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[Dubbed]This Time, We Live - FULL EP 2026
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Ā”SuscrĆbete al canal!
00:30The cicadas screamed deafeningly outside.
00:31I fumbled for my phone.
00:32It was July 15th, 2025.
00:3435 degrees.
00:35I was alive.
00:35My hand flew to the jade pendant on my chest, reaching for that so-called storage space.
00:38Nothing.
00:39I tried to summon the system in my mind.
00:40Nothing.
00:40Just nothing.
00:41Only the balance on my banking app and the very real sun blazing outside.
00:44No superpowers.
00:45No magic space.
00:46But I had my memories.
00:46I had my mind.
00:47And I had Mom and Dad.
00:48Wendy.
00:49My bedroom door creaked open.
00:50Mom and Dad stood there.
00:50Their look shifting from confusion to shock to pure joy the moment they saw me.
00:53They were back too.
00:54The three of us held each other tight.
00:55Dad's hands were shaking.
00:56Mom's tears were burning hot on my skin.
00:57This time around, we're not being saints.
00:59Dad said, wiping his face, his gaze sharp and focused.
01:01So what if we don't have a magic space?
01:02We have our hands.
01:03We have this house.
01:04Until it hits 70 below, we can build ourselves a shelter to survive.
01:07Let's take stock.
01:08Mom made a beeline for the safe, dumping the deed, the car keys, the gold bars onto the bed.
01:12Wendy, check every penny we have available.
01:14David, sell the house.
01:16Fast for cash.
01:17I took a deep breath, opened my banking app.
01:19No loans, no overdraft.
01:21This was our family's blood money.
01:22Every cent had to count.
01:24Only 30 days left until the end of the world.
01:26The doorbell rang.
01:27Even through the door, I could smell that sickly fake kindness.
01:30It's Jenny.
01:30Last time around, she's here to beg for money for Dave's business.
01:33I opened the door.
01:34Jenny dragged a suitcase, acting like the world owed her everything.
01:36Wendy, are mom and dad home?
01:37Give me $71,000 now, or I'll never come back.
01:39Last life, to scrape that money together, I emptied my entire bank account.
01:42This life, I glanced back at mom and dad on the couch.
01:44Mom's furiously punching numbers into a calculator, not even looking up.
01:47Sure.
01:47Jenny froze.
01:48She didn't expect it to be this easy.
01:49A grin started to spread across her face.
01:50Wait.
01:51Dad stubbed out his cigarette.
01:52He pulled a document from his briefcase, already prepared.
01:54Sign this first.
01:55A gift agreement and declaration of severance of relations.
01:56Dad, what do you mean?
01:58It means this money buys you out of this family.
02:00Dad's voice was cold.
02:02Take the money.
02:02From now on, live or die, you're on your own.
02:04We're selling this house tomorrow.
02:05You won't have a home to come back to.
02:06Selling the house?
02:07Are you insane?
02:07Jenny stared at us.
02:08You're selling the house just to force me to break up with him?
02:10Cut the crap.
02:10Sign it or not.
02:11I tossed the pen in front of her.
02:12No signature, no money.
02:13Sign it, and the $71,000 is yours.
02:15Do whatever you want.
02:15Jenny stared at the check.
02:16Her greed won.
02:17She thought we were bluffing.
02:19Fine, I'll sign.
02:19Once Dave and I are rich, don't come crawling back to us.
02:21She scribbled her name, grabbed the check, and left.
02:23As the door clicked shut, Mom's hand trembled slightly.
02:26But she steadied herself fast.
02:27One less mouth to feed.
02:28The leftover grain will last us three more years.
02:29Next comes the real fight.
02:31We've got 1.4 million to work with.
02:32We need a truck modified to handle extreme cold.
02:34Hundreds of tons of coal.
02:35We need to retrofit the old cellar.
02:36And enough food to last us a decade.
02:38Against the apocalypse, 1.4 million was a drop in the bucket.
02:40Back to the village.
02:41Dad looked around the empty house, his gaze resolute.
02:43To the bomb shelter.
02:43That's the only place with professional insulation that can survive 70 below.
02:46The backyard of the old house in Linton Village would be our final fortress.
02:49With 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.
02:58Blueprints in hand.
02:59And roared at the construction crew we'd hired from the city.
03:02I don't want insulation.
03:03I want a seal.
03:05A 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.
03:19I 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?
03:26Sold your city house just to come back to collect junk?
03:28I was hauling a 25-key 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.
03:34Figured I'd try the wholesale business.
03:35I looked up at the sky.
03:36The 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.
03:46Her face pale.
03:47Wendy, we have a problem.
03:49We're running out of money.
03:49We haven't bought the diesel generator yet.
03:51And we're only halfway on winter clothes.
03:53Sell it.
03:54I looked at the van in the yard.
03:55Our last hauler.
03:57Then at the gold bangle on my wrist.
03:58Sell everything but the clothes on our backs.
04:00Only three days left.
04:01The temperature started acting strange.
04:0340 degrees during the day, then plunging to 10 at night.
04:05The wild swings had the village dogs howling all night long.
04:07In 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, bricked up the windows, left just a
04:15tiny hatch to grab it, and camouflaged it with weeds.
04:17Our biggest crisis is the diesel.
04:19Though we had a geothermal heater, the generator was our last line of defense for electricity.
04:21In a country tightly controlled, stockpiling tons of diesel was nearly impossible.
04:24David, the construction crew's gone.
04:26But 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, a 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.
04:37Cash, 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.
04:45A black line pulsing like an artery, pumping precious diesel into the tank buried in the
04:49ground.
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?
04:54That was the smell of diesel.
04:55My heart seized.
04:56I gripped my flashlight tight and smiled back.
04:58Nothing, Mrs. Ward?
04:59Just clearing out the biogas digester.
05:00It 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, temperatures are expected to drop sharply over
05:16the next 24 hours.
05:17I checked the phone.
05:18Jenny sent a picture of her enjoying seafood in a fancy restaurant.
05:20Fools feed mosquitoes in the country.
05:21I enjoy the view from a presidential suite.
05:23August 15th, noon.
05:24The blinding sun suddenly seemed snuffed out by a gray cloth.
05:26Not a cloud in the sky.
05:27Yet 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.
05:33It was survival instinct, etched into his bones.
05:35The three of us scrambled into the cellar.
05:36Just as we'd rehearsed, Dad first slammed shut the outer camouflaged wooden door.
05:39Then the heavy blast-proof steel door.
05:40Up at the 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.
05:5230 degrees.
05:5320 degrees.
05:54In just 10 minutes, the temperature plunged below freezing.
05:56Rain began to fall, freezing instantly on the ground.
05:57Then came the snow.
05:58Thick, heavy flakes.
05:59Each one the size of a palm.
06:00Gray and city.
06:00Smelling 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.
06:10Don'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.
06:19Like 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.
06:25Inside 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.
06:34Checking the seals.
06:35Dad said.
06:35Detector 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.
06:40Mom, meanwhile, had dug out a small coal stove from our supplies.
06:42Let'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.
06:48Noodles, three fried eggs, topped with chili crisp and spam.
06:51But at a time like this, a 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.
06:59I scrolled through my feed.
07:00Just people screaming for help.
07:01What's going on?
07:01My AC is set to 30 and I'm still freezing.
07:03My window's shattered.
07:03The cold just shattered them.
07:04Then a message popped up.
07:06It was from Jenny.
07:06Wendy, what's wrong?
07:07The hotel lost power.
07:08The AC is down.
07:09We're freezing to death.
07:10Don't rural houses have heated brick beds?
07:11Come get us.
07:12I stared at the screen coldly.
07:13Typed back.
07:14Roads are closed.
07:15Trucks frozen solid.
07:15Can't make it.
07:16Then I blocked her.
07:16I just put my phone down when a dull, heavy thud came from the ventilation shaft above.
07:19Thump.
07:20Thump.
07:20Someone was up there, pounding on our camouflage.
07:21The 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.
07:28They're seeking shelter.
07:29Good thing we camouflaged the entrance.
07:30Piled it high with scrap wood and bricks.
07:31They 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.
07:37Over the next three days, the temperature plunged past 40 below.
07:39Life in the cellar was dull and suffocating.
07:41No internet.
07:41No entertainment.
07:42Just dim lights and the endless howl of the wind.
07:44To 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.
