This Time, We Live- Drama

13 hours ago

Transcript

00:00The pain was gone. Only my soul shattering in the cold remained. What did minus 70 degrees feel like? It's

00:04when your breath freezes midair, tearing your lungs. It's when your blood moved so slow your heart just stopped. It's

00:08when steel got brittle and snapped. In my past life, I watched my own hands and feet turn black and

00:11blue, then stiff as stone. And my dear little sister Jenny was bundled up in the last army coat she'd

00:15stripped off my back, curled up in that guy Dave's arms, laughing at me through the steel door. Wendy, you've

00:19got more insulation. You can handle it. We need the coat more. Gotta carry on the family name.

00:21Family name. I wanted to laugh, but the muscles in my face were already dead. In that frozen hell, human

00:26cruelty was colder than the ice. Ha! I bolt upright in bed, cold sweat soaking my back, hot, stifling. The

00:30cicadas screamed deafeningly outside. I fumbled from my phone. It was July 15th, 2025. 35 degrees. I was alive. My

00:35hand flew to the jade pendant on my chest, reaching for that so-called storage space. Nothing. I tried to

00:39summon the system in my mind. Nothing. Just nothing. Only the balance on my banking app and the very real

00:43sun blazing outside. No superpowers, no magic space, but I had my memories. I had my mind. And I had

00:48mom and dad.

00:48Wendy. My bedroom door creaked open. Mom and dad stood there. Their looks shifting from confusion to shock to pure

00:52joy the moment they saw me. They were back, too. The three of us held each other tight. Dad's hands

00:55were shaking. Mom's tears were burning hot on my skin.

00:57This time around, we're not being saints. Dad said, wiping his face, his gaze sharp and focused. So what if

01:02we don't have a magic space? We have our hands. We have this house. Until it hits 70 below, we

01:06can build ourselves a shelter to survive. Let's take stock. Mom made a beeline for the safe, dumping the deed,

01:10the car keys, the gold bars onto the bed. Wendy, check every penny we have available. David, sell the house.

01:16Fast for cash.

01:17I took a deep breath, opened my banking app. No loans, no overdraft. This was our family's blood money. Every

01:23cent had to count. Only 30 days left until the end of the world.

01:26The doorbell rang. Even through the door, I could smell that sickly fake kindness. It's Jenny. Last time around, she's

01:31here to beg for money for Dave's business. I opened the door.

01:34Jenny dragged a suitcase, acting like the world owed her everything. Wendy, are mom and dad home? Give me $71

01:38,000 now or I'll never come back.

01:39Last life, to scrape that money together, I emptied my entire bank account. This life, I glanced back at mom

01:43and dad on the couch. Mom's furiously punching numbers into a calculator, not even looking up.

01:47I'm not sure. Jenny froze. She didn't expect it to be this easy. A grin started to spread across her

01:50face.

01:51Wait! Dad stubbed out his cigarette. He pulled a document from his briefcase, already prepared.

01:54Sign this first. A gift agreement and declaration of severance of relations.

01:57Dad, what do you mean? It means this money buys you out of this family.

02:00Dad's voice was cold.

02:02Take the money. From now on, live or die, you're on your own. We're selling this house tomorrow. You won't

02:05have a home to come back to.

02:06Selling the house? Are you insane? Jenny stared at us.

02:08You're selling the house just to force me to break up with him? Cut the crap. Sign it or not.

02:11I tossed the pen in front of her. No signature, no money. Sign it, and the 71,000 is yours.

02:15Do whatever you want.

02:16Jenny stared at the check. Her greed won. She thought we were bluffing.

02:19Fine, I'll sign. Once Dave and I are rich, don't come crawling back to us.

02:22She scribbled her name, grabbed the check, and left.

02:23As the door clicked shut, mom's hand trembled slightly, but she steadied herself fast.

02:27One less mouth to feed. The leftover grain will last us three more years.

02:30Next comes the real fight. We've got 1.4 million to work with.

02:32We need a truck modified to handle extreme cold. Hundreds of tons of coal.

02:35We need to retrofit the old cellar. And enough food to last us a decade.

02:38Against the apocalypse, 1.4 million was a drop in the bucket.

02:41Back to the village.

02:41Dad looked around the empty house, his gaze resolute.

02:43To the bomb shelter. That's the only place with professional insulation that can survive 70 below.

02:47The backyard of the old house in Linton Village would be our final fortress.

02:50With no storage space, we couldn't just wave our hands and make supplies disappear.

02:52Our biggest challenge was storage and preservation.

02:54Dad, with all his years as a design engineer, stepped up.

02:57He stood in front of the abandoned bomb shelter, blueprints in hand,

02:59and roared at the construction crew we'd hired from the city.

03:02I don't want insulation. I want a seal. A seal.

03:05Even with only 1.4 million, Dad sank 428,000 into construction.

03:09Don't sweat the money.

03:10Dad said, seeing the pained look on my face.

03:12When it hits 70 below, every inch of insulation is a lifeline.

03:16Next came my task, the hoarding.

03:18No magic space. I had to calculate every cubic meter.

03:21The villagers watched, truck after truck hauling stuff in, and crowded around to gawk.

03:24Hey, David, you opening a supermarket? Sold your city house just to come back to collect junk?

03:28I was hauling a 25K box of canned peaches.

03:30I just wiped the sweat off my face, gave them a smile, and said,

03:32Yeah, city life didn't work out. Figured I'd try the wholesale business.

03:35I looked up at the sky. The sun still blazed.

03:37But only I knew that this clunky, crowded, inelegant stockpile,

03:40in just one month, would become a treasure that even the richest people would envy.

03:44Just then, Mom ran over, her face pale.

03:48Wendy, we have a problem. We're running out of money.

03:50We haven't bought the diesel generator yet, and we're only halfway on winter clothes.

03:53Sell it.

03:54I looked at the van in the yard.

03:56Our last hauler.

03:57Then at the gold bangle on my wrist.

03:59Sell everything but the clothes on our backs.

04:01Only three days left. The temperature started acting strange.

04:03Forty degrees during the day, then plunging to ten at night.

04:05The wild swings had the village dogs howling all night long.

04:08In our courtyard, there wasn't a square inch of floor space left.

04:10Without magic space, stockpiling was a skill.

04:12Dad had packed 50 tons of coal into two side rooms,

04:14bricked up the windows, left just a tiny hatch to grab it,

04:17and camouflaged it with weeds.

04:18Our biggest crisis is the diesel.

04:19Though we had a geothermal heater, the generator was our last line of defense for electricity.

04:22In a country tightly controlled, stockpiling tons of diesel was nearly impossible.

04:25David, the construction crew's gone, but the fuel,

04:26Mom stared at the three big but empty steel drums, stress eating her alive.

04:29Dad gritted his teeth, dialed an old army buddy,

04:31a contractor he'd worked with before, a maverick.

04:33Alan, I need fuel.

04:34Don't ask why.

04:35Greenhouse operation.

04:36Urgent.

04:36I'll pay 50% over.

04:38Cash, now.

04:38Late that night, a modified water truck rolled quietly into the yard.

04:41No small talk.

04:42Dad just tossed two cases of cash, 85,000, into the cab.

04:45The hose connected.

04:46A black line pulsing like an artery,

04:47pumping precious diesel into the tank buried in the ground.

04:49Mom and I were on lookout duty at the door.

04:50Mrs. Ward from next door came out to use the restroom and craned her neck.

04:53Oh, what's the Linton family up to so late?

04:55That was the smell of diesel.

04:56My heart seized.

04:56I gripped my flashlight tight and smiled back.

04:58Nothing, Mrs. Ward.

04:59Just clearing out the biogas digester.

05:01It stinks.

05:01You should get inside.

05:02Mrs. Ward wrinkled her nose and scurried back in.

05:04The moment the tank was full, Dad slumped against the wall.

05:06Completely spent.

05:06We're set.

05:07Grain, coal, fuel, and medicine.

05:09Even if the world goes moonscape, we can last three years.

05:11Then, an emergency weather alert flashed on the TV.

05:13Due to an abnormal stratospheric collapse,

05:15temperatures are expected to drop sharply over the next 24 hours.

05:18I checked the phone.

05:18Jenny sent a picture of her enjoying seafood in a fancy restaurant.

05:20Fools feed mosquitoes in the country.

05:22I enjoy the view from a presidential suite.

05:23August 15th, noon.

05:24The blinding sun suddenly seemed snuffed out by a gray cloth.

05:27Not a cloud in the sky, yet the sky took on an eerie leaden hue.

05:29The air went still.

05:30Even the cicadas fell silent all of a sudden.

05:32Into the shelter, Dad roared.

05:34It was survival instinct etched into his bones.

05:35The three of us scrambled into the cellar.

05:37Just as we rehearsed, Dad first slammed shut the outer camouflaged wooden door.

05:39Then the heavy blast-proof steel door.

05:40Up with a groan from the hand crank, the final seal,

05:42an airtight, insulated door clicked shut with a thud.

05:44The world outside ceased to exist.

05:45Inside the cellar, only the pale glow of the battery-powered LEDs lit the space.

05:47Though underground, we had periscope viewports.

05:49I pressed my face to one, staring at the outdoor thermometer.

05:5235 degrees.

05:5330 degrees.

05:5320 degrees.

05:54In just 10 minutes, the temperature plunged below freezing.

05:56Rain began to fall, freezing instantly on the ground.

05:58Then came the snow.

05:58Thick, heavy flakes.

05:59Each one the size of a palm.

06:00Gray and sooty, smelling of sulfur.

06:01By 3 p.m., the outside temperature was 20 below.

06:04This wasn't a gradual chill.

06:05It was like someone had tossed the entire planet into liquid nitrogen.

06:07The village loudspeakers crackled to life.

06:08The village head said, his voice shaking.

06:09Everyone stay inside.

06:10Stay warm.

06:11Don't go out.

06:11The broadcast cut out mid-sentence.

06:12Maybe the lines had snapped in the cold.

06:13Or maybe he'd just frozen solid.

06:14Through the viewport, I saw a villager who hadn't made it home

06:16was stumbling toward the village entrance.

06:18But his movements grew jerky, mechanical.

06:20Like a rusted wind-up toy.

06:2110 feet from his own front door, he pitched forward and fell.

06:24Outside, the world had become hell.

