Chapter 8 - Welcome To Ground Zero

Eight days. Eight days they'd been sitting in the tank as it trundled across the icy terrain. Snowflake's impatience was growing, but Elsa had learned to put up with it. Kristoff, however, wasn't quite so tolerant and had confiscated the rubber ball that Snowflake had been playing with-although Elsa made him give it back soon afterwards. Now, Snowflake was bouncing it off the wall as she had been doing before.

Snowflake caught the ball in her hand for what felt like the octillionth time. "Ughhhh," she groaned. "I'm boooored."

"What's wrong, Miss Snowflake?" Melody asked her, currently playing with her plush fish next to her. "Are you upset?"

Snowflake sighed, looking at her little friend. "No, Melody, I just really wanna be out of this darn bucket of bolts already."

The little girl looked at her confused. "Why would you want to be outside? Don't you have friends here?"

"Yes, I do have friends here," Snowflake pointed out. "But this journey has been unbearable." She grunted. "Just be glad you won't ever have to take a trip like this when you grow up, Kid."

Elsa looked over at her friend, smiling at her. "Hey, Snowflake," she spoke to her. "I think I have news that might cheer you up. According to Kristoff's gizmo, we should be only a few miles from the city."

Snowflake's ears pricked up at that sentence. "Wait what? Really?"

"Yeah," Elsa stated. "Should be only a couple hundred miles by now."

Melody looked over at her mother, Ariel, who was sitting beside Eric, helping to tend to his broken leg. "Hey, Mama, can I go and watch from the front? Please!"

Ariel finished bandaging up Eric's leg, before looking at her daughter with a motherly gaze. "Only if Elsa says it's fine."

Elsa nodded. "It's alright, I'm sure Kristoff won't mind someone riding shotgun, right big guy?"

Kristoff looked over his shoulder, his hands never leaving the controls of the tank. "Yeah, she can come up here, as long as she doesn't touch anything the last time our certain other white-haired girl was here."

"Hey! I was curious!" Snowflake defended herself.

"You nearly set off the self-destruct," Kristoff reminded her.

"How was I supposed to know what that big red button was supposed to do!" Snowflake excused. "I mean, I thought it was like the engine starter or something."

Melody giggled and Snowflake rolled her eyes.

She then picked up Melody in her arms, carrying her over to the passenger seat at the front of the tank, sitting down with the little girl on her knee.

Melody's eyes widened, seeing the blizzard out in front of her. "It's really pretty from in here."

"Just be glad you are in here, Kiddo," Kristoff said. "That's gotta be one of the worst snowstorms I've seen out here."

Over in the back, Elsa sat down from her own bench, looking over at Eric and Ariel. "Ariel, maybe you should rest," she suggested. "You are carrying a child inside of you."

"Oh, it's no worries," Ariel stated, feeling her large belly. "I've been active with Rosa inside of me for quite a while now."

"Rosa?"

"That's what we're gonna call her, well technically she's gonna be called Rosalinn," Eric said. "It was Ariel's mother's name. She was actually the one who introduced us."

"I thought it would be fitting," Ariel replied. "Eric picked Melody's name, so I'm picking this one."

Elsa looked down on the leg that Ariel had been tending to. "How's the leg, Eric? Think you'll be able to walk when we get there?"

"As long as Kristoff doesn't mind carrying me," Eric joked. "Seriously, I hadn't even known you for more than a few hours and already you got me busted."

"Life is harsh out here sometimes, Mr Barnes," Elsa remarked.

Ariel then looked at Elsa. "What are you planning to do once you actually reach Ground Zero, Elsa? I know you were planning on finding somewhere for your friends, but what about you?"

Elsa sat down, thinking. "You know, I hadn't really thought about it. I suppose I could figure out a way of grabbing a new Snowcat and possibly starting up a little courier business from the city itself."

"I hear they actually got a working economy there," Eric said. "Like, money and stuff."

"Money?" Elsa raised an eyebrow. "That's strange. No one has used any money for years out here."

