Everything. Everything was white. Joseph could only see white death around him. His legs felt like they were going to buckle and fail him. His head throbbed as the strain in his eyes tightened. He clenched his jaw and pushed forward. He was going to make it. For himself... For them.

  His legs pushed forward, pushing against the piling snow. He couldn't feel his hands, frostbite eroding at his will. But he persevered. He pushed himself, his body screaming at him to stop and take a rest. But if he did... His daughter wouldn't make it. My dear... My dear Hana... I'm coming with your medicine don't worry... I'm coming!

  He found determination within himself to continue pushing forward. He was going to make it! He was only a few kilometers away. He couldn't wait out the snow storm, his daughter was in dire condition, he left her back at their shelter with her mother. He couldn't allow himself to stop-No!

  Joseph's legs failed him. Finally buckling under the huge weight on his shoulders. He fell to his knees, his eyes rolling to the back of his head for a moment as he slipped in and out of consciousness. I can't stop now! I can't!

  He pushed himself up with a roar. His fists tightening despite the frostbite eating at them. He WILL make it back! I can see it! I can see the town! He could see the abandoned town he and his family took refuge in, using it as a shelter to hide from the cold and the cannibals and the-

  Joseph's head was sliced off cleanly as the creature attracted by the loud sound of his roar started nibbling on it. A large dark blue creature revealed itself. It had large bulbous eyes that reflected the still kneeling form of Joseph's headless body, spraying red on pristene white snow.

  Armoured carapace that reflected what little light there was in the sunless dark sky. It was like ash took over the skies, obscurring the sun and the clouds.

  The creature's mandibles chittered audibally as it nibbled on the man's head. It was going to move to his body soon after it was finished with this. It won't leave a single crumb behind. Its many legs moved it along the snow effortlessly.

  A blonde haired girl, barely 15 years of age stepped out into the soul gripping snow outside her temporary shelter. The girl ported several coats layered on each other to protect her from the cold, but also not enough to hinder her movements. Her spike boots making it easier to walk on the snow as she navigated carefully and with practiced ease around the fence of the wooden house.

  Her gaze sharp and perceptive, even as dark bruises underlined her eyes, giving her a tired, worn out look. She gripped in her hand an empty satchel. She peaked through the gaps in the wooden fences, carefully waiting.

  "..." She eyed the dark blue creature warily as she leaned against the wooden fences. Soon after the creature left, walking off into the obscurred hoizon, disappearing behind a veil of snow and ash like darkness.

  The girl moved quickly, her feet padding over the ground, producing no sound thanks to the natural dampening of the snow. She ran over to the now stained red snow and swiftly swiped the back pack that was stained slightly in red.

  She looked through the back pack, opening it quickly to find several bottles of medicine, pills and syrups, carefully stashed away. A small grin etched its way onto her face as she parted her dry lips to speak. "Fate isn't a pie... There isn't enough for everyone. Thankfully. I got lucky with this find." Veronika grinned.

  She was Veronika. A self-proclaimed professional thieve who specializes in pickpocketing and breaking and entering. She swiftly stuffed the medicine and the food and drinks into her bag. This... Was probably meant for someone else... She thought inwardly, her face hardening for a moment. So what? It's not like it's the first time I took from someone. Her expression turned back to a small smile.

  She shook her head before she checked the other pockets of the backpack, finding a small pocket knife and a pierced water bottle. She grimaced at the waste. That Snejnay probably pierced the water bottle when it started eating the man... She sighed before she swiftly closed her satchel and stood up, running back to her shelter. With this, I made good progress with the supplies I need for the trip...

  Veronika made her way back to the wooden house, she opened the door and stepped inside. On a wooden board, there was a large piece of parchment paper pinned with pins on the board. Veronika walked up to it. There were several colourful pins on certain locations.

  Veronika hovered her hand over the map, a pin held between her fingers. She swiftly stabbed the pin into a location, north north-east of where the abandonned town she stayed in was. She then took a marker and circled the area she pinned. Then after nodding, she removed the pins from the map and threw them into a container.