07:52Through the viewport, I watched a group of villagers wrapped in quilts, axes, and crowbars
07:56in hand, battering on Mrs. Ward's door.
07:58Mrs. Ward, we're all neighbors here.
07:59Just lend us some coal.
08:00Open up, or we'll break it down.
08:01I could just make out Mrs. Ward's screams.
08:03Then the sound of splintering wood.
08:04The screaming stopped in under five minutes.
08:06The villagers emerged, dragging two sacks of coal.
08:08One of their axes was smeared with blood.
08:09They'll find us soon enough, Dad said, wiping down his compound bow.
08:12It was his only long-range weapon.
08:13Our chimneys rigged to disperse the smoke, but that small heat signal won't hide from
08:16thermal imaging or 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.
08:24They'd found us.
08:25But Dad wasn't worried.
08:26We'd built this place for exactly this moment.
08:28Baldi Rick called the others, and they started digging at the vent.
08:30Zap!
08:31The second their fingers touched the vent's protective mesh, a blue-purple arc of electricity
08:34flashed.
08:34It 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.
08:38Ah, the screams came from outside.
08:40It's electrified.
08:41That old man was ready for us.
08:42In 40 below weather, if you get hurt, or even just panicked enough to sweat, hypothermia
08:46sets in fast.
08:46They didn't stick around.
08:47They cursed a few times and retreated.
08:48But this was only the beginning.
08:49The real crisis came that night.
08:50The entire region's power grid collapsed.
08:52Until then, we'd still seen the town's faint glow.
08:53In 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.
08:58We 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, in the dead silence underground, you could still feel the
09:05floor vibrate.
09:06With power back, we switched on the old radio.
09:08A crackling voice came through.
09:09Fading in and out.
09:09Global catastrophe.
09:10Shelter in place.
09:10Await rescue.
09:11Mom was counting the remaining coal when her face suddenly went pale.
09:13Linton.
09:14Look at this corner.
09:15On the southeast wall of the cellar, a layer of frost had formed.
09:17Did we mess up the aerogel, or...
09:18Dad walked over and touched it.
09:19His face turned ashen.
09:20No, the cold's getting through.
09:21The ground outside is frozen 10 feet deep now.
09:23The cold is penetrating the concrete.
09:24If it hits 70 below, our insulation might not hold.
09:27Cut back to the city.
09:28The once glamorous five-star hotel was now a giant ice coffin.
09:31Jenny was wrapped in an expensive mink coat, yet she's still shaking like a leaf.
09:33Dave huddled in a corner, wrapped in every curtain he could find.
09:36All the wooden furniture has been chopped up and burned.
09:38Even that pricey European-style bed went up in flames.
09:40No food left.
09:41Dave's voice was raw.
09:41His eyes cold and predatory.
09:42That 71,000 was long gone.
09:44Spent on designer bags, a watch, and this useless mink coat.
09:46They never even bought a single case of instant noodles.
09:48Let's go to your sisters.
09:49Dave stood up abruptly, a manic gleam in his eyes.
09:51She must have planned ahead.
09:52They've got heated brick beds and firewood.
09:54But how?
09:54It's 50 below outside.
09:56Jenny wailed.
09:56I've got a car.
09:57Dave flashed a set of keys he'd taken off a corpse in the parking garage.
09:59An SUV.
10:00It's been modded.
10:01It'll still run.
10:01As long as we don't die on the road, we live.
10:03They charge out of the hotel like rabid dogs.
10:05Frozen corpses littered the streets.
10:06Some were stuck mid-crawl.
10:07Others still pounding on shop doors.
10:09Tonight, luck sided with the wicked.
10:10The SUV actually roared to life, and the tank was full.
10:12They smashed through ice statues and wrecks, barreling toward Linton Village.
10:15One day later, at the village entrance, a smoking SUV slammed into the old locust tree.
10:18The door swung open.
10:19Two ghost-like figures crawled out.
10:21Jenny's face was already purple from the cold.
10:22She stares at the old Linton house ahead.
10:23Its outline not yet buried in snow.
10:24Her tears froze on her cheeks.
10:25We made it, Dave.
10:26We're gonna live.
10:27We were having dinner.
10:28To keep warm, we were eating high-calorie rice mixed with pork lard.
10:30Plus, there's a big pot of stew.
10:31Suddenly, the buzzer by the viewport went off.
10:32Someone's coming.
10:33I leaned over to look, and my pupils shrank hard.
10:35It's Jenny and Dave, but they were not alone.
10:37Trailing behind were three more, Baldy Rick's crew.
10:39Wendy, Dad, Mom, it's me, Jenny.
10:41Jenny's voice blared through the loudspeaker, jarring in this death-quiet village.
10:45I know you're in there.
10:45Dave told me everything.
10:47You sold the house and the car and brought back 1-4 million.
10:48You must have food for days in there.
10:50Damn it.
10:50What a moron.
10:51Just so Baldy Rick would lead them or spare them, she went and spilled all our secrets.
10:54Neighbors, Jenny yelled to the crowd.
10:56My parents are right down there.
10:57They've stashed a ton of supplies.
10:58Bust that door open, and we all get to live.
11:00That kill with a borrowed knife move was brutal.
11:01The villagers were only guessing before.
11:02Now they were sure.
11:031.4 million worth of supplies.
11:04How much food and coal was that?
11:05Break it down.
11:05Baldy Rick snarled.
11:06Eyes bloodshot, and he waved his hand.
11:07Pickaxes and sledgehammers rained down on our first blast-proof door.
11:09In the cellar, Mom's hands shook, clutching Dad's arm tightly.
11:12Dad's face was like stone.
11:13He set down his bowl and chopsticks.
11:14He strode to the control panel and twisted the valve on the hand pump.
11:17It's not hooked to the well, but to a high-pressure water line he buried at the entrance.
11:20At minus 50 degrees out there, water was the nastiest weapon around.
11:22Open the valve, Dad ordered coldly.
11:23I slammed the lever down.
11:24Nozzles hidden above the door blasted out a cloud of mist.
11:27And it's not just water.
11:28Dad dumped in a mountain of salt, dropping the freezing point, keeping it liquid until the spray.
11:31The moment it hit anything, the windchill flash froze it solid.
11:34Screams erupted outside the door.
11:35The ones swinging the tools got drenched, and in seconds their clothes turned to iron-hard ice.
11:38Their hands were welded to the handles.
11:40Then I saw Dave ducking behind Jenny, using her as a human shield.
11:43Jenny's coated in frozen shards, locked in place like an ice statue.
11:45Her eyes full of stunned despair.
11:47Ah, the scream was torn apart by the savage wind.
11:49The high-pressure sprinkler system Dad built was supposed to rinse hazmat suits.
11:52But then it was our deadliest defense.
11:54The brine it spat out was crazy strong.
11:55And the second it hit air at 50 below, it turned into super-cooled mist.
11:59The moment that mist hit anything, it ripped the heat right out, forming a rock-hard ice shell.
12:03Baldi Rick was in the lead, raising a homemade shotgun and got blasted full in the face.
12:07Crack.
12:07Before he could even pull the trigger, his fingers froze solid.
12:09No way to bend them.
12:10Next, his eyelashes.
12:11Stubble.
12:12Even the steam from his breath turned white with frost in seconds.
12:14He tried to wipe his face in panic, but the glove was stuck to his skin.
12:17Dave, help me!
12:18Jenny's scream twisted with terror.
12:20Through the viewport, I saw a scene that made my blood run cold.
12:22The instant the mist erupted, the guy who kept saying he loved her, promising he'd keep her alive, Dave, didn't
12:25hesitate.
12:26He yanked Jenny over, planting her right in front of him.
12:29That pricey mink coat she was wearing turned into a soaking sponge.
12:32Icy water soaked the fur, clinging to her skinny body.
12:34She became Dave's human shield.
12:35You are crazy, so cold.
12:36Dave, what are you doing?
12:37Jenny struggled desperately, but Dave gripped her shoulders tightly, hiding behind her shivering body.
12:42His eyes were full of desperate survival instinct and hatred towards us.
12:44Don't move.
12:44You're my girlfriend.
12:45You have to protect me.
12:46Dave yelled, his voice trembling.
12:47Wendy, you bitch, open the door, or your sister would freeze to death.
12:50At that moment, Jenny stopped struggling.
12:52Well, she wanted to, but she was frozen stiff.
