Snowflake: Frozen Child

"Listen, we need your cooperation!" the high ranking officer announced.

"You are strictly prohibited to remove your gas mask. You are forbidden to kill the SIS in public. This is difficult but, you are ordered to exterminate all infected subjects in a private ward. First! we need to capture them alive. Second! if an SIS is someone you recognize or someone you knew, better hand them to someone else. Third! when you arrive at the ward, never hesitate to exterminate all of them at once. Or else you will be devoured.

"Am I clear?!" The officer said loudly.

"Yes sir!" all the soldiers and experienced volunteers responded in unison. Damian wore his gas mask and black armored suit. They were handed with sharp blades. They were not allowed to use guns.

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"We're already at the location" Nick said as he pressed the button near his ear, he was Damian's partner.

"Command: Capture all SIS alive." the manly voice replied on the other line.

"Three infected subjects identified." Damian declared as he spotted two men and a woman with black eyes like that of a demon. The place was quite ruined and silent. The three SIS looked calm but when Nick dropped the metal purposely on the ground which created a deafening clang sound, the three SIS ran towards them like hungry dogs. The gray skinned man opened his mouth widely as if he wanted to devour Nick whole in the mouth. Nick swung his katana right through the man's hands. The hands were sliced and fell unto the ground like a piece of a mannequin. The infected man made a horrible cry and kneeled on the ground, they could still feel pain.

"But they can't be cured." Damian thought as he attacked the lady in the hands. Blood dripped down the ground and the lady fell on his feet. Damian was about to stab the woman in the stomach since SIS won't die without its brain being destroyed. Damian noticed the woman's belly, she was pregnant. Damian withdrawed his katana and dragged the body towards the armoured van. They caught three bodies and brought them to the ward.

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"Fire!" the officer commanded and the sniper outside the ward obeyed. Inside the large quarantined hall were the 200 captured SIS's of their region. The snipers were located on the second floor. They have to shoot every infected subjects in the brain. The snipers kept shooting and Damian watched those SIS's being killed one by one.

"They were all victims, you can't kill innocent lives" Damian remembered what Jhay said to him. Without knowing, Damian shed a tear. He immediately wiped the tear away as he looked at the pregnant woman without her hands.

"Officer, that woman is pregnant!" Damian said but it was too late. The sniper already shot her down to death.

"We've made studies, that child she was bringing was already dead. Once the mother is infected, the baby inside her w.o.m.b will die." the officer said professionally. Damian gulped and bowed his head. He hesitated, why? Because he thought that he could save the child.

"What a hopeless man" Damian said to himself.

*

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ANOTHER year has passed and the numbers of SIS all around the world were slowly counting down. Repeated exterminations and observations that seemed not to affect everyone any longer. The world has become colder. Human began to think that the infected subjects, even if they were still half aware of their surroundings needed to be exterminated. Human became selfish and they limited their priorities. The rich and the poor became equal as they were all forced to live in a new shelter. The houses became empty and the cars were left on the roads. The traffic lights no longer followed as no more vehicles were running, except those armoured vans rummaging through the streets. No more accidents like before. Hospitals were filled with dead bodies, since none can avoid such killing SIS in public when you're already at crisis. The parks and zoos were empty, luckily the animals were set free. But not lucky enough, since they became the the favorite targets of SIS. The outbreak did really changed the world. People became vegetarian. That's because they were too afraid to eat meat from the animals and end up becoming one of the SIS.

The world became a big family, because they didn't have a choice. The community became more obedient, because they needed it in order to survive. Everyone became inhuman as they let the infected subjects be killed with no complaints. That being said, SIS were more human than those healthy people. Every regions in the countries had their own new shelters. They call it 'NIRVANA'.

NIRVANA is a place where you are able to achieve happiness without minding everyone aside from yourself. People got used to enjoying themselves everyday that they forgot what it really means to live. Damian had never seen Jhay since he decided to leave.

"Damian, you have a call from Sir John." Nick said to Damian as he handed him the telephone.

"It's me" Damian answered with a guilty voice.

"It's been a year and you still don't know where my daughter is?" John asked on the other line, there was no sign of hope in his voice.

"No, sir. I cannot reach her. We cannot track her. I know Jhay was beyond and average intelligent person. But I will definitely find her." Damian sweared. He had been looking for Jhay but not even a single clue leaked out. He knew that Jhay was still alive because the list of the dead and infected people were recorded according to their DNA's.

"Just like Haji, Jhay vanished without a trace" Damian thought.

"I'm counting on you, Damian" John said and ended the call.

Damian breathed out heavily as he swore to himself, "I will definitely find you, Jhay. I never let bad things happen twice."

*

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IN the North Pole

"Why can't we find any of her DNA or fingerprints? Why can't we find any of her accesed transportations?" John asked.

"What about the satellites?" John asked.

"None, sir!" the operator replied.

"Sir, we received an email regarding the outbreak" a man in military outfit reported to John.

