Everyone was quiet as they moved forward with calculated steps. Just because the ice didn’t crack didn’t mean that it wouldn’t if they were careless.
No one wanted to be buried in crumbling ice that was several storeys high.
That was why even their breathing almost became uniform as everyone took shallow breaths with every step.
When they reached the end of the tunnel they had made, Lu Zhen realized that there was a stone wall there, which meant that they were being blocked by another building and they had to either move upwards or change direction.
Lu Zhen didn’t know how tall the building was and whether the roof was above the snow or was also buried under the ice.
So, he decisively changed directions and chose the direction he felt led to the road they had used when they came there that morning.
Repeating the same process as before, he cut out a piece of ice and Leng Pan melted it while absorbing the water.
The group looked like a caravan of refugees as they continued to move forward in the chosen direction.
It was half an hour later when they came to the end of the second tunnel.
This time, Lu Zhen didn’t choose to create another tunnel going forward, instead he made one that went upward.
After the ice melted, they noticed snow falling inside the tunnel and knew they had broken through to the surface.
Hence, Leng Pan took the lead to clear the snow while ensuring that the ice was stable enough for their carts to move without a hindrance.
When she reached near the top, the ice became loose because the snow had not hardened yet and she had to use her superpower to solidify it.
When she walked out of the tunnel, she was surprised to find that there was sun in the sky.
Even though it was not hot, or the heat couldn’t be felt due to the coldness brought by the ice that covered every inch of the earth, it was a sign that the extreme heat season wasn’t too far.
The others came out one by one and breathed fresh air that wasn’t so cold that it froze their lungs with every inhale.
"It feels good to finally see the sun again. I was about to become depressed because of the white curtain everywhere I looked." Lu Tao complained loudly while lifting his head to look up to the sky and enjoy the golden color of the sun.
Those pushing the carts came out last and lined the five full carts at the side while they also basked in the not-so-hot sun.
While the team marveled and enjoyed themselves, Sonny disappeared without a sound.
No one knew how or when he left. In fact, it was only when they reached home and were splitting the harvest for the day that they realized that one person was missing.
The teenagers who felt as if they had been imprisoned over the last few weeks finally felt free.
Lu Tao took the lead and lay on the ground facing upwards and started drawing angels on the snow using his body movement.
He would spread his arms out and his legs as well before bringing them back straight again.
Janna followed suit when she saw how much Lu Tao was enjoying himself and soon even the adults weren’t left behind.
For an hour, the team forgot about the apocalypse and played as if zombies and aliens didn’t exist.
They built snowmen and even started a snow fight among themselves.
Anyone who saw them would think that they were celebrating a type of festival and the apocalypse was just a figment of their imagination.
However, such tranquility was broken by Janna who was throwing snow balls at Leng Pan who had also joined the fun.
She stopped in her posture of throwing the snowball and let it fall back to the ground.
Leng Pan noticed her change and walked over to her.
"What happened?" She asked softly.
"There is something watching us. It’s not a zombie or a human because the color is different.
It’s yellow. It’s been in the same spot for over ten minutes without moving.
I hadn’t paid attention to it at first because it wasn’t the red color of zombies or the blue color of humans." Janna explained what she had seen in the map in her head.
Even though she was still learning how to explore and use her superpower that showed the creatures within a certain area near her, she was still aware of the colors and what each represented.
This was the first time she had seen a yellow color.
Leng Pan and Lu Zhen looked at each other and said in unison, "Aliens."
"Aliens."
The others stiffened when they heard that word.
They had heard stories about aliens ever since they knew about the first apocalypse.
They were also aware that the aliens involved in the apocalypse were bad news unlike what was portrayed in movies.
Humans don’t have superheroes who would fly out of nowhere and fight the aliens and drive them out of earth like the movies did.
They were aware that they were those heroes and they had to fight the aliens themselves.
This, however, didn’t lessen their apprehension since this was new territory.
They were confident in fighting zombies, even those of higher levels, but aliens were a foreign topic to them.
But, they also knew that they could not back down, otherwise their home would be gone.
"Let’s go check it out. The rest of you wait here." Lu Zhen first addressed his wife before instructing everyone else to stay put then walked in the direction Janna pointed at.
They had walked for about a hundred meters when the watches on their wrists vibrated.
This was the watch Lu Tao had made that could distinguish between armed humans, zombies, and aliens.
Now that the color on the watch was indeed different from what Lu Tao had said when facing zombies or armed survivors, they could confirm that they were facing an alien.