Meeting with the Snow Goddess
Raka felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. The high-pitched screams coming from outside the supermarket were not the voices of ordinary zombies. They were the voices of something bigger, more dangerous.
Over the radio, Vina's voice sounded tense. "Raka, we have a problem. Something is coming… and it's not an ordinary zombie."
Raka gritted his teeth. "Report."
"I'm not sure what it is, but they're moving fast. There are about ten… no, fifteen of the creatures approaching the supermarket from two directions. They don't look human anymore."
Nadia looked at Raka worriedly. "Do we escape?"
Raka looked around. The supermarket was a cramped place with too many entry points. If they stayed inside, they could get trapped. But if they ran outside, they could get trapped on the streets.
Bayu gripped his rifle tightly. "Your decision, Raka."
Before Raka could answer, something slammed hard against the front door of the supermarket. Glass shattered, and from behind the shadows, a figure emerged that shouldn't be in this world.
The creature walked on all fours, its body thin and gray, rotting skin. Its red eyes glowed in the darkness, and its mouth was full of sharp fangs that dripped thick black liquid.
Raka had never seen a zombie like this before.
The creature charged faster than a normal human. Bayu raised his rifle and shot it straight in the head—but the bullet only made it flinch for a moment before it leaped toward them.
"Drop it!" Raka shouted, pushing Bayu aside.
The creature slammed into the metal shelf where Bayu had just been standing. Nadia stabbed her knife into the side of its neck, but the opposite happened—the knife snapped like it had stabbed steel.
"What the hell?!" Nadia stepped back in surprise.
Raka didn't have time to think. He raised his gun and shot the creature repeatedly in the head. This time, after five bullets had hit it, the creature fell still, black blood spreading across the floor.
But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, a roar was heard from outside.
Vina shouted over the radio, "Raka, get out now! More of them are coming!"
Without wasting any time, Raka signaled his team. They ran to the back door of the supermarket, only to find three other creatures waiting there.
"Shit!" Bayu shot one of them, but the other two immediately charged.
Raka swung his machete at the creature's head, but before his slash could land, the air around him suddenly changed.
The temperature dropped drastically.
In an instant, a wall of ice appeared between them and the creatures, freezing their movements completely.
Raka was stunned.
From behind the shadows, the sound of light footsteps was heard. A woman emerged from the darkness, her long hair as white as snow, her eyes as sharp as ice. A long black coat wrapped around her body, and in her hand, an ice spear formed that emitted a piercing coldness.
She stepped forward without hesitation, then slashed her spear towards the frozen creature.
Crack!
In an instant, the creature's body shattered into ice shards that scattered to the floor.
Everyone fell silent.
The woman turned to Raka, glaring at him.
"You guys are too late. If I hadn't come, you'd be dead by now."
Nadia raised an eyebrow. "And who are you?"
The woman didn't answer right away. She just studied Raka for a moment, then finally said, "Aruna."
Raka stared at her. The name sounded strange, but the way this woman fought… she was definitely not ordinary.
Aruna swung her spear, removing the remaining ice that had clung to the tip. "I don't care who you are, but this place is no longer safe. If you want to live, come with me."
Raka narrowed his eyes. He wasn't a trusting person, but his instincts told him that this woman wasn't a threat.
On the contrary—she could be the ally they needed.
"Okay," Raka finally said. "We'll go together."
Aruna nodded, then turned away without saying anything.
As they walked out of the supermarket that had now turned into a sea of ice, one thing was clear to Raka.
Their lives had just changed—and it was all because of this woman.