Chapter 1
“This station reports, abnormal high temperatures have persisted for ten days, and are expected to climb to 113 degrees Fahrenheit…”
The late June sun was a blazing fireball, mercilessly scorching the earth.
Outside my window, the leaves drooped, wilted and lifeless. Heat waves distorted the asphalt road.
I stood by the window, sweat beading on my forehead and trickling down my cheeks, but my heart felt like a block of ice.
I had been reborn.
Memories from my past life flooded my mind like a tidal wave:
After a prolonged heatwave, the sudden, extreme cold had paralyzed the city within hours. My family of four was trapped in this old apartment complex.
Food spoiled quickly in the summer, and we had no stockpiles. Within five days, we were running dangerously low on supplies.
Kevin, my brother, cried and howled every day from hunger. Mom and Dad took my last cookie to appease him.
They completely ignored the fact that I’d had nothing but a sip of thin gruel for three days.
Later, to survive, they sent me—their useless bookworm daughter—out to brave the elements and find food.
I was dressed in flimsy clothes and searched for a day and a night. After endless hardship, I finally found some provisions.
But when I returned, they not only snatched away the food and water but also locked me out.
I curled up in the sub-zero hallway.
I watched, helpless, as Mom, Dad, and Kevin sat around a warm hotpot, the steam blurring their smiling faces.
What a cozy family scene.
And I? I was locked outside, my fingers turning black from frostbite, my breath freezing into ice crystals on my eyelashes.
I remembered Mom’s last look at me, as if I were a piece of worthless trash.
“Better to freeze to death out there than waste our food here.”
That was Dad’s last line to me, shouted through the closed door.
“No one will fight me for food now!”
Kevin cheered excitedly.
And now, I was back. Back to the last day before the extreme cold apocalypse struck.
My hand trembled as I pulled out my phone.
June 30th, 9:17 AM.
Less than fourteen hours until the global temperature plummeted.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and took a deep breath.
This time, I wouldn’t be the naive fool who let herself be sacrificed.
“Avery! What are you doing with the door shut in broad daylight?”
Mom’s shrill voice pierced through the thin door, and I flinched.
In my past life, at this very moment, I would have been in the kitchen helping her make a cooling drink for Kevin before his afternoon tutoring.
I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror.
Eighteen years old, fresh out of final exams, wearing a faded T-shirt, my bangs stuck to my forehead with sweat.
Who would guess that beneath this innocent face lurked a soul that had experienced death?
“I’m changing!”
I casually replied, my fingers flying through the drawers.
The scholarship envelope from school after my exams was still tucked under my textbooks—eight thousand dollars.
Add to that my hidden earnings from part-time jobs and birthday money over the years, and I had a total of fifty-eight thousand six hundred and fifty-two dollars.
This money might barely cover my college expenses, but in the final hours before the apocalypse, it was my lifeline.
A sharp honk from outside startled me. A delivery truck pulled up downstairs.
Something clicked in my mind, and I frantically opened my phone to check my delivery status.
Before I was reborn, I’d bought a down jacket, thermal underwear, and a thick down comforter during an off-season clearance sale. They were all out for delivery right now.
I quickly sent an urgent text to the delivery driver, then dialed Mr. Henderson, the hardware store owner.
“Mr. Henderson, it’s Avery from Building 7. I urgently need a batch of construction materials…”
After hanging up, I stared blankly at the family photo on the wall.
In the picture, Dad had his arm around Kevin, sitting front and center. Mom sat beside Dad, smiling. I, however, stood awkwardly on the very edge, like an outsider.
This photo perfectly summarized my standing in this family.
A superfluous accessory.