06:26Inside the cellar, it was something else.

06:27The insulation was a godsend.

06:28We hadn't even turned on the heat yet,

06:29but between the geothermal warmth and our own body heat,

06:31the temperature held at around 15 degrees.

06:32A little cool maybe, but perfect for a fleece-lined hoodie.

06:35Checking the seals.

06:35Dad said.

06:36Detector in hand.

06:36He did a full circuit of the door and vents.

06:38Carbon dioxide levels are normal.

06:39Oxygen's good.

06:40No leaks.

06:41Ma, meanwhile, had dug out a small coal stove from our supplies.

06:43Let's save the battery.

06:43We'll use coal for now.

06:44The smokeless coal burned in the stove, crackling softly.

06:46Blue flames licking the bottom of the kettle.

06:48Dinner was simple.

06:49Noodles.

06:49Three fried eggs, topped with chili crisp and spam.

06:51But at a time like this,

06:52a steaming bowl of broth was nectar of the gods.

06:54We huddled around the coal stove.

06:55Bowls in hand, not saying a word, just wolfing it down.

06:57Cell service was spotty now.

06:58But the towers weren't completely dead yet.

07:00I scrolled through my feed.

07:00Just people screaming for help.

07:01What's going on?

07:02My AC is set to 30 and I'm still freezing.

07:03My window's shattered.

07:04The coal just shattered them.

07:04Then a message popped up.

07:06It was from Jenny.

07:07Wendy, what's wrong?

07:08The hotel lost power.

07:09The AC is down.

07:10We're freezing to death.

07:10Don't rural houses have heated brick beds?

07:12Come get us.

07:16I just put my phone down when a dull, heavy thud

07:18came from the ventilation shaft above.

07:20Thump, thump.

07:20Someone was up there, pounding on our camouflage.

07:22The pounding stopped after a few thuds.

07:23Dad signaled for us to be quiet.

07:24He put on a stethoscope and pressed it against the vent pipe.

07:26It's Baldi Rick and his crew.

07:27Dad whispered, they're seeking shelter.

07:29Good thing we camouflaged the entrance.

07:30Piled it high with scrap wood and bricks.

07:32They think it's just a collapsed ruin.

07:33Kicked it a couple times and moved on.

07:34Baldi Rick was the village bully.

07:35Lazy and worthless.

07:36And he definitely hadn't stockpiled any food.

07:38Over the next three days,

07:38the temperature plunged past 40 below.

07:40Life in the cellar was dull and suffocating.

07:41No internet, no entertainment.

07:42Just dim lights and the endless howl of the wind.

07:45To save fuel, we rationed the coal stove to four hours a day.

07:47The rest of the time, we relied on our expensive sleeping bags.

07:49On the fourth day, people in the village started going door to door.

07:51Not asking for food, but asking for coal.

07:53Through the viewport, I watched a group of villagers

07:55wrapped in quilts, axes, and crowbars in hand,

07:57battering on Mrs. Ward's door.

07:58Mrs. Ward, we're all neighbors here.

08:00Just lend us some coal.

08:00Open up, or we'll break it down.

08:02I could just make out Mrs. Ward's screams.

08:03Then the sound of splintering wood.

08:05The screaming stopped in under five minutes.

08:06The villagers emerged, dragging two sacks of coal.

08:08One of their axes was smeared with blood.

08:10They'll find us soon enough, Dad said,

08:11wiping down his compound bow.

08:12It was his only long-range weapon.

08:13Our chimneys rigged to disperse the smoke,

08:15but that small heat signal won't hide from thermal imaging

08:17or anyone desperate enough to notice.

08:18No sooner had he spoken than a face appeared in the viewport.

08:20Baldi Rick, right by our hidden vent, inhaling deeply.

08:22A greedy, ecstatic grin spread across his face.

08:24There's meat down there.

08:25They'd found us, but Dad wasn't worried.

08:27We'd built this place for exactly this moment.

08:29Baldi Rick called the others, and they started digging at the vent.

08:31Zap!

08:31The second their fingers touched the vent's protective mesh,

08:33a blue-purple arc of electricity flashed.

08:35It was a capacitor Dad had rigged to the battery bank.

08:36Not enough to kill, but enough to make a man lose control of his bladder.

08:39Ah, the screams came from outside.

08:40It's electrified.

08:41That old man was ready for us.

08:43In 40 below weather, if you get hurt,

08:44or even just panicked enough to sweat,

08:46hypothermia sets in fast.

08:47They didn't stick around.

08:47They cursed a few times and retreated.

08:49This was only the beginning.

08:49The real crisis came that night.

08:51The entire region's power grid collapsed.

08:52Until then, we'd still seen the town's faint glow.

08:54In an instant, it all went dark.

08:55The world was plunged into absolute blackness.

08:56Our phones became useless bricks.

08:57The last bars of signal were gone.

08:59We were an island.

08:59Fire up the diesel generator.

09:00Dad ordered.

09:01A low rumble came from the soundproofed room in the back of the cellar.

09:03Even with all the insulation,

09:04in the dead silence underground,

09:05you could still feel the floor vibrate.

09:06With power back, we switched on the old radio.

09:08A crackling voice came through,

09:09fading in and out.

09:10Global catastrophe.

09:10Shelter in place.

09:11Await rescue.

09:12Mom was counting the remaining coal

09:13when her face suddenly went pale.

09:14Linton, look at this corner.

09:15On the southeast wall of the cellar,

09:16a layer of frost had formed.

09:17Did we mess up the aerogel, or...

09:19Dad walked over and touched it.

09:20His face turned ashen.

09:21No, the cold's getting through.

09:22The ground outside is frozen 10 feet deep now.

09:24The cold is penetrating the concrete.

09:25If it hits 70 below,

09:26our insulation might not hold.

09:28Cut back to the city.

09:29The once glamorous five-star hotel

09:30was now a giant ice coffin.

09:31Jenny was wrapped in an expensive mink coat,

09:33yet she's still shaking like a leaf.

09:34Dave huddled in a corner,

09:35wrapped in every curtain he could find.

09:37All the wooden furniture

09:37has been chopped up and burned.

09:38Even that pricey European-style bed

09:40went up in flames.

09:40No food left.

09:41Dave's voice was raw.

09:42His eyes cold and predatory.

09:43That 71,000 was long gone.

09:44Spent on designer bags,

09:45a watch,

09:46and this useless mink coat.

09:47They never even bought

09:47a single case of instant noodles.

09:49Let's go to your sisters.

09:49Dave stood up abruptly,

09:50a manic gleam in his eyes.

09:51She must have planned ahead.

09:53They've got heated brick beds and firewood.

09:54But how?

09:55It's 50 below outside.

09:56Jenny wailed.

09:57I've got a car.

09:57Dave flashed a set of keys

09:58as he'd taken off a corpse

09:59in the parking garage.

10:00An SUV.

10:00It's been modded.

10:01It'll still run.

10:02As long as we don't die on the road,

10:03we live.

10:04They charge out of the hotel

10:04like rabid dogs.

10:05Frozen corpses littered the streets.

10:07Some were stuck mid-crawl,

10:08others still pounding on shop doors.

10:09Tonight, luck sided with the wicked.

10:10The SUV actually roared to life

10:12and the tank was full.

10:13They smashed through ice statues and wrecks,

10:14barreling toward Linton Village.

10:15One day later,

10:16at the village entrance,

10:17a smoking SUV slammed

10:18into the old locust tree.

10:19The door swung open.

10:20Two ghost-like figures crawled out.

10:21Jenny's face was already purple

10:22from the cold.

10:22She stares at the old Linton house ahead,

10:24its outline not yet buried in snow.

10:25Her tears froze on her cheeks.

10:26We made it, Dave.

10:27We're gonna live.

10:28We were having dinner.

10:28To keep warm,

10:29we were eating high-calorie rice

10:30mixed with pork lard.

10:31Plus, there's a big pot of stew.

10:32Suddenly, the buzzer by the viewport went off.

10:33Someone's coming.

10:34I leaned over to look

10:35and my pupils shrank hard.

10:36It's Jenny and Dave,

10:37but they were not alone.

10:38Trailing behind were three more,

10:39Baldy Rick's crew.

10:40Wendy, Dad, Mom, it's me, Jenny.

10:42Jenny's voice blared through the loudspeaker,

10:44jarring in this death-quiet village.

10:45I know you're in there.

10:46Dave told me everything.

10:47You sold the house and the car

10:48and brought back one four million.

10:49You must have food for days in there.

10:50Damn it.

10:51What a moron.

10:52Just so Baldy Rick would lead them

10:53or spare them,

10:53she went and spilled all our secrets.

10:55Neighbors,

10:55Jenny yelled to the crowd.

10:57My parents are right down there.

10:57They've stashed a ton of supplies.

10:59Bust that door open

10:59and we all get to live.

11:00That kill with a borrowed knife move

11:01was brutal.

11:01The villagers were only guessing before.

11:03Now they were sure.

11:031.4 million worth of supplies.

11:04How much food in coal was that?

11:05Break it down.

11:06Baldy Rick snarled.

11:06Eyes bloodshot and he waved his hand.

11:08Pickaxes and sledgehammers

11:08rained down on our first blast-proof door.

11:10In the cellar,

11:10Mom's hands shook,

11:11clutching Dad's arm tightly.

11:12Dad's face was like stone.

11:14He set down his bowl and chopsticks.

11:15He strode to the control panel

11:16and twisted the valve on the hand pump.

11:17It's not hooked to the well,

11:18but to a high-pressure water line

11:19he buried at the entrance.

11:20At minus 50 degrees out there,

11:21water was the nastiest weapon around.

11:22Open the valve,

11:23Dad ordered coldly.

11:24I slammed the lever down.

11:25Nozzles hidden above the door

11:26blasted out a cloud of mist.

11:27And it's not just water.

11:28Dad dumped in a mountain of salt,

11:30dropping the freezing point,

11:31keeping it liquid until the spray.

11:32The moment it hit anything,

11:33the wind chill flash froze it solid.

11:34Screams erupted outside the door.

11:35The ones swinging the tools got drenched

11:37and in seconds their clothes

11:38turned to iron-hard ice.

11:39Their hands were welded to the handles.

11:40Then I saw Dave ducking behind Jenny,

11:42using her as a human shield.