  She smirked as she removed the pins at the corners of the map before taking it in her grip. "It's time to pack up and leave." She murmurred as she stared at the marked circle. She started gathering the things she needed most. She took canned foods from cabinets. There wasn't much there so she only filled up two sacks of food, medicine, water and other supplies and tools.

  She always made sure she didn't have too much materials on her, as it would be wasteful when she moved shelters and bases. As she couldn't exactly carry a whole lot of hands to carry all the sacks she'd have to fill up. Veronika always reserved a period of time that she never scavenges in so she could deplete the excess supplies. Once she was at a certain limit, she'd take off with the remaining supplies to the her next target.

  She swifly swiped her trusty notebook with her along with the pen attached to it. It was a notebook where she kept track of her supplies in. She tucked it into one of the pockets in her coat. After she was all ready and packed up. She turned towards the door, ready to leave with her bags packed to the fullest.

  Suddenly, a loud sound echoed through the streets outside the wooden cabin. "what is...?" Veronika walked over to the boarded windows and peaked through a crack in it. There she saw him, a man, screaming for his life as a hoarde of other men, women and even children mounted atop him. The greusome sounds of flesh tearing resounded as the man's screams grew weaker with each tearing sound.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Veronika grimaced slightly before closing her eyes shut, shaking her head to clear her mind. I... I need to take advantage of this distraction. He's got the infected's attention. Veronika swiftly made her escape, opening the door and sliding out, running around the house.

  Once she was at the back of the house she placed one of the heavy bags on the front of a bicycle. The bicycle had thick tires, perfect for thick snow. Bicycles are the best method of transport, followed swiftly after by foot... She thought inwardly as she got on the bike and swiftly took off. The fence had already been broken previously by her. It was the method of transport that she had planned beforehand.

  She escaped out of the town into the wilderness. The area was laden with snow, dead trees blocking roads and pathways. The area was nothing but a frozen tundra desert. Veronika paid it no mind as she biked away, heading north north-east, according to the compass that she has with her.

  After a few moments of agressive pedaling, Veronika relaxed noticeably as she released a small sigh of relief. I managed to escape, the town was filled with infected, and the slightest sound would have drawn them. That's why Veronika had taken measures to oil the door hinges in the hut well enough to not allow for a single creak or sound.

  She sighed. No reason to mull over that now. I won't visit that town anymore. She smiled as she pedaled away. She left a trail of wheels on the snow as she went through it. The trails were indeed a problem... But where she was going, there would probably be plenty of supplies.

  Veronika passed by several ebony trees, their colour accentuated by the deathly freezing surroundings. Snow covered her eyelashes as she blinked it away. She stopped for a moment, fixing her collar to cover her face better. She resumed pedaling soon after.

  It took about a few minutes of pedaling to finally spot her target. A distant military base beyond a small hill of snow. She smiled before she got off the bike, taking the bag of supplies with her. Then, she put the bags on the snow for a few moments to place her bike on a wooden tree. Either disgarding it, or letting it sit there for later use. It is only decided based on circumstances...

  She resumed the rest of the way on foot, walking downhill to finally reach the outer fences of the military base. Now that she was close, she saw how dilapidated and worn down it looked. The fences literally had stalactites on them. She peaked through the fence to see several buildings there. She nodded to herself before she placed her backpack onto the ground.

  She kneeled down to extract a pair of boltcutters and some wirecutters. She set the bolt cutters on the ground before taking the wirecutters. She got to work. She had scouted the area. The main entrance to the base could be accessed using her boltcutters on the fences' locks. But there was a horde of infected there.

  These boltcutters that she brought were meant to open the doors on the inside. Veronika cut through the fences' wires with the wirecutter making quick work of them. She opened a hole in it, large enough to crawl through it and pull her supplies in with her. She did just that.

  After making it inside, she still didn't drop her cautiousness as she was still crouched down. She placed the supplies near a rock that she marked by placing a random stick on top of it. She took only her backpack with her as she held the pair of boltcutters in hand, having returned the wirecutters to her backpack.

