Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse

end of the world was now les

nched between her teeth, an impact driver in he

ut of nowhere, hanging in the corner of eve

tempt to keep things calm, but there was no way to talk down the panic as prices kept rising and supplies were held in a m

what they could-price caps, purchase limits, reassurances from the podium-but none of it mattered

Others openly celebrated the thought of the world finally burning.

ruly ugly. Both on the streets a

the world was ending, they'd spend their last hours d

anything they could hoard. Supplies. Weapons. Gasoline. Didn't

anted to be with t

have that l

nly thing they'd left her was the family hardware store, a cramped little place wedged between a laundromat

wouldn't be the worst thing. Maybe there'd

nd even though she'd grown a thick skin since going it alone, feeling indifferent to the world, she knew w

t really gone until the las

ept carrying them with her anoth

lm, the impact driver whirring as she sank

traight-they make you tack on a bunch of other junk you don't n

ng. Converted every dollar she could scrape together into supplies. Unfortunately, by the time she hit th

d tools. If the world was ending,

against the reinforced plywood beneath. The impact driver snarled as she buried the screws. Th

down off the ladder. Stepped back to admire he

aded. Every interior wall lined

ed down a

e pockets than she'd ever need. Reinforced padding at the k

ing saw. The impact driver in her hand. A multi-bit sc

hree massive toolboxes. She'd also grabbed some stuff like an air purifier and

what the count

thers said asteroid impact. Volcanic w

she'd never needed before. She'd done everything she could think of to

f the big toolboxes laid flat on the floor, wip

y things still loading were comment

eight grand for a bag. Pl

t the Costco warehouse last week. All that 'purchase limit' crap was just theater. Shelves were

e limiting purchases, come back next week, we'll put your name on the list.'

he market on everything. So what are normal

he clock hits zero? Like, is it nukes? Th

it away. She didn't have anythi

antly. A fifty-pound bag of rice that normally went for thirty bucks ju

ne early, bought stuff that would keep, stuff that was calorie-dense and cheap. Chocolate. Surviv

breath and glanc

ver a

toolbox beneath he

hat thing hit zero? Maybe it'd be

red past. Her parents' faces. The ha

untdow

relief-nothing happened, maybe it really was

tlessness. A sen

thing

now how long

he

sliced across her face.

its place, an endless white expa

the air. Wind howled

fire guttered in the gale, th

at

a chime rang directly in h

e Extreme Cold

s. This is your new ho

rules are

inst the cold. If the campfire dies, you will be judged deceased by t

u can die from hunger. From

carry over. Only items on your person, or in direct ph

survive. It is

slammed agai

didn't ca

thy forum posters bragging abo

looked down

ear.

rie

y fr

bly find. But coal? Steel? Out

. A small wooden box, half-buried

er crate.

t-the one she always kept there, habit from years of work-and gri

. No sounds b

ickly, crouched by

open with the claw

handful

ed: Iro

Stale Dar

500ml Bottl

ed: Kin

nsulated Fie

Utility R

hermal Under

. Barely

ves. It was rock hard. She examined

a standard surv

g the underwear. She'd half-expected to wake up naked i

her inventory, then shr

e few seconds exposed had left her hands nu

She pulled the five units of Kindling from

higher. Warmth f

emaining Burn

ho

n ten hours she'd freeze t

fire died, the system would judge her

head and scanne

arely alive trees, crusted with frost, d

oo

oss her face. She patte

But felling a tree with just an

led out the chainsaw. Chec

here too. And a chain

last long enough to give her a massive head star