11:43Jenny's coated in frozen shards,

11:44locked in place like an ice statue,

11:46her eyes full of stunned despair.

11:47Ah, the scream was torn apart

11:49by the savage wind.

11:50The high-pressure sprinkler system Dad built

11:51was supposed to rinse hazmat suits.

11:53But then it was our deadliest defense.

11:54The brinette spat out was crazy strong.

11:56And the second it hit air at 50 below,

11:57it turned into super-cooled mist.

11:59The moment that mist hit anything,

12:01it ripped the heat right out,

12:02forming a rock-hard ice shell.

12:03Baldi Rick was in the lead,

12:05raising a homemade shotgun

12:06and got blasted full in the face.

12:07Crack.

12:08Before he could even pull the trigger,

12:09his fingers froze solid.

12:10No way to bend them.

12:11Next, his eyelashes stubble.

12:12Even the steam from his breath

12:13turned white with frost in seconds.

12:15He tried to wipe his face in panic,

12:16but the glove was stuck to his skin.

12:18Dave, help me!

12:19Jenny's scream twisted with terror.

12:20Through the viewport,

12:21I saw a scene that made my blood run cold.

12:23The instant the mist erupted,

12:24the guy who kept saying he loved her,

12:25promising he'd keep her alive,

12:26Dave, didn't hesitate.

12:27He yanked Jenny over,

12:28planting her right in front of him.

12:29That pricey mink coat she was wearing

12:31turned into a soaking sponge.

12:33Icy water soaked the fur,

12:34clinging to her skinny body.

12:35She became Dave's human shield.

12:36You are crazy, so cold.

12:37Dave, what are you doing?

12:38Jenny struggled desperately,

12:39but Dave gripped her shoulders tightly,

12:41hiding behind her shivering body.

12:42His eyes were full of desperate survival instinct

12:44and hatred towards us.

12:45Don't move.

12:45You're my girlfriend.

12:46You have to protect me,

12:47Dave yelled, his voice trembling.

12:48Wendy, you bitch, open the door,

12:50or your sister would freeze to death.

12:51At that moment, Jenny stopped struggling.

12:53Well, she wanted to,

12:53but she was frozen stiff.

12:54That mink coat turned into

12:55dozens of pounds of ice armor,

12:57sealing her firmly in place.

12:58Her face was turned toward our viewport,

12:59her expression changing from terror to anger,

13:01and finally to hopeless stupor.

13:02Baldy Rick's two lackeys

13:03were rolling on the ground,

13:04but the more they rolled,

13:04the thicker the ice layer on them became

13:05until they could only twitch in the snow.

13:07Although Baldy Rick was strong,

13:08he then knelt on the ground

13:09like an eerie ice sculpture

13:10making a broken bellow sound from his mouth.

13:11Was the threat gone?

13:12No.

13:12Dad suddenly pointed at a corner of the monitor.

13:14Dave isn't dead yet.

13:15He didn't get much water on him.

13:16And what is he doing?

13:17On the screen,

13:17Dave saw that Jenny had stopped moving

13:19and actually pushed her down.

13:20He took out a simple Molotov cocktail

13:21made from a plastic bottle,

13:23lit the fuse,

13:24and charged madly towards our air vent.

13:25Die.

13:26All of you die.

13:27Boom.

13:27The Molotov smashed into the vent's protective cover.

13:29Flames shot up,

13:29but in this deep freeze,

13:30they died in seconds.

13:31Dad had already wrapped the vent

13:32with double fireproof insulation.

13:33That splash of gas burned

13:34for barely 30 seconds

13:35before the wind snuffed it.

13:35But Dave didn't stop.

13:36Like a crazed gambler,

13:37he raised his crowbar

13:38and beat the hell out of our vent pipe.

13:40Come out.

13:40Give me food.

13:41I've got cash.

13:42That stupid bitch gave me all her money.

13:43I can pay you.

13:44He kept smashing while raving like a lunatic.

13:45But he forgot this was a minus 50 degree hell.

13:48That shove earlier,

13:48though it spared him most of the mist,

13:50still left his pant legs soaked.

13:51Through the viewport,

13:51I stared at him.

13:52Ice cold.

13:52His wings slowed and slowed.

13:54Five minutes later,

13:54the pounding stopped.

13:55Dave stayed kneeling,

13:56hands clawing the doorframe,

13:57face plastered to the frozen steel,

13:58eyes wide open,

13:59dead and staring.

14:00Outside the door,

14:00five ice statues became

14:01the Linton Cellar's new guards.

14:02This fight erased the threat,

14:04but it also blew our cover.

14:05Those statues were both

14:06warning and landmark.

14:07At dawn,

14:08Dad did his routine instrument check.

14:09Suddenly his face went ghost white

14:11and his fingers shook

14:11as he tapped the barometer.

14:13Crap, what's wrong?

14:14My heart lurched.

14:15Not the gauge,

14:16Dad said,

14:16turning around,

14:16fear swimming in his eyes.

14:18It's the pressure.

14:19It's plummeting.

14:19That means a super blizzard is coming.

14:21The kind of wind

14:22that rips houses out by the roots.

14:23And right now,

14:24our cellar door,

14:24after last night's spray,

14:25is sealed under a thick sheet of ice.

14:27If the exhaust pipe gets buried in snow,

14:28we'll suffocate in here.

14:30That legendary blizzard

14:31was even nastier than we'd feared.

14:32The surface wasn't howling anymore.

14:34All we heard was billions of tons of sand

14:35and great grinding steel.

14:36Then,

14:36the cellar's oxygen monitor

14:37flashed blinding red.

14:38Carbon dioxide levels

14:39were rising rapidly.

14:40The vent pipes totally clogged.

14:41Snow's too heavy

14:41or the camouflage layer caved in.

14:42If we didn't clear it now,

14:43we would suffocate

14:44in under three hours.

14:45Do it.

14:46Dad didn't hesitate.

14:47He hauled out a spare

14:47industrial hydraulic jack

14:48and an extra long alloy drill bit,

14:49lining them up with the emergency shaft.

14:50I gripped the drill rod

14:51with everything I had.

14:51Mom cranked the blower like crazy,

14:53trying to squeeze out

14:53every last puff of air.

14:55The lack of oxygen made me see stars.

14:56My lungs burned like fire.

14:57Ten minutes in,

14:58the bit jammed with a thud.

14:59Metal hit.

15:00Dad actually smiled.

15:01It's a car's underbelly.

15:02The wind had flipped one

15:03and parked it right over the shaft.

15:04The jack groaned under the load.

15:05With a dull boom,

15:06Tama warped overhead.

15:08A blast of icy,

15:09blissfully sweet air poured in.

15:10We gulped it down like attics.

15:12Dad shoved the hatch open.

15:13I slid the periscope through the gap.

15:15So it was Baldy Rick's off-roader.

15:16It was a giant lid

15:17shielding us from the drifts.

15:18I tilted the scope farther out.

15:19My heart clenched.

15:20Across the dead,

15:21silent white plain,

15:22a messy trail of fresh footprints

15:23snaked away.

15:24Following the footprints,

15:24I tweaked the periscope's focus.

15:26Three hunched figures slid into view.

15:27Leading them was Limp Larry

15:28from the village.

15:29Usually a quiet, harmless guy,

15:30now he had two half-starved villagers in tow,

15:32going nuts on the lock

15:32of the public granary.

15:33The door finally gave way.

15:34Inside, nothing but emptiness.

15:35Just a few moldy grains of old rice

15:36and rat shit in the corner.

15:37In that moment,

15:37the last fig leaf of humanity

15:39got ripped off.

15:39Without a word,

15:40Larry swung half a brick

15:41into the back of his buddy's head.

15:42Blood splattered on the snow

15:43like a blinding red flower.

15:45He wasted no time

15:45finishing off two guys,

15:46claimed the bag of rat shit-laced

15:47moldy rice all for himself,

15:48grabbed a fistful

15:48and crammed it into his mouth.

15:49Down in the cellar,

15:50I was having lunch.

15:51A steaming, self-heating meal,

15:52curry beef.

15:52It's smell filling the room.

15:53When hunger takes over,

15:54humanity is gone.

15:55Dad lifted a chunk of beef,

15:56staring at the monitor,

15:56stone-faced.

15:57That's the apocalypse for you.

15:58Some murder for a bite of rotten rice,

15:59while others feast on meat

16:00in a warm cellar.

16:01On screen,

16:01Larry dragged the bloody rice bag,

16:03heading back,

16:03then suddenly froze.

16:04Beyond a snowy ridge,

16:05three pairs of eerie green eyes lit up.

16:07Those were three starved wolves.

16:08Any beast tough enough

16:09to survive this frozen hell

16:10is among the elite.

16:11Larry never even got the chance to run.

16:12The first wolf struck like lightning,

16:13snapping his calves.

16:14The second wolf went straight for his throat.

16:16His screams blasted through the cellar mics

16:17and lasted a good ten seconds.

16:18Blood splattered across the snow

16:19and froze in an instant.

16:20The sack of moldy rice

16:21bought with two lives

16:21spilled everywhere.

16:22The wolves didn't spare at a glance.

16:23After filling their bellies,

16:24they still didn't leave.

16:25The three wolves paced around our vent.

16:27Nostrils flaring,

16:27they caught the faintest whiff of human scent.

16:29Reinforce it.

16:29Dad set down his bowl and chopsticks.

16:30He turned toward the workbench

16:31and instantly welded a row

16:32of barbed iron grates

16:33behind the blast door.

16:33Anyone who forces their way in dies.

16:34While mom was sorting the coal for heating,

16:36she suddenly yelped.

16:37David, look.

16:38At the bottom compartment of the coal bin,

16:39a metal case clattered out.

16:40Inside were ten boxes of amoxicillin.

16:42The coal seller had tossed them in for free.

16:43We didn't think much of it back then,

16:44but now it's priceless,

16:45life-saving stuff.

16:46Just as we were celebrating the windfall,

16:47the silent shortwave radio

16:49suddenly lit up red.

16:50After a burst of static,

16:51a strange man spoke,

16:52chuckling like a freak.

16:52Found it.

16:53Linton Village?

16:53Got ourselves a fat sheep.

16:54Tomorrow we'll hit.

16:55Bring the flamethrower.

16:55Burn through that damn turtle shell.

