The Ambush In Wait

Frost clung to the air like invisible threads, weaving through every breath as they stood near the barricaded doorway. The distant creak of shifting ice echoed faintly down the corridors, a chilling reminder that they weren't alone within these frozen walls.

Liam adjusted the strap of his pack, gaze flicking toward the injured girl leaning against Ava. Her face was pale, her breath shallow from pain and exhaustion. The makeshift bandage wrapped around her hand was already blotched with dark crimson.

"We need to move," Liam said, his voice low and firm.

Ava tightened her grip around the girl's shoulders. The girl's trembling weight pressed into her side, but Ava held steady.

"I know," she replied. "But the clinic's past the east wing, and that hallway's always colder—there's more open windows there. She won't last if the frostbite sets in before we get her treated."

Liam's brow furrowed slightly, but he nodded. "So we cut through the west corridor, past the science labs. It's longer, but the insulation's better there."

"Exactly. If we can make it through without running into any Frostborn…" Ava trailed off, her gaze falling briefly to the girl's bloodied hand. She swallowed the knot tightening in her throat. **We have to.**

The faint scrape of boots against ice drew their attention back to the group of boys huddled near the opposite wall. The blond one—Carter—shifted his weight impatiently, his bruised jaw tight with suppressed frustration. The others glanced between Liam and Ava, their expressions a mix of resentment and thinly veiled defiance.

"You're walking in front," Liam told them flatly.

Carter scoffed. "Seriously? We're not your scouts."

"You're walking in front," Liam repeated, stepping forward just enough that Carter instinctively edged back. "If any of you so much as blink wrong, I'll make sure you regret it."

The air tensed, thick with unspoken threats.

Ava stepped between them before the tension could break. "Let's go. We're wasting time."

Without waiting for a response, she started forward, guiding the girl with slow, careful steps. Liam fell into step beside her, close enough that she could feel the faint heat radiating from his arm, even through the layers of their jackets.

The boys muttered among themselves but moved ahead, their footsteps echoing against the frost-covered tiles as they led the way down the dim corridor.

The hallway stretched before them in icy silence. Frost clung to the walls in thin, crystalline patterns, shimmering faintly in the weak light filtering through ice-covered windows. Each breath hung in the air as pale mist, vanishing almost as quickly as it formed.

Their footsteps crunched softly against the frost-laced floor, the sound muffled beneath the heavy stillness that seemed to press against their ears. Every creak of shifting ice sent a pulse of adrenaline through Ava's veins, her gaze flicking constantly toward the shadows that clung to the corners of the corridor.

**Just keep moving.**

They made it past the first corridor without incident, the faint echoes of distant Frostborn never drawing too close. But as they rounded the next corner, the air seemed to drop another degree, biting sharper against exposed skin.

Carter slowed, glancing back with a faint smirk. "Getting colder, huh? Maybe we should stop and warm up—"

"Keep walking," Liam snapped, his voice cold as the air around them.

Carter's smirk faded, but he kept moving.

They pressed on, weaving through debris-strewn hallways and past half-frozen doors that hung ajar on broken hinges. The faint hum of frozen pipes echoed faintly through the walls, like distant whispers threading through the silence.

Halfway through the west corridor, they hit their first obstacle.

The wall ahead had partially collapsed, a jagged mound of concrete and steel blocking the hallway. Frost clung to the exposed rubble in thick, uneven layers, as if the collapse had occurred long before the freeze had set in.

"Damn it," Liam muttered, stepping forward to examine the debris. He ran a hand over one of the larger chunks of concrete, eyes narrowing slightly as if searching for something.

Ava shifted the girl's weight against her shoulder. "Can we clear it?"

"Not without making too much noise." Liam glanced toward the boys. "We'll have to take the long way around."

As they turned to retrace their steps, Carter let out a low whistle. "Looks like something hit that wall hard," he muttered. "What do you think—bulldozer?"

