Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse

cking up loose snow and flinging it against

ore heading out. Now she stood in the snow, surrounded by

th. The air bur

zzzz

ainsaw in her hands roared to life, the chain spinning so fas

exploded

-scattered across the pristine snow, s

sec

ac

and tilted. Then it fell slow and heavy i

modern te

bration had numbed her fingers-a

given her, felling a tree frozen solid like this would have taken t

se layers got wet, the moment you stopped moving, your bod

waste time

batteries, sure, but until she found a way to recharge them, every second the motor ran wa

zz-Z

chainsaw's snarl rose and fell,

like she wa

ove to the nex

ep adjusting her collar against the wind that kept finding its way

Added walking through knee-deep snow, where every step took three

er breath fogged the inside of her goggl

zzz

h number anymore-when the chainsaw's roar stutt

ht blinke

bat

tted its housing. "Good work, bu

ened up and

across the snow in every

nted si

-three

ext proble

re still just natural resources. That meant they didn't qualify for Inven

drag them b

e nearest pine a

av

reasonab

s catching in the snow, dragging like anchors, and s

... h

he trunk, slung it over her shoulder, leane

was maybe fifty yards. Right

fourth tree back into the fire'

them with concrete. Her lungs burned f

. can't

the call. S

Tempted her. But if she kept pushing without rest, without fuel for h

e big wooden crate that had

n three feet fr

and red, pumping out he

goggles and thick gloves, set them near the fire to warm up, then-still shak

cks that looked more like con

unc

It was coarse. Tasted like sawdust

ies. Carbs. Fuel

hit her stomach, warmth finally started spreading

leaned back against the c

n crash hit he

. The wind seemed far

y wanted

Her body started

ai

jolted her awake just

. Then looked up at the tim

ter L

n Time Remain

a half

too long, and that fi

eeze to death in this hellhole without

ire hits zero,

ing. Not

own cheeks, forc

nce, a survival article. "In the late stages of hypothermia, your hypothalamus malfunctions. You get a false

these four. Kee

ditional handsaw

ed. Without power tools, breaking these down into burnable pieces w

choice di

feathery flakes had tapered

fuel back in the tank, then step

lly dropped as you moved away. It was sharper than that. Like there was an invisibl

y off. The cold found ev

ing visible except that stand of trees she'd already worked. M

now boots. N

endless white dista

. Get those ninet

. Looked a

was still

m back into the campfire's circle, the

to w

nds together. Let t

w hours, she be

Recover it. Go back

numbers in her inventory-that feeling was hard to describe. S

nd dissolved into particles, Riley just collapsed

d up her

ere full now. Stack af

Commo

ntit

val resource. Can be used

ty u

in the campfire. Her day's wor

wood burned

front of her. Felt the heat on her f

undred

full

Crying. Begging. Trying to figure out how to sur

ugh fuel stockpiled

rs, unless she actively chose to die, no

tory. The space must have been insulated somehow-

sweet, even though i

Next

he "Upgrade" button o

if she was going to survive long-term, s

a little stone. Som

uild something w