12:54That mink coat turned into dozens of pounds of ice armor, sealing her firmly in place.
12:57Her face was turned toward our viewport, her expression changing from terror to anger, and finally to hopeless stupor.
13:01Baldi Rick's two lackeys were rolling on the ground, but the more they rolled, the thicker the ice layer on
13:04them became, until they could only twitch in the snow.
13:06Although Baldi Rick was strong, he then knelt on the ground, like an eerie ice sculpture making a broken bellow
13:10sound from his mouth.
13:11Was the threat gone?
13:11No.
13:12Dad suddenly pointed at a corner of the monitor.
13:13Dave isn't dead yet.
13:14He didn't get much water on him.
13:15And what is he doing?
13:16On the screen, Dave saw that Jenny had stopped moving, and actually pushed her down.
13:19He took out a simple Molotov cocktail made from a plastic bottle, lit the fuse, and charged madly towards our
13:24air vent.
13:24Die.
13:25All of you die.
13:26Boom.
13:26The Molotov smashed into the vent's protective cover.
13:28Flames shot up, but in this deep freeze, they died in seconds.
13:30Dad had already wrapped the vent with double fireproof insulation.
13:32That splash of gas burned for barely 30 seconds before the wind snuffed it.
13:35But Dave didn't stop.
13:36Like a crazed gambler, he raised his crowbar and beat the hell out of our vent pipe.
13:39Come out.
13:40Give me food.
13:40I've got cash.
13:41That stupid bitch gave me all her money.
13:42I can pay you.
13:43He kept smashing while raving like a lunatic, but he forgot this was a minus 50 degree hell.
13:47That shove earlier, though it spared him most of the mist, still left his pant legs soaked.
13:50Through the viewport, I stared at him, ice cold.
13:52His wings slowed and slowed.
13:53Five minutes later, the pounding stopped.
13:54Dave stayed kneeling, hands clawing the doorframe, face plastered to the frozen steel, eyes wide
13:58open, dead and staring.
13:59Outside the door, five ice statues became the Linton Cellar's new guards.
14:02This fight erased the threat, but it also blew our cover.
14:04Those statues were both warning and landmark.
14:06At dawn, Dad did his routine instrument check.
14:08Suddenly, his face went ghost white, and his fingers shook as he tapped the barometer.
14:12Crap.
14:13What's wrong?
14:13My heart lurched.
14:14Not the gauge.
14:15Dad said, turning around, fear swimming in his eyes.
14:17It's the pressure.
14:18It's plummeting.
14:19That means a super blizzard is coming.
14:21The kind of wind that rips houses out by the roots.
14:22And right now, our cellar door, after last night's spray, is sealed under a thick sheet
14:26of ice.
14:26If the exhaust pipe gets buried in snow, we'll suffocate in here.
14:29That legendary blizzard was even nastier than we'd feared.
14:31The surface wasn't howling anymore.
14:33All we heard was billions of tons of sand and great grinding steel.
14:35Then, the cellar's oxygen monitor flashed blinding red.
14:38Carbon dioxide levels were rising rapidly.
14:39The vent pipe's totally clogged.
14:40Snow's too heavy, or the camouflage layer caved in.
14:42If we didn't clear it now, we would suffocate in under three hours.
14:45Do it.
14:45Dad didn't hesitate.
14:46He hauled out a spare industrial hydraulic jack and an extra long alloy drill bit, lining them
14:49up with the emergency shaft.
14:50I gripped the drill rod with everything I had.
14:51Mom cranked the blower like crazy, trying to squeeze out every last puff of air.
14:54The lack of oxygen made me see stars.
14:55My lungs burned like fire.
14:56Ten minutes in, the bit jammed with a thud.
14:58Metal hit.
14:59Dad actually smiled.
15:00It's a car's underbelly.
15:01The wind had flipped one and parked it right over the shaft.
15:03The jack groaned under the load.
15:05With a dull boom, Thalma warped overhead.
15:07A blast of icy, blissfully sweet air poured in.
15:09We gulped it down like attics.
15:11Dad shoved the hatch open.
15:12I slid the periscope through the gap.
15:14So it was Baldy Rick's off-roader.
15:15It was a giant lid shielding us from the drifts.
15:17I tilted the scope farther out.
15:19My heart clenched.
15:19Across the dead, silent white plain, a messy trail of fresh footprints snaked away.
15:23Following the footprints, I tweaked the periscope's focus.
15:25Three hunched figures slid into view.
15:26Leading them was Limp Larry from the village.
15:28Usually a quiet, harmless guy, now he had two half-starved villagers in tow,
15:31going nuts on the lock of the public granary.
15:32The door finally gave way.
15:33Inside, nothing but emptiness.
15:34Just a few moldy grains of old rice and rat shit in the corner.
15:36In that moment, the last fig leaf of humanity got ripped off.
15:39Without a word, Larry swung half a brick into the back of his buddy's head.
15:42Blood splattered on the snow like a blinding red flower.
15:44He wasted no time finishing off two guys, claimed the bag of rat shit-laced moldy rice all for himself,
15:47grabbed a fistful and crammed it into his mouth.
15:48Down in the cellar, I was having lunch.
15:50A steaming, self-heating meal.
15:51Curry beef.
15:51It's smell filling the room.
15:53When hunger takes over, humanity is gone.
15:54Dad lifted a chunk of beef, staring at the monitor, stone-faced.
15:56That's the apocalypse for you.
15:57Some murder for a bite of rotten rice, while others feast on meat in a warm cellar.
16:00On screen, Larry dragged the bloody rice bag, heading back, then suddenly froze.
16:03Beyond a snowy ridge, three pairs of eerie green eyes lit up.
16:06Those were three starved wolves.
16:07Any beast tough enough to survive this frozen hell is among the elite.
16:10Larry never even got the chance to run.
16:11The first wolf struck like lightning, snapping his calves.
16:13The second wolf went straight for his throat.
16:15His screams blasted through the cellar mics and lasted a good ten seconds.
16:17Blood splattered across the snow and froze in an instant.
16:19The sack of moldy rice, bought with two lives, spilled everywhere.
16:21The wolves didn't spare at a glance.
16:22After filling their bellies, they still didn't leave.
16:24The three wolves paced around our vent.
16:26Nostrils flaring, they caught the faintest whiff of human scent.
16:28Reinforce it.
16:28Dad set down his bowl in chopsticks.
16:29He turned toward the workbench and instantly welded a row of barbed iron grates behind the
16:32blast door.
16:32Anyone who forces their way in dies.
16:34While mom was sorting the coal for heating, she suddenly yelped.
16:36David, look.
16:37At the bottom compartment of the coal bin, a metal case clattered out.
16:39Inside were ten boxes of amoxicillin.
16:41The coal seller had tossed them in for free.
16:42We didn't think much of it back then, but now it's priceless, life-saving stuff.
16:45Just as we were celebrating the windfall, the silent shortwave radio suddenly lit up
16:48red.
16:49After a burst of static, a strange man spoke, chuckling like a freak.
16:51Found it.
16:52Linton Village?
16:52Got ourselves a fat sheep.
16:53Tomorrow we'll hit.
16:54Bring the flamethrower.
16:55Burn through that damn turtle shell.
16:56The electric buzz sounded like nails screeching on a chalkboard.
16:58Dad tweaked the old shortwave set.
16:59His face flickered red in the indicator glow.
17:01That stranger's voice cut in again.
17:03So clear it felt like he was whispering in my ear.
17:04Confirmed.
17:05It is that house.
17:05Baldi Rick died there a few days ago.
17:07Ice statue stood at the door.
17:08Impossible to miss.
17:08Our trophies?
17:09The corpses that froze right outside ended up nothing but bait for vultures.
17:12It was down underground.
17:13There is a big stash for shore.
17:14No one even frisked those ice statues.
17:15Dad killed the volume.
17:16The cellar fell dead silent.
17:17Gear up for a fight.
17:18That time we were done playing defense.
17:20Mom dug through the supplies and pulled out a few bottles of high-proof alcohol, the
17:22ones she'd never let us touch on a normal day, but now she smashed the next clean-off.
17:25She poured the liquor into glass bottles, stuffed greasy rags in for wicks.
17:28I sat by the whetstone, compound bow in hand.
17:31The arrowhead rasped against the stone in rhythm, cold steel flashing.
17:33No fear, just adrenaline cool focus.