"I think this place is supposed to be sort of the start of a new world," Ariel stated. "Like, this is where we all should be if we want to survive."

At that moment, the three of them heard something beep from up front in the cockpit.

"Guys!" Kristoff exclaimed. "I think we're here."

Elsa walked over to the window, looking out and seeing nothing but the howling blizzard in front of them. She frowned, slightly confused. "Um... Kristoff? There's nothing here."

"Not according to this there isn't," Kristoff informed her, pointing to the small device on the console in front of him. "We should be right on top of Ground Zero."

"Don't tell me that thing has a glitch in it," Snowflake worried. "I don't wanna be cooped up in this thing any longer."

"Don't panic everyone," Elsa said. "There is going to be a logical reason for all this."

Before anyone could say anything, the group then saw a platoon of Snowcats rolling out from the icy winds in front of them, with what seemed to be some sort of cannons attached to their hulls.

Elsa looked closely, not recognising that particular model of Cat. "Well... looks like the gizmo was right after all."

Snowflake hugged Melody close to her. "Are they friendly?"

"Well, we're about to find out," Kristoff stated, pulling down a radio speaker from a hatch just above his head. "Attention, Snowcats. This is Kristoff Bjorgman! We mean you no harm and only request safe passage to Ground Zero! Again, we mean you no harm!"

The other Snowcats didn't seem to reply, merely holding their position.

"Looks like they aren't listening," Eric noted.

Kristoff spoke into the radio again. "I repeat, we mean you no harm and request safe passage! Please respond!"

Suddenly, one of the Snowcat's turned its large cannon towards the tank, loading up a shell before firing upon the tank, barely missing it by an inch.

The entire vehicle shook as Elsa and Snowflake were flung to the ground.

Melody screamed in fear, but Snowflake shushed. "Shhhhh, it's gonna be alright."

Kristoff grabbed the radio again. "What the hell was that about?! We just said we didn't mean you any harm!"

"I don't think they care about that, Kristoff," Eric stated, pulling the radio away from him. "Elsa, we should get out of here."

"No, let's stay," Elsa replied. "If they need proof we mean them no harm, we shouldn't provoke them."

"Provoke them!" Kristoff exclaimed. "They just shot at us!"

"And missed," Elsa reminded him, taking her place at a nearby console. "It was clearly some sort of warning shot, meant to scare us off."

"Bullshit!" Kristoff snapped. "A warning shot wouldn't have shaken the entire tank!"

Another shot fired from one of the snowcats, shaking the tank up again, much more severely than the last one.

Elsa grunted. "Okay, you made your point. Turn us the hell around and get us out of here!"

"Thank you!" Kristoff said sarcastically, grabbing the controls tightly and turning the tank around on it's eight massive wheels before driving off into the distance.

Elsa looked at the console she was working at, seeing in a rear camera more Snowcats descending on them, pursuing them away, along with some sort of strange, flying aircraft she had never seen before.

"Step on it!" Snowflake urged. "I wanna get out of here!"

"Says the girl who two seconds ago wanted to get out of this tank," Kristoff remarked.

"That was before we were getting shot at!" Snowflake shouted.

The snowcats then turned their weapons on the tank again, opening fire with volleys of cannon shells. The shells missed the tank, but some came very close, Kristoff having to pull some very fancy manoeuvres in order to avoid them.

Elsa was flung against a wall, holding onto Ariel tightly. "Are you okay?"

"Ask me again when this is over," Ariel groaned.

The shots then kept pelleting the tank's hull, very much risking grievous harm onto its occupants. With every explosion, Elsa and friends were shaken about inside the tank.

Eventually, Elsa knew they wouldn't survive much longer this way and walked up to the cockpit, tapping Kristoff on the shoulder. "I'm taking the controls."

Kristoff glared at her. "Wait what?!"

"I'm stopping this tank," Elsa stated. "If we surrender, we might get a chance to stay alive through all this."