16:57The electric buzz sounded like nails

16:58screeching on a chalkboard.

16:59Dad tweaked the old shortwave set.

17:00His face flickered red

17:01in the indicator glow.

17:02That stranger's voice cut in again.

17:04So clear it felt like he was whispering in my ear.

17:05Confirmed.

17:06It is that house.

17:06Baldi Rick died there a few days ago.

17:08Ice statues stood at the door,

17:09impossible to miss.

17:09Our trophies,

17:10the corpses that froze right outside,

17:12ended up nothing but bait for vultures.

17:13It was down underground.

17:14There was a big stash for sure.

17:15No one even frisked those ice statues.

17:16Dad killed the volume.

17:17The cellar fell dead silent.

17:18Gear up for a fight.

17:19That time we were done playing defense.

17:21Mom dug through the supplies

17:21and pulled out a few bottles

17:22of high-proof alcohol,

17:23the ones she'd never let us touch

17:24on a normal day,

17:24but now she smashed the next clean off.

17:26She poured the liquor into glass bottles,

17:27stuffed greasy rags in for wicks.

17:29I sat by the whetstone,

17:31compound bow in hand.

17:32The arrowhead rasped

17:32against the stone in rhythm,

17:34cold steel flashing.

17:34No fear,

17:35just adrenaline cool focus.

17:36In a world that preys on the weak,

17:37being soft is a death sentence.

17:38Late that night,

17:39the radio crackled with that voice again,

17:40cocky as hell,

17:41like he'd already won.

17:41We'll hit after midnight tomorrow.

17:42Just the three of us.

17:43More people means less for everyone.

17:44No way those bastards

17:44survive a flamethrower.

17:46Midnight,

17:46blizzard raging outside.

17:47Aurora shattered the silence.

17:48Three snowmobiles burst

17:49through the storm like ghosts.

17:50They stopped at our cellar door.

17:52Through the periscope,

17:52I spotted three figures

17:53wrapped up tight.

17:54No chit-chat.

17:55The leader just waved.

17:56A guy with a huge tank

17:57on his back stepped up.

17:58A 30-foot fire dragon

17:59spewed out instantly.

18:00It was an industrial flamethrower.

18:02Orange flames roared

18:03in the 50 below,

18:03looking downright eerie

18:04in this frozen world.

18:04The thick ice sealing the door

18:05melted fast,

18:06hissing into scalding steam.

18:08Right after that,

18:08the outer blast door

18:09started to discolor,

18:10changing from iron black

18:11to dark red,

18:11then cherry red.

18:12Beep, beep, beep.

18:12The cellar's temperature alarm

18:13screamed like mad.

18:14A second ago,

18:15it was freezing.

18:15Now it's an oven.

18:16We tore off our polar suits.

18:17Sweat streamed down our faces.

18:19Heat rushed in through the cracks,

18:20reeking of burnt metal.

18:21This door won't hold much longer.

18:22The sealant's already melting.

18:23Mom tightened her grip

18:24on a Molotov.

18:24Dad stayed cool,

18:25eyes locked on the monitor,

18:26hand hovering over a red button.

18:27That's a dry powder suppression rig

18:28he'd built for fire safety.

18:29But right now,

18:30the nozzles aren't loaded

18:31with suppressant.

18:31They're packed with pure starch

18:32he swiped from the mill.

18:33Want fire?

18:34I'll give you a damn inferno.

18:35Dad smashed the button.

18:38The pressure vent above the doorframe

18:39suddenly shot out

18:39two streams of white mist.

18:40That wasn't smoke.

18:41It was ultra-fine flour dust.

18:42Under pressure,

18:43it blanketed the whole doorway

18:44in an instant.

18:45The concentration was insane.

18:46It enveloped the flamethrower punk.

18:47Clearly the guy

18:48had skipped physics class.

18:49He didn't even have time to react.

18:50His fingers still clamped

18:51on the trigger.

18:51Open flame,

18:52sealed spay plus flour dust.

18:54Boom.

18:54A deafening blast.

18:55Like thunder.

18:56A huge shockwave,

18:57all Fikars swallowed

18:57everything at the door.

18:58The periscope screen

18:59went all white.

19:00Then the whole place shuddered,

19:01dust sifting down on our heads.

19:03A few seconds later,

19:03the view cleared.

19:04A scorched patch stained the snow.

19:05The guy with the flamethrower

19:06was gone.

19:07Or rather,

19:07he was just a lump

19:08of unrecognizable charcoal.

19:09Another thug.

19:10Closer in,

19:10got hurled 30 feet,

19:11left hanging from a dead branch.

19:12His fate unknown.

19:13We won?

19:13I tightened my grip on my bow.

19:14Not yet.

19:15Dad stared at the screen.

19:16The leader was lucky.

19:16He'd stood farther back,

19:17so the blast only knocked him over.

19:18His face was a mess of blood.

19:19One arm twisted at a sick angle,

19:21yet he staggered to his feet.

19:22He grinned ferociously.

19:23With his good left hand,

19:24he pulled out a dark green thing.

19:26He pulled the pin,

19:27pressed it firmly

19:27against the deformed door gap.

19:29Come out,

19:29or I'll let go.

19:30We'll all be blown to bits.

19:31Don't do anything stupid.

19:32I flicked on the loudspeaker

19:33at the door.

19:33My voice was so calm,

19:34it didn't even sound like me.

19:36That thing might blow a hole at best,

19:37but I'm on top of a mountain of dynamite.

19:38There's ten tons of TNT

19:39right under my feet.

19:40You drop that pin

19:40and we'll all go up in smoke.

19:41Total bullshit, of course.

19:42But in this life-or-death moment,

19:44it's about who's more scared to die.

19:45Sure enough,

19:45the leader's eyes flickered.

19:46The fingers clutching the grenade pin

19:47went stiff.

19:48He was weighing his odds,

19:49hesitating.

19:49And in that split second,

19:50Dad stood straight at the firing port,

19:52his compound bow fully drawn,

19:53during humming tight.

19:54Through the scope,

19:55the guy's wrist filled the view.

19:57The string snapped.

19:58A custom carbon steel arrow

19:59sliced the air,

20:00punching straight through his right wrist,

20:01pinning his hand

20:02to the frozen dirt by the doorframe.

20:03Ah!

20:04The searing pain made him let go.

20:05The grenade clattered down the steps

20:06and landed in a snowbank.

20:08The blast went off about 30 feet out,

20:10kicking up a cloud of snow,

20:10but the blast door didn't even flinch.

20:12Before he could snap back from the pain,

20:13Mom had already lit a Molotov

20:14and lobbed it clean through the throw port.

20:16Flames instantly engulfed

20:17the struggling figure.

20:18We stayed inside,

20:19watching them through the screen

20:20turn into three charred corpses,

20:21emitting black smoke

20:21until they stopped moving.

20:22Half an hour later,

20:23confirmed safety.

20:24Dad went out to clean up the battlefield.

20:25In the arms of the leader's charred body

20:26was a fireproof bag.

20:27Inside was a hand-drawn map.

20:29Linton Village was circled in red.

20:30Next to it was marked

20:31Suspected Groundwater Entrance.

20:32That map made Dad's eyes light up

20:33like never before.

20:34If we can get running water,

20:35our whole life will change.

20:36Dad pointed at the contour lines on the map.

20:38Groundwater stays at a steady temperature

20:38and never runs dry.

20:39Way better than hoarding cases of bottled water.

20:40Following the map,

20:41the potential groundwater entrance

20:43was right under our foundation.

20:44For the next three days,

20:45the cellar became a work site.

20:46We took shifts.

20:47In this basement,

20:47barely 200 square feet,

20:48we started digging down in one corner.

20:49That was a tough job.

20:50The frozen ground below was hard as iron.

20:51Every shovel strike shook our hands numb.

20:53We had to drill pilot holes first,

20:55then chip away with pickaxes inch by inch.

20:56Sweat ran down our spines,

20:57cooling the second it hit the cold air.

20:58To spare our strength,

20:59we added an extra compressed biscuit to every meal.

21:01The cramped space reeked of wet earth and sweat.

21:03Yet no one complained.

21:04We all knew at the end of the world,

21:06water was life,

21:07a harder currency than food.

21:08Late on the third night,

21:09we were nearly 10 feet down.

21:11Dad was swinging the pickaxe when he suddenly froze.

21:13Thud, no more dull thump.

21:14This one rang hollow.

21:15He tapped again gently.

21:17A chunk of solid earth caved in,

21:18opening a pitch black hole.

21:20A moist, chilly draft wafted up from below.

21:22The flashlight beam sliced through years of stale darkness.

21:25Under that opening,

21:25there was a man-made tunnel.

21:27Moss carpeted the concrete walls.

21:28Faded red slogans from decades ago were still visible.

21:31So this was the abandoned shelter from famine and war days

21:33village elders talked about.

21:34Dad clipped onto the safety rope and went down first.

21:36Ten minutes later,

21:37his trembling voice crackled over the radio.

21:39Get down here now.

21:39It's real flowing water.

21:40Mom and I slid down the rope ladder

21:41and squeezed through a narrow passage.

21:43Suddenly, the space opened up.

21:44At the tunnel's end,

21:44an underground river flowed quietly.

21:46It wasn't big,

21:47but under the flashlight,

21:48the surface shimmered.

21:49I dipped a hand in.

21:49The water was actually warmish.

21:51Four degrees.

21:51Dad read the thermometer.

21:52His cheeks flushed with excitement.

21:53This is the underground thermostatic layer.

21:54The water hasn't frozen.

21:55We can rig a circulation system,

21:56use the heat to warm the cellar,

21:58maybe even take a bath.

21:59In this frozen hell of 50 below,

22:00liquid water at four degrees

22:01feels like a hot spring.

22:02We stared at the river,

22:03greedy as if it were liquid diamonds.

22:04But then,

22:05just as I knelt on the damp ground for a sample,

22:07my beams swept the muddy bank

22:08and I froze.

22:09On the soft,

22:10wet soil was a clear line of footprints.

22:12They were tiny,

22:12barefoot,

22:13toes dug deep into the mud.

22:14The soil was still wet.

22:15Aside from us,

22:16in this bottomless underground maze,

22:17someone else was alive.

22:18Following the trail of wet little footprints,

22:19we crept through the maze-like shelter like hunters.

