Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Ten Meters of Snow

Just before bed, they had been huddled together, feeling stuffy and hot. Now, though, a chill crept in like countless ice needles, slipping through the gaps in the blanket and piercing her to the bone, making her teeth chatter uncontrollably.

"Sue, did the cold wake you up too?" Mia Keller whispered in the darkness, cautiously tugging on her sleeve.

"Yeah," Sue Lawrence murmured. She was about to suggest they grab the blankets from the two adjacent beds, but before she could get the words out, a soft CLANK came from the door. It was the sound of someone trying the lock.

The sound wasn’t loud, but in the dead of night, it was as jarring as a shard of ice striking glass—piercing and alarming.

Both of them froze instantly. Mia Keller, especially, was so scared she began to tremble all over. Her eyes flew open in the darkness, her fingers gripping Sue Lawrence’s sleeve so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Sue Lawrence didn’t move. She fixed her gaze on the door.

She had already given her Perception to Mia Keller, but she still had her A Level Observation Power. With a thought, she activated the Skill, her eyes locked on the door.

The hallway was pitch-black, save for the eerie green glow of an emergency light. Because of this, the small window on their door clearly reflected the silhouette of a man. He tried the door again, and when it didn’t budge, he hastily turned and headed for the room across the hall.

Mia Keller’s Perception captured all of this as well. She could clearly sense the man raise his hand and push the door to the room opposite theirs—a door that wasn’t locked.

The moment the man pushed the door open, Mia Keller’s entire body flinched.

Sue Lawrence gave Mia Keller’s hand a reassuring pat, then quietly slipped out of bed. Stepping onto the frigid floor, she crept to the door and peered out through the crack.

Faint sounds soon came from the room across the hall—suppressed whimpers and the rustle of a struggle. But after only a few seconds, all movement ceased abruptly. A dead silence fell over the hallway once more. A moment later, the man walked out briskly. He was carrying several blankets, on top of which were piled a bulging bag, a cell phone, and a few half-eaten meal boxes. His steps were light and quick; clearly, he was an experienced thief.

The instant he passed her hospital room, Sue Lawrence immediately activated her [Eye of Barrier Breaking]. A line of blue text instantly appeared above the man’s head.

Superpower: D Level [Instant Teleportation]

D Level [Instant Teleportation]: Allows movement at will within a 0.5-meter range. Maximum distance does not exceed 0.5 meters.

’It’s Instant Teleportation!’

Half a meter might not seem far, but in close-quarters combat, never mind half a meter—even a tenth of a meter was enough to be lethal. ’That’s a great Skill. I have to have it.’

Sue Lawrence’s hand instinctively went to the doorknob. The moment her fingertips applied the slightest pressure, the old wooden door let out a distinct CREAK, shockingly loud in the dead of night.

Sue Lawrence’s face went pale. She snatched her hand back, crouching down and pressing herself tightly against the cold wall as a cold sweat broke out on her back.

It was terrifyingly silent outside; even the sound of the wind seemed to have vanished.

Sue Lawrence didn’t know if the man had left. The dead silence was more nerve-wracking than any sound, especially since this man had just killed someone.

She remained frozen, not daring to breathe too loudly. Unsure of what to do, she instinctively glanced toward the hospital bed.

In the darkness, her A Level Observation Power allowed her to see clearly. Mia Keller’s eyes were open. She blinked rapidly at her, then her eyes flicked upward, her gaze landing on the door. Then, as if terrified by something, she snapped her eyes shut, her eyelashes fluttering like a startled butterfly’s wings.

Sue Lawrence’s heart sank.

’He’s right outside the door.’

The man was pressed against the glass of their door, peering inside.

Sue Lawrence could almost picture it: a pair of bloodshot, greedy eyes pressed hard against the glass, refusing to miss the slightest movement within the room.

THUMP! THUMP!

Her heart hammered against her ribs as if it would burst. Sue Lawrence’s palms were slick with cold sweat, and she dug her nails into her flesh, using the pain to stay focused.

She didn’t move a muscle, not even daring to blink. The cold wall was pressed against her back, the chill seeping through her clothes, but she was oblivious to it. All of her focus was on what was behind that door.

’Should I unlock the door and charge out now? Or should I stay put and wait for the right moment?’

She frowned in thought, then silently pulled out the private detective’s phone. Shielding the screen’s glow with her clothes, she activated her Superpower: [B Level Network Technology].

After a quick check, she instantly felt a sense of relief.

The hospital’s security cameras were all black. In other words, they weren’t recording a thing.

She glanced at the floor. Thanks to the faint glow from the emergency light, she could make out a blurry shadow on the ground, cast by a dark figure leaning against the square window frame.

’Might as well just kill him,’ she thought. ’I’ve already made him suspicious anyway.’

After a moment’s thought, Sue Lawrence took a long, thin iron spike from her Storage Space. It was the kind used for slaughtering pigs, designed to pierce their necks for bleeding. It was long and sharp. With all her strength, she was confident she could shatter the glass and run it straight through the man’s head.

As she was thinking this, Sue Lawrence focused and activated her A Level Observation Power again, only to find the person at the door was gone.

She strained her hearing but couldn’t detect any sound. It was as if the man had vanished into thin air. She instinctively stood up and looked out—the hallway was, indeed, empty.

’Did he use Instant Teleportation to get away?’

Tsk!

Frowning, she turned away from the door and went straight to the window.

The moment she pulled back the curtains, Sue Lawrence was completely stunned.

It wasn’t dark out at all. The entire window was covered in snow, which was why it was pitch-black and she couldn’t see a thing!

’No wonder the hospital has no power,’ she thought. ’But that shouldn’t be possible. Don’t hospitals have generators?’ A bad feeling began to creep over her.

Sue Lawrence quickly pulled Mia Keller to her feet. No longer bothering to be discreet, she pulled two professional-grade arctic survival suits, complete with pants and reindeer-hide boots, from her Storage Space.

"Sue?"

Mia Keller stared, stunned, but she quickly shut her mouth.

"The hospital definitely isn’t safe anymore. Get dressed. We’re leaving!"

They were on the third floor. Given the height of the hospital’s ceilings, they had to be at least ten meters up. For the snow to cover a third-story window, how deep must it be?

Being buried in snow should have been like being wrapped in a thick blanket, yet they had still been woken by the cold.

’It must be incredibly cold outside.’

Sue Lawrence’s expression was grim. According to her past life’s experience, villains didn’t start banding together this early in the apocalypse. But the situation in the hospital seemed dire. Thinking back to the cold, mechanical notification she had heard, she couldn’t help but wonder: ’Can all Reincarnators hear it?’

’If so, that’s bad.’

She dressed quickly, pulled a window breaker from her Storage Space, and smashed open the most concealed window.

A blast of frigid air rushed in. Sue Lawrence knew that even with the snow, the drop was still high—about three meters. The freshly fallen snow was also incredibly soft; if they landed wrong, they could easily get trapped.

The tools they could use now were a shovel and snowshoes. The snowshoes would allow them to walk on top of the snow and avoid sinking in completely. They fit perfectly over their reindeer-hide boots.

Once they were geared up—goggles, masks, gloves, and hats all in place—Sue Lawrence raised the shovel and was the first to step out of the broken window.