"Or something bigger," one of the other boys added, his voice edged with unease.

Liam shot them a sharp look, but Ava caught the faint flicker of uncertainty in his eyes before he turned away.

"We're not sticking around to find out," he said flatly.

They backtracked to the last junction and veered east, weaving through a narrower corridor that pressed the group closer together. The cold bit sharper here, leeching heat through layers of clothing as their breath fogged the air in shallow bursts.

Carter slowed as they reached a section where frost had thickened across the floor, slick and treacherous beneath their boots. When he paused too long, Liam stepped up behind him and shoved him forward with enough force to nearly knock him off balance.

"Move."

Carter stumbled, muttering curses beneath his breath but picking up the pace without further protest.

Twice more, Liam had to rein the boys in—once when one of them tried to glance back toward Ava with something too close to a smirk, and again when another lingered near a doorway as if considering slipping off into the shadows. Each time, Liam's glare or a sharp cuff to the shoulder was enough to keep them moving.

Finally, the faint red cross symbol of the clinic's door came into view. Ava's chest tightened with relief as they reached the entrance, her breath hitching slightly from the effort of supporting the injured girl.

Liam stepped ahead to push the door open, the hinges groaning faintly beneath the weight of frost clinging to the frame.

Inside, the air was slightly warmer—just enough to stave off the worst of the frostbite. Medical cabinets lined the walls, their glass doors frosted over but still intact. Frost-covered exam tables stood along the room's center, their metal frames gleaming faintly beneath the weak emergency lights overhead.

Ava helped the girl onto one of the tables, her heart hammering as she unwrapped the makeshift bandage. The blood-soaked handkerchief peeled away from the girl's skin, revealing raw, torn flesh where the nail had pierced through her hand. Swelling had already begun to set in, the skin reddened and inflamed from cold and trauma.

Ava's stomach clenched at the sight, but she forced herself to focus.

"This is going to hurt," she warned, reaching for a bottle of antiseptic from the nearest cabinet. The liquid sloshed faintly against the frosted glass, sluggish from the cold but still usable.

The girl bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as Ava poured the antiseptic over the wound, her entire body going rigid beneath Ava's hands. Tears welled in her eyes as she gasped against the pain, but she didn't pull away.

"You're doing great," Ava murmured, wiping away the excess blood as gently as she could. "Just a little longer."

Liam stood nearby, his gaze flicking toward the doorway every few moments, as if expecting trouble. His shoulders remained tense even as Ava finished disinfecting the wound and wrapped it carefully with a clean bandage.

"Done," she said, securing the bandage with a final knot. "We need to change it regularly, but this should hold for now."

The girl managed a faint, tearful nod.

Liam stepped forward and offered his arm to help her stand. His touch was surprisingly gentle, his earlier fury replaced by a more measured resolve. The girl clung to his arm as she steadied herself, her injured hand cradled against her chest.

"Let's get back before we draw attention," Liam said, guiding her toward the door. Ava moved to support the girl's other side, her muscles aching from tension and cold.

But as they stepped back into the hallway, the air seemed to shift—thicker, heavier somehow.

Ava's gaze darted ahead—

The boys were gone.

Her pulse stumbled. She twisted, scanning the shadows beyond the doorway. The corridor stretched empty and silent, the faint frost-covered footprints fading into darkness.

"Where are they?" she whispered.

Liam's expression darkened. His grip on the girl's arm tightened slightly, his shoulders coiling with tension.

"They ran."

Ava swallowed against the sudden knot in her throat. The air seemed colder somehow, the distant echoes of shifting ice growing louder against the silence.

"They wouldn't just leave," she said, but her voice sounded hollow even to her own ears.

Liam didn't answer.

He stepped forward, eyes narrowing as he scanned the shadows ahead.

Somewhere in the distance, the faint rasp of hollow breath drifted through the air—low and jagged, like frost scraping against glass.

Ava's pulse pounded against her ribs.

