## When my father suddenly passed away, he left behind a house, a car, and some cash. To everyone’s surprise, my usually petty and sharp-tongued stepmother only asked for the car and cash, leaving the most valuable asset—the house—to me, my grandfather, and my younger sister. The three of us were completely baffled. It wasn’t until the inheritance paperwork was finalized that I accidentally overheard her inner thoughts. “Don’t think you’ve scored with that big house. The apocalypse is coming, and the freezing cold will kill you all soon enough!” 0“I don’t need the house. It’s too big for just me and Xuxu.” “I’ll take the car and the cash. After this, we go our separate ways.” Her words caught everyone off guard. My grandfather, my sister, and I all froze in place. My father had only been diagnosed with terminal cancer a month earlier. The disease came so quickly that none of us had time to process it before he passed away. During his final days, we called my stepmother countless times, begging her to come back and visit him one last time. But she refused, saying her son, Andy, was preparing for an important middle school entrance exam. She wouldn’t even spare a day to say goodbye to my dad. She didn’t show up for the funeral either. Instead, she took her son on what she called an “educational summer camp”—which was really just a fancy vacation. But now, with everything settled, here she was, suddenly reappearing to claim her share of the inheritance. We braced ourselves for a fight. After all, knowing her personality, even something as small as us having an extra glass of milk would set her off for days. Why was she suddenly acting so… reasonable? Grandpa’s face reflected his confusion. His eyes darted between my stepmother and the documents on the table. She looked radiant, dressed in expensive clothes and wearing jewelry that sparkled under the light. She didn’t look like someone grieving, not even a little. Still, Grandpa spoke again, cautiously. “Ruby, are you sure about this? My son may be gone, but I won’t let you be treated unfairly.” “Whatever’s yours will be yours. We won’t take a penny that doesn’t belong to us.” Ruby waved him off impatiently. “Stop rambling. I just want the car and the cash. I even brought the lawyer with me.” She pulled out a pre-prepared inheritance agreement, signed her name in bold strokes, and shoved it across the table. Grandpa and I exchanged wary glances. We carefully read through the document, checking every word for hidden clauses. To our surprise, it was exactly as she said—she only wanted the car and the cash. The only additional condition was that, after the division, she would have no further ties with our family. No ties? Fine by us. She never treated Grandpa, my sister, or me well while my dad was alive. Now that he was gone, cutting ties sounded like a relief. I signed the document on behalf of the family, pressing my fingerprint onto the paper. Ruby’s face lit up with joy as she grabbed the agreement. “Great! I’ll get the car transferred this afternoon. From now on, we’re done—no more connections, not even a little!” She strutted out of the house, practically skipping. And true to her word, she transferred the car into her name that very afternoon. Though the three of us—Grandpa, my sister, and I—were still puzzled by her behavior, we went ahead and transferred the house into my name. But as fate would have it, we ran into Ruby again as we were leaving the notary office. She was driving my dad’s old, beat-up Jetta, looking smug as ever. “Big house, huh? Sure, it’s nice—if you live long enough to enjoy it.” “Good luck!” she shouted, laughing as she drove off. The car’s exhaust sputtered as it sped away, but amid the fading engine noise, I suddenly heard her voice again, sharp and venomous: “Don’t think you’ve won just because you got the house. I’ve been through this before—I know what’s coming! In a few days, the apocalypse will hit, and the freezing cold will kill you all!” 0
For a brief moment, my mind went completely blank. Instinctively, I asked Grandpa and my sister if they had heard what my stepmother just said. They both shook their heads. “She just said, ‘Good luck,’ didn’t she?” “Come on, big sis,” my sister chimed in. “Ruby might be a bit harsh, but don’t take it to heart.” “We’ve got this big house now! Worst case, we can rent it out, move back to the countryside, and live off the rent. It’ll cover our expenses just fine.” She was trying to comfort me, but I shook my head. No. I was absolutely certain I had heard her voice—word for word. I opened Ruby’s social media account and saw her latest post. She had already checked in at the train station. The picture showed her holding two train tickets to Furnace Ridge. The caption was short but chilling: “Who knew you couldn’t fly to Furnace Ridge? Oh well, doesn’t matter. The deep freeze is coming soon—can’t wait to see all you smug city folk freeze to death!” My stomach dropped. Furnace Ridge was one of the hottest places in the country. This year’s summer heatwave had been insane, with surface temperatures there reaching over 140°F. Going to Furnace Ridge in this heat was practically a death wish. But knowing Ruby the way I did, she was far too selfish and self-preserving to risk her life like that—unless… Unless what I’d overheard from her earlier was true. Ruby had really been reincarnated, and in just a few days, the world would be plunged into an apocalyptic deep freeze. I told Grandpa and my sister about my theory, but they both thought I’d been reading too much sci-fi. “There’s no such thing as doomsday,” Grandpa said. “That’s just something people