Chapter 1
Three months before the world would be frozen, I travelled through time.
In my previous life, the extreme ice apocalypse arrived, but space in the survival bases was limited.
My sister, Samantha Patrick, and I had only two choices: to enter the state-built Sanctuary Ark, which was said to withstand all disasters, or to stay in the suburbs, inheriting our parents' old wooden house and a patch of wasteland.
I chose the seemingly safe Sanctuary Ark.
Samantha cried, insisting she couldn't leave the home she grew up in, and chose to stay behind.
When the apocalypse struck, Samantha's fiancé tricked her into going into the wild to see the so-called "apocalypse spirits."
But she froze to death outside.
The next year, the Sanctuary Ark suffered a core failure and became an icy hell for 100,000 people.
I too died, frozen in endless cold, hunger, and despair.
Before dying, through the last satellite signal from the base, I saw our wooden house transformed into a warm fortress, lit from within.
Samantha's fiancé wandered the greenhouse in a thin sweater, picking fresh tomatoes in the snow, the very man who caused her death had become the apocalypse's luckiest survivor.
I closed my eyes, full of resentment.
If I had a second chance, I vowed to...
Then I opened my eyes. I was back, three months before the apocalypse, at the community's resident registration office.
This time, perhaps because the memory of freezing was too cruel, Samantha didn't give me a chance to think.
She snatched the form from my hand and quickly checked the "stay in suburb wooden house" option with my fingerprint.
She didn't know that our old wooden house was the key to activate the Frosthaven Protocol.
In previous life, her fiancé had accidentally triggered the system.
This time, I would activate it myself and build a doomsday fortress of my own.
This time, I would walk the path to my miracle.
*****
After Samantha Patrick finished, her cheeks were still wet with tears, but relief washed over her face.
She handed the confirmed form to the staff, then grabbed my hand, her tone full of relief and a barely concealed sense of superiority. "Jennifer, don't be mad at me.
"I know you wanted to go to the Sanctuary Ark, but it's so crowded and strict there. Nothing beats the comfort of home, right?
"Our parents' old house might be a little shabby, but it's where we belong. Don't worry, with Charlie around, he'll look after us."
The Charlie she mentioned was her fiancé, Charlie Osborn, the very man who got her killed and snatched away the miracle that was meant for us in my previous life.
I stared at Samantha's naive, childlike face, and my heart felt frozen.
In my previous life, I was held hostage by her tears and our family bond. I let her stay behind so she could feel at ease, so she wouldn't think I was leaving her behind.
And what did it get us? She froze to death in agony, and I died in despair.
This time, Samantha took it upon herself to decide for me. How considerate.
Well, that worked for me.
At least I didn't have to waste energy arguing with her.
I pulled my hand back, face blank, not bothering to comment on her self-assumed good intentions.
The staff member watched the way we went about it, his eyes full of sympathy and confusion.
He probably thought we were crazy. At a time when everyone was desperate to get into the Sanctuary Ark, our family actually chose to stay in a rickety old cabin that could collapse under the snow any day.
"Are you sure? Once you confirm, there's no going back," he said in a mechanical tone.
"Yes!" Samantha answered for me, her voice clear and loud, as if she was afraid I'd change my mind.
I gave him a cold stare as the staff stamped the bright red "Registered" seal on the form.
My name, Jennifer Maddox, was clearly labeled as "Staying in the Suburbs."
As we stepped out of the registration office, the afternoon sun was warm and gentle, bathing us in its comforting glow.
Who could have imagined that just three months from now, the sun would become nothing but a pale, lifeless disk on the horizon, unable to give even a shred of warmth, and the entire world would be utterly dominated by triple-digit subzero temperatures.
"Jennifer, let's go tell Charlie the good news! He'll be so happy!" Samantha hooked her arm through mine, acting all sweet and clingy, as if she hadn't just made a huge decision about my life.
I couldn't help but scoff inside. Good news? For Charlie, this was probably the worst thing that could happen to him.
In my previous life, he only managed to unlock the Frosthaven Protocol because Samantha chose to stay behind, and as her fiancé, he just ended up living in the cabin.