Frost clung thicker in the air as they made their way back through the abandoned hallways, the air so cold that Ava could feel it biting through her clothes with every breath. Each step echoed faintly against the frozen floor, a reminder of how alone they truly were within these walls.

Liam led the way, his posture tense and alert as his gaze flicked toward every doorway and shadow. Ava followed close behind, supporting the girl as best as she could, though her arms ached from the effort. Every now and then, the girl let out a faint whimper, her injured hand clutched tightly against her chest as tears streaked her pale cheeks.

"Almost there," Ava murmured, though she wasn't sure if she was reassuring the girl or herself.

Liam slowed as they approached a junction where the corridor split in two directions. His eyes scanned the frost-covered floor, his breath misting in short, shallow bursts.

"Something's wrong," he muttered.

Ava glanced up sharply. "What do you mean?"

"Footprints," Liam said, pointing to faint marks in the frost ahead. "They doubled back this way."

Ava's stomach twisted. "Why would they—?"

A faint noise echoed through the air before she could finish—a distant scrape of movement against ice, too deliberate to be the building settling. The girl clung tighter to Ava's arm, her breath hitching with fear as she glanced toward the shadows ahead.

"They're waiting for us," Liam said, his voice low and tight.

Ava swallowed hard. Her mind raced through possibilities, but before she could speak, a sharp clang echoed from somewhere nearby, like metal striking against frozen stone.

Then—

A guttural snarl.

Ava's pulse lurched. The distant rasp of Frostborn breaths rose through the silence, hollow and jagged, growing louder with each second.

"They lured them here," Liam hissed.

The realization struck like a physical blow. She twisted toward the girl, her heart hammering as the faint shuffle of approaching footsteps echoed down the corridor.

"We need to—"

Before she could finish, the shadows ahead exploded into motion.

Carter and two of the other boys surged from a side corridor, their eyes gleaming with something too sharp to be mere desperation. One of them lunged toward Liam without hesitation, swinging a length of broken pipe aimed straight for his head.

Liam twisted aside just in time, the pipe glancing off his shoulder with a hollow clang that sent a shock of pain down his arm. Before he could recover, another boy slammed into him from behind, driving him back against the wall.

Ava stumbled as Carter lunged toward her, his hands snatching for the girl she supported. She twisted sharply, pulling the girl behind her as she kicked out, her boot connecting with Carter's shin hard enough to stagger him.

"Run!" she shouted, shoving the girl toward the corridor behind her. But Carter recovered too quickly, blocking the girl's path as another boy closed in from the side.

Liam fought to break free from the two pinning him against the wall, but they held fast, their grips like iron despite the cold sapping their strength. One drove an elbow into Liam's ribs, while the other tried to force his arm behind his back.

Somewhere nearby, the rasping breaths of Frostborn grew louder.

"They're coming," one of the boys muttered, glancing anxiously toward the shadows beyond.

"Then hurry up!" Carter snarled, lunging at Ava again.

She ducked beneath his outstretched arms, her pulse hammering as she kicked at his knee. He stumbled, swearing as he twisted to grab her again, his hands snatching at the sleeve of her jacket—

And then—

A scream.

A hollow, rasping wail echoed through the air, sharp enough to freeze them all in place.

A figure burst from the shadows beyond—one of Carter's own boys, stumbling into view with frost clinging to his face and hands. His breath hitched in shallow, uneven gasps as he staggered forward, eyes wide with terror.

"They're— They're coming—!" he choked out.

The others turned toward him, confusion flashing across their faces—

And then the boy lunged at the nearest one with an animalistic snarl, his eyes already clouding to frostbitten white as his skin cracked and hardened with spreading frost. His teeth clamped into the boy's shoulder, tearing through flesh with a sickening crunch that sent blood spraying across the frost-covered walls.

Chaos erupted.