17:35In a world that preys on the weak, being soft is a death sentence.
17:37Late that night, the radio crackled with that voice again.
17:39Cocky as hell, like he'd already won.
17:40We'll hit after midnight tomorrow.
17:41Just the three of us.
17:42More people means less for everyone.
17:43No way those bastards survive a flamethrower.
17:45Midnight, blizzard raging outside.
17:46A roar shattered the silence.
17:47Three snowmobiles burst through the storm like ghosts.
17:49They stopped at our cellar door.
17:50Through the periscope, I spotted three figures wrapped up tight.
17:53No chit-chat?
17:54The leader just waved.
17:55A guy with a huge tank on his back stepped up.
17:57A 30-foot fire dragon spewed out instantly.
17:59It was an industrial flamethrower.
18:01Orange flames roared in the 50 below, looking downright eerie in this frozen world.
18:03The thick ice sealing the door melted fast, hissing into scalding steam.
18:07Right after that, the outer blast door started to discolor,
18:08changing from iron black to dark red, then cherry red.
18:11Beep, beep, beep.
18:11The cellar's temperature alarm screamed like mad.
18:13A second ago, it was freezing.
18:14Now it's an oven.
18:15We tore off our polar suits.
18:16Sweat streamed down our faces.
18:18Heat rushed in through the cracks, reeking of burnt metal.
18:20This door won't hold much longer.
18:21The sealant's already melting.
18:22Mom tightened her grip on a Molotov.
18:23Dad stayed cool, eyes locked on the monitor, hand hovering over a red button.
18:26That's a dry powder suppression rig he'd built for fire safety.
18:28But right now, the nozzles aren't loaded with suppressant.
18:30They're packed with pure starch he swiped from the mill.
18:32Want fire?
18:33I'll give you a damn inferno.
18:34Dad smashed the button.
18:36The pressure vent above the doorframe suddenly shot out two streams of white mist.
18:39That wasn't smoke.
18:40It was ultrafine flower dust.
18:41Under pressure, it blanketed the whole doorway in an instant.
18:44The concentration was insane.
18:45It enveloped the flamethrower punk.
18:46Clearly, the guy had skipped physics class.
18:48He didn't even have time to react.
18:49His fingers still clamped on the trigger.
18:50Open flame, sealed spay plus flower dust.
18:52Boom, a deafening blast.
18:54Like thunder.
18:55A huge shockwave, all Fikars swallowed everything at the door.
18:57The periscope screen went all white.
18:59Then the whole place shuddered, dust sifting down on our heads.
19:01A few seconds later, the view cleared.
19:03A scorched patch stained the snow.
19:04The guy with the flamethrower was gone.
19:06Or rather, he was just a lump of unrecognizable charcoal.
19:08Another thug.
19:09Closer in, got hurled 30 feet, left hanging from a dead branch.
19:11His fate unknown.
19:12We won?
19:12I tightened my grip on my bow.
19:13Not yet.
19:13Dad stared at the screen.
19:14The leader was lucky.
19:15He'd stood farther back, so the blast only knocked him over.
19:17His face was a mess of blood.
19:18One arm twisted at a sick angle, yet he staggered to his feet.
19:21He grinned ferociously.
19:22With his good left hand, he pulled out a dark green thing.
19:25He pulled the pin, pressed it firmly against the deformed door gap.
19:27Come out, or I'll let go.
19:29We'll all be blown to bits.
19:30Don't do anything stupid.
19:33Don't even sound like me.
19:35That thing might blow a hole at best, but I'm on top of a mountain of dynamite.
19:37There's 10 tons of TNT right under my feet.
19:39You drop that pin, and we'll all go up in smoke.
19:40Total bullshit, of course.
19:41But in this life-or-death moment, it's about who's more scared to die.
19:44Sure enough, the leader's eyes flickered.
19:45The fingers clutching the grenade pin went stiff.
19:47He was weighing his odds, hesitating.
19:48And in that split second, Dad stood straight at the firing port.
19:51His compound bow fully drawn, drink humming tight.
19:53Through the scope, the guy's wrist filled the view.
19:56The string snapped.
19:57A custom carbon steel arrow sliced the air, punching straight through his right wrist,
20:00pinning his hand to the frozen dirt by the doorframe.
20:02Ah, the searing pain made him let go.
20:04The grenade clattered down the steps and landed in a snowbank.
20:07The blast went off about 30 feet out, kicking up a cloud of snow, but the blast door didn't
20:10even flinch.
20:11Before he could snap back from the pain, Mom had already lit a Molotov and lobbed it clean
20:14through the throw port.
20:15Flames instantly engulfed the struggling figure.
20:17We stayed inside, watching them through the screen turn into three charred corpses,
20:20emitting black smoke until they stopped moving.
20:21Half an hour later, confirmed safety.
20:23Dad went out to clean up the battlefield.
20:24In the arms of the leader's charred body was a fireproof bag.
20:26Inside was a hand-drawn map.
20:28Linton Village was circled in red.
20:29Next to it was marked, Suspected Groundwater Entrance.
20:31That map made Dad's eyes light up like never before.
20:33If we can get running water, our whole life will change.
20:35Dad pointed at the contour lines on the map.
20:36Groundwater stays at a steady temperature and never runs dry.
20:38Way better than hoarding cases of bottled water.
20:39Following the map, the potential groundwater entrance was right under our foundation.
20:43For the next three days, the cellar became a work site.
20:45We took shifts.
20:46In this basement, barely 200 square feet, we started digging down in one corner.
20:48That was a tough job.
20:49The frozen ground below was hard as iron.
20:50Every shovel strike shook our hands numb.
20:52We had to drill pilot holes first, then chip away with pickaxes inch by inch.
20:55Sweat ran down our spines, cooling the second it hit the cold air.
20:57To spare our strength, we added an extra compressed biscuit to every meal.
20:59The cramped space reeked of wet earth and sweat.
21:02Yet no one complained.
21:03We all knew at the end of the world, water was life, a harder currency than food.
21:07Late on the third night, we were nearly 10 feet down.
21:09Dad was swinging the pickaxe when he suddenly froze.
21:11Thud, no more dull thump.
21:13This one rang hollow.
21:14He tapped again gently.
21:15A chunk of solid earth caved in, opening a pitch black hole.
21:18A moist, chilly draft wafted up from below.
21:21The flashlight beam sliced through years of stale darkness.
21:23Under that opening, there was a man-made tunnel.
21:25Moss carpeted the concrete walls.
21:27Faded red slogans from decades ago were still visible.
21:29So, this was the abandoned shelter from famine and war days village elders talked about.
21:32Dad clipped onto the safety rope and went down first.
21:35Ten minutes later, his trembling voice crackled over the radio.
21:37Get down here.
21:38Nah, it's real flowing water.
21:39Mom and I slid down the rope ladder and squeezed through a narrow passage.
21:42Suddenly, the space opened up.
21:42At the tunnel's end, an underground river flowed quietly.
21:45It wasn't big, but under the flashlight, the surface shimmered.
21:47I dipped a hand in.
21:48The water was actually warmish.
21:49Four degrees.
21:50Dad read the thermometer.
21:51His cheeks flushed with excitement.
21:52This is the underground thermostatic layer.
21:53The water hasn't frozen.
21:53We can rig a circulation system, use the heat to warm the cellar, maybe even take a bath.
21:57In this frozen hell of 50 below, liquid water at four degrees feels like a hot spring.
22:01We stared at the river, greedy as if it were liquid diamonds.
22:03But then, just as I knelt on the damp ground for a sample, my beams swept the muddy bank,
22:07and I froze.
22:08On the soft, wet soil was a clear line of footprints.
22:10They were tiny, barefoot, toes dug deep into the mud.
22:13The soil was still wet.
22:14Aside from us, in this bottomless underground maze, someone else was alive.
22:17Following the trail of wet little footprints, we crept through the maze-like shelter like
22:20hunters.
22:20Around a bend, stacked with moldy wooden crates, our flashlight locked onto a dark corner.
22:23Something was huddling there, thin.
22:25The kind of sickly thin that comes from way too long without food.
22:26Rags hung off his body, and the skin was corpse pale.
22:29If not for those wide, terrified eyes, I'd have sworn it was a skeleton.
22:32It was the mute orphan from our village, Noah.
22:34He was clutching a dead rat, dark blood smeared at the corner of his mouth.
