When It Snowed

Snow

Prologue:

Oh, how it snowed. The white specks in the sky drifted down lazily. Dancing among them, the twirling ballerinas of God's design, the snowflakes. Each unique piece spiralling down luxuriously, as if they had all the time in the world. But below the beautiful storm of winter, the streets were dead silent. Body bags lined the street and snaked all the way to the main roads. As far as the eye could see, houses were boarded up and deathly silent.

The snow had covered most of the city and covered up the gruesome details. The blood. The fires. The mutilated bodies. The many fresh vehicle wreckages were still smoking, making the city look like an industrial America in the 1920s, smoke billowing up in different places. The air was acrid with the smell of burning metal, and burning bodies. The sharp smell of blood also filled the streets.

Somehow, amidst mother nature's beautiful display of herself, the atmosphere seemed off. As if nature had somehow, gained control. And it had to make it snow, in tropical Singapore. 

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Sam stood outside his unit and stared entranced by the winter wonderland. Taken aback by the sheer beauty of the snowstorm, something he had not seen since a visit to Amsterdam when he was 7. Now he was 15, although 60 cm taller and much heavier, the childlike heart of his still felt the same excitement it did when he first saw it 8 years ago.

The cold metal stung his palms as he leaned over the parapet and looked downstairs. Giggling in excitement at the falling snow, he reached out and tried to grab some, but the snow melted immediately. No longer amused, he returned into his flat and closed the metal grills behind him.

The cold air gave him goosebumps as the temperatures plummeted to near zero. Sam shivered and ran into his room to dig out his old winter wear, only reserved for overseas trips. Putting it on, he decided to make some hot milo, sacrificing a little water won't matter. He could always run upstairs to the water tanks on the roof, which he broke into a while back, and get some more.

Flashback:

It had been almost 2 months since then. The big scare, a viral outbreak worse than the SARS in 2003, the White Crusade, as Western Media called it after the white spots victims develop on their face, Sam liked that name. It broke down society almost instantly as deaths soared into the thousands as the day ended, entropy soon ensued. The riots, the deaths, the burning smell. Sam had been in his room then, while his parents argued outside his door. Two shattered plates and a loud "F***" later, his dad left slamming the door behind him, carrying only a N95 mask. Crying, Sam's mother hugged him and left to pursue her deranged husband. Neither returned, as did society.

A day later, Sam watched the parliament dissolve on-line and the President flee overseas to seek safety. The Prime Minister in a last desperate attempt, held a large rally at the Padang to call for order and national support through a mask. Minutes later, rioters entered the scene and smashed the rally. Confused, several police officers joined in, a shot rang throughout the video and the PM fell.

Sam became worried, at first a small edgy feeling made him squirm in his computer seat. Then night fell and paranoia set in, his parents were still missing. Soon, all he heard were the noises of suitcases rolling on the corridor outside as desperate neighbours fled on last minute flights. Honks from the jammed expressway heightened his anxiety and he began to panic. Running around the house, he began locking all window grills and shoving a bookshelf in front of his door. He taped cut pieces of trash bags onto the windows to prevent airborne transmission just as he had once learnt from the SCDF(Singapore Civil Defence Force) in school.

After which, the exhausted teen collapsed on his bed, crying for his parents. An emotional and traumatic night later, Sam recollected himself. He remembered those Prepping shows he had watched on the Discovery channel and began sorting his supplies. He counted the canned food on the table and filled buckets upon buckets of water as he anticipated a water cut. Two hours later, the electricity cut, plunging the unit into perpetual darkness. After a month, the city entered its silent stage. Sam remembered that viral infections tended to "burnout", where they stopped spreading because all the infected victims had died out. 

"That must have happened." he thought.

Then it snowed.

Present:

Sam stirred the dark brown powder in the heated water, watching the liquid turn a rich dark brown. His block of flats relied on the older gas cylinders which were changed privately hence he still had a small supply of gas to heat meals. He stood at the kitchen windows and stared out at the snow peaked flats, a weird combination for a tropical island. It had only begun to snow a few days ago. Sam had been shocked and had rushed to search online about the phenomenon, grumbling and cursing afterward that he forgot the internet was down.

Singapore lay dead, silent, like one of those ghost cities in Russia Sam had seen on youtube.

"Hey! Stop running!" A voice rang out through the estate. Sam almost spat out his Milo in shock. A voice? Impossible!

Sam ducked under the windows and looked out cautiously, below he saw a dark figure ran on the snow covered carpark. Hair streamed behind her as she wove between cars running. Behind her chasing, was a soldier? Sam thought the army had dissolved after the PM disappeared, leaving in its place rogue troops that ran the city rampant, shooting and looting. Sam observed him closer, he was not Singaporean, his accent was European, French. On his arm was a blue armband. NATO? It made sense that the UN would have landed troops.

His eyes darted back to the prey, her hair glinted in the midday sun and her black parka jacket bounced as she ran. The beanie on her head shielding her face. Sam was lost in the chasing scene, and for a split moment he saw the girl turn to look up at the flats. Her grubby face streaked with tears and was crunched up in pain. Please, help me.

To be continued...