Overnight, the entire city was blanketed in white snow. The world seed transford.
Stella Sterling opened the window a crack. The cold wind howled in, scraping painfully against her face. She could feel the temperature had dropped significantly since yesterday.
She imdiately shut the window, sealing it tight, and pulled the curtains down as well.
Moving away from the window, she turned on her phone, and a flood of ssages imdiately started pouring in, pinging nonstop. The hoowners’ group chat for her residential complex had exploded. Stella tapped into it and glanced through the ssages.
At first, soone in the group had ntioned how strange the snow was, and a few people discussed it. Then the group went quiet for a while. But in the dead of night, it lit up again. It turned out a resident was causing a commotion—soone had frozen to death last night.
It was supposed to be May. Although it had snowed during the day yesterday, it hadn’t lasted long, so not many people paid it much mind. Most had gone to sleep in short sleeves, so when the temperature plumted last night, disaster struck.
Those with weak immune systems, as well as so of the elderly, had frozen to death in their sleep. There were several such cases in her building alone.
The person causing the scene was the resident from the 14th floor. An elderly person in their family had noticed sothing was wrong in ti and imdiately turned on the heat. Although the elder had passed out from the cold, they were still breathing. They had also called for an ambulance right away.
But the snow last night was too heavy, and the roads were buried. The ambulance couldn’t get through. The family tried to take the elder to the hospital themselves, but they were trapped in the complex by the snow. In the end, the elder still died.
So the 14th-floor resident started raising hell with the property managent. A few other hoowners who had also lost family mbers to the cold were grieving and similarly started making a fuss in the group chat. The chat had erupted into a heated argunt.
Of course, by the ti Stella saw the ssages, things had cald down. Only a few people were left discussing the snow, which was still falling.
Online, rumors of the apocalypse were spreading like wildfire.
The snow last night was intense, even heavier than during the day. It had been falling all night without stopping. It wasn’t just their complex where people had frozen to death; there were reports from all over. In the countryside, so old, dilapidated houses had collapsed under the weight of the snow, trapping many people underneath. Although rescue teams had been dispatched, a significant number were already dead. Others hadn’t been dug out yet, but in this weather, their chances were slim.
This event seed different from ordinary disasters. Overnight, there were reports of several hundred people freezing to death, and who knows how many more went unreported. Adding those crushed by collapsed buildings and those still awaiting rescue, it was impossible to know how many would die this ti.
People were finally realizing that sothing was seriously wrong.
Stella made herself a bowl of beef noodles and stead a plate of crab. She scrolled through the news online while enjoying her al.
She had been a little worried before, but now that the apocalypse was truly here, she felt surprisingly calm.
’I know everyone is still clinging to hope, thinking the snow will stop soon and everything will go back to normal,’ she thought. ’But I also know this snow will last for two years. Countless people will die in it. This is only the beginning.’
After a while, her eyes grew tired. Stella logged off and focused on her food. While others were consud with worry, she savored every bite. ’The apocalypse is here,’ she mused. ’Peaceful days like this will be rare from now on. Even with ingredients, it won’t be easy to cook. I have to cherish the life I have right now.’
Lydia Magnus called several tis, but Stella didn’t answer. It wasn’t just her calls; she ignored everyone else’s too. She read the ssages she received but didn’t reply, maintaining a completely invisible state.
Her apartnt had been specially modified. Despite the freezing temperatures outside, the temperature inside remained a few degrees above zero. With the heat on and the windows shut, Stella didn’t feel cold; it was almost like any other day.
After lunch, she took a pleasant afternoon nap. When she woke up, it was three in the afternoon, and the snow still hadn’t stopped.
She glanced out the window. By her estimate, the snow was a couple of inches deeper than it had been that morning. The complex was completely snowed in; there was no way out, and not a single person was in sight.
After a mont’s thought, she went back inside to grab a thermoter. She reached her hand out the window. The exposed skin felt the biting cold, and snowflakes landed on her palm. She pulled her hand back in an instant, but it was already frozen red.
Stella paid it no mind and looked at the thermoter—
-30 degrees Celsius!!!
Weather that could freeze a person to death. Even in winter, when people were prepared, a temperature like that could be lethal, let alone when it struck so unexpectedly.
In the afternoon, "school closures" started trending online. Most companies had also declared a holiday. Those who could work from ho did, while those who couldn’t were given ti off.
For so people who didn’t want to go to work, this was fantastic news. The joy from this announcent even dispelled so of the anxiety caused by the blizzard. So people even made the absurd comnt that they hoped the snow would last a little longer.
Seeing comnts like that, Stella let out a cold laugh. ’Just you wait,’ she thought. ’You’ll all be crying soon enough!’
A special notification tone from her phone sounded. She glanced at it; it was the property managent in the group chat, tagging everyone. They were asking all residents who were at ho to respond so they could do a headcount.
Several people in the group had already checked in, but she just looked at it and put her phone down, with no intention of replying.
The snow continued to fall until it finally stopped at eight in the evening. By then, the snow on the ground had turned to ice, and the drifts were level with the first floor. The mont the snow stopped, cheers could be heard from within the complex.
"It stopped! It finally stopped!"
"Thank God! If it kept snowing, I was afraid it would collapse the building!"
"We don’t really keep extra food in the house. I had to turn the place upside down just to find sothing to eat today. If the snow hadn’t stopped, we would’ve had nothing left for tomorrow."
"Haha, my house is a different story! I’ve got tons of supplies. I learned my lesson, so now my big freezer at ho is always packed to the brim."
Everyone in the group was ecstatic. They all assud that since the snow had stopped, it wouldn’t start again. They believed that by tomorrow, the snow would start to lt and everything would return to normal. So everyone began to relax, chatting about their ho supplies. One person even posted pictures of a fully stuffed refrigerator and a guest room piled high with snacks, drawing a chorus of envious replies.
"Haha, can I co over to your place and bum so food and drinks?"
Soone tagged the person who posted the photos, adding an emoji with sparkling eyes.
The resident of 2809 imdiately replied, "You’re welco to be my guest anyti!"
"Moron!"
Stella chuckled and turned off her phone. She found her brainless neighbor ridiculous and began to say a little prayer for them.
’There’s sothing wrong with that person’s head,’ she thought. ’An act like that, right now... It won’t be long before it brings about their own doom.’
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