Jonah’s face softened. He stepped forward and placed his massive hands on Kevin’s shoulders. "Kevin, listen to me," Jonah pleaded softly. "If we do not do this, every single child in those trucks will be crushed in three days. We cannot outrun it. The math is absolute." "Then I am going with you to the canyon!" Kevin demanded. He grabbed his heavy iron mace. "I am the Scout. I can find the best path through the ruined city. I can help you set the bombs." "No," Jonah shook his head immediately. The fear of losing his son flared hot in his chest. "I need you to stay with the convoy. I need you to protect Lisa. If wild ice zombies attack the slow trucks, they need a fighter to shatter them." "Elena can protect them!" Kevin argued fiercely. "She is strong now! She knows how to swing the mace!" Elena stepped forward. She put her hand on Kevin’s arm, but she looked at Jonah. "Kevin is right, Jonah," Elena said. Her scarred face was brave and calm. "I will protect the convoy. I will gu

Marcus pointed a shaking finger at Jonah. "Whoever stands in the city to push that button will be crushed," Marcus cried. "When the tall buildings fall down, the bait will be buried under millions of tons of concrete along with the monsters. There is no way to run out in time! It is a suicide mission!" The room erupted into panicked whispers. "It is true!" Elena said, stepping forward. "You cannot outrun falling skyscrapers! The dust alone will suffocate you!" "We cannot ask anyone to do that!" another man yelled. "It is asking a man to kill himself!" Jonah raised his massive right hand. "Silence!" Jonah roared. The room instantly went quiet. The sheer power of the giant man’s voice stopped their panic. Jonah looked at the frightened faces of his people. He did not look angry. He looked very tired, but very peaceful. "I am not asking anyone to do it," Jonah said softly. His deep voice was completely calm. "I am doing it." Kevin gasped. "Dad. No." Jonah looked at his son. "I

Jonah opened the heavy metal door. He stepped out into the freezing storm. Kevin climbed out the other side. They walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Below them lay the canyon. And sitting at the bottom of the deep, bowl-shaped hole was the Dead City. It was an incredible, horrifying sight. Hundreds of tall, dark skyscrapers reached up from the bottom of the canyon. They looked like giant, black tombstones standing in a snowy graveyard. The windows were smashed. The streets below were completely buried in deep white snow. The entire city was coated in a thick, solid layer of clear, pale blue ice. Huge icicles, the size of school buses, hung from the sides of the tall buildings. It was completely silent. There were no lights. There was no movement. "It is a ghost town," Kevin said, shivering in the cold wind. "It is the perfect trap," Jonah said. "The walls of the canyon are solid granite rock. When the Glacier Horde rolls down into this bowl, they will never be ab

Gage swallowed hard. He looked at the dark hallway outside the door. He was terrified. He was freezing. He wanted to go home. But he looked at the giant man. Jonah had walked into a dark, frozen hell just to save him. "Okay," Gage said bravely. He stood up straight. "I know this subway station. Before the world ended, I used to work in the city. The main gas hub is two levels down. It is in the sub-basement." Jonah smiled. "You are a good man, Gage. Sam, Ben, you carry the green bags. Stay in the middle. We are a strike team now." The small team left the office. They moved fast. Gage led them through the twisting, dark, frozen hallways of the underground. They passed huge rooms filled with blue ice. They saw giant shadows sleeping in the dark. Jonah kept his hammer ready, but they stayed quiet. They did not wake the hive. "Here," Gage whispered. He stopped at the edge of a massive, open abyss. The floor of the subway tunnel was completely collapsed. There was a giant hole dro

The dark pit was completely black. Jonah fell through the empty air like a glowing silver meteor. He dropped fifty feet straight down into the sub-basement. The air rushed past his face. Below him, Kevin was trapped on the concrete floor. The yellow gas pipes were covered in gray C4 explosives. The timer on the bomb was cracking. The cold was destroying the digital screen. Jonah hit the floor. The impact of his heavy steel-toed boots shattered the solid concrete. A shockwave of pure silver light blasted outward. It pushed the freezing white fog away from Kevin. "Dad!" Kevin gasped. Jonah did not waste a single second. The ceiling above them was collapsing. Giant rocks were falling into the pit. Jonah wrapped his massive, scarred left arm tightly around Kevin’s waist. He pulled his son against his broad chest. "Hold on!" Jonah roared. Jonah bent his knees. The Undying Will skill flared with blinding white light. He pushed all the kinetic energy he had stored in his body directl