The wind was very strong and loud, like a wild animal, and it felt like it wanted to rip my coat apart. The snow was coming down hard and felt like tiny needles on my skin. Even pulling my coat collar up high didn't keep me warm.
Outside where we were hiding, everything looked harsh and difficult. It was mostly white and grey. Broken pieces of tall buildings stuck up in the distance. They looked like bones against the sky. They reminded us of a time before, but now they were covered in ice and snow.
Far away, we could see a giant iceberg. It looked like a city made of ice. It floated slowly by, silently showing us how cold everything had become.
Welcome to the new world order. The temperature was a bone-chilling -20°F, and the wind chill made it feel closer to -40°F.
"Think they're still out there?" Aiko spoke, but her voice was hard to hear because she was wearing so many layers of old clothes she'd found. It was a quiet day, but her voice broke the silence. It had been a long time since she felt hopeful, and now she was starting to lose hope completely.
I carefully looked out through the small opening in our strong metal door. The snowstorm was so heavy, I couldn't see anything more than a few steps away. "Wouldn't be surprised. The Icebound Predators are persistent bastards. They smell desperation like blood in the water."
My friends Aiko, Russ, and Lorie and I were huddled close to a makeshift heater.
It wasn't pretty or fancy, just a device we built ourselves to burn oil we'd found. We discovered it in the remains of some pre-Collapse research facility. Right now, that heater was all that was keeping us from freezing to death in this horrible, deserted place.
"Maybe they'll give up," Russ spoke, and you could hear the hope in his voice – a hope that I definitely didn't feel. Russ was always the positive one, always thinking the best of people. I knew that if he were on his own in this situation, he wouldn't survive for very long.
"Russ," Lorie said, her tone tired, "they're after the artifact. They won't give up until they get it. Or until we're all dead."
The artifact. A smooth, obsidian sphere we'd found in the same facility, humming with a strange energy. We didn't know what it was, what it did. But we knew it was valuable.
The Icebound Predators, a ruthless gang of raiders known for their brutality and mastery of the frozen terrain, had already killed a scouting party trying to take it from us.
I sighed, the frigid air burning my lungs. "We need to move. This place is compromised." The temperature inside our shelter was barely above freezing, maybe 35°F, a small victory against the brutal conditions outside.
Getting to our feet was a chore, each movement a battle against stiff joints and aching muscles. Days spent scavenging for scraps of food and fuel in the unforgiving landscape had taken their toll. We were all worn down, physically and mentally.
The snow had drifted high against the metal door. I heaved it open with a groan, welcoming the bite of the wind. "Alright, let's move it. Stick together."
We trudged through the swirling snow, the wind whipping at us, trying to tear us apart. Visibility was practically zero. Every step was a gamble. One wrong move, and you could find yourself plunging into a hidden ice crack, never to be seen again.
We'd been walking for what felt like hours when I heard it – a low, deep growl carried on the wind.
"They're here," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Spread out, but stay close."
Out of the snowstorm, shadowy shapes appeared. They were big and strong, covered in animal furs, and carried rough but deadly weapons. The Icebound Predators. Their faces were hidden behind fur masks, but their eyes gleamed with a cold, predatory hunger.
The fight was brutal and quick. They were bigger, stronger, more accustomed to the cold. Russ went down first, a spear piercing his chest. Aiko was furious. She screamed and ran forward, holding a rusty pipe wrench like a weapon.
I fired my old laser pistol. For a second, the laser beam sliced through the falling snow and hit one of the Predators. He staggered but didn't fall. They were too close.
Lorie and I fought back-to-back, desperately trying to fend them off. I managed to disable another one, but more kept coming. The obsidian sphere, inside my inner pocket, felt heavy and warm against my chest.
Then, the ice groaned.
We'd been walking on a patch of thin ice, hidden beneath the snow. The weight of the fight, the impact of the blows, had been too much. The crack widened with ear-splitting sound.
Lorie let out a scream when the ground she was standing on collapsed. She disappeared into the icy depths, her scream cut short by the freezing water.
I stared in horror, paralyzed. The Icebound Predators, momentarily stunned by the sudden shift in the landscape, hesitated.
That's when I saw it.
The crack in the ice wasn't just a crack. It was like reality itself was breaking apart. Underneath the rough, moving water, a glowing, spinning doorway had appeared. The obsidian sphere, pulsing with glowing energy, seemed to be drawing it open.
Part of me was terrified of the portal, but another part of me really, really wanted to see what was behind it. I couldn't decide what to do.
Should I run? Should I fight? Or should I… go?
I looked back at the Icebound Predators, their eyes narrowed, realizing the opportunity slipping away. They began to advance again.
I made my decision.
With a surge of adrenaline, I jumped into the icy water, the portal pulling me down, down, into the unknown. The last thing I saw was the faces of the Icebound Predators as the portal closed.
I woke up on dry land, gasping for air. The portal was gone behind me now. The obsidian sphere still thrummed in my hand. The air was… warmer. The landscape was… different. Lush. Green. The temperature was a balmy 70°F.
I had escaped the frozen wasteland. I had survived the Icebound Predators. I had even managed to get this artifact.
But where was I?
I looked around, a shiver running down my spine. This place… it felt familiar.
Ahead, through the trees, I saw a sign. A weathered, wooden sign. It read: "Welcome to the Center for Arctic Research."
And beneath it, a smaller sign: "Established 2042."
The date hit me like a punch to the gut. 2042. That was before the Collapse. Before the ice age.
I looked down at the obsidian sphere in my hand. It wasn't an artifact. It was a time machine.
And I had just traveled back in time.
But what about Lorie? What about Russ? And Aiko? They were dead and how about I, I thought I was smart, by traveling back in time and making them alive. And so, I made it. Aiko, Russ and Lorie was alive.
But something changed. This isn't their time. They don't belong here.
They died again.
No one survives winter. Not even time.