Bertholdt laid on his bed in his dorm, his eyes closed. He was still fully dressed, and his shoes were still on his feet. His legs hung limply off one side of the bed, and his hands were gripped around a pile of papers and a binder, his fingers scrabbling for purchase on the smooth plastic surface.
He woke suddenly as if from a nightmare, and he sat up breathing hard. I need some fresh air, he thought, and with that established, he pulled his long dark coat on along with a scarf he had gotten for Christmas. He pulled his door open and walked out into the wintry air, a gust of cold wind drawing heat to his face.
Bertholdt found himself absentmindedly turning the corner to make his way to the park. It was still bedecked with Christmas lights, and they shone beautifully in the cold dark night. He walked quickly along the sidewalk lined with gray slush.
He wasn't sure where he was going, but he knew he had to take a quick walk to shake off his nerves. Suddenly, he found himself in the little area where he had had that picnic with Armin. It was snow covered now, and he looked a little to the right of the hill on which he had sat with Armin, and he saw a man sitting quite still on a bench. He couldn't be sure who it was, but he took a hazardous guess, and he called out the man's name: