His path was peaceful thanks to the fact that they had passed through this street before.
He finally reached 97% and was about to level up.
Placing the iron bar on the ground, he crouched down and touched the zombie's head.
At the same moment he did this, it started to snow.
[It was identified that the Host found a level 1 core, 50% pure, do you wish to absorb it now [Yes] or [No]?]
Even though he was caught by surprise with this, he clicked 'yes'.
[You have leveled up!]
════════════
New Mission: [Core Thief] Completed!
Reward: 20 essence.
Bonus Objective: [Unlock the Inventory] Completed!
Reward: 10 essence.
════════════
'I thought I wouldn't be able to complete the mission since I left the group…'
However, it seems that taking the cores from the zombies they defeated and leveling up made it possible to complete the mission.
He smiled and opened the interface.
════════════
Theo Dimas
Race: Human
Age: 20 years
Level 2
Progression to the next level: 1%
HP: 201/201
Essence: 214
════════════
Now that it started snowing, he needed to choose a place to sleep.
After thinking for a bit, he went to a 30-story building in stealth mode.
The gate was open, and he entered.
The entrance door had been broken into.
'Was it the zombies, or people?' he wondered.
Just to be safe, he acted with caution.
Taking the flashlight, he turned it on as he entered while holding the iron bar.
He began climbing the stairs, heading to the thirtieth floor.
"How cold…" he thought.
The temperature was dropping more and more.
When he reached the thirtieth floor,
He went to the first door. He tried to open it, but it was locked, then the second, also locked.
After seeing that all were locked and shouting for someone with no one appearing, he simply put the flashlight in his pocket.
With the iron bar in hand, he lifted it from the ground and, with the concrete part, he struck the door's lock.
*BANG! BANG!*
*CRACK!*
His strength was greater than he expected; on the first hit, the door already cracked. On the second, the lock along with part of the door broke.
Even after so much noise, he didn't hear a single sound coming from the apartments.
He pushed the now-broken door.
Carrying the iron bar, not daring to enter unarmed, he began to walk; he could barely see and remembered he had put the flashlight in his pocket.
Taking the flashlight, he turned it on. Pointing it in all directions of the apartment, he could see what was inside.
It was what you'd expect from a luxury apartment.
A large table, sofas that seemed expensive, a TV at least 50 inches, and surrounded by glass in front of the door's entrance.
But he wasn't interested in how luxurious this apartment was. Because, without light and with the cold that had started, he knew it wouldn't be a very pleasant night.
He searched the entire apartment, and there were no zombies.
'At least that,' he thought.
Through the glass, he saw that the snow was getting stronger.
He shivered from the cold.
Thinking of something, he placed the lit flashlight on the back of the sofa to illuminate a good part of the house while leaving the iron bar next to the flashlight.
Walking to the kitchen, he grabbed the large silver refrigerator.
With his strength, he managed to carry it to the entrance door.
After closing the door, he reinforced it by leaning the refrigerator sideways against the door.
"This is better…" he murmured, satisfied with himself.
Going to the sofa, he picked up the flashlight and turned it off.
Removing the batteries, he took a set from his pocket that he had found earlier while searching the house and replaced them.
Testing it, he smiled: 'It worked.'
He also tried turning on the gas and succeeded.
By the way, the cabinets and refrigerator were completely empty, zero food.
He didn't even find a piece of clothing, though he found a blanket in a plastic bag at the top of the closet in the main bedroom of the apartment.
'This will do,' he thought.
Not wanting to be caught off guard, he grabbed one of the mattresses, and after removing the mattress cover, he placed the mattress on the living room floor while lying on the bed and covering himself with a not-so-thick blanket.
He didn't find a pillow, so he removed the cover from one of the cushions and used it as a pillow.
Looking toward the glass, he saw the dark, barely lit sky while it snowed heavily outside.
The apartment he was in had soundproofing, but he bet there was probably the sound of strong winds outside.