22:22Around a bend,

22:22stacked with moldy wooden crates,

22:23our flashlight locked onto a dark corner.

22:25Something was huddling there.

22:26Thin.

22:26The kind of sickly thin

22:27that comes from way too long without food.

22:28Rags hung off his body

22:29and the skin was corpse pale.

22:30If not for those wide,

22:31terrified eyes,

22:32I'd have sworn it was a skeleton.

22:33It was the mute orphan from our village,

22:35Noah.

22:35He was clutching a dead rat,

22:36dark blood smeared at the corner of his mouth.

22:39Beside him lay a pile of moss-like green plants.

22:41Dad's compound bow snapped up.

22:42The arrow aimed right between his eyes.

22:43In an era where supplies are worth more than lives,

22:45an extra mouth is a huge risk.

22:46Worse,

22:46he'd just found out our water secret.

22:48Noah didn't fight back.

22:48He just shut his eyes in despair,

22:50shaking like a leaf in a storm.

22:51For a few seconds,

22:51it was so silent we only heard the water running.

22:53Screw it.

22:53Dad lowered the bow,

22:54pulled two cold, rock-hard buns,

22:55and tossed them over.

22:56Noah's eyes flew open,

22:57and he pounced like a starving animal,

22:58swallowing them whole without a chew.

22:59When he was done,

23:00he suddenly crawled over,

23:01slammed his head to the ground in thanks,

23:02then pointed straight up.

23:03He spread his arms wide,

23:04tracing a huge circle,

23:05letting out urgent uh-uh sounds.

23:06He clenched his fists

23:07and mimed holding a steering wheel.

23:08Then he drew a finger across his throat.

23:10He was warning us.

23:11Something was up there,

23:11and it killed.

23:12Just got back to the cellar.

23:13I hadn't even caught my breath.

23:14The ground suddenly started to quake.

23:15It's not an earthquake.

23:16Some heavy rig was grinding over the frozen earth.

23:18The water glasses on the table were dancing.

23:19I pressed my face to the periscope.

23:20Through the blizzard,

23:21a convoy of steel beasts

23:22ripped apart the quiet of Linton Village.

23:24Three massive trucks,

23:25tricked out and armored.

23:26Each had a grim snowplow bolted to the front.

23:27Bright red flags flapped on the sides

23:28marked 9th District Rescue Unit.

23:30Government guys?

23:30Mom's eyes lit up.

23:31Hold up.

23:31Dad cranked the scope to Max.

23:33Look at their shoes.

23:34The men who jumped down

23:35wore camo parkas,

23:36but cheap knockoff sneakers.

23:37They aren't carrying standard issue weapons,

23:38just random shotguns and pipe guns.

23:40Even worse,

23:41the first thing they did wasn't rescue.

23:42They punted a frozen corpse off the road,

23:44then laughed and lit up smokes.

23:45Wolves in sheep's clothing.

23:46This rescue unit was just a big looter gang

23:48flying fake colors.

23:49The convoy stopped at the village entrance.

23:50They huddled, arguing over the route.

23:51Suddenly, the last truck,

23:52packed with coal and generators,

23:54coughed black smoke and died.

23:55The lead rigs never even slowed down.

23:56They dumped two guys with the busted truck

23:58and thundered on toward the town.

24:00That lone truck was just sitting there like a gift,

24:02not even 500 meters out.

24:03It was a diesel generator.

24:04There were at least five barrels of diesel in the truck.

24:06Our fuel stash was almost gone.

24:07If we wanted to keep the heat and lights in the cellar,

24:09this might have been our last chance.

24:10Let's hit it.

24:10It was past midnight.

24:11The blizzard was perfect cover.

24:12Dad and I pulled on white camo.

24:14We crawled across the snow like ghosts.

24:16The two guards on duty underestimated that hellish weather.

24:18They were curled up in the cab with the heater blasting,

24:20dozing off a booze buzz.

24:21Dad whipped out a towel, soaked in ether.

24:23I went to work on the lock.

24:24Click.

24:24The frozen lock cylinder was brittle.

24:25It popped right open.

24:26Dad slapped the towel over the passenger's mouth and nose.

24:28The guy twitched a little, then went limp.

24:29I dealt with the driver in the same way.

24:31We didn't get greedy,

24:32skipped the generator,

24:33snatched three barrels of diesel and bolted.

24:34Just as we were about to pull out,

24:35my flashlight swept under the driver's seat

24:37and caught a long black case.

24:38We cracked it open and froze.

24:40Two gleaming QBZ-95s,

24:41plus five full boxes of ammo.

24:43They must have jacked these off a real military checkpoint.

24:45Let's go.

24:46We slung the rifles,

24:47dragged the diesel and sprinted home.

24:48The moment we vaulted the wall and dived for cover,

24:49a distant rumble erupted behind us.

24:50Their crew had turned back.

24:51Blinding headlights flooded the truck we had just cleaned out.

24:54Furious shouts followed,

24:55then wild panicked gunfire.

24:56Those two missing QBZ-95s

24:58were like a loud slap in the face,

24:59smacking those desperados hard.

25:01Roars of rage echoed over the village,

25:02but that wasn't the scariest part.

25:03What truly chilled the blood

25:04was when they hauled out real pro gear,

25:05an industrial handheld thermal imager.

25:07On that green screen,

25:08every hint of body heat lit up.

25:09Through my periscope,

25:10I fixed on the thugs in rescue unit uniforms.

25:13They combed the ruins of Linton Village.

25:16A shot cracked.

25:17Mr. Harper,

25:18hiding in the cellar at the east end,

25:19was dragged out.

25:19He was 70,

25:20and to save every scrap of food,

25:21he'd withered to skin and bones.

25:22He knelt in the snow,

25:23no time to beg for mercy,

25:24before a big thug smashed his jaw with a rifle bud.

25:27Where are the rifles and the diesel?

25:28Who took them?

25:29The thug planted a boot on the old man's chest,

25:30his voice colder than ice.

25:31The old man could only let out broken whimpers.

25:33Worthless.

25:33Another shot split the air.

25:34A blinding red bloom spread across the snow.

25:36They kicked the corpse into a drift,

25:37like tossing a bag of trash.

25:38Then the second house?

25:39The third.

25:40The last few survivors were yanked out like rats,

25:42and butchered for having no answers.

25:44This wasn't a search.

25:45It was pure rage.

25:46Suddenly, my heart clenched tightly.

25:47The thug holding the thermal imager

25:48stopped in his tracks.

25:49He was standing in front of the pile of rubble

25:50at the village entrance.

25:51That was the entrance to the abandoned shelter.

25:52It was also the hiding place of the mute Noah.

25:54Boss, there's a heat source underground.

25:55It's weak, but it's a live one.

25:56The thugs instantly got excited.

25:58Like sharks smelling blood?

25:59They swarmed around.

26:00They used crowbars to pry open the stone slab

26:02covering the entrance.

26:03Noah's terrified screams,

26:04even through the thick layer of soil,

26:06seemed to reach my ears.

26:07He was discovered.

26:08Save him or not?

26:09That question flashed through my head

26:10for barely a second.

26:10Noah knew the secret of our groundwater.

26:12If they tortured him and he broke

26:13and spilled the location,

26:14our whole family was toast.

26:15Besides, he was just a kid

26:16living off rats in this apocalypse.

26:18Gear up for a fight.

26:19Dad's eyes went cold.

26:20He grabbed the QBZ-95 we'd just seized.

26:22Wendy, take firing port two.

26:23That's the high ground.

26:24Use the scoped crossbow or just grab the gun.

26:26Stir up chaos.

26:27Pull their fire.

26:27I'll drag the kid back.

26:28Dad skipped the front door

26:29and slipped into the tunnel we just dug,

26:31the one tied to the shelter.

26:32I drew a deep breath and sprinted for port two.

26:34Through the scope,

26:35I saw the thugs had yanked Noah out.

26:37Blood covered his face.

26:38He fought like hell,

26:39but a brute dangled him like a chick.

26:41Not talking, huh?

26:41Mute, huh?

26:42The thugs sneered and whipped out a belt knife.

26:44No time left.

26:44I steadied the rifle.

26:45It was my first real fight,

26:46yet raw survival instinct locked my aim.

26:48Bang.

26:49The shot missed.

26:50Smacking frozen dirt by the thugs' boots,

26:51kicking up a spray of grit.

26:52But that's enough.

26:53The blast cracked over the silent snowfield like thunder,

26:55sending the gang scrambling for covers.

26:58Gunfire.

26:58Those thieves are over there.

26:59Seizing the moment of chaos,

27:00in the shadows of the shelter entrance,

27:01a powerful hand suddenly reached out,

27:03grabbed Noah's ankle,

27:04dragged him back into the dark tunnel like a sack.

27:06Retreat, quick, retreat!

27:07I shouted into the walkie-talkie,

27:08fired my gun blindly into the crowd,

27:09suppressing their counterattack.

27:10The thugs realized what was happening.

27:11Bullets poured like rain towards the shelter entrance.

27:13Dad dragged Noah,

27:14rolled awkwardly into the deep tunnel

27:15under the rain of bullets.

27:16But at the last moment before he disappeared into the darkness,

27:18I saw his body jolt violently.

27:19His left leg exploded in a mist of blood.

27:21He staggered,

27:21then fell heavily into the tunnel.

27:23The air in the cellar was frozen.

27:24Only the strong smell of blood lingered.

27:25Dad was lying on the workbench,

27:27face as pale as paper.

27:28Cold sweat soaked the mat beneath him.

27:29On the outside of his left thigh,

27:30there was a hideous bloody hole.

27:32Blood was pouring out.

27:33I could even see the white bones.

27:34Fortunately, no major artery was injured.

27:35But the bullet got stuck in the bone.

27:37It had to be taken out immediately.

27:38Mom's hands were shaking.

27:38But her eyes were extremely firm.

27:40She used to be a veterinarian.

27:41Although she was not treating people,

27:42she was no stranger to surgical suturing.

27:43There was no anesthetic.

27:44The little lidocaine that was left had long since expired.

27:46Bring it on.

27:46Dad bit into a stick wrapped in a towel.

27:48The veins on his forehead popped out like earthworms.

27:49Don't waste your time.

27:50I have a feeling those bastards are coming in.