22:37Beside him lay a pile of moss-like green plants.
22:39Dad's compound bow snapped up.
22:41The arrow aimed right between his eyes.
22:42In an era where supplies are worth more than lives, an extra mouth is a huge risk.
22:44Worse, he'd just found out our water secret.
22:46Noah didn't fight back.
22:47He just shut his eyes in despair, shaking like a leaf in a storm.
22:49For a few seconds, it was so silent we only heard the water running.
22:51Screw it.
22:52Dad lowered the bow, pulled two cold, rock-hard buns, and tossed them over.
22:54Noah's eyes flew open, and he pounced like a starving animal, swallowing them whole without
22:58a chew.
22:58When he was done, he suddenly crawled over, slammed his head to the ground in thanks, then pointed straight
23:01up.
23:01He spread his arms wide, tracing a huge circle, letting out urgent ah-ah sounds.
23:04He clenched his fists and mimed, holding a steering wheel.
23:07Then he drew a finger across his throat.
23:09He was warning us.
23:09Something was up there, and it killed.
23:11Just got back to the cellar.
23:12I hadn't even caught my breath.
23:13The ground suddenly started to quake.
23:14It's not an earthquake.
23:15Some heavy rig was grinding over the frozen earth.
23:16The water glasses on the table were dancing.
23:18I pressed my face to the periscope.
23:19Through the blizzard, a convoy of steel beasts ripped apart the quiet of Linton Village.
23:22Three massive trucks, tricked out and armored.
23:24Each had a grim snowplow bolted to the front.
23:26Bright red flags flapped on the sides marked 9th District Rescue Unit.
23:28Government guys?
23:29Mom's eyes lit up.
23:30Hold up.
23:30Dad cranked the scope to Max.
23:32Look at their shoes.
23:32The men who jumped down wore camo parkas, but cheap knockoff sneakers.
23:36They aren't carrying standard issue weapons, just random shotguns and pipe guns.
23:39Even worse, the first thing they did wasn't rescue.
23:41They punted a frozen corpse off the road, then laughed and lit up smokes.
23:44Wolves in sheep's clothing.
23:45This rescue unit was just a big looter gang flying fake colors.
23:48The convoy stopped at the village entrance.
23:49They huddled, arguing over the route.
23:50Suddenly, the last truck, packed with coal and generators, coughed black smoke and died.
23:54The lead rigs never even slowed down.
23:55They dumped two guys with the busted truck and thundered on toward the town.
23:59That lone truck was just sitting there like a gift, not even 500 meters out.
24:02It was a diesel generator.
24:03There were at least five barrels of diesel in the truck.
24:04Our fuel stash was almost gone.
24:06If we wanted to keep the heat and lights in the cellar, this might have been our last chance.
24:08Let's hit it.
24:09It was past midnight.
24:09The blizzard was perfect cover.
24:10Dad and I pulled on white camo.
24:12We crawled across the snow like ghosts.
24:14The two guards on duty underestimated that hellish weather.
24:17They were curled up in the cab with the heater blasting, dozing off a booze buzz.
24:19Dad whipped out a towel, soaked in ether.
24:21I went to work on the lock.
24:22Click.
24:22The frozen lock cylinder was brittle.
24:24It popped right open.
24:24Dad slapped the towel over the passenger's mouth and nose.
24:26The guy twitched a little, then went limp.
24:28I dealt with the driver in the same way.
24:29We didn't get greedy, skipped the generator, snatched three barrels of diesel, and bolted.
24:33Just as we were about to pull out, my flashlight swept under the driver's seat and caught a
24:36long black case.
24:37We cracked it open and froze.
24:38Two gleaming QBZ-95s plus five full boxes of ammo.
24:41They must have jacked these off a real military checkpoint.
24:44Let's go.
24:44We slung the rifles, dragged the diesel, and sprinted home.
24:46The moment we vaulted the wall and dived for cover, a distant rumble erupted behind us.
24:49Their crew had turned back.
24:50Blinding headlights flooded the truck we had just cleaned out.
24:52Furious shouts followed, then wild panicked gunfire.
24:55Those two missing QBZ-95s were like a loud slap in the face, smacking those desperados hard.
24:59Roars of rage echoed over the village, but that wasn't the scariest part.
25:02What truly chilled the blood was when they hauled out real pro gear, an industrial handheld
25:05thermal imager.
25:05On that green screen, every hint of body heat lit up.
25:08Through my periscope, I fixed on the thugs in rescue unit uniforms.
25:11They combed the ruins of Linton Village.
25:14A shot cracked.
25:15Mr. Harper, hiding in the cellar at the east end, was dragged out.
25:18He was 70, and to save every scrap of food, he'd withered to skin and bones.
25:21He knelt in the snow, no time to beg for mercy, before a big thug smashed his jaw with a
25:24rifle
25:25bud.
25:25Where are the rifles and the diesel?
25:27Who took them?
25:27The thug planted a boot on the old man's chest, his voice colder than ice.
25:30The old man could only let out broken whimpers.
25:31Worthless.
25:32Another shot split the air.
25:33A blinding red bloom spread across the snow.
25:34They kicked the corpse into a drift, like tossing a bag of trash.
25:37Then the second house?
25:38The third.
25:39The last few survivors were yanked out like rats and butchered for having no answers.
25:42This wasn't a search.
25:43It was pure rage.
25:44Suddenly, my heart clenched tightly.
25:46The thug holding the thermal imager stopped in his tracks.
25:48He was standing in front of the pile of rubble at the village entrance.
25:50That was the entrance to the abandoned shelter.
25:51It was also the hiding place of the mute Noah.
25:52Boss, there's a heat source underground.
25:53It's weak, but it's a live one.
25:55The thugs instantly got excited.
25:57Like sharks smelling blood, they swarmed around.
25:59They used crowbars to pry open the stone slab covering the entrance.
26:02Noah's terrified screams, even through the thick layer of soil, seemed to reach my ears.
26:05He was discovered.
26:06Save him or not?
26:07That question flashed through my head for barely a second.
26:09Noah knew the secret of our groundwater.
26:10If they tortured him and he broke and spilled the location, our whole family was toast.
26:13Besides, he was just a kid living off rats in this apocalypse.
26:17Gear up for a fight.
26:17Dad's eyes went cold.
26:18He grabbed the QBZ-95 we'd just seized.
26:20Wendy, take firing port 2.
26:22That's the high ground.
26:22Use the scoped crossbow or just grab the gun.
26:24Stir up chaos.
26:25Pull their fire.
26:26I'll drag the kid back.
26:27Dad skipped the front door and slipped into the tunnel we'd just dug.
26:29The one tied to the shelter.
26:30I drew a deep breath and sprinted for port 2.
26:32Through the scope, I saw the thugs had yanked Noah out.
26:35Blood covered his face.
26:36He fought like hell, but a brute dangled him like a chick.
26:39Not talking, huh?
26:40Mute, huh?
26:40The thug sneered and whipped out a belt knife.
26:42No time left.
26:43I steadied the rifle.
26:44It was my first real fight, yet raw survival instinct locked my aim.
26:47Bang.
26:47The shot missed.
26:48Smacking frozen dirt by the thug's boots, kicking up a spray of grit.
26:50But that's enough.
26:51The blast cracked over the silent snowfield like thunder, sending the gang scrambling for
26:55covers.
26:56Gunfire.
26:57Those thieves are over there.
26:58Seizing the moment of chaos, in the shadows of the shelter entrance, a powerful hand suddenly
27:01reached out, grabbed Noah's ankle, dragged him back into the dark tunnel like a sack.
27:04Retreat!
27:05Quick!
27:05Retreat!
27:05I shouted into the walkie-talkie, fired my gun blindly into the crowd, suppressing their
27:08counterattack.
27:09The thugs realized what was happening.
27:10Bullets poured like rain towards the shelter entrance.
27:12Dad dragged Noah, rolled awkwardly into the deep tunnel under the rain of bullets.
27:15But at the last moment before he disappeared into the darkness, I saw his body jolt violently.
27:18His left leg exploded in a mist of blood.
27:19He staggered, then fell heavily into the tunnel.
27:21The air in the cellar was frozen.
27:22Only the strong smell of blood lingered.
27:24Dad was lying on the workbench, face as pale as paper.
27:26Cold sweat soaked the mat beneath him.
