As Jake and Markus left the ruins, broken concrete and collapsed walls stretched endlessly behind them, half buried under snow and ice. The air froze their lungs with every breath.
Markus's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He was already shouting, his breath fogging the frozen air.
"Fuck it Jake, can't you move faster? I'm already getting cold in this weather." Markus stomped his feet on the ice. "I don't know why you had to convince Mom that I had to follow you. Why can't you just keep doing all the work? You're the brute and I'm the brains, remember."
You? Brains? Jake sighed.
Jake was already used to Markus's constant ranting, so he ignored it, shoving his hands into his pockets.
'You should be grateful we found anything at all', Jake thought. Lately, it had been getting harder and harder to find supplies in this extreme cold.
They continued along the cracked road toward the shelter hidden beneath layers of steel and reinforced stone. The entrance was carved into a hillside, thick metal doors guarded by heat generators and energy barriers meant to repel frost beasts. Warm air spilled out as the guards opened the doors, a sharp contrast to the deadly cold outside.
They reached their room and knocked. The corridor was narrow, pipes humming softly with circulating heat.
A beautiful middle aged blonde woman, Angela, Jake's stepmother, opened the door.
"Did you finally bring some supplies?" she asked. "You even had to take Markus with you, knowing he has a weak physique in this cold."
"Yeah, we got something," Jake replied.
But she ignored him, hugging Markus and pulling him inside. Then she called out to Markus' girlfriend, Hailey, a pretty blonde with brown eyes watching from the corner.
"Come boil some water for Markus. Gosh, he's freezing."
Hailey helped Markus to the sofa and handed him hot tea. Both of them ignored Jake.
He dropped the supplies on the floor and quietly sat down, pulling off his tattered hoodie.
Angela glanced at the supplies and suddenly shouted, "Even after practically dragging your brother along, you still brought so little." She faced Jake, hands on her waist. "Just three coats, some bread, and four sardines? How are we supposed to manage that?"
Jake lowered his head, fists clenched.
Angela handed the coats to herself, Markus, and Hailey. Markus received two sardines and bread. Angela took one sardine and told Hailey and Jake to share the rest.
Hailey approached Jake, eyes pleading. "Jake please, I need this coat. And as a girl I should take the food. I'm sure you can manage till tomorrow when you go out again."
Jake just stared as she walked away, not even looking back.
Finally, he snapped and stood up. "Do you know I'm also a member of this family? Why do I have to starve and freeze when I'm the one who did all the work?"
Tears streamed down his face but they all just looked at him.
"Jake, don't be heartless, I need the nutrition," Markus said.
Angela looked up. "You should support this family as the eldest son. It is your responsibility to endure the sacrifice."
Jake laughed bitterly and punched the wall. His fist tore open. "I feel like a slave. You don't treat me like family at all."
PANG. PANG. PANG.
The alarm roared through the shelter, shaking the walls.
Shit, not again.
Jake rushed to the door and saw chaos in the corridors. People were running.
"Quick. We have to rush to the inner shelter. That's the frost beast alarm."
The inner shelter was located at the core of the compound, protected by multiple blast doors, thick insulation, and heat cores strong enough to mask human presence. Only a limited number could enter before the gates were sealed.
Markus, Angela, and Hailey grabbed the food and followed Jake into the rushing crowd.
As they ran, Hailey suddenly fell.
"Arrgh!"
"Markus, help!" she screamed.
Markus and Angela glanced back briefly, then kept running.
"Please help, Jake. I hurt my leg."
Jake stopped. He couldn't abandon her.
"You guys go," he shouted. "I'll catch up."
They didn't look back.
Jake pushed through the crowd. "Hailey. Shout."
"Jake. I'm here."
He found her bleeding against a rail.
"Thank you for coming back," she cried. "I knew you wouldn't leave me."
"Get on my back," Jake said. "The gate will close soon."
He carried her, his body weak from hunger and frostbite. When they reached the inner shelter, the reinforced gate slammed shut.
"Open the door," Jake shouted.
A guard replied, "The shelter's full. If we open it, the heat will leak and draw the beasts."
Hailey sobbed. "Jake… am I going to die?"
"No," Jake said softly. "I'll fix this."
He looked through the narrow gap and saw Angela and Markus inside, warm and smiling.
"Mum. Markus. It's me. Let us in."
Angela frowned. "There's no space. Go find another shelter."
"But"
"Don't be selfish," Markus said. "You'll lure the beasts."
Hailey turned to Jake. "Go check the other shelter. I'll persuade them."
Jake nodded and ran but the same thing over there.
When he returned, Hailey was gone.
"Hailey."
A man barked, "She's inside now, the shelter's full."
Jake looked and saw her hugging Markus.
"Hailey. Tell them to open the door."
She hesitated, then whispered, "I'm sorry. It was either you or me."
She hugged Markus tighter as Markus smirked.
"Please," Jake begged as the betrayal struck him hard like a heartache, but Jake refused to give up. He didn't want to die.