  She walked slowly, treating the military base as uncharted teritory, which it kind of was as she had only scouted the periferies. She walked over to the closest building, making sure she doesn't produce any sound to not bring the attention of the infected outside towards her. They had no way to get inside but unnecessary attention was just that, unnecessary.

  She walked into the building and swiftly made a conclusion. The door had a small window on it that made it possible for her to look inside without busting the lock open with the bolt cutter.

  This is a sleeping area. As soon as she peaked through the door, she noticed several rooms with numbers on them. Resting spot secured... She placed the bolt cutters on the chains as she pressed down as hard as she could to pop the chains open a few second later.

  Veronika knew that sheets were a useful material, but she currently didn't need them. So she just skipped over the building, leaving a small nick on the metal door. She proceeded onto the next building. This one... It was an important one. So Veronika swiftly positioned the bolt cutters on the chains holding the lock before she pressed down with all her might.

  Alas, the strength of a teenage girl wasn't that high, so it took face turning red effort for Veronika to finally snap the chain in half. She breathed heavily as the chains and the lock fell to the ground. She slowly pushed the door open before she closed it again. She nicked the metal door once more, but she made sure to engrave a plus sign on it for later reference

  It was the mess hall. Where all the eating would happen. That's why it was important.

  She moved on to the next building. She peaked inside through the window in the door. Potentially useful... She left three parallel nicks on the metal door before moving on.

  The next building. It was the administrative office. The headquarters building.

  She could tell by the different design from the baracks and the mess hall. It looked more like a normal building than a military one.

  She left a single nick on the door before moving on with cutting the chains.

  The next building. As soon as she peaked through the window, her eyes widened. She realized what it was. She had a feeling that it might have been something like this by the outwards warehouse-like design. It was the garage, or the vehicle storage and maintenance area. She spotted several outlines of vehicles through the window.

  She left two nicks on the door. It could potentially prove helpful if she found some type of powerful weapon in there. In fact, she might just find one soon. She moved on to the next door without cutting open the chain.

  Veronika placed a hand on the next metal door, tiptoeing to peak inside. Her eyes scanned the area, but no matter what she did, she didn't know what the building held.

  It just had a long hallway through it with another larger metal door at the end of it. Something that is protected like this. This is the weapon safe... She left a large plus nick on the metal door before moving on.

  She spotted that the next area was an open area, covered by the snow. She turned her gaze away. It was most likely the training area.

  Veronika walked over to the last and final building. It was the supply depot. Veronika could tell because of the large quantity of wooden boxes and barrels inside.

  She marked the door with a plus before she pressed the boltcutters on the chains.

  She pressed down as hard as she could. By now, her palms had outlines of the handles of the boltcutters from how much she was pressing on it.

  The chain gave way soon after, snapping open as Veronika exhaled in relief. She kept the door closed before she moved back, navigating through the snowy space to find the rock she placed her supplies near. She swiftly found her two bags and picked them up. She walked over to the barracks.

  She walked deeper into the barracks. The cold was chilling, it probably made its way inside. Perhaps she could find a heater? But those used electricity, and she didn't have such luxuries now...

  Veronika stepped into a certain room, finding a neatly made bed with polished boots and a tidied suitcase in front of the bed. It was probably left there by a panicked cadet when they evacuated this area... Veronika took in a deep breath before exhaling.

  She placed her supplies down next to the bed. She plopped herself down onto the bed and smiled contentedly. I deserve a good night's sleep. Her smile widened as she slowly removed the excess coats, leaving only one layer on.

  She sighed contentedly, the cold didn't make it inside. Thankfully, this place had partial heat isolation. She slowly sunk into the plus bed, bringing the covers up to her chin as her head rested on the soft pillow. I do don't I? She hummed contentedly.

  Her mind didn't wonder to the corpse she stole from, nor to the person who got cannibalized alive outside her previous shelter, she simply drifted into a deep sleep...