make up for movies and books.” “And how could there be freezing weather when it’s this hot outside?” “Exactly!” my sister chimed in. “Honestly, if it did get cold, it’d probably feel kind of nice after all this heat.” I stayed quiet. She was too young to grasp how terrifying extreme cold could be. A sudden drop in temperature could freeze everything in minutes. A polar vortex could bring temperatures as low as -100°F, turning people, animals, and even buildings into ice sculptures. I couldn’t take any chances. I immediately went online to look for any signs of unusual weather patterns. The results made my blood run cold. • “Reports of Extreme Weather Unsettle Residents: Sudden Temperature Swings Leave Experts Puzzled.” • “City Sees Wild Temperature Shifts—Four Seasons in a Single Day?” • “Man Found Dead on the Streets Overnight—Hypothermia or Something More Sinister?” Each headline made my heart race faster. The more I read, the more convinced I became: Ruby was telling the truth. I couldn’t gamble with my family’s lives. Meanwhile, Ruby’s location updated again—she was now near Furnace Ridge. Her new social media post read: “What’s the point of having a fancy house if it can’t keep you alive? A safe shelter is the only luxury that matters!” My sister was furious. “She’s insane! She’s the one who chose what she wanted from the inheritance. Who’s she throwing shade at now?” But her anger only strengthened my resolve. What I’d overheard from Ruby couldn’t be dismissed as a coincidence. “Better safe than sorry,” I said firmly. “Grandpa, Emily, we need to prepare.” They exchanged uncertain glances but eventually nodded. Ruby’s cryptic, spiteful posts were enough to convince them. “You’re right,” Grandpa said. “It’s better to be ready than regret it later.” 0
We knew one thing for certain: a deep freeze was coming. But how long it would last and when it would arrive—no one could say. “Should we move to Furnace Ridge too?” Emily suggested. I shook my head. Even if Ruby claimed to be reborn, I wasn’t going to blindly trust her judgment. Furnace Ridge might be scorching during the day, but it was still a desert—the temperature would plummet at night. It might not survive an extreme freeze either. Besides, Ruby took all the cash from the inheritance. We didn’t have the money to relocate. “Then let’s sell the house,” Emily said. “A place this big has to be worth a lot, right?” I sighed. “We don’t have time. Selling a house isn’t something you can do overnight.” “And even if we could sell it, what if the freeze hits before we find somewhere else to go?” Grandpa suddenly chimed in, his expression thoughtful. “There’s still the old house back in Cedar Hollow. It’s not much, but it’s got a yard and a fireplace. Back when I worked in the city to put your dad through school, your grandma refused to leave that house. She always said it was the most comfortable place to live.” My eyes lit up. Of course! The old house was partially underground, making it naturally insulated. With a few upgrades, it could be the perfect refuge from the cold. Grandpa brought out his savings, and Emily and I pooled together our college funds and any leftover birthday money. Altogether, we scraped together about $30,000. Armed with that money, we headed straight to the nearest stores. First, we bought construction materials to reinforce the house. Then we got heating supplies—firewood, thermal blankets, and portable heaters. Whatever money was left went toward food, medicine, and emergency supplies. It took us three days to gather everything. We loaded it all into rented trucks and started the trip back to Cedar Hollow. Before we left, Emily hesitated at the door of the big house, reluctant to leave. “Are you sure we shouldn’t rent it out?” she asked. “No,” I replied firmly. The house wasn’t in a great location, so we wouldn’t get much rent for it anyway. Plus, renting it out would only draw Ruby’s attention. I didn’t know why she harbored so much hostility toward us, but I wasn’t about to risk provoking her further. Over the next few days, Ruby kept posting updates from Furnace Ridge. Each one was more smug and self-assured than the last. I couldn’t fathom where she got the confidence to think Furnace Ridge would protect her from the coming freeze. But if the apocalypse really was on the horizon, no amount of gloating would save her. Even if she became the self-proclaimed “Queen of Furnace Ridge,” survival wasn’t guaranteed for anyone. 0
We returned to the countryside with several truckloads of supplies. There weren’t many families left in the village—just a handful of elderly folks scattered about, aside from my grandma. That was actually a good thing. With so few people around, we didn’t have to worry about drawing too much attention or causing trouble. Grandpa explained my theory to Grandma. I thought she’d dismiss it outright, but to my surprise, her reaction was even more intense than ours. “I’ve been having dreams,” she said, her voice trembling. “In them, the world is frozen solid. There’s no food to be found. Chickens, ducks, sheep—all frozen stiff in the fields. People, too—dead everywhere, frozen like statues.” “I wanted to call you kids about it, but I was afraid you’d think I’m just some old woman losing her mind. But now… it seems like the heavens really don’t want to let us live,” she said, wiping tears from her face. I reached out to comfort her. “It won’t be like that, Grandma. Look, we brought so many supplies back with us. As long as we all work together, we’ll get through this.” I had assumed our old house wasn’t very big, but to my surprise, it turned out that our family had once been quite well-off. The property was made up of a series of interconnected underground homes—earth shelters—with over a dozen rooms in total. No wonder Grandpa had insisted on buying construction materials first. