Zhan and Yibo had only been on the road for half an hour when it began to snow heavily again and turned into a blizzard with zero visibility. They had no choice but to drive into the middle of a forest at the next opportunity and pause there until the snowstorm passed.

They would have liked to use these hours to get some more sleep. But the constant threat of danger did not allow them to fall asleep. The two elderly had told them that the vampires were near, and since they had not gone far, they might be closer to the vampires than they thought. However, thanks to the heavy snowfall, at least they didn't have to worry about tire tracks.

Still, this was a serious problem. Because it will not always snow in the coming days, when they just need it. Besides, they were already having trouble making progress as it was. Even more snow means that they will make even slower progress. And progressing even slower means the horde of vampires can continue to catch up.

And then once it doesn't snow enough, their tire tracks can be seen. And the vampires then find it even easier to follow them.

Yibo already said to Zhan that as long as the weather is like it is right now, they can't go to the hotel. Not if there is a risk that the tire tracks remain visible and the vampires can follow them to the hotel.

Whereas, it's not called a hotel anymore. It's District 1, as Zhan's father had decided. The prison is District 2 and they plan to create many more districts. Places where people can live safely again.

But is this really such a good idea? Because no one knows if the black creatures won't return in the spring. No one knows how many died or if all of these creatures died. Just as no one knows if the gray creatures are still alive and will return.

While they were sitting in the car and could not see anything that was happening around them, they also kept trying to reach the soldiers. But because of the snowstorm it remained only with the attempt. And so Zhan and Yibo had to keep worrying and asking themselves if the others were okay, if they were safe and when they would see them again.

To pass the time of waiting a bit, Zhan and Yibo once again talked about their gray creatures and how they miss them and hope to see them again in the spring. They also talked about the samples Zhan took from the two old ones and that Zhan hoped the scientists could do something with it.

And all of a sudden, and completely without warning, Yibo asked, "You ZhanZhan? What do you say you and I get married as soon as we get back?"

After a moment of speechlessness, Zhan asked, "You want to get married?"

"Yes ZhanZhan. I want to marry you. I know that wasn't a romantic proposal now. And I also just wanted to hear your opinion about it first. I would like to know if you could basically imagine marrying me."

"Well, I think so. So yes. I love you and I want to stay with you and grow old together. I just didn't think you'd want to get married eventually."

"Not eventually. I definitely want to marry you. I know nothing is the same and we live in a new time. But, in this new time, I've met you and fallen in love with you. And if there's one thing I know, it's that I never want to let you go. I want to stay with you, build something with you, and be able to call myself your husband."

"Wow, you are so cute Yibo. I agree with you. Nothing is the way it used to be. But that's the only reason we could find each other. And the idea that you could be my husband pleases me."

"Me too, my Cutie. And what do you say? Shall we take that step? I'll be sure to make you a romantic proposal, too."

"Yibo, with or without a romantic proposal, I will say yes. Because I love you and I want to spend my life with you."

"Really? So you really want to marry me?"

"Yes, I really want to marry you. And if you want, we can ask my dad to marry us."

"Absolutely, we should do that." Replied Yibo happily. He hugged and kissed Zhan with joy.

But the intimate moment was disturbed when they once again saw a flare. And this time it didn't seem so far away. "Yibo, we should get out of here." Said Zhan and Yibo immediately started the engine.

They drove back to the road and when they reached it, they saw a second flare. "Could it be that the vampires are using it as a means of communication?" Yibo asked, confused.

"It's quite possible. But honestly, I don't want to wait and find out. So step on the gas." Replied Zhan urgently.

With visibility barely 2 meters, Yibo raced along the road, trying to keep the car on track. Could the horde really have caught up with them so quickly?

After more than an hour on the road, they finally came to the entrance to the forest, where the old factory is and also the tunnel. Yibo drove the car as close to the old factory as possible. They looked for some fir branches and covered their car with them. Although this made little sense, because if their tire tracks were not covered by snow soon, everyone would find their car anyway.

Since the huge masses of snow now meant an even greater danger of collapse for the already rotten roof, they preferred to walk around the factory rather than take the risk of the roof breaking through the masses of snow after all and falling on their heads.

