Otherwise, having food without the ability to protect yourself would just make you easy prey. All those supplies would just be for someone else’s taking.

Back inside, she went to her home gym and began her pre-planned two-hour daily workout.

After some time, there was another knock on the door. This time, she answered it calmly.

’It’s still just the beginning. Home invasions aren’t happening yet, so it’s safe to open the door.’

’But in a little while, these peaceful days will be over.’

"Hello—"

A clean-cut young man stood at the door. He started to greet her the moment the door opened, but the words caught in his throat when he saw the young woman before him, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and glistening with sweat.

He questioned his own sanity for a moment. ’Hasn’t it been snowing heavily for the past two days? Am I remembering things wrong?’

At that thought, he started to take off the thick, padded jacket he had dug out from the bottom of a trunk. ’Did the snow stop? Is the weather back to normal?’

He got the jacket halfway off before a chill shot through his body. He shuddered, unable to stand the cold, and quickly pulled it back on as fast as he could. Only then did he feel alive again.

"Are you insane?"

Stella Sterling frowned. ’Did this guy come to my door just to put on a show of taking his clothes off?’

"Ah, no! Don’t close the door! I have something I want to tell you!"

Seeing Stella Sterling frown and start to close the door, the young man rushed to say, "I live right below you. Since we’re neighbors, we can look out for each other if anything happens!"

Stella Sterling said nothing, her expression unchanging.

Seeing this, the young man continued, "Just hear me out—"

He paused for a moment before asking, "Could I come inside to talk?"

Stella Sterling just sneered at him without a word, but he understood her meaning perfectly.

So he dropped the pretense and got straight to the point. "I don’t think this snow is normal. It’s completely different from anything before. The way it’s coming down, it won’t stop in a day or two—it might even keep going for a long time. If this continues, something bad is bound to happen sooner or later!"

Stella Sterling gave him a slightly surprised look. ’Then again,’ she thought, ’it’s not that hard to figure out. The people who went out for food today probably noticed something was wrong and have already started making their own plans.’

"And?"

The young man smiled. "If this keeps up, with everyone trapped in this complex, things are bound to go wrong. I want to partner with you!"

"Even if everything you’re saying is true, why me? There are so many people here."

Stella Sterling watched him, her face a mask. Her guard was already up. She never trusted anyone easily, especially strangers or mere acquaintances who suddenly tried to get friendly.

’Nothing comes from nothing. There’s always a catch.’

Seeing that Stella Sterling’s tone was anything but welcoming, the young man pressed on. "There are reasons I chose you, of course. We live right above and below each other, so it’s convenient to help each other out if something happens. Also, you’re on your own in this building, and so am I. We’re both isolated. Working together is our best option. Plus, I think you’re smarter than everyone else!"

Stella Sterling watched him, waiting for him to go on. "Choosing you wasn’t a random decision," he said. "I’ve been reading the group chat messages for the past two days. You’re not like those other idiots, spilling all their personal information. You’re smart. You haven’t joined any of the discussions. You’re at home, but you’ve stayed completely off the radar, which tells me you’ve already realized what’s going on."

As he said this, a hint of contempt flashed in his eyes. In his opinion, everyone in that group chat was a brainless idiot.

’In a situation like this, telling everyone your business is the same as sticking your neck out for them to chop.’

’Some of them are even bragging about how much food they have. They’ll be the first ones to get robbed when the time comes.’

’But his upstairs neighbor was different.’

’He’d been watching her for a while. Besides being smarter than the rest, he’d noticed she seemed to have seen this coming and had already started stockpiling supplies.’

Stella Sterling simply watched him, her expression placid as he criticized others and then praised her. She remained so calm it was as if he were talking about someone else entirely.

When the young man from 2708 finished and saw that Stella Sterling still had no reaction, he didn’t press the issue. He just smiled. "You don’t need to worry. Maybe none of what I said will happen—that would be the best-case scenario. My reaching out to you doesn’t have to mean anything. I just hope that if something does go wrong, we can lend each other a hand."

With that, he apologized for disturbing her and left without another word, not pressing her any further.

Stella Sterling closed the door and went back inside. A moment later, her phone chimed. Someone had sent her a friend request via the group chat.

It was from the user in 2708, her downstairs neighbor.

Heh.

She let out a soft scoff and accepted the request.

But she didn’t reply to the message he sent.

’He sounded sincere and laid out all his reasons, but Stella Sterling didn’t believe a word of it.’

’Why should she trust him and agree to cooperate based on his words alone?’

’After all, on paper, he was a man and she was a woman. In terms of physical strength alone, she was at a clear disadvantage. Why would he choose to partner with her? It made no sense. He could have found someone else.’

’From the moment he approached her, she hadn’t believed for a second that his intentions were good.’

’Besides, this man...’

A cold glint flashed in Stella Sterling’s eyes. She closed them for a moment, but when she opened them again, the vicious light within them hadn’t faded.

’In her past life, she had been beaten so badly by a bald man and his cronies that she’d spent a month in the hospital. After the apocalypse began, she went through hell. When she finally managed to make it back home, she found that it had been taken over.’

’And the young man from just now had been one of them.’

’That group had taken over her apartment. When she returned, they stole her warm clothes and the little bit of food she had, then beat her and threw her out of the complex.’

’If she hadn’t been incredibly lucky, she would have died right then and there.’

’In this life, she hadn’t even gone looking for him yet, and he had come right to her door. If he hadn’t shown up, she might have actually forgotten about that whole crew. His appearance was a perfect reminder that she had enemies from her past life right here in the same complex.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

’He was no saint. She would never fall for his talk about cooperation.’

’But she didn’t shut him down completely. She wanted to see just what kind of tricks he was trying to play.’

’Now that they were in the same complex, she could have a little fun with him.’

’After all, the apocalypse had just begun. How else was she going to pass the long days ahead? A girl had to find her own entertainment.’

Stella Sterling stood up and stretched lazily, a smile on her face. She felt wonderfully cheerful.