THIS IS THE FIRST PART SHA
Part One The Storm Jude hacked at the ice again. CRACK. The crowbar struck the thick layer of ice sealing the garage door shut. He pulled it back and swung again. CRACK. Nothing. The garage door had been completely frozen shut overnight. A layer of ice covered almost every inch of it, creeping around the edges and locking it against the concrete. Jude wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve and stared through one of the small windows. The glass was completely fogged. Beyond it was nothing but darkness. Not the normal darkness of night. There were no streetlights anymore. No headlights. No lights from neighboring houses. Just an endless wall of black and snow. "This what the dinosaurs saw?" Jude thought. He swung again. CRACK. A tiny piece of ice broke loose and fell onto the floor. Jude stared at it. Then at the crowbar. Then back at the door. "Fuck this." He lowered the crowbar. There was no point. Even if he managed to break the ice away, it would just freeze shut again by morning. And more importantly, he was getting hungry. Every unnecessary movement burned calories they couldn't afford to waste. Jude turned around and walked back into the house. The garage door separated the cold outside from the house by only a few meters, but the difference was enormous. The warmth inside barely deserved to be called warmth anymore. It was around four degrees Celsius. Still survivable. Barely. The only reason any of them were still alive was because they stayed inside, wrapped themselves in layers of clothing and blankets, and avoided wasting energy. Jude stepped into the hallway. His boots left wet footprints behind him. He walked into the living room and spotted Kayla sitting in the corner. She was completely buried beneath a heavy blanket, only her face visible. She looked miserable. Understandable. Jude walked into the kitchen and dropped the crowbar onto the counter. CLANG. Kayla looked over. Jude looked at her. "Where's Vida?" Kayla shrugged. "Did you check upstairs?" Kayla asked. Jude's expression went cold. She had seen him come in from the garage, but he hadn't said a word. He turned and headed upstairs to look for Vida or Jadon. He had something to tell Jadon, but that could wait. If he found Vida, though, he had something important to tell her too. Jude walked past the bathroom. The door was open. For a brief moment, he caught the sight of someone in his peripheral vision before continuing down the hallway. He stopped. Then backtracked. "Vida?" He looked inside. It was
Vida. She was standing over the sink, trying to get water from the tap. No answer. Jude stepped inside. Her back was facing him, blocking his view of what she was doing. As he got closer, he noticed the bowl beneath the tap. The water looked anything but clean. Jude's expression remained unchanged. He had no idea why the water had suddenly changed color, but he had a pretty good idea what it meant. Something was wrong with the water system. Norway hadn't completely collapsed. The government was still functioning. Power was still running. There were still people maintaining what they could. But every problem that needed fixing had become a potential death sentence. The cold made everything harder. And then there was the Nuclear Storm. It had only passed near their house twice. Both times, the temperature had dropped to terrifying levels, forcing them into the basement—the warmest part of the house—until the storm passed. The first time, Jude and Jadon had seen two people caught outside. They hadn't made it far. They were frozen solid. There was no coming back from that. Jude tapped Vida on the shoulder. "You aight?" he asked. She nodded and walked away. Jude looked back at the sink, at the water, then walked out. She didn't want to talk. At least, that's what he thought. The house was quiet. Everyone was probably trying to save their strength. Their food was running low, and in a few days, he and Jadon would have to take the risk of going out to get more. The cold was manageable. The Storm was not. It usually came without warning. No dark clouds like a normal storm. No signs in the sky. Just a snowstorm powerful enough to rival a sandstorm, reducing visibility to around ten meters even with goggles on. The temperature could drop as low as -80°C. It could kill quickly. They would have to be fast. There was no gas in the car, so they would have to walk. The nearest home store was about two kilometers away—roughly an hour there through the foot-deep snow in some areas, another hour back, and fifteen minutes to get everything they needed to last another few weeks. In a normal world, the trip wouldn't have been risky. But this wasn't a normal world anymore. It was almost night. Jude could tell. It was always dark outside now. Sometimes there was a faint twilight, but mostly, there was nothing but darkness. The only way they could tell the time was through their phones. Unfortunately, Jude didn't have his. He'd dropped it in his room that morning after waking up abruptly.
Jude walked toward his room. As he neared the door, Jadon stepped out of the other bedroom. "Um hey, So—" Jude started. "The garage?" Jadon asked, already waiting. "Yeah. That. It's frozen shut. Tried breaking it." Jude pressed his lips into a small, tired smile. "Didn't help." He walked past Jadon and pushed open his door. Their friendship was odd—had always been odd—but that wasn't what was on his mind right now. He crossed the room and picked up his phone from the bed. Pressed the button. The display flickered to life. 19:43. 7 PM. The temperature would drop soon. The sun was still there, somewhere behind the endless gray, still giving them some warmth during the day. But once their part of the earth turned away from it, the cold would sink in deeper. Another few degrees. Maybe more. Jude stared at the time. Then at the window. Nothing but black and snow. Time to start prepping for sleep.