The people listened to the giant. They dropped their hammers and ran to gather wood.They worked until the sun went down. The dark purple sky turned pitch black. There were no stars.The survivors built three large, roaring campfires in the dirt courtyard. They pulled their sleeping bags and blankets close to the flames. They huddled together in small groups.Jonah did not sleep. He sat on a large rock near the broken gate. He held his heavy black rifle across his knees. He watched the dark forest outside the pure blue light of the Echo Seed.Two young guards, a man named Tom and a man named Bill, stood at the very edge of the camp. They held their rifles. They were the sentries for the night. They were supposed to watch for wild zombies."Are you cold, giant?" Tom asked, shivering in his thin gray coat. He rubbed his hands together."I am okay," Jonah answered softly.His body was different. The thick iron scars on his skin gave him extra protection. The Undying Will kept his stamina

"Yes," Jonah said. "We are the hunting party. And we are the wood-gathering party.""Jonah, you will freeze," Lisa warned him from her wheelchair. "You only have a torn shirt."Jonah looked down at his bare chest. The thick iron scars covered his skin."My scars will protect me," Jonah lied smoothly. He did not want her to worry. The truth was, he was freezing. His skin felt like it was turning to ice. But he could not show weakness. If the leader showed weakness, the people would completely give up."We need thick wood," Jonah explained to his hunting party. "We need to chop down the big trees. The small branches are useless. And we need to find animals. We need meat for food, and we need thick fur to make coats for the children.""Animals?" Marcus asked in disbelief. "What animal can survive this cold? The deer are probably frozen solid in the woods.""Then we will carry their frozen bodies back and thaw them out over the fire," Jonah said simply. "We do whatever it takes. Adapt or

The driver of the second truck stepped out, holding a rusted iron pipe.Jonah walked to the front of the group. "The sporting goods store is two blocks away," Jonah said. He pointed his finger down the frozen street. "We cannot drive. We have to walk.""Walk?!" David yelled in a panic. "The snow is up to my chest! I can barely move!""I will break the path," Jonah said.Jonah turned his broad back to them. He faced the unbroken ocean of deep white snow.He did not have the magical System to give him infinite stamina. He did not have the Adaptive Reward Conversion to turn his pain into power. He was just a giant human man.Jonah pushed his body forward. He used his massive legs to crush the snow. He used his thick chest to push the heavy powder aside. He acted like a human snowplow.Every single step was absolute torture. The freezing snow pressed against his bare, scarred stomach. It felt like a million tiny, freezing needles stabbing his skin. His thigh muscles screamed in protest.

Jonah gently pulled away from David. He nodded."Elena is right," Jonah said. He looked around the empty store. "Grab anything that is not nailed down. Grab the empty cardboard boxes. We can burn them for a quick fire. Grab the plastic bags to wrap around our boots. We do not leave empty-handed."The group moved quickly. The anger was gone, replaced by a desperate, focused need to survive. They tore apart empty cardboard displays. They shoved plastic shopping bags into their pockets. They gathered at the broken front doors.Jonah pushed the heavy glass doors open. They prepared to step back out into the freezing street. But as Jonah looked outside, he stopped."Oh, no," Jonah whispered. His blood turned to ice in his veins.The world outside had completely changed. The gray ash was gone. The dark sky was gone. The ruined buildings across the street were gone.Everything was pure, blinding, impossible white. A massive, apocalyptic blizzard had hit the town while they were inside.The w

Instead, a thick, white, glowing vapor poured out of the monster's broken waist. It looked exactly like liquid nitrogen pouring out of a frozen pipe. Hssssss.The monster turned its smooth, icicle-filled face toward Kevin.Screeeech-crk-crk.The torso dug its sharp ice claws into the deep snow. It dragged its broken body forward. But it did not just crawl.The thick, freezing white vapor poured over the snow between the torso and the broken legs lying nearby.The cold vapor acted like a magical magnet. The snow and the broken pieces of ice were pulled toward the monster’s waist.Right in front of Jonah’s horrified eyes, the icy viscera began to re-fuse.The white vapor melted the snow, and then instantly froze it again. The broken legs were pulled through the snow and smashed back into the bottom of the torso.CRACK. SNAP. SQUELCH.The ice fused together perfectly. The broken waist became a solid block of blue ice once again. The cracks vanished.The Cryo-Ghoul pushed its hands into t