"A chance I'm not willing to take!" Kristoff argued. "Look, Elsa, I like you, but we need to get out of here. We have a family back here for crying out loud!"

"Which is why I'm helping to save their lives!" Elsa told him sternly. "Now, give me the controls or I'll drag you out of that chair myself."

Kristoff sighed. "Fine..." He let go of the controls. "You win, but if we end up dead-"

"Zip it," Elsa stated. "We're not ending up dead." She then grabbed ahold of the controls, pulling the vehicle to a complete stop in the snow.

The snowcats stopped at the same time, their cannons still trained on the tank, ready to open fire on a single command.

The rear of the tank opened up and Elsa walked out, with the others following alongside her. As they had gotten a considerable distance from the tank, Elsa lowered the hood on her jacket and raised her hands into the air. "We surrender!"

Snowflake's eyes widened in shock. "Elsa, what are you doing?!"

"Saving our lives," Elsa hissed. "Now stay quiet!" She then turned back to the Snowcats and repeated, "We surrender! We'll come along quietly!"

The occupants of the Snowcats climbed out onto the snow. They were all wearing winter combat gear, but they didn't resemble the soldiers that had decimated Snomar; they looked more like a civilian militia.

"Well," Kristoff said. "They look hospitable."

Suddenly, the large flying vehicle that Elsa had seen in the screen of the tank landed in front of now, clearly shown to be some sort of twin-rotor helicopter, no doubt restored from before the Big Freeze. Out of a hatch on its side, a man walked out, dressed all in black wearing dark sunglasses. He had short red hair and sideburns, and a smile was constantly on his face.

He then walked over to the group, taking off his glasses to reveal a pair of green eyes. "Well, well, well this is a surprise. We don't often get outsiders here."

Elsa frowned. "Are you the leader of these soldiers?"

"Yes," the man stated. "I apologise for shooting at you, but we tend to be very protective of our land." He raised his gloved hand and the soldiers put down their weapons.

Elsa sighed in relief. "We didn't mean to intrude. We're just trying to get to Ground Zero. So if you could just point us in the right direction, we'll be on our way, and you won't have to worry about us again."

The man smiled at them. "Well, my dear. You are in luck." He outstretched his hand. "My name is Hans Westerguard. I'm the director of Ground Zero. On behalf of my fellow citizens, I would like to welcome you."

"Wait... we are here?" Snowflake wondered, confused. "But I don't see anything."

"Of course not," Hans stated. "The storm is making visibility rather difficult. If you'd just climb back into your vehicle, my men will gladly show you the way."

Snowflake felt a little unnerved by the way Hans spoke. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something off about him.

As the group walked back into the tank, Snowflake went to Elsa's side, holding her arm. "Elsa... I don't trust him."

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Hans," Snowflake said. "He just seems... too nice."

"Look, I don't him either," Elsa replied. "But we're in Ground Zero now, that's all that should matter." She put her hand on Snowflake's shoulder, smiling at her. "You should be fine there."

Snowflake sighed. "I know," she looked at Elsa and then hugged her. "Thank you."

Once everyone was onboard, the tank started up, Elsa and friends standing at the cockpit, following the platoon of Snowcats and Hans's copter lead them into the storm.

Out from the winds, a large shape loomed, which was eventually revealed to be a massive wall. A large pair of gates opened, allowing Elsa and the group to drive within.

Inside was a massive metropolis, comprised of scavenged buildings, materials and other objects, creating what seemed to be a functioning civilization. At the centre of the city there was a tall, steel tower, clearly where Hans operated from and nearby, enclosed within the same walls as the city, was a massive, deep crater, burrowing deep into the earth itself.

Snowflake's eyes widened as she saw the city for the first time. "We're finally here."

Unbeknownst to her, Elsa and Snowflake's hands had joined in that one brief moment, the moment they knew their lives would never be the same.

xXx

Author's note: Here's Hansy! I'm sure many good things will come from this... many good things...

See you next time!