits.

Squeezing at the hole in his stomach to find it was no longer a hole, he huffed and managed a weak laugh. One raspy, defiant, awestruck "huh..."

"Okay..." he grinned. A genuine smile. His shotgun had completely transformed into something much more interesting and foreign, indescribable, but it felt right in his hands. He gripped it tightly and stood to his feet.

In the distance Mount Ebott still loomed. No longer was it covered in snow, but shrouded in darkness. The geyser still spat into the sky, there was no end to it.

"I think I know where Asriel is." Gus said. He turned to Susie. "You think they'll catch up with us?"

"For sure" she said. "For sure..."

"I think we'd better get moving then."

"Let's fuck some shit up, old man." Susie said.

"Let's fuck some shit up." Gus agreed.

In the distance Gus swore he could hear bones clacking. And he thought back to what Sans had told him when last they met. 'When the night grows long.'

He chuckled to himself, and turned to Susie. "Life sure did get interesting when I met you" Gus mused.

They began marching down the road, like two champions toward their greatest challenge. Gus was positively beaming.

Even though he was in terrible pain just moments before, even though he was impossibly out of his depth with no hope of understanding anything going on around him just yet, knee deep in a confusion so impossibly profound that it should have sent him spiraling into madness, Gus couldn't help but realize something incredible instead:

For the first time in his life, he finally felt like he was really living.

And he smiled. He smiled the brightest, widest smile he could manage.