"Speak" John commanded.

"The snowing in tropical countries has stop." John's eyes widened with the sudden news. He didn't know if he should be glad or confused.

"How?" that was the first word that came out from John's mouth.

"It was clear. Since the last SIS was exterminated in Manila, Philippines. It was probably the One billion, eighty three million, seven hundred twenty eight thousand, nine hundred twenty fourth SIS. The cause was still unknown and the researchers never had the chance to get the samples since the bodies instantly disappeared like flakes of snows."

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"People of the world, the long wait has come to an end. The SIS were clearly exterminated, one hundred percent. We can go back to our normal lives. It was a tragic and remarkable year for everyone. But the government and our brothers from all over the world will lend us a hand. We will stand together as one. We will create a better and brighter future ahead of us." the news anchor happily reported on the large screen with a pure smile on her face. Loud cheerings of the crowd began to echo all over the place.

A new start, a new beginning where the world could begin to live as one. But what happened to those who vanished? What will happen to those who remained and lost their families? Will they be able to continue living?

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"Hey man! Where are you heading to? Let me come with you" Nick said when he saw Damian rushing to the gates with a motorcycle. The engine started and smoke came out from the muffler. Damian turned his head to see Nick's concerned face.

"Look! buddy, I trust you. I needed you to protect my family. Accompany my mother and Jhay's mother towards the new shelter. I'm going to find Jhay." Damian said, eyes filled with determination. Nick responded with a salute and said, "Bring her back then, well and safe!"

Damian left Nirvana and Nick remained standing there with a smile and said, "I wish he could win her heart this time."

*

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"If I am not mistaken, this is the only place where Jhay could possibly be hiding" Damian thought as he went through the metal fences. The fence was quite ruined but still dangerous. There were a field of broken bottles, stained nails, sharp blades and many harmful things scattered near the fence. There were dead animals such as chickens and cats who obviously tried to cross the fence. In order for Damian to make it through the fence he needed a bulldozer to break it and to pass through the three meters thick land of deadly objects. Damian used John's name to cover the operation of invading Jhay's hypothetical bas.e.m.e.nt. The media was not informed nor the government. It was only Damian who was able to invade the private land. The private land where everything started, Haji's home. Ever since there was a report of the sudden disappearance of Haji, the ruined house of his parents became history.

Damian swept away all the harmful objects using the bulldozer. He carefully studied the surroundings and went near the collapsed house which now looked like a small mountain covered with grass. Damian went inside a small hole from the ground. He landed on the underground with his back and rolled over. The ceiling was made of cracks and debris falling on the ground. The place was too dusty that it created a fog made out of dust all over the place. Damian covered his nose and mouth as he walked towards the red light that looked like a laser light. Once Damian touched the ray in the air, it was as if a certain detector has detected his presence. Random arrows darted towards Damian's direction and the soldier quickly dropped his body on the ground. He rolled to his left and crawled into the corner. As Damian expected and thought, "Jhay really was not an easy person at all."

Damian saw a very tiny source of light ahead of him which drawn him to come towards it. The closer Damian got to the broken old door, his heart was pounding fast. He slowly pushed the door, afraid what he might see. The door made a creaking sound as it swayed and broke miserably. The door fell on the ground and created a dusty fog all over the hidden room. As the fog faded, the dim light greeted Damian. With the help of the little light, Damian saw everything inside that room, something he could never believe. There were hundreds or even thousands of dextrose stocks. They were hanged up and were automatically set to dispense once the previous one would be empty. The transparent tubes that didn't seemed to be made out of simple plastics were directed to one place. Damian followed the tubes and made a terrible gasp as he saw the most unbearable figure. Inside a large coffin looking glass was Jhay's n.a.k.e.d and lying body covered with a thin white cloth from her toes up to her neck. There was a tube on her right hand and another one to her left hand. Aside from the countless numbers of sugars, there were also tanks of oxygen. Jhay was wearing an oxygen mask. She looked so peaceful as if she was just sleeping. Damian fell on his knees as he saw the entire place. There were controllers and screens everywhere. It was as if someone had been staying in that place for a long time and that person made Jhay a testing subject or an experiment.

"Jhay, what happened to you?" Damian said while watching Jhay's sleeping face through the clear glass.

"Jhay, can you hear me?!" Damian shouted as he tried to knock the glass with his palms.

"Jhay, wake up!" Damian shouted as hard as he could. Jhay didn't move a single finger nor flinched. She looked like she was frozen and dead. Damian looked at the lying body inside the glass closely.

"She's still breathing, thank God" Damian said and released a sigh of relief.

"Jhay, hang in there. I will get you out of here. I'll never forgive the ones who did this to you." Damian said as his eyes traveled the whole place. He was looking for a way on how to save Jhay.

"I'm afraid you cannot do that." a voice from the dark corner spoke. Damian turned his head to see the figure from the dark. A figure of a mysterious woman came out from the dark as Damian recognized her face.

"Ms. Angela?"