[3] The Frosty Snowmen

A numbing pain in the back was the first thing Zeke felt before he woke up. He slowly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by a light gust of ice and snow. He shivered greatly at the cold wind hitting his face. Covering his eyes with his cold hand, he tried to crawl out of the mess of broken metal pipes and flattened boxes. He then blindly reached for his bag, pulling out a hoodie and wearing it. He took time to warm himself a bit using the thick hoodie and then manages to sit as he slowly tried opening his eyes again. His vision was blurry, but soon his eyes adjusted to the view. He looked around.

Daegu was buried in ice and snow. Dark, thick clouds covered the sun entirely. A lot of the buildings were either leveled, flattened, or smashed, and alot of icy craters were on the ground. Some that were still barely standing have giant, glowing icicle structures forming on to them that served as a light source in this now dim and desolate land. The cars on the street share the same fate.

Around Zeke were several scraps of metal, plastic, concrete, and lots of scattered goods and products, and a huge icy crater where the cube bomb once landed-- the only remains of the once lovely grocery store. He couldn't even tell if he was still in the stockroom, either-- everything near him, even the walls, were destroyed.

Zeke tried to stand up. It took him a while, but he managed to, eventually. He rubbed his eyes to see the area more clearly, and then he saw a figure lying nearby, not moving even an inch. He slowly approached the figure and was horrified when he came to realize who it is.

It was the cashier, completely encased in ice. His face looked relieved as he was looking at his phone in his hand. By the looks of it, he did get his cellphone. Only that, he didn't make it out himself, and he basically froze over.

Zeke backed a bit in fear. He then remembered to check his own phone, which was surprisingly still alive, only low on battery. He squinted at the dim screen to check the time.

January 6, 2023, 3:41pm.

He realized it has been more than a day since the meteor fell.

Questions begin clouding Zeke's mind. What the hell just happened? How did he even survive? And more importantly, how could he get out of this?

He shook his head. He needed a plan.

He tried to contact his parents, to no avail. The signal was dead. The Wi-Fi and GPS are down, too. He was basically lost, for real this time, and he didn't like it. The only thing that's on his mind right now was to get the hell out of here.

He then saw boxes of food and water still intact. He opened these with much effort and carried a few bottles of water and canned goods. He didn't want to pack heavy in case he needed to sprint. With a last look at the cashier encased in ice, he gave a deep sigh, said an audible apology, and took off, walking aimlessly through the ice and snow.

He had no direction. All he ever hoped was to find someone else. Or at least, find a shelter for him to stay on. As he wandered, he saw more and more of the aftermath of the horrific disaster. Freezing remnants of the cube bombs on the streets, people and animals frozen inside shops, homes, out the sidewalks, and inside cars. Some looked like they were about to check on what's going on, but were probably too late to be aware of the disaster that was about to fall upon them. Others looked terrified, their faces contorted in horror to the sheer thought of impending doom. Either way, the sight was too scary to see.

After a few more minutes of walking, Zeke then notices a crystalline cube gem on the ground. It's strange how perfect the cube looked. It must've been a valuable gem. As he looked closer, it started to shake, and in a matter of seconds started absorbing the snow around it and it soon begins to take the form of a humanoid figure. Zeke retreats for a bit.

The figure soon finally formed into a thin, humanoid shape. It seemed silent but soon turned its whole body to Zeke. It clearly wasn't human. It had a skin that looked like hardened, compacted snow. The figure had a frozen chest with the small crystalline cube dissolving as it formed a thin, solidified icy armor around it. The armor branched out to its arms, legs, and feet. Its hands were tipped with icy claws. The figure looks at Zeke with it's dark, round, hollow eyes. It's face looked like that of a generic snowman-- only that it had no carrot nose, and looked nothing like the happy snowmen children make during the holidays. Zeke's mind become clearer.

It was a cold invasion, and Zeke was right smack in the middle of it.

The figure snaps Zeke out of his thoughts as it roared and attempted to attack him.

"Son of a bi---!"

Adrenaline was coursing through Zeke's blood as he finally musters the strength to parry the incoming attack, push his assailant, and run away. The figure gives chase, seemingly a bit faster than him. It then lunges to Zeke and tackles him.

Zeke struggles onto the ground as he kicked the creature. The kick was so forceful that the creature backs off a few feet. As he stood, he readied himself in a combat stance.

Now, Zeke wasn't the type to instigate fights, but he was very knowledgeable in hand-to-hand combat. He practiced a lot during college, a time where he was being bullied to no end. He rarely used it, however--- maybe once or twice, because he didn't want to fight, and he had remorse.

