The snow fell thick and fast, shutting down railway lines and major roads within a handful of hours. Tens of thousands were without electricity, many more were left stranded in their commutes with strangers who were all growing steadily angrier as time went on and the chances of their rescue dwindled like a poorly kept fire.
It took three days for the death toll to reach one hundred and two days more for that number to double as panic settled in deeper than the snow that had them all trapped. The first to die were on long distance trains, namely ones who had come to a halt out in the countrysides where only semi-domesticated cattle thrive.
None of them were prepared for a long wait.
Some tried to leave in search of nearby settlements, never returning, while the remaining passengers ate through their rations and soon began rationalising cannibalism. All around these trains the snow is stained a dark red, an ever-growing warning sign to any rescue attempts- come armed and come prepared for the worst.
It really doesn't take long for civility to be abandoned.
As bad as the trains were, as quickly as they became abattoirs, the roads were far worse. Every car became a microcosm surrounded by enemy nations that wanted their meagre supplies and would do anything to get to them. Windows were broken and made into weapons, the cold air petrified the weak into parodies of death, their breath still clouding the air in front of them while their skin froze and their fingers turned black.
Small country roads (glorified footpaths really) went from charming to picturesque to utterly silent as a churchyard. The only sign that a cars had ever been there were the slightly larger burial mounds of snow that occasionally had a frostbitten arm jutting out in a desperate final bid for escape.
After three months of brutally heavy snowstorms, countless pockets of survivors began to develop their own civilisations, their own rules, new countries formed, merged and died all in the span of hours as life tried and tried to keep going amidst a climate that told them to just let themselves go to sleep, they'll be warm as soon as they close their eyes.
When the snow melted, the bloodstains didn't.
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