The others screamed as they scrambled to pull the Frostborn boy away, but the sudden attack shattered their hold over Liam. Seizing the opportunity, Liam slammed an elbow into one boy's gut, driving him back with a gasping wheeze. Before the other could react, Liam spun and drove his fist into the side of his jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor.

"Ava—!"

"I'm fine—!" she shouted back as she ducked beneath Carter's arm and grabbed the girl's hand, pulling her toward the corridor.

But before they could reach it, one of the other boys lunged at them again, trying to grab hold of the girl's injured arm. She screamed, stumbling backward as Ava yanked her away—

"Get off!" Ava shouted, driving her elbow into his chest and shoving him back against the wall. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she pulled the girl forward, but—

The door beside them burst open.

Frostborn poured into the corridor, drawn by the scent of blood and the sounds of struggle. Their hollow, rasping breaths filled the air as they lunged toward the nearest movement—

The boy who had just attacked the girl barely had time to scream before they dragged him down, their frostbitten hands clawing at his flesh as their teeth tore into his skin.

Carter twisted sharply, ducking beneath the grasping hands of another Frostborn as he sprinted toward the nearest doorway. Liam lunged after him—

But Carter was faster.

He dove through the open classroom door, slamming it shut behind him with a hollow clang that echoed through the corridor. Frostborn hands clawed at the metal frame, their hollow breaths rasping through the air as they pounded against the door with relentless force.

"Carter!"

The girl's voice cracked as she stumbled forward, tears streaking her cheeks as she pounded her fists against the door. "Open it—! Please—!"

Carter's pale face appeared behind the narrow window, his eyes wide with terror. But instead of reaching for the handle, he stepped back—shaking his head.

"No— No, I can't—!"

"You— You said you'd help—!" The girl's voice broke as she slammed her fists against the glass again.

Carter opened his mouth as if to reply—

But before he could speak, the Frostborn forced the door open with a sudden, violent shove that sent the girl stumbling backward. Carter barely had time to scream before they lunged at him, dragging him to the floor beneath a mass of frostbitten hands and gnashing teeth. His cries echoed sharply through the air before cutting off with a sickening crunch that sent blood spraying across the frosted walls.

The girl collapsed to her knees, sobbing as her hands clutched the frost-covered floor.

Ava grabbed her shoulder, pulling her upright. "We have to go—now!"

The girl choked on a sob, her eyes wide with shock and grief, but Ava didn't give her a choice. She pulled her forward, half-carrying her as they stumbled after Liam down the corridor.

"Faster—!" Liam shouted ahead of them.

The Frostborn were right behind them now, their hollow breaths rasping through the air as their footsteps pounded against the frozen floor. One lunged toward Liam's back, its frostbitten fingers grasping for his jacket—

Liam twisted sharply, slamming his shoulder into the Frostborn's chest and sending it stumbling back. But more were coming—dozens of them, pouring from the shadows as if drawn by the scent of blood and fear.

"This way—!" Liam shouted, ducking around the next corner. Ava clung to the girl's arm as they followed, their breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps that burned against their frozen lungs.

Frost clung thick against the walls and floor, making every step a fight to keep their footing as the air seemed to drop colder with every heartbeat. The rasping breaths of the Frostborn echoed louder behind them, closing the distance with terrifying speed—

And then—

Liam shoved open a side door, gesturing them inside before slamming it shut behind them. His breath hitched sharply as he braced his shoulder against the door, holding it shut as the Frostborn pounded against the other side.

Ava pulled the girl against her chest, her heart hammering so hard it felt like it might tear free from her ribs. The girl clung to her tightly, her entire body shaking as sobs wracked her thin frame.

Liam pressed harder against the door as the Frostborn battered against it, their hollow breaths rasping through the air as their nails scraped against the metal frame. Frost crept along the edges of the doorframe, spiderwebbing outward in thin, crystalline patterns as the temperature continued to plummet.

For a moment, the only sound was their ragged breathing—

And the relentless pounding of Frostborn hands against the door.