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to make full use of all the space. Under the guise of “renovating the old family home,” Grandpa hired some workers to help us. Thick, tempered glass was installed to seal off every entrance and window, insulating the entire structure. Inside, we added several layers of thermal insulation to keep the cold out. Meanwhile, my sister, Grandma, and I carried in the supplies and organized everything by category. As we filled the rooms, three of the underground shelters were packed floor to ceiling with food, firewood, and emergency items. Seeing all that gave us a deep sense of comfort and reassurance. Grandma had an idea as well. “Since the extra rooms are just sitting empty, why don’t we bring in the chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep from the backyard? And don’t forget the straw and feed, too. If we run out of food, these animals will at least give us another option.” My sister and I got to work. All the land animals were brought into the underground shelters. As for the fish Grandma had been raising… well, they wouldn’t survive the extreme cold anyway, so we gave them to the remaining families in the village. In return, they sent us fresh eggs as thanks. With everything ready, Grandpa sent the workers away. All that was left to do was wait for the freezing weather to arrive. That night, the four of us—completely exhausted—lay in the courtyard, looking up at the hazy sky through the tempered glass roof. None of us could put into words the mix of feelings in our hearts. While we had been working tirelessly, Ruby, my stepmother, had been living in luxury. With the $200,000 in cash she took from the inheritance, she had rented a massive home in the desert. She hired locals to cater to her every need, from cooking to cleaning. She even had someone feeding her meals. It was like she was living the life of royalty. Her social media was full of boastful videos, accompanied by snide, passive-aggressive captions. We were too busy with our preparations to pay her any attention, which seemed to infuriate her. Eventually, she couldn’t hold back and called Grandpa directly to vent her frustration. “You old fool! What are you so proud of? Just because your son got into some fancy college? He still ended up working himself to death for me!” “And even after he’s gone, I’m the one holding all the cash!” “You never respected me when I was in your house. You even tried to meddle in my son’s education! How’s that big house treating you now?!” “By tomorrow, you’ll all be crying and begging me to come save you! But let me tell you, even if you all get on your knees, I won’t lift a finger to help!” 0
Her words were cruel, but I didn’t let her finish. I hung up the phone. People like her weren’t worth engaging with. What mattered more was that night, just as Ruby had predicted, the temperature plummeted. In June, snow began to fall. By morning, the entire world outside had been transformed into a frozen wasteland. We quickly retreated into the underground shelters, sealing the doors and windows tightly. Thankfully, we had chosen tempered glass when upgrading the house. The snow piled up on top of it, but instead of causing damage, it acted as an extra layer of insulation, helping to keep the cold out. Inside, with the fire burning steadily, we were warm and safe. Grandma, however, couldn’t sit still. She went out to the barn, killed a chicken, and brought it back inside with a bowl of its blood. “Unbelievable,” she said, holding up the bowl. “I was only outside for a minute, and this chicken’s blood froze solid before I even got back. I’d guess it’s at least -10°F or -20°F out there.” “More like worse than that!” my sister said, clutching her tablet. She pointed to a news report on the screen. “The news says it’s already -76°F outside.” “Once it gets below -76°F, regular thermometers can’t even measure the temperature anymore. Do you think it’s actually -80°F or even colder out there, sis?” I didn’t know. Looking at the snowdrifts outside—piled higher than a person—it was hard to believe anything could survive out there. Even with the warmth of the fire, the thought of what lay beyond our walls sent chills down my spine. There’s a myth that Medusa could turn people to stone with a single glance. This weather, I thought, could do the same—except it would turn people into ice sculptures instead. “Look at this,” Grandpa said suddenly, handing me his phone. It was a message from Ruby in the family group chat. Apparently, boasting on social media wasn’t enough for her anymore. She had started showing off in the family chat too. The photos she sent showed her lounging in the desert, wearing summer clothes and even lying barefoot in the sand. The caption read: “Is it really that cold? I think the temperature is perfect.” This didn’t make sense. Even if Furnace Ridge was warmer than most places, it shouldn’t be warm enough for sand baths during a deep freeze. For a moment, I wondered if the snow had somehow avoided Furnace Ridge entirely. Then I remembered Ruby’s earlier warnings and felt a strange sense of unease. I immediately opened a search engine and typed “Furnace Ridge.” Within seconds, my screen was flooded with news articles. The most prominent headline read: “The World Becomes a Frozen Wasteland, But Furnace Ridge Remains Untouched!”
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