CHAPTER ONE
THE RISING
Darkness. That's the first thing I remember…
"Where are you going?! We can't just leave him!"
It was dark, and it was cold. And I was scared...
"We have to! There's nothing more we can do!"
But then… then I saw the moon…
"No! I won't! I refuse to!"
It was so big and it was so bright…
"We have no choice! We'll die if stay here much longer!"
And it seemed to… chase the darkness away…
"No, Jack! Jack!"
And when it did… I wasn't scared anymore…
"Come on, Punz! We have to go!"
Why I was there and what I was meant to do…
"I can't just leave him… not like this…"
That I've never known…
"You have to. Now let's go!"
And a part of me wonders if I ever will…
"… goodbye, Jack…"
When he woke up, he was lying on a frozen lake. He remembered nothing of himself or what was happening around him. He only remembered one name.
The sky was dark blue. Stars and moon shone upon his face and lit up his pale skin. He stood up and looked around.
He was in a forest and snow had fallen to the earth, covering the forest bed. It glittered in the starlight.
He looked up at the sky again, and it seemed like the bright moon was smiling at him, as if the silver ball had a plan made up around him. A plan he knew nothing of.
Jack, at least he thought his name was Jack, cautiously took a step forward and almost slipped on the slippery surface. He took yet another step and his bare toes stumbled across something. He looked down to see wooden stick. He picked it up.
It was as tall as him, and had a crooked end like a hook. Frost was covering it.
Jack turned around. It was time for him to get out of there. He searched for light in the distance. But he could see nothing.
He walked to a tree and climbed it. He searched again, and there! A mile or two away lay a village. All lights were out, but the moon seemed to shine on it. He smiled to himself.
He climbed down again and started the long walk.
When Jack finally reached the town, but it was cold and dark and burned down. Only a few houses stood, the rest were turned to ashes. The air smelled like smoke and blood and… rotten flesh.
He walked further into the village. Purple, triangle banners hang around. A golden sun was painted on them. Apparently there had been a celebration.
The Square would have been beautiful in the moonlight. In the middle there was a well raised on a stone podium. It had a roof over it, so the water wouldn't freeze.
There was a wooden stage and the cobbles under his feet had obviously been cleared of snow at some point, though the flakes had gathered around once again.
But it wasn't the decorations that caught his sight. On the stage and on the ground lay hundreds of human bodies. Jack felt his stomach make a flip and he turned away.
He heard a weak cough behind him. He looked over his shoulder. An old man was sitting on the ground. He coughed again and Jack walked to him. He knelt down beside him, and the old looked at the young and smiled.
"Water," he whispered in a low, rusty voice. "Please."
Jack rose up and walked up to the well. He lowered the bucket and pulled it up again. He brought it to the man, who drank greedily.
"Thank you," he said his voice a little smoother. "I'm Nicholas. Nicholas St. North."
"I'm Jack," Jack replied. "Jack… Frost."
"I'm very pleased to meet you." Nicholas smiled.
"What happened here?" Jack asked.
"Walkers," the old one said. "They came and invaded the city. People ran away, and some were bitten. Not all of them survived it, the rest were turned walkers themselves. When they left, they burned down the city. I've got no one left, and I'm too weak to go anywhere. Get out of here while you still can."
"Where?" Jack asked.
"Go to Corona," Nicholas said. "Rumour has it, that it's one of the last cities still standing. There's also Berk and DunBroch, but Corona is the closest."
"Which way?"
"South," the old replied. "Go south."
He coughed again, and Jack backed away.
"Go south," Nicholas whispered, before breathing one last time.