When they reached the place where the floor hatch was supposed to be, they first had to push the snow aside. But, where had the hatch gone? No matter how much snow they shoveled, they just couldn't find the hatch. "It can't be, it must be here somewhere." Cursed Yibo.

"Yes, somewhere around here. But where?" Replied Zhan as he leaned against a tree, exhausted.

"Zhan, we can't keep searching here forever now. We're already frozen to the bone and it's already getting dark. Let's go back to the car and continue searching tomorrow. We won't find anything here today."

"Yibo, we can't sleep in the car. Not another night. We need to rest properly, and preferably without fear that the vampires will be upon us at any moment."

"And what do you think we should do now? Keep searching until we're frozen stiff?"

"I didn't say that. But maybe we should at least search for another half hour. I don't want to sleep in the car. I'm so tired I wouldn't even notice if someone approached. And so are you. Think about how little sleep we've both had in the last few days."

"All right. But not for more than half an hour. I don't want you to get sick."

"Yibo, don't worry about it okay? I promise you, we'll only search for another half hour. And to make our search easier, and we could have thought of this sooner, we'll scan the ground with a stick."

"Um, we've been here shoveling snow and looking like idiots for this hatch, and we could have had it so easy. God, we really need sleep. Our brains are getting slower and slower. Oh, and ZhanZhan?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you too Yibo. Very much so." Replied Zhan and began scanning the ground with a long stick. He stabbed it into the ground or on it at intervals of 20 centimeters, trying to hear if anything metallic could be picked out.

And so they searched meter by meter until they finally heard the sound they were so desperately looking for. They pushed aside the snow and uncovered the hatch in the ground.

When Yibo opened the hatch, warm air poured out of the tunnel toward them. The snow around the hatch even began to melt a little. With joy, Zhan and Yibo hugged each other before going back to the car to get their sleeping bags and some supplies.

One by one, they climbed into the tunnel. Yibo closed the hatch and slid out the latch before climbing down the ladder.

They set up camp right next to the ladder, laid their sleeping bags side by side, and set up two camping lamps. They also each prepared one of those self-heating meals to eat first.

Full and surrounded by a pleasant warmth, they could hardly keep their eyes open. They lay down on their sleeping bags, snuggled up to each other and immediately fell asleep. It was a deep, heavy and dreamless sleep, which both had bitterly needed.

When Yibo woke up, he had no idea how long he had slept or what time it was. It did not matter to him. Because since many days ago, he was not only in a safe environment and in the warm, but also alone with Zhan, without them having to worry.

Yibo kissed Zhan's neck, causing Zhan to wake up. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I want you ZhanZhan. We haven't made love in so long, I can hardly stand it." Replied Yibo, sliding his hand under Zhan sweater.

Zhan turned on his back and Yibo lay on top of him. They kissed each other and undressed each other. "I'm just now realizing how much I missed it." Whispered Zhan as Yibo entered him. The last time suddenly seemed like months ago to him. Though, of course, that wasn't even slightly true.

"I know what you mean. And I'm glad we can finally do it again." Replied Yibo.

The two made love twice until they were satisfied for now. They lay snuggled together on their sleeping bags, wondering how long it would be before they would be able to go back to the hotel and their room.

And they talked again about whether they shouldn't take a small house, just for themselves. So that they can live together undisturbed in the future. They were even thinking about how their wedding should be. And they wondered how Yibo's parents would react when they found out about the marriage plans.

After an hour, Yibo climbed the ladder to see if the snowstorm had cleared and they could finally reach the other group. But he could have saved himself the trip, because he only had to open the hatch a crack to see that the weather still hadn't changed.

And so, for now, they have no choice but to stay in the tunnel until the weather clears and they can reach the others. They suspect that the others are also somewhere inside a building, waiting for the blizzard to pass. Maybe they are still in the apartment building.

At the moment, however, it didn't matter much to either Zhan or Yibo. Because they were happy about the time off and planned to make full use of it. How else could they pass the time more beautifully than with their love play.