Even shivering a bit from the cold, it was manageable.
**
**
The next morning.
The world had turned white while he slept.
That was the first thought Theo had after waking up that morning.
The blizzard hadn't lessened; in fact, it had worsened.
Everything he could see, even the sky, was white.
When he got up with the blanket wrapped around his body, he went to the glass and looked down.
The snow had already reached a level where some houses were almost submerged in snow.
'God, it's worse than I expected,' Theo thought.
Suddenly, he felt the building shake a little.
"Damn, this building isn't going to collapse, is it?" He grew worried.
Luckily for him, the building only shook a little and stopped.
Shivering from the cold, he thought of something.
Going to the bedroom after placing the blanket on the mattress, he returned with the wooden bed frame; it was from a single bed.
Pulling with one hand and using a foot to step on it, he began breaking the wooden frame into pieces.
When he finished, Theo went to look for something that could be used; a portable barbecue would be ideal, but after searching and not finding one, he settled for pulling the toilet bowl from one of the bathrooms.
There was no water in the apartment, and the toilet bowl was clean.
Placing the toilet bowl in the middle of the living room, he began putting the wood pieces inside.
Having done all this, he took a lighter from his pocket that he had found earlier.
Then, he tore a piece of a cushion that was on the sofa, almost decorative, and placed it among the wood in the toilet bowl and lit it with the lighter.
When it started to burn, he smiled. Putting the lighter in his pocket, he rubbed his hands in front of the fire that began to grow as the wood burned.
Grabbing an armchair, he brought it close to the fire.
Feeling warmer, he started to feel hungry. One of the reasons he felt confident enough to go out and survive alone was the fact that he had a shop in the System and could buy cans of sardines.
Spending 2 essence, he bought 20 cans of sardines.
He stored 18. Taking the first one, he opened it and, even with dirty hands, he didn't have the luxury of being picky since there was no water, and he grabbed the fish with his fingers and ate.
"Delicious," he murmured.
Finishing one, he drank the broth and went for the second.
Still not satisfied, he took another 3 from the inventory.
Only after eating 5 did he feel somewhat full.
However, not wanting to act impulsively, unsure of how long this snow would last, he didn't dare continue eating.
Bored, he began to think about the first person he met since arriving in this world and the others: 'They must have returned and are probably well warmed up now, right?'
**
**
On the cruise ship, things weren't a bed of roses as Theo imagined.
Strangely, since the snow started falling, all kinds of electricity stopped working. Whether it was gasoline, solar panel energy, etc.
The only things that worked were batteries, but they drained incredibly fast compared to before.
The upper part of the ship was already covered in snow, while the lower part had already reached over 3 meters of snow and was increasing more and more.
"If this continues, we'll be buried alive," Mia whispered to her sister, Violet.
At that, Violet couldn't deny.
The snow was very heavy, showing no intention of stopping.
"We need to get out of here," Violet decided.
If they stayed there, it was almost certain they would die. And even if going out meant risking freezing to death, it was better to take the chance than to die without even trying.
"Many won't want to go," Mia said, worried.
"So be it, we're not going to wait for death just because some don't have the courage to leave," Violet replied in a colder tone.
"Well…" Mia hesitated.
"Anyway, we're going. Whoever wants to can follow us. I'll clear the way, creating a solid path with my ice, reducing the risk of sinking in the snow. If, even so, there are idiots who want to stay because they think they're safe here, screw them. We're going to survive — we always survive. I'm not going to die here, and I'm not going to let you die," Violet said decisively.
Hearing Violet's words, Mia began to recall how their life was before the apocalypse.
They had already gone through hunger, cold, and even lived on the streets for a good part of their lives. It had always been just the two of them; one protecting the other.
"You're right, let's go. We can't rely on luck. I've always trusted your instincts; if you insist we need to leave, I agree with you," Mia said, holding Violet's hands.