27:52Mom took a deep breath,

27:53heated a scalpel brightly over an alcohol lamp.

27:55The sound of the blade cutting through the flesh

27:56made my teeth sore.

27:57Dad's body tightened suddenly.

27:58A beast-like growl came from his throat.

28:00He held the table with both hands,

28:01scratched fingerprints into the metal table.

28:03I held Dad's legs.

28:04Tears welled up in my eyes,

28:05but I dared not let them fall.

28:06Noah huddled in the corner,

28:07trembling with fear.

28:08His eyes were fixed on the bloody hole in my Dad's leg.

28:10His face was full of guilt.

28:11Ten minutes felt as long as a century.

28:12Cling!

28:13A deformed warhead was thrown onto the iron plate.

28:14Mom quickly stopped the bleeding,

28:15cleaned the wound, and stitched it up.

28:17When the last stitch was finished,

28:18Dad had already fainted from the pain.

28:19The wooden stick in his mouth was bitten to pieces.

28:20The operation was successful,

28:21but Dad's leg would not be able to move

28:22for at least a month.

28:23We had lost our strongest fighting force.

28:24Before we could breathe a sigh of relief,

28:25in the tunnel leading to the abandoned shelter,

28:27there was suddenly a strange hissing sound.

28:28I got closer to the viewport on the door

28:29and took a look.

28:30My pupils dilated instantly.

28:31A thick yellow smoke was flowing

28:32along the cracks in the tunnel,

28:33slithering like a serpent.

28:34It was chlorine,

28:35or their homemade gas bombs.

28:36They couldn't get in

28:37and didn't dare to go to the tunnel rashly,

28:38so they chose the most vicious way.

28:40They wanted to smoke us to death in the hole.

28:41That yellow gas moved like a living demon,

28:43sliding through cracks from the abandoned shelter

28:45and silently permeated into the cellar.

28:46The air instantly filled

28:47with a choking bleach stench.

28:48It was concentrated chlorine

28:50or an even deadlier cocktail.

28:51Hurry!

28:52Open the PIV system.

28:53Mom shouted,

28:54her voice sharp with panic.

28:55She slammed Dad,

28:55still struggling up,

28:56back onto the bed

28:57and dove for the control panel.

28:58Dad built this

28:58as our last line of defense.

29:00The idea's simple.

29:01High-power fans would frantically

29:02pump filtered air inside,

29:03cranking the indoor pressure above outside,

29:04so poison can't blow back in.

29:06Boom!

29:06The backup motor roared awake.

29:07The blades spun like crazy.

29:08I glued my eyes to the gauge,

29:10watching the needle crawl right.

29:11At the same time,

29:12that acrid reek hit my nose,

29:13but it was thinning,

29:14getting shoved out.

29:15The sealed door to the tunnel

29:15had stopped most of the smoke,

29:17yet under the flashlight's glare,

29:18I still saw the steam

29:19fizzing as it corroded.

29:20Weird foam popping.

29:21They can't get in,

29:22but we can't get out.

29:23I gripped my gun,

29:24my palms slick with sweat.

29:25The gas attack dragged on

29:25for half an hour,

29:26then pink yet.

29:27Obviously,

29:27they didn't want to waste

29:28their precious ammo,

29:29but a worse sound

29:29followed overhead.

29:31Thud.

29:31A muffled grinding sound

29:32and the shudder of a drill

29:33chewing into frozen ground.

29:34They're planting explosives.

29:35Dad rasped from the bed,

29:36his face ghost gray.

29:37Gas failed.

29:38Now they'll blow the roof,

29:39bury us alive,

29:40or rip the lid clean off.

29:41Once the roof caves,

29:42there's even a corner

29:42the 50 below air will flood in.

29:44We won't stand a chance.

29:45Sitting around doing nothing

29:46means certain death.

29:47We have to strike first.

29:48I glanced at Dad,

29:48still trying to rise,

29:49and pressed his shoulder down.

29:50Rest, Dad.

29:51Noah and I will go this time.

29:52Even though Noah couldn't talk,

29:53his clear, dark eyes

29:54were razor sharp,

29:55burning with a wolf cub's ferocity.

29:56He pointed to a spot on the map,

29:57gestured that it was cracking.

29:59It was a natural cavern zone

30:00deep inside the shelter,

30:01where the geology

30:01was highly unstable.

30:02Any significant vibration

30:03could cause a collapse.

30:04That would be our graveyard

30:04and the thug's tomb as well.

30:06Noah and I strapped on gas masks

30:07and slipped into the tangled

30:08underground maze

30:09like two ghosts.

30:10Noah took the lead,

30:11quick as a monkey,

30:12not even needing a light

30:13in the dark.

30:13We started making noise

30:14on purpose,

30:15clanging on the pipes

30:15to fake a panicked escape.

30:17Sure enough,

30:17the digging overhead stopped.

30:18Those greedy bastards

30:19heard us below,

30:20thought we were fleeing

30:21through a different exit

30:21and charged after us

30:22like sharks smelling blood.

30:23Over there.

30:24Don't let them get away.

30:25Their chaotic footsteps

30:25boomed through the empty tunnel.

30:27Noah and I lured them

30:27into the cavern zone.

30:28The walls were draped

30:29with shaky stalactites

30:30and cracks split the floor.

30:31Once we reached the mark,

30:32Noah dived into a crawlspace,

30:33barely wide enough for a kid.

30:35I ducked behind a boulder,

30:36clutching the grenade

30:36we had swiped from their truck.

30:38Blinding flashlights

30:39sliced around the corner.

30:40Their cursing echoed

30:40closer and closer,

30:41so I yanked the pin

30:42and counted three seconds.

30:43Go to hell.

30:44The grenade arced through the air

30:45and landed by the cave's

30:46central support pillar.

30:47Boom.

30:47The blast was amplified

30:48a hundredfold in the closed space,

30:50loud as fuck.

30:50Then came the sickening crack

30:51of rock giving way.

30:52The ceiling collapsed

30:53like a line of dominoes,

30:54tons of stone and dirt

30:55crashing down.

30:56Their screams vanished

30:57under the roar and dust.

30:58Noah and I clawed our way back,

31:00the tunnel crumbling

31:00right behind us

31:01like death nipping at our heels.

31:02We tumbled into the safe zone

31:04and with a heavy thud,

31:05the tunnel was sealed.

31:05Silence.

31:06They were buried down there forever,

31:07but we paid for it.

31:09Every path to the surface

31:10was now blocked

31:11by our own cave-in.

31:12We'd really become

31:12underground dwellers now.

31:13The threat outside

31:14was buried under thousands

31:14of tons of earth and rock,

31:15shutting us off entirely

31:16from that brutal world out there.

31:17We couldn't leave,

31:18but in a messed up way,

31:19it felt safer like this.

31:20Day after day,

31:20slipped by beneath dim lights

31:21in the steady drip of water.

31:22Dad's legs slowly healed

31:23under Mom's careful nursing,

31:24even though he still walked with a limp.

31:25At least he could stand up again

31:26and tinker with his machinery.

31:27Noah was officially

31:27part of our family now.

31:28The kid couldn't talk,

31:29but he worked so hard

31:30it almost broke your heart.

31:31He took over the gardening jobs,

31:32keeping those dozens

31:32of foam planners in the basement

31:33neat and thriving.

31:34Thanks to the groundwater

31:35and grow lights,

31:35we finally harvested

31:36our first bean sprouts

31:37and even coaxed mushrooms

31:38out of the damp corners.

31:39When that pot of mushroom

31:39and canned meat

31:40finally hit the table,

31:41the smell was so good

31:41it made you want to cry.

31:42No killing,

31:43no looting,

31:44no scheming.

31:44Our family sat together

31:45around the table.

31:46Dad set a piece of meat

31:47on Noah's plate

31:47and Noah grinned so wide

31:48I saw nothing but teeth.

31:49For a split second,

31:50the apocalypse felt like a bad dream.

31:51Half a year flew by.

31:52Our hair got longer,

31:53our clothes more worn,

31:54but our eyes were brighter than ever.

31:55One early morning,

31:56I did my usual check

31:57on the sensors

31:57tied to the outside world

31:59and froze.

31:59The thermometer

32:00that had been pegged

32:00at 50 below

32:01shot up to 20 below

32:02in just a week

32:03and the reading kept rocketing.

32:05Dad, look at this.

32:05Dad walked over,

32:06stared at the screen

32:07for a long while

32:07and instead of relief,

32:08his face grew even more serious.

32:10It's heating up way too fast.

32:11He muttered,

32:12this isn't back to normal.

32:13It's the pendulum effect.

32:13After the deep freeze,

32:14I'm afraid it's a hellish heat wave.

32:16Almost on cue,

32:17the sensor data flickered.

32:18The surface temperature

32:19was zero degrees.

32:20The snow was starting to melt.

32:21For us living underground,

32:22that probably meant

32:23another nightmare,

32:24a flood.

32:24The rising temperature

32:25wasn't warming,

32:26it was savagery.

32:26In just three days,

32:27the thermometer went nuts.

32:29The mercury shot up

32:30from a hellish 50 below,

32:31rocketing nonstop,

32:32punching straight past 40 degrees

32:33from deadly cold

32:33to blistering heat

32:34with zero transition in between.

32:35Boom, boom.

32:35A deafening roar

32:36shook the space above.

32:37It wasn't wind,

32:38it was water.

32:38Half a year's snow and ice

32:40melted in seconds

32:40under the scorching heat.

32:41The whole world

32:42turned into a giant steamer,

32:43then morphed into a raging flood.

32:45Water seeped through

32:45the cellar walls.

32:46Condensation beaded on the concrete.

32:48The air grew thick,

32:48sticky, and hot.

32:49Even sitting still,

32:50sweat poured nonstop.

32:51Submarine mode now.

32:52Dad tossed me a wrench,

32:53his voice urgent.

32:54We'd prepped for this long ago.

32:55We'd added three

32:56two-meter extensions

32:56to the vent pipe

32:57so it stuck out of the ground

32:58like a periscope.

32:59Every drain was locked shut

33:00in reverse,

33:00sealed with a thick layer of caulk.

33:01Through the periscope,

33:02I saw the outside world.

33:03The once-white snow field

33:04was gone,

33:05replaced by muddy,

33:06roaring yellow waves.

