Chapter 23: The world Suddenly Turned Cold
City B, November 4th? Year 0 of the Great Collapse
Winter huffed, his breath curling in front of his face. The cold stung his face, but his senses remained sharp. He scanned the path ahead, his fingers brushing the handle of his machete, ready for any threat. The world around them was silent, save for the crunch of their boots against the frostbitten dirt.
Behind him, Zara trudged awkwardly, her steps uneven, her breath coming in soft, uneven puffs. Winter glanced back briefly, catching the clumsy way she shifted her weight with each step. She kept tugging at her coat, pulling it tightly around her torso as if afraid of the chill seeping through.
As they passed a wrecked car, Winter’s thoughts drifted to the last few days they’d spent holed up in an abandoned house.
Flashback
The storm hit unexpectedly, with heavy and fast snow falling, trapping them inside. Winter glanced at Zara in the dim light of the abandoned house, the storm outside howling with relentless fury. It was good that she had mentioned the clouds coming in...though he hadn’t seen them when she did. But he decided to listen to her anyway. After all, who knew what would fall from the cursed skies at any moment? Getting caught in acid rain would have been a slow, tortuous end.
The air inside was stale, and the walls creaked under the strain of the cold. Zara had been sitting by the fire, nursing her ankle, her face tight with pain.
What the hell was she hiding under there? It couldn’t be an animal—most of the wildlife had either died or mutated in the early days of the outbreak. And even if it were an animal, why would she be hiding it from him?
A child? He shook his head. No way. A baby would never be this still, especially in the midst of all this chaos. He’d spent enough time around children to know how restless they were—crying, squirming, demanding attention at every turn. This... whatever it was, didn’t seem like that at all.
Even the calmer ones still had their moments...He shook his head as memories threatened to surface.
He thought back to their first meeting. Zara wasn’t showing any obvious signs of pregnancy. She didn’t have any of the cravings or symptoms that women typically did. The lack of swelling and the absence of any physical changes didn’t add up.