My sister-in-law, Amber, was totally obsessed with her boyfriend. The Arctic Apocalypse was upon us. I’d taken my whole family to stock up on supplies, explicitly warning Amber not to tell anyone about it. The very next day, she went and told her boyfriend everything. Later, as our family hunkered down in our safe house, cautiously living day by day, Amber started throwing a fit, insisting she had to deliver supplies to her boyfriend’s family. I tried to reason with her. “Amber, the apocalypse is here. We need to look out for ourselves first. We don’t even know when this will end; we can’t just give away our precious resources.” Amber wailed, accusing me of being petty and jealous, claiming I couldn’t stand to see her happy. She even threatened, “If Jake dies, I won’t want to live either!” My in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, screamed at me, calling me a heartless troublemaker. They snatched the thick winter coat I’d set aside for myself and handed it right over to Amber’s boyfriend. Then, they kicked me out of the house, telling me to go ‘reflect on my selfishness.’ I froze solid, my eyes wide open, glazed over with bitter, unfulfilled regret. My husband, Ryan, and his family, the very ones who cast me out, survived, warm and fed, thanks *only* to the immense stash of supplies *I* had painstakingly gathered. When I opened my eyes again, I was back a few days before the apocalypse.
“Cassidy, are you out of your mind? Why are you buying so many puffer coats? Are you planning on freezing to death and coming back as an ice zombie or something?” Mrs. Stone stomped over and shoved me hard. “You small-town girl, you’ve never had nice things, have you? Spending my son’s money like it’s free.” I jolted awake, taking in the scene before me. The air conditioning was on, and the house was warm, yet a bone-chilling cold seeped into me. Being frozen into an ice sculpture wasn’t a pleasant feeling. I snatched a puffer coat and pulled it on. The warmth brought me back to my senses. The familiar surroundings confirmed it: I had been reborn. “What’s wrong with you? Are we abusing you? Why are you acting like this?” Mrs. Stone’s incessant nagging droned in my ears, as if everything I did was wrong. I let out a slow breath, trying to keep my voice calm. “I saw online that a massive blizzard is predicted for next week, so I thought I’d buy you all some extra-thick coats.” “Ha! See? I told you you’re from a small town. No matter how cold it gets, I only wear pure wool coats, darling. Pure wool! It’s never cold in those!” Mrs. Stone rolled her eyes, her tone dripping with disdain. Asher, my husband, and I were college sweethearts. My parents died when I was young, and I only got through college thanks to my relatives. That was always their big problem with me – the reason my in-laws looked down on me. Mrs. Stone always prided herself on being a sophisticated city socialite, never caught in anything bulky, only pure wool coats in winter. Just then, Chloe, Asher’s younger sister, strolled out of her room. She wore a thin knit top, a short skirt, and black tights. It was already minus five degrees Fahrenheit outside; that outfit would leave her shivering. Chloe glanced at the coats on the floor, her disgust clear on her face. “Cassidy, what *is* all this ugly junk? And where’s my coat? Did you pick it up from the dry cleaner’s?” I pointed to the sofa. “It’s there.” Chloe walked over and put it on, not forgetting to boss me around as she did. “I have two papers due next week. Don’t forget to write them for me, okay? And Liam’s clothes are in my room. Make sure they’re clean. He needs them in a few days.” She ordered me around as if it were her absolute right, as if I were nothing more than a maid in this house. No, to be precise, I was worse than a maid. Who ever heard of a maid having to wash her sister-in-law’s *boyfriend’s* socks and underwear? My nails dug into my palms, the sharp pain the only thing stopping me from slapping that smug look right off her face. Because now wasn’t the time for revenge. This family’s comeuppance was still ahead. I turned to Mrs. Stone. “You’re right, Mom. These clothes are beneath you. I’ll return them right now.” With that, I grabbed the bags and stormed out of the house.