This enemy in front of him, however, wasn't human, and clearly needed no remorse what so ever.

He can go all out.

Zeke immediately throws a wild haymaker at the creature. The punch connects, and the creature gets thrown off its balance. Zeke winces in pain, he just punched a being made of compacted snow, after all.

"Ugh.. damn you, freaking snowman!" Zeke said, shaking his left hand in pain.

Realizing that he couldn't go toe to toe with his enemy with bare hands alone, Zeke then picks up a broken metal pole nearby. He swings it to the snowman with all his strength. It takes a devastating blow to the head, contorting its face. It loses balance as it falls to the ground. Zeke then runs as fast as he can away from it.

Zeke was thankful that while the snowman was agile, it was very clumsy. But he can't take it for granted just yet.

He encounters more gems scattered across the streets. Those close to him slowly begun forming into snowmen, but the gems that were far from him didn't turn.

He realizes that these gems were intricate traps that activates if someone goes close, like a sensor.

With this thought in mind, he keeps running, this time in a zigzag position, trying to avoid as many gems as he can. Soon, he spots an intact building and heads there. Its door was hinged open, so he quickly gets in, shuts the door, and barricades it with a table. He backs and sits down on the floor as he took the time to catch his breath. After a few minutes, he sees the door freeze over and it gets blown off partially with the snowmen peeking at the cracks.

"Seriously?!" Zeke whined as he stood up and began climbing to the second floor. He was tired from all that running, but he can't afford to stop now. He hears the snowmen barge in on the first floor so he started barricading the second-floor entrance. Once again, they manage to freeze it, attempting to breakthrough.

Zeke now realizes placing barricades won't stop them--- he had to defeat them.

Zeke ran to the third floor immediately. He still hears the snowmen downstairs trying to budge in as he pushed a few office equipments near the door: a desk, two steel chairs, and a photocopying machine. He then waited for the snowmen to come and get him.

As soon as two snowmen popped up, Zeke threw in a steel chair, damaging the first snowman's torso, and knocking off the other. He throws another chair to keep them at bay. Zeke then pushes a whole desk towards the stairs, crushing the two snowmen into pieces. The third one manages to lunge at Zeke, but he punches it and slams him under the lid of the photocopying machine repeatedly.

Zeke then pushed the machine through the stairs. It comes crashing down the flight of stairs, surely killing whatever that's left of the other snowmen. The stairs leading to the third floor is now blocked, and Zeke tossed more chairs and desks onto the stairs and shut the door to ensure that no more of the cursed snowmen will enter.

Zeke sat on the floor in exhaustion. He spent the next few minutes trying to regain his strength. His knuckles, legs, and arms were cold and hurting and he badly needed time to recover. As he sat motionless on the floor, he stared at the window near him. The view outside is nothing but snow and glowing chunks of ice. No humans. No survivors.

"Am I.. the last human in this place?" He said, taking more deep, pained breaths.

As if in answer, Zeke hears a scream from the outside. Mustering all his remaining strength, he immediately stands and slowly walks to the source of the scream, leading him to an open windowpane. He sees a woman clad in a hooded black coat, looking down, clinging for her dear life on the ledge of the window pane. She had a face mask on, with a hood over her head.

Zeke immediately grabs her hands.

"I got you..!" Zeke said as he held her wrists.

The woman was taken aback by someone suddenly grabbing her.

"Oh god.. You better not be one of them!" She said.

"Nope! I sure don't want to look like them, they're hella ugly!"

The woman chuckles. "Glad to know we are on the same page. Now please hurry up and pull me over. I can't feel my hands."

"My bad. On three! One.. two... Hnngh!" He pulls her over the ledge with effort. She drops to the ground with her head down, panting. After a while, she stands.

"Oh god... I'm glad I was able to find someone else in this... I thought I was alone. Thank you." She said as she fixes her hair.

"Same here.. and no worries." Zeke, looking to the ground, panting, replied. He then looks at the woman.

"Finally, I can remove this mask... I can't really breathe in these..." She muttered as she gently removes them.

Her black, wavy, shoulder length hair flowed smoothly with the wind, dropping on her face. She then brushed it aside, revealing a familiar, angelic face--- a face Zeke would not expect to see firsthand.

His eyes widen. The woman notices.

"Hey... It's you... You're--"

Zeke abruptly freezes, looking at the lady infront of her that he just saved...

Park Jihyo
Fifth Member of TWICE