Chapter 1Global Freeze, I Lead My Boyfriend's Family to Survival

The world was freezing over, and my boyfriend, using a vacation as an excuse, wanted to bring his entire family to stay in my newly bought mountain cabin.

His dad was a slob, spitting everywhere and wiping his nose with his hand. I tried to patiently explain proper hygiene, but his mom attacked me with a needle, saying I had no manners and didn't respect my elders.

They kicked me out onto the porch, refusing to let me eat and telling me I needed to learn some manners. My boyfriend's younger brother played the nice guy, deliberately bringing me undercooked green beans, causing me to get food poisoning with violent vomiting and diarrhea.

He then ratted me out to his family, saying I was trying to steal food and he had been so smart to catch me. My boyfriend wouldn't even listen to my explanation, calling me a manipulative bitch.

They beat me and kicked me, not caring if I lived or died, and threw me out of the house, telling me to go find food. I froze to death, full of anger and resentment, right outside my own front door.

I woke up with a jolt, staring at the TV screen showing a low-temperature warning. I grabbed my phone and called my boyfriend. This time around, I was going to make his whole family pay.

* * *

"The National Weather Service is predicting a major cold front coming in tomorrow, the strongest of the year so far."

The familiar weather report played on the TV. A wave of heat rushed through me, my chest burning with rage. After a brief but intense bout of pain, I fell to the floor, gasping for air.

I opened my eyes, exhausted, to find myself lying in the living room of my mountain cabin. Unlike the image I remembered, filled with trash and grime, the room was clean, with a soft, new sheepskin rug.

I had been reborn, ten days before the disaster.

My parents bought this cabin for me. It wasn't huge, one bedroom, two bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen, but it was quiet and peaceful, with a gorgeous view of the mountain stream through the massive picture windows.

My parents were always busy with work, so they tried to make up for it with material things. They bought this place because it was beautiful, secluded, and had all the latest amenities. I came up here for vacations and to relax whenever I could.

But little did they know, it would become my tomb.

The hunger I had felt before dying flooded my brain. I ran to the fridge, grabbed a chilled ham hock, and started stuffing it into my mouth, washing it down with a bottle of ice-cold Coke. I didn't even care about the cold air blasting from the refrigerator. Compared to the arctic freeze that had killed me, this was practically a sauna.

Just as I was indulging in my newfound happiness, a familiar ringtone, his ringtone, made me instinctively hide the food. That sound was like the Grim Reaper himself, bringing back memories of my hellish life.

Last time, my boyfriend, Chad, had called me wanting to bring his family to my place.

["Babe, I heard you bought a cabin up in the mountains. Can my family come stay for a few days?"]

["You know, my parents are getting older, and they want to take a vacation. They think hotels are too expensive and would like to come stay at your place."]

["You don't want to disappoint them the first time they meet you, do you?"]

I had been so head-over-heels for Chad that I didn't think twice before agreeing.

Looking back, I realized how messed up it was.

How did he know I had bought the cabin? And how did he know the address? I had only told my best friend, Megan, who worked at the same company.

We lived in the same apartment building, carpooled to work every day, and went out for drinks and movies on weekends. A couple of times Megan had wanted to come with me to the cabin, but it was my secret escape, so I always made excuses.

Megan acted a little hurt, but she never said anything.

Chad and I had gone to the same college. We ended up working in the same city after graduation. I was blinded by love. Thinking about it now, the warning signs were there all along.

He'd show up at my office to take me to lunch. Whenever I got back to my apartment after lunch, Megan was always out. She’d make up all sorts of excuses for not being home.

One time I was leaving to grab a coffee and overheard Megan on a voice call with a guy, and the voice sounded a lot like Chad's. She looked up and saw me and panicked. She stammered and said it was a friend from years ago. Looking back, their acting was terrible. Those two had been hooking up behind my back for who knows how long.