The Apocalypse Rebate System: I Became King by Giving

CHAPTER 4 THE THING IN THE SNOW

The first man died because nobody listened. "Open the door!"

The terrified scream echoed through the hallway, causing residents to rush from their apartments despite the obvious danger.

Fear and curiosity were powerful forces. When combined, they often drove people to make fatal decisions.

Jack stood behind his apartment door with a flashlight clenched in one hand and a kitchen knife gripped in the other. His heart hammered against his ribs as he listened carefully.

The growling sound had stopped. For some reason, that made the situation feel even worse.

An active threat was frightening, but silence carried its own kind of terror. Silence suggested that something was waiting.

Outside, frightened voices filled the hallway. "What happened?"

"Did someone get attacked?"

"I think it's a dog!"

"A dog?"

The suggestion spread quickly.

People desperately wanted a simple explanation. They needed something familiar to cling to because the alternative was too horrifying to consider.

Jack pressed his eye against the peephole. Several neighbors had gathered near the stairwell. Among them stood Mr. Dawson, the same man who had mocked him earlier.

The same man who had insisted the apocalypse was nothing more than bad weather, Dawson carried a baseball bat. Another resident held a fire extinguisher, while someone else gripped a golf club.

The scene looked almost absurd. It resembled a group preparing for a drunken bar fight rather than an encounter with an unknown threat.

Dawson raised his voice. "Everybody, calm down!"

The hallway gradually quieted. "Whatever got inside is probably some animal."

Several residents nodded. The explanation comforted them.

Jack frowned. He did not believe that for a second. Animals did not make sounds like the growl he had heard earlier. That noise had felt wrong. It had been too deep, too unnatural, and far too intelligent. Most of all, it had sounded hungry.

Then a frightened woman emerged from the stairwell. Her face was pale, and frozen tears clung to her cheeks. "It's down there."

The atmosphere in the hallway changed instantly.

"What is?"

The woman pointed toward the darkness below. Her hand trembled so violently that she could barely keep it raised. "I don't know."

The answer sent a wave of unease through the crowd. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I saw eyes."

The woman swallowed hard. "Blue eyes."

Nobody spoke.

The entire building seemed to hold its breath.

Dawson forced out a laugh. "Probably a dog."

Even he sounded unconvinced.

The woman shook her head immediately. "No dog has eyes like that."

A knot tightened in Jack's stomach. Every survival instinct he possessed urged him to stay inside his apartment, lock the door, and focus on surviving the night.

Yet another part of him needed answers. If something dangerous was inside the building, understanding what it was could mean the difference between life and death.

Dawson finally stepped toward the stairwell. "Let's check."

Several residents hesitated. Others followed. Fear was contagious. Unfortunately, courage and stupidity often looked the same.

Jack slowly opened his apartment door and slipped into the hallway. Nobody noticed him joining the group. The stairwell entrance loomed ahead.

Darkness swallowed the lower floors, and an unnatural silence hung over the space. A freezing draft drifted upward from below, carrying air far colder than anything else in the building. Jack noticed it immediately, and the others noticed it too.

One man rubbed his arms. "Why is it so cold?"

No one answered.

Dawson tightened his grip on the baseball bat and started down the stairs. The group followed cautiously. Flashlights sliced through the darkness, casting long shadows across the concrete walls. The deeper they descended, the colder the air became.

Jack's breath emerged in thick clouds. Frost coated the handrails. Ice spread across the concrete steps. It looked as though winter itself had invaded the building.

Then they found blood. A lot of blood. A crimson trail stained the stairwell floor. The blood looked fresh, bright, and disturbingly wet. Several people gasped.

One woman immediately burst into tears.

Even Dawson's confidence visibly faltered. "What the hell..."

The blood trail continued downward. It led toward the lower floors and, presumably, toward whatever was waiting there.

Jack felt his pulse quicken. Every survival instinct urged him to retreat. The group kept moving. No one wanted to be the first person to turn around and run.

Then they reached the third floor. The blood trail ended. Something else took its place. Deep claw marks had been carved directly into the concrete.

The sight froze everyone.

Those were not scratches left by a dog. They were not even remotely close. The grooves looked large enough to have been made by a tiger.

Or something even larger. "What made those?"

Nobody answered because nobody had an answer. The silence became heavier with every passing second.

Then a strange sound echoed from below. Everyone froze.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Something was chewing. The sound was slow, deliberate, and unmistakable. A wave of terror swept through the stairwell. A man spoke in a trembling whisper. "Maybe we should leave."