33:07The flood dragged dead trees,

33:08ice chunks,

33:08and smashed up car wrecks

33:09from God knows where,

33:10slamming into every bit of ground

33:11that stuck up.

33:12Our cellar felt like a submarine

33:13lurking in the deep.

33:14Glug, glug.

33:15The pressure kept climbing.

33:16The steel door

33:16let out a teeth-grinding creek.

33:17The water level is still rising.

33:18It had already swallowed

33:23Noah huddled in the corner,

33:24eyes wide as a dirty drip

33:25fell from the ceiling.

33:26I walked over,

33:26wiped the small wet patch

33:27with a towel,

33:28handed him a compressed biscuit,

33:29and shook my head,

33:30telling him it was fine.

33:30But I knew if the water

33:31rose another meter,

33:32we'd suffocate in this metal can

33:33for good.

33:34The flood wasn't just water.

33:35It was a boiling pot of corpse soup.

33:36Through the periscope's blurry lens,

33:38I saw countless swollen things

33:39drifting on the surface.

33:40People.

33:40Animals.

33:41All rotting and fermenting

33:42in that scalding flood,

33:43turning the place

33:43into one giant petri dish.

33:44Even with all our filters,

33:45the air still carried a stench

33:46so foul it made you gag.

33:48The plague was here.

33:48Mom was wearing two masks,

33:49spraying disinfectant

33:50into every corner.

33:51One drop of water out there

33:52was deadlier than a bullet.

33:53That was the most ironic

33:54part of the apocalypse.

33:55Water was everywhere outside,

33:56yet the survivors

33:56were dying of thirst.

33:57If anyone cracked

33:58and drank that murky crap,

33:59cholera, dysentery,

34:00and typhoid

34:01would come for them on the spot.

34:02And us?

34:03We were huddled around

34:03a tiny table,

34:04sipping cool sweet water

34:05from an underground river,

34:05enjoying canned yellow peaches.

34:07That hidden river

34:07was our lifeline.

34:08Water bubbled up

34:08from deep underground,

34:09completely untouched

34:10by the surface filth.

34:10To stay safe,

34:11we cut off every bit of contact

34:12with the outside.

34:13We hardly even raised the periscope,

34:14afraid some killer germ

34:15would hitch a ride.

34:16We lived off our stash

34:16of oxygen tanks

34:17and an air purifier

34:18that was barely holding on.

34:19We kept it up

34:20for a solid month.

34:21Then one day,

34:21the maddening roar of water

34:22finally stopped.

34:23Dad slowly cranked up

34:24the periscope.

34:24Dried mud on the lens

34:25cracked and fell away,

34:26revealing a sliver of blue sky.

34:27The water's gone down.

34:28Through that gap,

34:29I saw the ground turned

34:29into a pool of black rotting sludge.

34:31Buildings, trees,

34:32bodies were all gone.

34:33Only a thick,

34:34reeking layer of muck

34:35covered the whole world.

34:36Yet in all that dead blackness,

34:37I spotted the faintest tint of green.

34:39Once the temperature held steady

34:40at about 25 degrees

34:40and the dirt firmed up a bit,

34:41we decided to head back topside.

34:43Back then,

34:43to blow up the bastards,

34:44we'd seal the exit ourselves

34:45in a planned cave-in.

34:46Now it's the biggest thing

34:46keeping us from getting home.

34:48Dad scoped out the weakest spot

34:49and used our last little

34:50pack of explosives.

34:51Dust billowed everywhere.

34:52The long lost sunlight

34:52was like a golden blade,

34:53ripping through the cellar's gloom.

34:54I squinted,

34:55tears streaming from the glare.

34:56I drew a deep breath

34:57of the outside air,

34:58still earthy

34:59with a hint of rot,

35:00but it tasted like freedom.

35:01The four of us

35:01crawled out of the hole

35:02and stepped on what used

35:03to be Linton Village.

35:04The village was gone.

35:04Everything was gone.

35:05The old house,

35:06the walls,

35:06Mrs. Ward's little place next door,

35:07all of it leveled by the flood.

35:09The land looked scrubbed clean,

35:10like a wiped blackboard.

35:11Only thick silt

35:12and random trash remained.

35:13This soil,

35:13man, it's fertile.

35:14Dad crouched down,

35:15scooped up a handful of black soil

35:15and rubbed it between his fingers.

35:16Bodies and rotten plants

35:17had turned into

35:17first-rate fertilizer.

35:18Noah dashed onto a rise

35:19where a lone blade of grass

35:21had punched through the muck.

35:22He pointed at that splash of green,

35:23cheering,

35:23uh, ah,

35:25let's work.

35:26Dad slapped the dirt off his hands.

35:27There was no sadness in his eyes,

35:28only a burning urge to rebuild.

35:29Treasures buried under all this mud.

35:30We can finally plant our seeds.

35:31We carved a veggie patch

35:32out of the ruins.

35:33After just a week,

35:34the first batch of cabbage

35:35poked through.

35:35Against the dead,

35:36black-brown wasteland,

35:37those tidy rows of fresh green

35:38looked like flags of hope

35:39fluttering in the setting sun.

35:40That's the color of life,

35:41brighter than gold.

35:42The radio had been dead silent

35:43for ages,

35:43until one afternoon,

35:44it suddenly sprang back to life.

35:45It wasn't that sneaky,

35:46hostile static anymore,

35:47nor the chaotic electric hiss.

35:48Instead,

35:48a woman's voice came through,

35:49so clear it could make you tear up.

35:50This is National Safe Zone 3.

35:52If you can hear this broadcast,

35:53head southeast and assemble.

35:54We're rebuilding our home.

35:55Dad's cigarette butt

35:56scorched his fingers,

35:57yet he didn't even flinch.

35:58He just stared at the battered radio

36:02Mom stopped trimming the veggies,

36:03her eyes wavering.

36:04After all,

36:05it was a refuge for the group,

36:06a return to civilization.

36:07I looked out the window.

36:08In the sunset,

36:08our rebuilt greenhouse glimmered gold.

36:10The shelter entrance,

36:11now reinforced,

36:11stood like an unbreakable fortress.

36:13Groundwater murmured below.

36:14The generator thundered steadily,

36:15and the warehouse held enough food

36:16for ten years.

36:17Not going.

36:17Dad crushed the cigarette.

36:18His gaze suddenly razor sharp.

36:19If we go there,

36:20we're just refugees,

36:20numbers waiting for handouts.

36:22Here,

36:22we're kings of our own land.

36:23I nodded.

36:24After betrayal,

36:25killing,

36:25and brutal trials,

36:26we can't turn our backs

36:27to strangers anymore.

36:28Not even to the government.

36:29Right then,

36:29a long-lost rumble

36:30rolled across the sky.

36:31A helicopter with peeling

36:32camouflage paint skimmed past low,

36:33never slowing.

36:33And as it flew over Linton Village,

36:35it tossed out a huge bundle.

36:36The bundle splashed into the mud,

36:37spilling packs of compressed biscuits

36:38and a blizzard of flyers.

36:39I grabbed one flyer.

36:40It showed the safe zone map

36:41and a rallying call.

36:42Looks like the world

36:43really is changing back.

36:44Dad watched the helicopter fade,

36:45a complicated smile

36:46tugging at his lips,

36:46but we better just guard

36:47our own little place.

36:48We stood in the fading sun,

36:50protecting the patch of earth

36:50that's ours.

36:51As more and more survivors

36:52crawled out of hiding,

36:53Linton Village,

36:53now better known as the Linton Compound,

36:55turned into a legend

36:55for a hundred miles around.

36:56Across the silent brown wasteland,

36:58our place was the only splash of green.

36:59Cabbages, sprouting potatoes,

37:01cucumbers climbing

37:01all over the trellises.

37:02Rag-clad drifters

37:03passed by all the time,

37:04keeping their distance,

37:05their starving eyes

37:05locked on that patch of green,

37:06their Adam's apples bobbing wildly.

37:07You want a bite?

37:08Then earn it.

37:09That was my rule.

37:10No gold or silver,

37:11no cash, just labor.

37:12So the ruins suddenly filled

37:13with people hustling.

37:14Some shoveled out the muck,

37:16others patched the walls,

37:16all for a single bowl

37:17of hot potato soup.

37:18Inside this little independent kingdom,

37:20Noah was the brightest star.

37:21He couldn't talk,

37:22but he was born of the soil.

37:23Those small calloused hands

37:25worked straight up miracles.

37:26Seedlings that barely clung to life

37:28with dad and me

37:28would shoot up inches in his hands

37:29in just a few days.

37:30He never tired,

37:31strutting around like a general on patrol.

37:32Every row was his territory.

37:33One day, I caught a few drifters

37:34pointing and snickering at Noah,

37:36their eyes dripping contempt.

37:37He ignored them,

37:38scooped a heap of rich black soil

37:39and spread it down the furrow like a pro.

37:41Then he plucked a spiny cucumber

37:42and bit into it with a loud crunch.

37:43The crack echoed across the dead plain.

37:45The drifters instantly shut up,

37:47their scorn flipping to raw envy and awe.

37:49In an age littered with starved corpses,

37:50anyone munching fresh veggies

37:51was royalty at the top of the food chain.

37:53Watching Noah stand tall in the sun,

37:54my heart swelled with pride.

37:55This is our home,

37:56an oasis blooming in the apocalypse,

37:58the legendary Linton compound.

37:59We were still shoveling out the sludge

38:00the flood had left behind.

38:01I was holding a shovel,

38:01working around the big locust tree

38:02that had been knocked sideways.

38:03It used to be the village's landmark

38:05and it was where Jenny and Dave died.

38:07Clang, the shovel hit something hard.

38:08I bent down,

38:09pulled a shiny object from the black muck.

38:11I wiped it on my sleeve

38:12and under the sun,

38:13it flashed blindingly.

38:14A hair clip studded with tiny diamonds.

38:16My mind snapped back to that afternoon

38:17before the apocalypse.

38:17Jenny had waved a $71,000 check,

38:19slammed the door, chin high.

38:20She had posted the pic of the clip

38:21in moments that same day,

38:22said some women were born to save,

38:24but I was born to shine.

38:25Now this symbol of vanity and greed

38:27lay in my mud-stained palm,

38:29still sparkling,

38:30but icy cold.

