Surviving Disaster Extreme Cold Chapter 4 Novels & Stories

Just watchful. The mountain air was damp and sharp, smelling of pine sap and ash. Somewhere nearby, water trickled over stone. A breeze shifted the tarp, rattling the branches overhead. I pulled my knees to my chest and stared at the thin seam of morning light pushing through the trees. My heart thudded with the aftershock of adrenaline, long spent but not forgotten. “We left her,” I whispered, my voice dry. Zerina stirred. “We survived,” she replied. Not cold, but steady. “That was all we could do.”

Zürich, Switzerland. Ten months earlier… "You’re awake!" Eugene-Chan was gripping her hand tightly. "Thank God!" Her gray eyes darted from side to side. The tube in her mouth kept her from speaking, and her entire body felt numb. "Don’t be afraid," her friend continued holding her hand. "You had an accident while skiing. You were lost in a snowstorm. The rescue team found you buried under a thick layer of ice. Apparently, you were there for over forty-eight hours. When we found you, the ice had frozen and burned parts of your skin, and the hypothermia was wreaking havoc on your body. They had to put in a bypass… Honestly, there was no hope you’d survive." Eugene-Chan was crying with emotion.

This collection was going to be a piece of cake, just as the rest of our stay in this post-apocalyptic world had been. Justine paved the charge to the front door, and Diana and Ricky separated to join Dr. Melendez in the control room to watch the gathering. We ended up waiting for Dr. Melendez to unlock the gate, and I almost shuddered. There was a new layer of accumulated snow on the ground, crunching beneath my shoes, and I drew my coat tightly about myself, struggling to remain warm. I only prayed my mittens wouldn't get in the way of my capability to squeeze the trigger on my handgun, but I couldn't take them off and jeopardize my fingers becoming desensitized and uncooperative.

The only thing that I could think of, the only thing that mattered, was the fact that if I didn’t find warmth soon, my body was going to shut down and I’d die a frozen death. I could no longer see the house. The world was just a blur, so I continued on while relying on instinct. I don’t believe I ever felt as sleepy as I did at that point. Even though I pressed forward, I made very poor progress moving over the incredibly cold, snow covered ground. I was about to give up when Killian’s familiar voice shouting my name penetrated my frozen mind. “Esmerelda! What are you doing out here like that?” reached my ears just before my legs gave way and the world went black.

“We were running from some cyborgs who’d discovered our camp. There were at least fifty of us and only three of them. They were quick with their killing and capturing, but I managed to slip away along with a half-dozen others. We stumbled upon a tunnel and decided to see where it led to. The deeper we went, the darker it got and the more frightened we became. We’d abandoned our camp without packing up, so we had no food or water with us. After days of wandering in the darkness of the tunnels, I overheard them whispering about killing me. They wanted to drink my blood to compensate for the lack of fluids and use my body for food. Over the years with them, I’d witnessed them eating a pe

I only joked back that if some massive disaster ever happened, all of this would come in handy. I glanced at the calendar, surprised by how quickly time had passed. Thankfully, the estate renovations were completed three days before the apocalypse began. Even though I already knew no one could escape tomorrow’s disaster, I still found myself unable to sleep for the first time in ages. As I tossed and turned in bed, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out in my head. [Congratulations, Host. You have successfully bound to the Apocalypse Survival System. Detected: initial shelter renovation completed. Reward points will now be issued.]

Her thermoregulation system was already on the verge of collapse. The sky, which had been dark just moments ago, suddenly brightened. Heat waves rippled through the air. Even my insulated protective suit began to grow hot. My eyes widened as it hit me that tomorrow was the day the apocalyptic heat would fully erupt. Suppressing the instinct to rush back to my underground shelter, I forced myself to stay calm and turned to Janine. “There’s going to be an explosive temperature surge today,” I said steadily. “If you want to stay here, that’s your choice. But I’m going back.”

The warmth drained from her face as the familiar urgency returned, cold and sharp beneath her skin. Raymond noticed. “Amanda,” he said carefully, “what are you actually preparing for?” She hesitated, her thumb resting against the edge of the phone. The answer she wanted to give him seemed heavy and dangerous. She could almost hear the words forming, but explaining everything would mean exposing the truth—and once spoken, it could never be taken back. “There may be a severe coastal disaster,” she finally said, choosing each word with care. “I just want to be prepared.” Raymond didn’t answer immediately. His eyes remained on her face, searching for the part she had left out.

Perhaps, he should have left but he had no where to go and when he had thought being good would earn their love, it only shattered him. He became a puppet in their hands but when he was thrown outside to freeze to death, he knew he was never in their plan. Miles snapped back to reality and in panic, he turned towards the table close to his large window and his eyes met with the calendar. "Miles, I will have the maid chose the dress..." He continues while miles muttered the date with his mouth in shock. Could he be reborn? It's exactly half a month before the cold apocalypse. A disaster that struck the world like a pandemic and eat off even the healthiest.

Chloe's journey back to the Mill Creek house was a nightmare of pain and cold. She crawled through the snow, her body broken, her vision blurred. The wind howled around her, its icy fingers clawing at her exposed skin. She could feel the cold seeping into her wounds, could feel her blood freezing in her veins. She was dying, and she knew it. But she kept moving, her determination fueled by a primal will to survive. She had come too far to give up now. She had survived the apocalypse, survived the cold, survived the beatings. She would not let some stranger's rage be the end of her.