Chapter 21 The First Follower

• The cold was getting cruel.
• Lucy could feel it in her bones as she stepped out into the biting wind, her breath instantly fogging in front of her face. The streets of Talawan were nearly deserted now. Most people had retreated indoors, conserving what little warmth they could scrape together. The city itself felt abandoned, the once-lively hum of traffic and voices replaced by the eerie stillness of endless snowdrifts and the occasional groan of old buildings settling in the ice.
• Even her own house had grown quieter since the internet lines finally went down three days ago. The streaming services that had been her occasional distraction froze on error screens. The old TV still flickered with local broadcasts, mostly weather warnings and emergency updates, but the national and international channels had become patchy, some going dark altogether.