Returning them was out of the question. I took the bags to the shipping center and mailed them all back to my hometown. The clerk looked at me a bit strangely. “Why are you buying so many puffer coats?” I smiled. “My folks are old-school, not into online shopping. I bought these for them in the city and mailed them over.” The clerk chuckled. “Is it going to be that cold this year? It hasn’t even snowed yet. Isn’t this a bit much?” A bit much? Oh, it was *definitely* not enough. In my previous life, I saw online predictions of the coldest winter ever recorded, so I prepared by buying warm clothes and stocking up on food and supplies. At first, Asher and his family accused me of wasting money, thinking I was overreacting. They scoffed, claiming it couldn’t possibly get so cold that we couldn’t leave the house. But then, the temperature plummeted to a terrifying minus seventy degrees Fahrenheit. The Arctic Apocalypse had arrived. Even bundled up like a human marshmallow in thick puffer coats, walking outside for more than half an hour would lead to certain death. It was then Asher and his family finally realized how right I had been. Just when I thought we could survive by staying indoors, Chloe, completely love-struck, went into full panic mode. She received a FaceTime call from Liam. He said his family had run out of food, and despite wearing all their clothes, they were still freezing. He feared they’d freeze to death within days. Chloe, upon hearing this, immediately became heartbroken and rushed to go out to deliver him puffer coats and supplies. I knew the roads outside were mostly impassable. Even driving, she wouldn’t get far. Going out now was a death sentence. I desperately tried to dissuade her, telling her that self-preservation was paramount, and with no end in sight for this extreme weather, we needed to hoard as many supplies as possible. Chloe shoved me hard, tears streaming down her face as she wailed, “You just can’t stand to see me happy! He’s my world, my *everything*! If he dies, I’m dying with him!” My in-laws and Asher had always spoiled Chloe rotten, giving her anything she desired. Hearing her outburst, they all started yelling at me, calling me cold-hearted and cruel. They even packed up the extra puffer coats for Chloe and urged her to go. Chloe wiped her tears, pointing at the coat I was wearing. “We still need one more. Cassidy’s coat looks perfect, let her give it to me too.” I couldn’t fight all three of them. Asher held me down while they ripped my jacket off, and then Mrs. Stone actually *kicked* me out the door, telling me to “think about what I’d done”! I pounded on the door, desperate to get back inside. Before I could knock twice, my fingers, like frozen icicles, snapped right off my hands. Ten minutes later, I lost consciousness. This time, I would not sit back and let it happen. I would survive this. After mailing the packages, I rushed to a wholesale market and bought a stash of fake pearls, fake diamonds, and fake gold. Two large bags cost me only fifty bucks. While choosing the fake gold, I noticed a security camera, the kind with an intercom, sitting on the boss’s counter. Walking out of the market, I spotted a clothing store having a clearance sale. Designer puffer coats, all for just ten dollars each. What kind of puffer coat could you get for ten bucks? No need to think twice, they definitely wouldn’t keep anyone warm. Chloe loved doing good deeds, didn’t she? Well, I’d make sure she had plenty of chances to do just that.
Back home, I immediately snuck into my in-laws’ bedroom. Mrs. Stone had a collection of valuable jewelry, including my own wedding jewelry – the expensive set Asher’s family had given me, supposedly as a welcome gift. She’d “stored” them for me, but I knew she was just hoarding them for Chloe’s future, as a sort of inheritance or a ‘nest egg’. I stuffed them all into a bag and replaced them with the fake jewelry I’d just bought. After that, I replaced every single puffer coat in the house with the cheap, fake ones I’d bought. This family was all about appearances, every item a designer brand. I stripped their closets bare, every single piece, and hauled them straight to a pawn shop for cash. I needed money now. A *lot* of money. By the time I finished all this and got back home, it was already dark. Chloe was back. She probably expected Liam’s dirty clothes to be washed and dried by now. But to her surprise, they were still lying there, untouched. “Cassidy! Why aren’t Liam’s clothes washed yet? Are you ignoring me?!” She picked up the bag of dirty clothes with two fingers, screaming in exasperation. I sneered. “Am I your boyfriend’s mother? Why should I wash *his* clothes? Tell you what, why don’t you get down on your knees and beg me, maybe then I’ll consider it.” I’d been their housemaid for years, doing whatever they asked without ever daring to resist. This was the first time I’d defied her, and Chloe’s eyes widened. “You… what did you say?” “Are you deaf? Or just stupid? Do I need to spell it out for you?” Chloe’s eyes turned red with fury. She glared at me, as if she wanted to chew me up and swallow me whole. She screamed at Asher, “Bro! What kind of shrew did you marry?! She’s walking all over me now!” Asher glanced at me, frowning. “It’s just a few dirty clothes. Just wash them, what’s the big deal?” I scoffed, walked over, and picked up the bag of clothes. Chloe, thinking I’d given in, smugly said, “They have to be hand-washed in cold water. No machine.” “Go screw yourself! I’m not your damn maid!” I lifted the bag of dirty clothes and dumped them right over Asher’s head. A pair of his used boxers landed right on his head, a faint, stale odor wafting from them. Asher trembled with rage. “Are you out of your mind?!” He scrambled up from the sofa, kicking away the dirty clothes around him in disgust. He lunged at me, intending to hit me, but I kicked him hard in the stomach. Then, without thinking, I bolted out the door. Asher’s curses followed me. “Run! Run and don’t ever come