38:31In the sludge beside it,

38:32I dug up a few splinters of white bone,

38:33gnawed by wolves,

38:34soaked by the flood.

38:35Once living souls,

38:36my own kin,

38:37now just a pile of mud

38:38and a handful of nameless bones.

38:40There was no thrill of revenge,

38:41no soul-ripping grief,

38:42just a bleak sense of having seen it all.

38:44Wendy, is this pretty?

38:45For a moment,

38:45I felt like I heard little Jenny

38:46pouting behind me,

38:47begging for praise.

38:48I breathed in deeply,

38:49fished out a rusty candy tin from my pocket,

38:51polished the clip spotless

38:52and set it inside.

38:53There was no headstone,

38:53no ceremony.

38:54I dug a deep hole at the roots,

38:56buried the tin,

38:56heaped the dirt back,

38:57and stomped it down hard.

38:58In the next life,

38:59let's not be sisters.

39:00Strangers would do.

39:01I slapped the dirt and straightened up.

39:02The setting sun washed the ruins in gold.

39:04I turned away,

39:05walked toward the cellar

39:06with smoke curling from it,

39:06and never looked back.

39:07Time was the cruelest blade in the world,

39:09yet also the softest cure.

39:10It was 2028,

39:11three years into the apocalypse.

39:12The Linton compound was now in phase three

39:13of its expansion.

39:14What used to be a dank cellar

39:15was now linked to several abandoned shelters

39:16we had dug into,

39:17forming a vast underground ecosystem.

39:19Sunlight poured through

39:20triple-layer bulletproof skylights,

39:21glinting off the terrazzo floor

39:22of the rec room.

39:22Dad crouched by the generator,

39:24wrench in hand,

39:25showing Noah how to replace a worn gear.

39:26His wounded leg still had a slight hitch,

39:28but it hadn't dulled his spirit one bit.

39:30His hair had gone gray,

39:31but his eyes were sharper,

39:32steadier than three years before.

39:33Noah was a full-grown young man these days.

39:35The orphan who once looked like

39:36a walking skeleton

39:37now had a barrel chest.

39:38Arms knotted with muscle.

39:39He signed as he worked,

39:40swiftly stripping the components.

39:41His gaze was as focused

39:42as an old craftsman's.

39:43From the kitchen came

39:43the rapid thought of a cleaver.

39:44Mom, apron on,

39:45was chopping pickles.

39:46She had filled out.

39:46In a world where people

39:47still butchered each other

39:48for a moldy slice of bread,

39:49Mom was worried about losing weight.

39:51That alone was obscenely luxurious.

39:52Wendy, grab that crock

39:53of pickled pothered mustard.

39:54We're steaming cured pork for lunch,

39:55Mom said.

39:56Voice full of life,

39:57I answered and hauled the jar

39:58from the climate-controlled room.

39:59Passing a mirror,

40:00I caught my reflection.

40:01My skin was pale from life underground,

40:03but healthy enough.

40:03A gun in my hand,

40:04grain in the storehouse,

40:05family at my side.

40:06That was our life.

40:07We weren't scraping by.

40:08We were living for real.

40:09The whole family crowded the table,

40:10soaking in that hard-won piece.

40:11Every dish there,

40:12we had grown with our own hands.

40:13Looking at it all,

40:14I was overflowing with contentment.

40:15Sunlight flooded the room.

40:16Everything was perfect.

40:18This was our family photo.

40:19Three years on,

40:19and we were all still there.

40:20The wind chime at the lookout rang.

40:21It wasn't an alarm.

40:22It was the visitor signal.

40:22A dusty caravan pulled up

40:23just outside our perimeter.

40:25Their rigs had special emblems

40:26spray-painted on them.

40:27They were beat up,

40:27but clearly well-maintained.

40:28It was a trade crew

40:28from the southern safe zone.

40:29After three years,

40:30humans had finally pieced together

40:31a fragile new order.

40:32Trade had replaced endless raids.

40:34I stood on the high wall,

40:35guns still in hand,

40:36but the muzzle pointed down.

40:37Their leader was a one-eyed guy.

40:38He craned his neck,

40:39staring at the string of dried chilies

40:40hanging from our wall.

40:41He swallowed hard.

40:42Ms. Linton,

40:43this batch is all here.

40:44That one-eyed guy

40:44had his men open the truck bed.

40:45Inside were barrels of gasoline,

40:47solar panel parts

40:48we were desperate for,

40:48and even a few boxes

40:49of sanitary pads and shampoo.

40:50We want veggies.

40:51Potatoes, sweet potatoes,

40:52cabbage, anything fresh,

40:54we'd take it all.

40:54The deal went down fast and wordless.

40:56When Noah hauled out

40:56a basket of cucumbers,

40:58still wet with morning dew,

40:59the caravan guard's eyes

41:00nearly popped.

41:01One reached out to touch,

41:02but the one-eyed guy

41:02smacked his hand away.

41:03Show some respect.

41:04This was Linton family produce.

41:05In the new world,

41:05we were no longer lambs

41:06to the slaughter.

41:07We were the ones

41:07with real resources.

41:08When the trade wrapped up,

41:09the one-eyed guy

41:09sparked a cigarette,

41:10took a long drag,

41:11and eyed our compound

41:11with envy.

41:12Word was,

41:13the Linton compound

41:14was paradise in the apocalypse.

41:15Seeing it today,

41:16it's true.

41:16I just grinned,

41:17saying nothing.

41:18Paradise?

41:19No, it was a fortress

41:19we bled to defend.

41:20The caravan rolled off,

41:21hauling our veggies

41:22and hauling hope, too.

41:23Maybe the world

41:24was really getting better.

41:25After the trade crew left,

41:26night fell.

41:26That night was New Year's Eve.

41:27No matter how crazy

41:27things got out there,

41:28we still celebrated.

41:29The underground dining hall

41:30was brightly lit.

41:30Warm yellow light

41:31washed over the wooden table,

41:32chasing away every trace of cold.

41:33That was the biggest meal

41:34we had had in three years.

41:35A giant bowl of braised pork

41:36with pickles and noodles.

41:37It was loaded with

41:37thick slices of pork belly,

41:38one plate of cucumber salad,

41:39fresh and crunchy,

41:40and a heaping platter

41:40of steaming hot dumplings.

41:41They were made with white flour.

41:42We had milled the flour ourselves

41:43from wheat we grew.

41:44It wasn't as white

41:44as the store-bought stuff,

41:45but the wheat aroma

41:46was amazing.

41:47Come on, Noah,

41:47that torn-skinned dumpling

41:48was the one you wrapped.

41:49You've gotta eat it.

41:50Dad chuckled and put a split dumpling

41:51into Noah's bowl.

41:52Noah scratched his head,

41:53embarrassed,

41:53then broke into a wide grin,

41:54showing a mouthful

41:54of bright white teeth.

41:55He stuffed the dumpling

41:55in all at once.

41:56It was so hot,

41:56he started huffing and puffing.

41:57Mom switched on the old TV

41:58she had fixed up,

41:59hooked to a hard drive.

42:00Old comedy skits

42:00from decades ago

42:01flickered on the screen.

42:02The picture was a bit blurry,

42:03the sound crackly,

42:04but to us it was pure heaven.

42:05Canned laughter poured

42:06from the TV

42:06and we laughed right along.

42:07We laughed until mom's eyes

42:08grew misty.

42:09She wiped them,

42:10raised her glass of juice.

42:11To us,

42:12to our family,

42:12all together,

42:13not samengsangying.

42:14Our glasses clinked

42:15with a clear bright ring.

42:16Outside the window,

42:17the cold wind was still howling.

42:18Maybe out there,

42:18people were still starving

42:19and killing,

42:19but in here,

42:20right there,

42:20right then,

42:21there was hot food,

42:21there was light,

42:22there was dad and mom

42:22and my little brother.

42:23That was home.

42:24Even if it was hell out there,

42:24once the door was shut,

42:25that place was paradise.

42:26Looking at it all,

42:27I suddenly felt every bit of suffering

42:28had been worth it.

42:29Dad's eyes shone with the pride

42:30of the man in the family.

42:31On mom's face

42:32was the simplest happiness.

42:33Noah's eyes sparkled

42:34because he had a home.

42:35Right then,

42:36I wished time would just stop forever.

42:37After our dinner,

42:38I stepped out of the cellar alone.

42:40The setting sun drenched the land

42:41in blood red light.

42:42Standing atop the high wall,

42:43I looked down on this place

42:43that had once been nothing but ruin.

42:45Three years ago,

42:45it was a frozen hell

42:46strewn with corpses.

42:47Six months ago,

42:48plague-swollen bodies

42:48floated everywhere.

42:49But now,

42:49green plants blanketed the wreckage.

42:51The terraced fields we carved

42:52snaked down the hillside.

42:53Plastic sheeting on the greenhouses

42:54gleamed in the sunset.

42:55At the village entrance,

42:56the old locust tree

42:56where I buried the clip

42:57was budding,

42:57its new leaves swaying in the breeze.

42:59Smoke curled from the cellar chimney,

43:00carrying that wood-fire smell

43:01and shot straight into the sky.

43:02This wasn't just smoke.

43:03It was proof we were alive.

43:04It was civilization breathing.

43:05I touched my chest.

43:06No jade pendant.

43:07No magic space.

43:07No system.

43:08No cheat codes for us.

43:14Blueprints retrofitting the cellar

43:15and the guts to pull the trigger

43:16when looters showed up.

43:17Kiddo, come grab some fruit.

43:18I cut up a watermelon.

43:19Mom's shout drifted over.

43:20Dad and Noah grumbled

43:21for me to hurry.

43:22I turned around

43:23and stared at that doorway

43:24glowing warm light.

43:24A smile slipped onto my face.

43:25Was the apocalypse over?

43:26Maybe not.

43:27Disasters might come back.

43:28Deep freeze,

43:29scorching heat,

43:29quakes, plagues.

43:30It felt like the earth

43:31is running a long immune response.

43:32But I wasn't scared anymore

43:33because I knew

43:34no matter what tomorrow brought,

43:35our family were a nail

43:36driven deep into this land.

43:38Coming.

43:38I shouted and sprinted

43:39toward the light.

43:40The apocalypse would end

43:41and we would go on living

43:42and we'd live well.

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