"Markus, Mum, please," Jake begged them, and from his voice shaking in despair, anyone could tell he was desperate.
Angela stood up, packing their stuff and moving away from where they sat as she was already fed up with the noise. "Stop shouting and get out of here! Just go, how foolish can you be, trusting the wrong people?"
"How…how can they do this to me after all that I have done for the family?" Jake stared in disbelief and spoke out in a low tone.
"Do you want to lure the beasts here? Get out!!" Markus barked at him with anger, then left with them, holding Hailey's waist tightly.
Something shattered in Jake's chest. In that moment, clarity washed over him.
'I guess this is it, this is the end.' No one would save him. No one ever intended to.
He staggered away, his body already weak from hunger, exhaustion and frostbite as he moved through the icy ground, looking for a place to hide.
That's when a low growl from in front stopped his movements.
The icy mist parted and an enormous ice wolf stepped forward, its breath freezing the air.
Jake's heart started pumping fast and his body immediately began trembling with fear.
'Oh God! No no, run Jake, run, run. Fucking run!!!' He shouted in his mind several times as his body refused to obey, and at the last shout his body moved and he started running.
Immediately as he ran, the beast also chased him down.
Jake ran as long as his legs could, panting really hard, and when he couldn't feel his legs again he stumbled and fell, scraping against the frozen ground, his knees bruised from the fall.
ROAR!!!
The beast pounced at him, but Jake rolled, shifting to the right and avoiding the frost wolf.
He dashed to the nearest building, the wolf chasing him down at a much faster speed. He ran up the stairs and finally spotted an iron rod against a wall. Jake quickly picked it and faced the wolf.
The beast lunged at Jake as he swung the rod, hitting the snout of the wolf, but the wolf was unfazed. Instead, it dove to bite through the rod and clamped down on Jake's arm.
CRACK.
Jake heard his bones breaking as the wolf's teeth shattered his arm bones. He shook from the pain, screaming, "Ahhhh shit… ahhh fuck!!"
He threw blows trying to get it off his arm, but he was too weak to make an impact as the frost wolf clamped harder on his arm and bit it off.
"Ahhhhh!"
Jake cried as blood spurted from his arm, but he steeled himself and ran out of the building, closing the door with his other left arm.
Jake staggered as he ran, but he felt dizzy from the blood loss.
'I can't die. I have to live, can't die!!' he repeated as he ran.
He finally spotted a hidden corner where he ran to hide, resting against the wall as he tried to stop the blood from his torn arm, when he heard another growl from behind him.
Jake tried to turn when another frost beast slammed him into the wall.
CRACK.
His ribs shattered. Jake felt like all his internal organs had turned to mush as blood filled his mouth.
The frost wolf from earlier emerged, and a giant cat with frozen claws both cornered him, one at the front, another at his back. They lunged, the wolf grabbing his other arm and the cat his leg as they tore them from him.
"Please, stop," Jake screamed. "Help, please. I don't want to die."
But no one came as the wolf bit his chest, its claws ripping through. Blood blurred his vision as his life flashed before him the betrayal, the lies, the love that meant nothing.
"If only I could go back," he whispered.
"It's..over…now."
That was Jake's last word, and then death reaped out his soul and he was no more
Jake's eyes suddenly snapped open as he gasped, rubbing all over his body, staring around the room, sweat soaking his clothes.
He grabbed his phone with shaking hands.
6:00 pm April 4, 2024.
"It should be June, why is it April?"
He looked outside the window and saw everything was normal. It didn't look like an apocalypse had happened.
Jake was extremely shocked as he paced the room, breathing hard.
"The apocalypse started June 7th. Is this really happening? Or am I just dreaming of a life I lost?"
He spoke to himself like he was going insane, but then he thought about how he had brutally died and tears dropped down his face.
"But if it's real…," he muttered, remembering who had caused his death, "then they'll all pay."
"Angela. Markus. Hailey. This time, I'll take everything."
A knock interrupted him.
Jake cleaned himself up as he opened the door.
Angela stood outside, arms crossed. "Why did you take so long?"
"Was busy," Jake replied coldly, still angry at their betrayal.
Angela looked at him, surprised by his tone, but told him, "Ok, come to the living room."
In the living room, Markus and Hailey sat together.
Angela said, "Markus and Hailey are dating now and they'll announce their engagement soon. I know you were dating before, but she suits Markus better than you and we'll find another girl for you."
They waited for him to break, but instead Jake's facial expression gave them no response.
"Good riddance. It's about time. Anyways, I was going to break up with her. Also, while we are at it, I want to terminate the adoption. I won't stay in this family."
They all stared at him in shock as their whole faces were filled with utmost disbelief.
Angela's cup froze halfway to her lips. Markus stood up from his seat. Hailey's eyes widened, and for just a second, her sweet expression slipped—showing something cold underneath.
Jake looked at each of them.
This was just the beginning.