27:28On the outside of his left thigh, there was a hideous bloody hole.
27:30Blood was pouring out.
27:31I could even see the white bones.
27:32Fortunately, no major artery was injured.
27:34But the bullet got stuck in the bone.
27:35It had to be taken out immediately.
27:36Mom's hands were shaking.
27:37But her eyes were extremely firm.
27:38She used to be a veterinarian.
27:39Although she was not treating people, she was no stranger to surgical suturing.
27:41There was no anesthetic.
27:42The little lidocaine that was left had long since expired.
27:44Bring it on.
27:44Dad bit into a stick wrapped in a towel.
27:46The veins on his forehead popped out like earthworms.
27:48Don't waste your time.
27:48I have a feeling those bastards are coming in.
27:50Mom took a deep breath, heated a scalpel brightly over an alcohol lamp.
27:53The sound of the blade cutting through the flesh made my teeth sore.
27:56Dad's body tightened suddenly.
27:57A beast-like growl came from his throat.
27:58He held the table with both hands, scratched fingerprints into the metal table.
28:01I held Dad's legs.
28:02Tears welled up in my eyes, but I dared not let them fall.
28:04Noah huddled in the corner, trembling with fear.
28:06His eyes were fixed on the bloody hole in my Dad's leg.
28:08His face was full of guilt.
28:09Ten minutes felt as long as a century.
28:11Cling!
28:11A deformed warhead was thrown onto the iron plate.
28:13Mom quickly stopped the bleeding, cleaned the wound, and stitched it up.
28:15When the last ditch was finished, Dad had already fainted from the pain.
28:17The wooden stick in his mouth was bitten to pieces.
28:19The operation was successful.
28:19But Dad's leg would not be able to move for at least a month.
28:21We had lost our strongest fighting force.
28:22Before we could breathe a sigh of relief, in the tunnel leading to the abandoned shelter,
28:25there was suddenly a strange hissing sound.
28:26I got closer to the viewport on the door and took a look.
28:28My pupils dilated instantly.
28:29A thick yellow smoke was flowing along the cracks in the tunnel, slithering like a serpent.
28:32It was chlorine, or their homemade gas bombs.
28:34They couldn't get in and didn't dare to go to the tunnel rashly, so they chose the most vicious way.
28:38They wanted to smoke us to death in the hole.
28:39Even though Noah couldn't talk, his clear, dark eyes were razor sharp, burning with a wolf cub's ferocity.
28:43He pointed to a spot on the map, gestured that it was cracking.
28:46It was a natural cavern zone deep inside the shelter, where the geology was highly unstable.
28:49Any significant vibration could cause a collapse.
28:51That would be our graveyard, and the thug's tomb as well.
28:53Noah and I strapped on gas masks and slipped into the tangled underground maze like two ghosts.
28:57Noah took the lead, quick as a monkey, not even needing a light in the dark.
29:01We started making noise on purpose, clanging on the pipes, to fake a panicked escape.
29:04Sure enough, the digging overhead stopped.
29:06Those greedy bastards heard us below, thought we were fleeing through a different exit,
29:09and charged after us like sharks smelling blood.
29:11Over there.
29:11Don't let them get away.
29:12Their chaotic footsteps boomed through the empty tunnel.
29:14Noah and I lured them into the cavern zone.
29:16The walls were draped with shaky stalactites, and cracks split the floor.
29:19Once we reached the mark, Noah dived into a crawlspace, barely wide enough for a kid.
29:22I ducked behind a boulder, clutching the grenade we had swiped from their truck.
29:25Blinding flashlights sliced around the corner, their cursing echoed closer and closer,
29:29so I yanked the pin and counted three seconds.
29:31Go to hell.
29:31The grenade arced through the air and landed by the cave's central support pillar.
29:34Boom.
29:35The blast was amplified a hundredfold in the closed space, loud as fuck.
29:38Then came the sickening crack of rock getting away.
29:39The ceiling collapsed like a line of dominoes, tons of stone and dirt crashing down.
29:43Their screams vanished under the roar and dust.
29:45Noah and I clawed our way back, the tunnel crumbling right behind us, like death nipping at our heels.
29:50We tumbled into the safe zone, and with a heavy thud, the tunnel was sealed.
29:53Silence.
29:53They were buried down there forever.
29:55But we paid for it.
29:56Every path to the surface was now blocked by our own cave-in.
29:59We'd really become underground dwellers now.
30:00The threat outside was buried under thousands of tons of earth and rock, shutting us off entirely from that brutal
30:04world out there.
30:05We couldn't leave, but in a messed up way, it felt safer like this.
30:07Day after day, slipped by beneath dim lights in the steady drip of water.
30:09Dad's leg slowly healed under Mom's careful nursing, even though he still walked with a limp.
30:12At least he could stand up again and tinker with his machinery.
30:14Noah was officially part of our family now.
30:16The kid couldn't talk, but he worked so hard it almost broke your heart.
30:18He took over the gardening jobs, keeping those dozens of foam planners in the basement neat and thriving.
30:21Thanks to the groundwater and grow lights, we finally harvested our first bean sprouts, and even coaxed mushrooms out of
30:25the damp corners.
30:26When that pot of mushroom and canned meat finally hit the table, the smell was so good, it made you
30:29want to cry.
30:29No killing, no looting, no scheming.
30:32Our family sat together around the table.
30:33Dad set a piece of meat on Noah's plate, and Noah grinned so wide I saw nothing but teeth.
30:36For a split second, the apocalypse felt like a bad dream.
30:39Half a year flew by.
30:40Our hair got longer, our clothes more worn, but our eyes were brighter than ever.
30:42One early morning, I did my usual check on the sensors tied to the outside world and froze.
30:46The thermometer that had been pegged at 50 below shot up to 20 below in just a week.
30:50And the reading kept rocketing.
30:52Dad, look at this.
30:53Dad walked over, stared at the screen for a long while, and instead of relief, his face grew even more
30:57serious.
30:57It's heating up way too fast.
30:58He muttered, this isn't back to normal.
31:00It's the pendulum effect.
31:01After the deep freeze, I'm afraid it's a hellish heat wave.
31:03Almost on cue, the sensor data flickered.
31:06The surface temperature was zero degrees.
31:07The snow was starting to melt.
31:08For us living underground, that probably meant another nightmare.
31:11A flood.
31:12The rising temperature wasn't warming, it was savagery.
31:14In just three days, the thermometer went nuts.
31:16The mercury shot up from a hellish 50 below, rocketing nonstop, punching straight past 40 degrees.
31:20From deadly cold to blistering heat with zero transition in between.
31:22Boom, boom.
31:23A deafening roar shook the space above.
31:24It wasn't wind, it was water.
31:26Half a year's snow and ice melted in seconds under the scorching heat.
31:28The whole world turned into a giant steamer, then morphed into a raging flood.
31:32Water seeped through the cellar walls.
31:33Condensation beaded on the concrete.
31:35The air grew thick, sticky, and hot.
31:36Even sitting still, sweat poured nonstop.
31:38Submarine mode now.
31:39Dad tossed me a wrench.
31:40His voice urgent.
31:41We'd prepped for this long ago.
31:42We'd added three two-meter extensions to the vent pipe, so it stuck out of the ground like a periscope.
31:46Every drain was locked shut in reverse, sealed with a thick layer of caulk.
31:49Through the periscope, I saw the outside world.
31:50The once-white snowfield was gone, replaced by muddy, roaring yellow waves.
31:54The flood dragged dead trees, ice chunks, and smashed up car wrecks from God knows where,
31:57slamming into every bit of ground that stuck up.
31:59Our cellar felt like a submarine lurking in the deep.
32:01Glug, glug.
32:02The pressure kept climbing.
32:03The steel door let out a teeth-grinding creek.
32:05The water level is still rising.
32:05It had already swallowed the village rooftops.
32:07Dad stared hard at the pressure gauge.
32:08If water gets into the vent, we'll be stuck breathing off those oxygen tanks.
32:10Noah huddled in the corner, eyes wide as a dirty drip fell from the ceiling.
32:13I walked over, wiped the small wet patch with a towel,
32:15handed him a compressed biscuit, and shook my head, telling him it was fine.
32:18But I knew if the water rose another meter, we'd suffocate in this metal can for good.
32:21The flood wasn't just water.
32:22It was a boiling pot of corpse soup.
32:23Through the periscope's blurry lens, I saw countless swollen things drifting on the surface.