back!” I certainly wouldn’t. That place held nothing worth staying for. I drove straight back to my hometown that night. After my parents passed, they left me a small cabin. A few years ago, I renovated it, and Asher had complained, saying it was pointless, that he wouldn’t set foot in such a “small-town” area. Now, it was perfect for me. In a few days, the blizzard would hit, burying everything under snow deep enough to cover an adult. Transportation would grind to a halt. No one would be able to get out. So, the cabin would be safe for now. I just needed to make sure it was warm enough. Mrs. Stone looked down on me, thinking I was just a country girl. She didn’t know how resourceful country people could be. Before dawn the next day, I rode my three-wheeled utility vehicle to the market to buy materials to build a rudimentary stove. Once it was built, burning firewood and coal would keep the entire cabin warm. I quickly contacted a coal supplier and ordered five tons of coal and firewood. When the apocalypse came, the power grid would fail, and air conditioning and electric heaters would be useless. Only the most basic heating methods would work. I told the supplier I had a huge family gathering coming up, a dozen people needing to keep warm, and he didn’t suspect a thing. With the crucial heating sorted, it was time for food. Small towns might lack modern amenities, but fresh produce? We had it in spades. My family, we’d always prepared for hard winters, a tradition passed down. My dad had dug out a root cellar years ago, perfect for storing food. But vegetables alone wouldn’t do. I needed staples. First, I bought a used minivan from a second-hand market and drove it to the wholesale market. Stocking up on too much at the local grocery store would raise too many eyebrows, so I went straight to the wholesale market, telling the owner I was opening a small convenience store in the area and needed to buy supplies. Every day, I went to purchase just as the wholesale market was about to close. By the time I returned to the cabin, every household in my hometown was already dark and asleep. I used this time to unload, so no one would know. These past few days, whenever I met anyone in town, I warned them to stock up on groceries, saying it would get too cold to go out. Boxes of rice, flour, brown sugar… were carried into my cabin. Seeing my cabin filled with food, I felt a surge of security. Then I continued to purchase daily necessities: tissue paper, sanitary pads, shampoo, body wash…
Just as I was focusing on hoarding supplies, Asher called again. The past few days I’d been gone, his family had been miserable without my service. Dirty clothes and pants piled up in the washing machine, no one willing to touch them. The sink was overflowing with pots, pans, and dishes, all waiting for me to come back and wash them. Even the ashtray on the coffee table was full, and they couldn’t be bothered to empty it themselves. Everything waited for me. Finally, Asher ran out of clean underwear. Now, he finally remembered me. “When are you coming back?!” His voice was laced with anger. “I’m not coming back. I’ve been playing housemaid for too long, and I’m done.” A cold laugh came from the other end of the line. “It’s just a few dirty clothes, why are you so mad about it? Look, Chloe’s been pampered since she was a child, she’s never done housework. What’s wrong with you, her sister-in-law, helping her out?” I laughed too. “Asher, you’re so generous. You can put up with your own wife washing another man’s underwear? You wimp. Even stray dogs on the street know how to protect their partner. You’re less than human.” “Cassidy! Don’t push your luck!” I didn’t bother with more pleasantries. “Unless Chloe gets down on her knees and *begs* for my forgiveness, you can dream about me coming back!” I hung up and continued to inventory my supplies. The root cellar was completely full. This food was enough for me to live alone for several years. That morning, I woke up to find the outside temperature had already dropped to minus twenty degrees Fahrenheit. We’re not even that far north here, so this was a record low. The snow was already up to my shins, making it difficult to go outside. But there was one last thing I needed. Although the heavy snow would soon make leaving impossible, some desperate individuals might try their luck. I needed something to defend myself. Knives and baseball bats felt too flimsy. A gun was out of the question – too hard to get, too much hassle. I walked into a hardware store and picked out a sturdy chainsaw. The roar of the engine echoed through the store, and even the owner kept his distance, afraid of being accidentally injured. I happily paid and carried my new tool home. The temperature would continue to drop tomorrow, so from then on, I would stay hidden in my safe house and not go out. That night, snuggled into my wonderfully heated bed, I finally remembered the hidden camera I’d installed in Asher’s house. I’d been too busy before to check on them, but now, with nothing to do, I could finally see what they were up to. The power grid was still running, and these people had no sense of urgency. I scanned the rooms, but Asher and Chloe were nowhere to be seen. I found it a bit strange, but it had nothing to do with me. I simply turned off my phone and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep. The next morning, the insistent ringing of my phone startled me awake from my sweet dreams. I jumped, seeing it was Asher calling. Waking me up so early, how annoying. I hung up and tried to go back to sleep. But his calls were like a death knell, one after another. I blocked him, and he immediately called from Chloe’s number. Those two were together? Drowsily, I suddenly remembered what I’d said a few days ago. I pressed the answer button, and Asher’s desperate voice came through: “Cassidy! Chloe and I are at the edge of your town! Get out here and pick us up! I’m freezing to death!”
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