I suddenly stepped on a rock. My body lurched, and before I could do anything, I fell straight into a snowdrift.
"Whoa!"
The bitter cold surged through me from the snow. I scrambled to my feet, trying my best to ignore how numb my feet had become.
For a kid from the Northeast, this much cold was still bearable. The temperature now couldn't be more than ten degrees below zero.
It was cold, but I was dressed warmly enough that it wouldn't kill me. My shoes had to go, though. If I kept walking in them, my feet would be ruined.
I forced myself onward, trying not to think about anything in particular, letting my mind wander aimlessly.
I didn't know how long I'd walked through the blizzard before I finally reached the edge of the reservoir.
The wire fence had fallen to the ground, and nearly all the buildings nearby had collapsed.
That was strange. Even if there were tons of Mutant Monsters, it would take a lot of them to destroy so many buildings. And with the Chrysanthemum Worm drawing near, even those monsters would have retreated, no matter how crazy they were. How could everything have collapsed all at once?
I kept wondering as I walked along the reservoir's edge. A thick layer of ice had formed over the water, and I didn't know if the water underneath was still usable.
If it wasn't... I'd just have to eat snow. I didn't have any other choice now.
I gritted my teeth and kept walking. I didn't dare eat any snow yet. If I did, my body temperature would drop even further, and with no food to replenish my energy, I'd freeze to death.
My body had already started to go numb by the time I finally reached