Survival Queen of the Frozen Wastes novel Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Empty Crate

Completely empty.

Not a single can of meat. Not even a rusty nail or a scrap

of paper.

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Just a thin layer of frost lining the bottom of the crate, staring up at her like a silent punchline. “Surprise. It’s a trap.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

Riley was so mad she almost kicked the thing into next week.

She’d trudged through subzero snow for who knows how long, nose frozen solid, finally found a loot crate -and it was empty?

It was like crawling through a desert, spotting a water bottle, unscrewing the cap, and finding nothing but dry air.

Worse, the crate literally vanished into thin air the moment she opened it. Gone.

“Definitely cursed. My luck is absolutely cursed.”

Riley let out a frustrated sigh. She poked around inside the empty space with her axe handle a couple

up, shoulders more times, just to be sure there were no hidden compartments. Nothing. She stood slumping.

“Whatever. Keep moving. Find something else.”

She brushed snow off her coat and was about to head in a different direction when-

A faint rustling came from a clump of dead bushes nearby.

Quiet. Barely audible. But in the dead silence of this frozen wasteland? It might as well have been a shout.

Riley’s heart lurched. Her body went rigid, grip tightening on the hand axe.

“Who’s there?”

She crouched low, creeping toward the sound.

Five yards out-

“Whoosh-!”

A tan blur burst from behind a snowdrift, bolting toward the dense woods.

“Deer?!”

Riley’s eyes went wide–then lit up like candles.

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20:11 Mon, May 4

Chapter 13 Empty Crate

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A young deer. Not huge, long slender legs. Struggling a little in the deep snow, but the thing had serious explosive power.

“That’s meat.”

Still fuming over the empty crate, Riley wasn’t about to let this opportunity sprint away. She pushed off hard. “Agility 9” kicked in, her enhanced stats firing on all cylinders.

“Get back here!”

She tore across the snow. Not as graceful as the deer, sure, but her boots gripped decently and her legs had power. She kept it in sight, closing the gap.

Human versus deer. Snow plain sprint.

The deer was heading straight for a thick conifer stand ahead. Terrain got messy in there. If it made those trees, she’d never find it again.

“Not happening.”

Riley made a split–second call. She stopped dead, wound up, and hurled the axe with everything she had.

“Whump-”

The blade spun through the air, a blur of steel-

“Thunk.”

Right into the deer’s hind leg. Blood sprayed, painting the snow red.

The deer screamed–a high, pained cry. It stumbled but didn’t stop. If anything, the wound kicked its survival instincts into overdrive. With the axe still lodged in its leg, it hobbled frantically into the tree line and disappeared.

“You’ve got to be-”

Riley stared at the empty woods, jaw tight.

“It got away. And it took my axe. My imported axe.”

Classic. Insult. Injury.

“No. Absolutely not. That deer is dead or alive, and I’m getting my axe back.”

She yanked the spare axe from her belt. Following the bright blood trail splattered across the snow, she gritted her teeth and plunged into the forest.

Dim light inside. The blood trail went patchy, leading toward a massive ancient pine.

Riley slowed. Held her breath. Crept around the trunk.

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20:12 Mon, May 4

Chapter 13 Empty Crate

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