The first chapter of an Apocalypse Challenge that I'm playing with The Sims 2. Enjoy! DISCLAIMER: I borrowed the character of Sansa from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Her backstory comes almost entirely from the books, as do any references to her family and the characteristics of her house (such as its seat in Winterfell, the house words, and the way that many members of the family embody the trope Honor Before Reason). I will not be profiting from this, nor do I intend any copyright infringement.

1. Winter Is Coming: An Apocalypse of Ice Chapter 1, “Winter Is Coming”

2. Things were already pretty bad for Sansa Stark. She had perfected the art of walking around with perfect makeup and a smile on her face, but after spending her teenage years dealing with the untimely deaths of her parents and siblings, two psychotic boyfriends, the destruction of her home, and her own near-death by drowning, there wasn’t much that she hadn’t been through.

3. But she had survived all of those disasters and enrolled at La Fiesta Tech. Sansa wanted to be optimistic, but she knew this was only a reprieve for twenty-seven days. At least she could build up her skills here, make some friends, and study something useful so that when the time came to graduate, she would be prepared to rebuild Winterfell and restore House Stark.

4. She didn’t wait long to get down to business.“Yes, my name’s Sansa Stark, and….Yes, I’m a new freshman, but I already know what I want my major to be! Yes, I’m sure. I want to study biology.” This way, she could either be a natural scientist or a doctor, both of which would help make things a little easier after graduation. Although she initially wanted to be mayor so that no one could ever order her around again, she soon realized that if the North kept sliding into lawlessness like it had been, being the mayor wouldn’t mean much.

5. She didn’t have to wait long after that to make her first friend. “May I join you?” someone asked.“I’d be delighted.” Sansa flashed a smile. “I’m Sansa. What’s your name?”“Meadow.”Thus began one of Sansa’s many conquests by chess, as her best of her best friends, Joanne, would later call them.

6. Sansa met two cute boys while studying at the coffee shop her first semester: BJ and Addison. She thought she would like BJ better, given her well-documented weakness for blonds, but Addison was the one who picked up the phone to call her each day and actually seemed interested in being more than friends. So one evening, Sansa invited him over to get to know him better.

7. Addison looked sad when he walked up to her dorm that day. Sansa never got the chance to find out why.

8. That was because his face lit up as soon as he saw her coming out to greet him.

9. “Well…I really like the way you do your makeup,” Addison said shyly when she asked if he was interested in her. “It brings out the blue in your eyes.” “Thank you,” Sansa answered.

10. As they talked, she learned that he was almost as nice as she was (five points to her six), a fellow neatnik, very playful, and not particularly active. He told her that he wanted to become the law after graduating from La Fiesta Tech. “Maybe I could go somewhere like your home where there isn’t a lot of order and make things better,” he said.“That’s kind of you,” Sansa said, “but I wouldn’t make you do that. From what I hear, things are getting worse back there, not better.”

11. Although Sansa only had one bolt of chemistry with him, she still thought he was pretty cute. Besides, she had learned that being with somebody meant more than just chemistry. She’d seen three bolts turn into disaster for her before. What mattered was finding someone who could stand beside her for the rest of her life and help her rebuild her home.

12. As they kept talking on the phone every day, Sansa found herself getting her hopes up that maybe Addison Riley could be that person.

13. Of course, it would have been better if bad news hadn’t been coming in the mail almost every day. Everyone had a different story. Rumor said that the coming winter would last lifetimes. Sansa had already known she would have no home to return to after finishing college, but the news only made it harder to bear.

14. But being with Addison comforted Sansa after she got bad news from home and when she felt so tired from the constant skill-building and friend-making that she just wanted to fall apart.

15. That aside, she tried not to let her love distract her from the skill-building that would be necessary for when she had to go home—especially when she could improve her friendships at the same time that she studied cleaning, mechanics, and logic.

16. Things fell into a predictable pattern before long: class, friendships, skilling, more friendships, and conversations with Addison. Sansa wanted twenty best friends, and she was going to get them before classes ended.Sansa smiled, nodding along to what Jade, a cheerleader and fellow biology major, had just said. “Oh, I agree. Learning how to take care of a cowplantis a little nerve-wracking. But it’s easy once you overcome the temptation to reach out for that scrumptious-looking piece of cake. You just have to show it who’s boss!”And with that, she had another best friend.

17. At the beginning of senior year, Sansa had ten best friends. With two semesters to go and a few days remaining after graduation, she needed to step up the pace if she wanted to make it to twenty best friends before going back to Winterfell.

18. She stopped sleeping. She stopped eating. Sansa’s existence narrowed down to the telephone and building her skills so that once she got back, she would have enough of a support system to carry her through the rough times and enough skills to become an ecological guru or chief of staff in no time.

19. During her last semester, Sansa got inducted into the LFT Society. She learned the secret handshake, then promptly returned to her dorm to make more best friends.

20. But time flew. Before Sansa knew it, she had graduated, and she still only had sixteen best friends. She wished she could stay here forever, but things had turned from bad to worse back home, and she had to go back to help make it better.She promised Addison that she would send for him as soon as it was safe, then headed off into the night with her cell phone, her diploma, and a new bed to sleep on.