32:27People.
32:27Animals.
32:28All rotting and fermenting in that scalding flood, turning the place into one giant petri dish.
32:31Even with all our filters, the air still carried a stench so foul it made you gag.
32:35The plague was here.
32:35Mom was wearing two masks, spraying disinfectant into every corner.
32:38One drop of water out there was deadlier than a bullet.
32:40That was the most ironic part of the apocalypse.
32:42Water was everywhere outside, yet the survivors were dying of thirst.
32:44If anyone cracked and drank that murky crap, cholera, dysentery, and typhoid would come for them on the spot.
32:49And us?
32:50We were huddled around a tiny table, sipping cool, sweet water from an underground river, enjoying canned yellow peaches.
32:54That hidden river was our lifeline.
32:55Water bubbled up from deep underground, completely untouched by the surface filth.
32:58To stay safe, we cut off every bit of contact with the outside.
33:00We hardly even raised the periscope, afraid some killer germ would hitch a ride.
33:03We lived off our stash of oxygen tanks and an air purifier that was barely holding on.
33:06We kept it up for a solid month.
33:08Then one day, the maddening roar of water finally stopped.
33:10Dad slowly cranked up the periscope.
33:11Dried mud on the lens cracked and fell away, revealing a sliver of blue sky.
33:15The water's gone down.
33:15Through that gap, I saw the ground turned into a pool of black rotting sludge.
33:18Buildings, trees, bodies were all gone.
33:20Only a thick, reeking layer of muck covered the whole world.
33:23Yet in all that dead blackness, I spotted the faintest tint of green.
33:26Once the temperature held steady at about 25 degrees, and the dirt firmed up a bit, we decided to head
33:29back topside.
33:30Back then, to blow up the bastards, we'd seal the exit ourselves in a planned cave-in.
33:33Now it's the biggest thing keeping us from getting home.
33:35Dad scoped out the weakest spot and used our last little pack of explosives.
33:38Dust billowed everywhere.
33:39The long-lost sunlight was like a golden blade, ripping through the cellar's gloom.
33:41I squinted, tears streaming from the glare.
33:43I drew a deep breath of the outside air, still earthy, with a hint of rot, but it tasted like
33:47freedom.
33:48The four of us crawled out of the hole and stepped on what used to be Linton Village.
33:51The village was gone.
33:51Everything was gone.
33:52The old house, the walls, Mrs. Ward's little place next door, all of it leveled by the flood.
33:56The land looked scrubbed clean, like a wiped blackboard.
33:58Only thick silt and random trash remained.
34:00This soil, man, it's fertile.
34:01Dad crouched down, scooped up a handful of black soil, and rubbed it between his fingers.
34:03Bodies and rotten plants had turned into first-rate fertilizer.
34:05Noah dashed onto a rise, where a lone blade of grass had punched through the muck.
34:09He pointed at that splash of green, cheering, uh, ah, let's work.
34:13Dad slapped the dirt off his hands.
34:14There was no sadness in his eyes, only a burning urge to rebuild.
34:16Treasures buried under all this mud.
34:17We can finally plant our seeds.
34:18We carved a veggie patch out of the ruins.
34:20After just a week, the first batch of cabbage poked through.
34:22Against the dead black-brown wasteland, those tidy rows of fresh green looked like flags of hope,
34:26fluttering in the setting sun.
34:27That's the color of life, brighter than gold.
34:29The radio had been dead silent for ages, until one afternoon, it suddenly sprang back to life.
34:32It wasn't that sneaky, hostile static anymore, nor the chaotic electric hiss.
34:35Instead, a woman's voice came through, so clear it could make you tear up.
34:37This is National Safe Zone 3.
34:39If you can hear this broadcast, head southeast and assemble.
34:41We're rebuilding our home.
34:42Dad's cigarette butt scorched his fingers, yet he didn't even flinch.
34:45He just stared at the battered radio like it was alive.
34:47The authorities are still out there.
34:48Order's still out there.
34:49Did we go?
34:49Mom stopped trimming the veggies, her eyes wavering.
34:51After all, it was a refuge for the group, a return to civilization.
34:54I looked out the window.
34:55In the sunset, our rebuilt greenhouse glimmered gold.
34:57The shelter entrance, now reinforced, stood like an unbreakable fortress.
35:00Groundwater murmured below.
35:01The generator thundered steadily, and the warehouse held enough food for ten years.
35:04Not going.
35:04Dad crushed the cigarette, his gaze suddenly razor sharp.
35:06If we go there, we're just refugees, numbers waiting for handouts.
35:09Here, we're kings of our own land.
35:10I nodded.
35:11After betrayal, killing, and brutal trials, we can't turn our backs to strangers anymore.
35:15Not even to the government.
35:16Right then, a long-lost rumble rolled across the sky.
35:18A helicopter with peeling camouflage paint skimmed past low, never slowing.
35:20And as it flew over Linton Village, it tossed out a huge bundle.
35:23The bundle splashed into the mud, spilling packs of compressed biscuits and a blizzard of flyers.
35:26I grabbed one flyer.
35:27It showed the safe zone map and a rallying call.
35:29Looks like the world really is changing back.
35:31Dad watched the helicopter fade, a complicated smile tugging at his lips.
35:33But we better just guard our own little place.
35:35We stood in the fading sun, protecting the patch of earth that's ours.
35:38As more and more survivors crawled out of hiding, Linton Village, now better known as
35:41the Linton Compound, turned into a legend for a hundred miles around.
35:43Across the silent, brown wasteland, our place was the only splash of green.
35:46Cabbages, sprouting potatoes, cucumbers climbing all over the trellises.
35:49Rag-clad drifters passed by all the time, keeping their distance, their starving eyes
35:52locked on that patch of green, their Adam's apples bobbing wildly.
35:54You want a bite?
35:55Then earn it.
35:56That was my rule.
35:57No gold or silver, no cash, just labor.
35:59So the ruins suddenly filled with people hustling.
36:01Some shoveled out the muck, others patched the walls, all for a single bowl of hot potato
36:05soup.
36:05Inside this little independent kingdom, Noah was the brightest star.
36:08He couldn't talk, but he was born of the soil.
36:10Those small, calloused hands worked straight-up miracles.
36:13Seedlings that barely clung to life with Dad and me would shoot up inches in his hands
36:16in just a few days.
36:17He never tired, strutting around like a general on patrol.
36:19Every row was his territory.
36:20One day, I caught a few drifters pointing and snickering at Noah, their eyes dripping contempt.
36:24He ignored them, scooped a heap of rich black soil, and spread it down the furrow
36:27like a pro.
36:28Then he plucked a spiny cucumber and bit into it with a loud crunch.
36:30The crack echoed across the dead plain.
36:32The drifters instantly shut up, their scorn flipping to raw envy and awe.
36:35In an age littered with starved corpses, anyone munching fresh veggies was royalty at
36:38the top of the food chain.
36:39Watching Noah stand tall in the sun, my heart swelled with pride.
36:42This is our home, an oasis blooming in the apocalypse, the legendary Linton compound.
36:45We were still shoveling out the sludge the flood had left behind.
36:47I was holding a shovel, working around the big locust tree that had been knocked sideways.
36:50It used to be the village's landmark, and it was where Jenny and Dave died.
36:53Clang!
36:54The shovel hit something hard.
36:55I bent down, pulled a shiny object from the black muck.
36:58I wiped it on my sleeve, and under the sun it flashed blindingly.
37:01A hair clip studded with tiny diamonds.
37:02My mind snapped back to that afternoon before the apocalypse.
37:04Jenny had waved a $71,000 check, slammed the door, chin high.
37:07She had posted the pic of the clip in moments that same day.
37:09Said, some women were born to save, but I was born to shine.
37:12Now this symbol of vanity and greed lay in my mud-stained palm.
37:16Still sparkling, but icy cold.
37:17In the sludge beside it, I dug up a few splinters of white bone, gnawed by wolves, soaked by the
37:21flood. Once living souls, my own kin, now just a pile of mud and a handful of nameless bones.
37:27There was no thrill of revenge, no soul-ripping grief, just a bleak sense of having seen it
37:30all.
37:31Wendy, is this pretty?
37:32For a moment, I felt like I heard little Jenny pouting behind me, begging for praise.
37:35I breathed in deeply, fished out a rusty candy tin from my pocket, polished the clip spotless,
37:39and set it inside.