Nobody disagreed, but nobody moved. The chewing continued.

Then it suddenly stopped. An oppressive silence settled over the stairwell.

Jack's heart nearly stopped. Something knew they were there. He could feel it. The darkness below no longer seemed empty. It felt alive, watching and waiting.

Then two blue lights appeared. At first, Jack thought they were reflections. Then they blinked. The realization hit him like a physical blow.

Glowing blue eyes stared back from the darkness. A collective gasp swept through the group. Slowly, the creature stepped into view. The moment it emerged, reality seemed to shatter.

Several people screamed instantly. Others simply stared, unable to process what they were seeing. The creature resembled a wolf in the broadest sense. No wolf on Earth could ever look like that.

Its body appeared sculpted from jagged ice. Frozen spikes protruded from its back, and its claws looked like sharpened crystal blades.

Every movement produced a cracking sound that resembled shifting glaciers. Frost spread beneath its paws. The air around it felt noticeably colder. Deadlier, its glowing blue eyes locked onto the residents.

There was intelligence in that gaze. There was also hunger. Nobody moved. The entire group stood frozen as the creature slowly opened its mouth. Rows of ice-covered fangs became visible.

Steam escaped between them. The sight was horrifying. It looked like a nightmare that had somehow stepped into reality.

"What the hell is that thing?!" The terrified scream came from a young resident named Kevin.

The moment the words left his mouth, the creature moved. It moved far too fast. One second, it stood twenty feet away.

The next second, it was directly in front of him. The monster became a blur of ice and death.

Kevin never had time to scream. The creature's jaws snapped shut. Blood exploded across the stairwell. The monster tore him apart instantly.

Screams erupted everywhere. Chaos followed.

People turned and ran. Some stumbled. Others pushed anyone standing in their way. The organized group transformed into a panicked stampede driven by pure survival instinct.

Jack stumbled backward. His mind struggled to accept what he had just witnessed.

Kevin was dead, gone in less than a second. The monster lunged again. A woman vanished beneath its claws. Another scream echoed through the stairwell.

Another life ended. Blood splattered across the walls. The stairwell became a slaughterhouse.

Jack ran. Everyone ran. The monster chased them relentlessly. Its icy claws shattered concrete with every leap. The sound alone was enough to inspire terror. Behind him, people screamed continuously.

Some cries ended abruptly. Others lingered before fading into silence.

Jack refused to look back.

Looking back got people killed. The stairwell blurred around him as he raced upward after floor after floor passed beneath his feet. Step after step carried him closer to safety.

His lungs burned. His legs screamed in protest. Still, he ran. Then someone grabbed his arm.

Jack nearly lashed out with the knife. Instead, he found himself staring into frightened green eyes.

A young woman stood beside him. She looked to be in her mid-twenties. Dark hair framed a terrified face.

"I can't keep up!"

Jack vaguely recognized her as one of the residents, although he could not remember her name. The woman looked ready to collapse.

Behind them, more screams echoed upward. This time, they sounded much closer. Jack hesitated. Helping her could slow him down. It could get him killed. Leaving her behind would be safer, smarter, and more logical.

Then he remembered the elderly woman from the day before. The woman everyone had ignored. The woman whose accident had cost him his job. Nobody had helped her, nobody except him. Jack cursed under his breath.

Then he grabbed the woman's wrist. "Move!"

Together, they ran. The monster roared below them. The sound shook the entire stairwell. Fresh screams erupted from lower floors. Doors slammed shut.

Residents barricaded themselves inside their apartments. Panic consumed the building. Jack finally reached his floor. The woman nearly collapsed beside him. Both struggled to catch their breath.

For a brief moment, the hallway behind them remained empty. Then they heard it.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

The monster was climbing slowly, deliberately, almost casually. The sound carried an unsettling confidence, as though the creature already knew there was nowhere to run.

Jack forced himself toward his apartment. His hands trembled while he searched for his keys. The woman stood frozen beside him. Both listened. Both waited. The sound grew closer.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Then the creature appeared at the far end of the stairwell. Its glowing blue eyes immediately locked onto them. The monster stopped moving.

A heavy silence settled across the hallway.

Jack felt his blood turn to ice because the creature was no longer hunting at random. It was staring directly at him.

Then, without breaking eye contact, the icy beast began climbing toward Jack's floor.