37:39There was no headstone, no ceremony.
37:41I dug a deep hole at the roots, buried the tin, heaped the dirt back, and stomped it down
37:45hard.
37:45In the next life, let's not be sisters.
37:47Strangers would do.
37:47I slapped the dirt and straightened up.
37:49The setting sun washed the ruins in gold.
37:51I turned away, walked toward the cellar with smoke curling from it, and never looked back.
37:54Time was the cruelest blade in the world, yet also the softest cure.
37:57It was 2028, three years into the apocalypse.
37:59The Linton Compound was now in phase three of its expansion.
38:00What used to be a dank cellar was now linked to several abandoned shelters we had dug into,
38:04forming a vast underground ecosystem.
38:06Sunlight poured through triple-layer bulletproof skylights, glinting off the terrazzo floor of
38:09the rec room.
38:09Dad crouched by the generator, wrench in hand, showing Noah how to replace a worn gear.
38:13His wounded legs still had a slight hitch, but it hadn't dulled his spirit one bit.
38:17His hair had gone gray, but his eyes were sharper, steadier than three years before.
38:20Noah was a full-grown young man these days.
38:22The orphan who once looked like a walking skeleton now had a barrel chest.
38:25Arms knotted with muscle.
38:26He signed as he worked, swiftly stripping the components.
38:28His gaze was as focused as an old craftsman's.
38:30From the kitchen came the rapid thought of a cleaver.
38:31Mom, apron on, was chopping pickles.
38:33She had filled out.
38:33In a world where people still butchered each other for a moldy slice of bread,
38:36Mom was worried about losing weight.
38:37That alone was obscenely luxurious.
38:39Wendy, grab that crock of pickled pothered mustard.
38:41We're steaming cured pork for lunch, Mom said.
38:43Voice full of life.
38:44I answered and hauled the jar from the climate-controlled room.
38:46Passing a mirror, I caught my reflection.
38:48My skin was pale from life underground, but healthy enough.
38:50A gun in my hand, grain in the storehouse, family at my side.
38:53That was our life.
38:54We weren't scraping by.
38:54We were living for real.
38:55The whole family crowded the table, soaking in that hard-won piece.
38:58Every dish there we had grown with our own hands.
39:00Looking at it all, I was overflowing with contentment.
39:02Sunlight flooded the room.
39:03Everything was perfect.
39:04This was our family photo.
39:05Three years on and we were all still there.
39:06The wind chime at the lookout rang.
39:08It wasn't an alarm.
39:08It was the visitor signal.
39:09A dusty caravan pulled up just outside our perimeter.
39:11Their rigs had special emblems spray-painted on them.
39:13They were beat up, but clearly well-maintained.
39:15It was a trade crew from the southern safe zone.
39:16After three years, humans had finally pieced together a fragile new order.
39:19Trade had replaced endless raids.
39:21I stood on the high wall, guns still in hand, but the muzzle pointed down.
39:24Their leader was a one-eyed guy.
39:25He craned his neck, staring at the string of dried chilies hanging from our wall.
39:28He swallowed hard.
39:29Ms. Linton, this batch is all here.
39:31That one-eyed guy had his men open the truck bed.
39:32Inside were barrels of gasoline, solar panel parts we were desperate for,
39:35and even a few boxes of sanitary pads and shampoo.
39:37We want veggies.
39:38Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, anything fresh, we'd take it all.
39:41The deal went down fast and wordless.
39:43When Noah hauled out a basket of cucumbers, still wet with morning dew,
39:46the caravan guard's eyes nearly popped.
39:48One reached out to touch, but the one-eyed guy smacked his hand away.
39:50Show some respect.
39:51This was Linton family produce.
39:52In the new world, we were no longer lambs to the slaughter.
39:53We were the ones with real resources.
39:55When the trade wrapped up, the one-eyed guy sparked a cigarette,
39:57took a long drag, and eyed our compound with envy.
39:59Word was, the Linton compound was paradise in the apocalypse.
40:02Seeing it today, it's true.
40:03I just grinned, saying nothing.
40:05Paradise?
40:05No.
40:06It was a fortress we bled to defend.
40:07The caravan rolled off, hauling our veggies, and hauling hope, too.
40:10Maybe the world was really getting better.
40:11After the trade crew left, night fell.
40:13That night was New Year's Eve.
40:14No matter how crazy things got out there, we still celebrated.
40:16The underground dining hall was brightly lit.
40:17Warm yellow light washed over the wooden table, chasing away every trace of cold.
40:20That was the biggest meal we had had in three years.
40:22A giant bowl of braised pork with pickles and noodles.
40:23It was loaded with thick slices of pork belly.
40:25One plate of cucumber salad, fresh and crunchy.
40:26And a heaping platter of steaming hot dumplings.
40:28They were made with white flour.
40:29We had milled the flour ourselves from wheat we grew.
40:31It wasn't as white as the store-bought stuff, but the wheat aroma was amazing.
40:33Come on, Noah, that torn-skinned dumpling was the one you wrapped.
40:36You've gotta eat it.
40:36Dad chuckled and put a split dumpling into Noah's bowl.
40:39Noah scratched his head, embarrassed, then broke into a wide grin, showing a mouthful
40:41of bright white teeth.
40:42He stuffed the dumpling in all at once.
40:43It was so hot, he started huffing and puffing.
40:44Mom switched on the old TV she had fixed up, hooked to a hard drive.
40:46Old comedy skits from decades ago flickered on the screen.
40:48The picture was a bit blurry, the sound crackly.
40:50But to us, it was pure heaven.
40:52Canned laughter poured from the TV, and we laughed right along.
40:54We laughed until Mom's eyes grew misty.
40:56She wiped them, raised her glass of juice.
40:58To us.
40:58To our family, all together.
41:00Not sameng sanying.
41:01Our glasses clinked with a clear, bright ring.
41:03Outside the window, the cold wind was still howling.
41:04Maybe out there, people were still starving and killing, but in here, right there, right
41:07then, there was hot food, there was light, there was Dad and Mom, and my little brother.
41:10That was home.
41:10Even if it was hell out there, once the door was shut, that place was paradise.
41:13Looking at it all, I suddenly felt every bit of suffering had been worth it.
41:16Dad's eyes shone with the pride of the man in the family.
41:18On Mom's face was the simplest happiness.
41:20Noah's eyes sparkled, because he had a home.
41:22Right then, I wished time would just stop forever.
41:24After our dinner, I stepped out of the cellar alone.
41:26The setting sun drenched the land in blood red light.
41:28Standing atop the high wall, I looked down on this place that had once been nothing but ruin.
41:31Three years ago, it was a frozen hell strewn with corpses.
41:33Six months ago, plague-swollen bodies floated everywhere.
41:36But now, green plants blanketed the wreckage.
41:38The terraced fields we carved snaked down the hillside.
41:40Plastic sheeting on the greenhouses gleamed in the sunset.
41:41At the village entrance, the old locust tree where I buried the clip was budding.
41:44Its new leaves swaying in the breeze.
41:45Smoke curled from the cellar chimney, carrying that wood-fire smell, and shot straight into the sky.
41:49This wasn't just smoke.
41:50It was proof we were alive.
41:51It was civilization breathing.
41:52I touched my chest.
41:52No jade pendant.
41:53No magic space.
41:54No system.
41:55No cheat codes for us.
41:56All we had was that one afternoon when Mom and Dad sold the house in the car without blinking.
41:59And the countless nights spent hunched over blueprints, retrofitting the cellar, and the guts to pull the trigger when looters
42:03showed up.
42:03Kiddo, come grab some fruit.
42:05I cut up a watermelon.
42:06Mom's shout drifted over.
42:07Dad and Noah grumbled for me to hurry.
42:09I turned around and stared at that doorway glowing warm light.
42:11A smile slipped onto my face.
42:12Was the apocalypse over?
42:13Maybe not.
42:13Disasters might come back.
42:15Deep freeze.
42:15Scorching heat.
42:16Quakes.
42:16Plagues.
42:17It felt like the Earth is running a long immune response.
42:19But I wasn't scared anymore because I knew no matter what tomorrow brought, our family were a nail driven deep
42:23into this land.
42:24Coming.
42:25I shouted and sprinted toward the light.
42:27The apocalypse would end and we would go on living.
42:29And we'd live well.
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