After speaking, he glanced at Gordon Ford’s face.
’There was still so much more he wanted to say.’
After so thought, he decided against it. Gordon Ford had always been more resolute than him, with better judgnt.
’So when it ca to Stella Sterling, Gordon Ford had his own way of thinking. As a friend, it wasn’t my place to ddle or ask too many questions!’
’His connection to Stella Sterling was just a fleeting one. Once this was all over, they would leave, and their paths would likely never cross again.’
「...」
A few more days passed. The situation outside showed little improvent, but the snow piled up against the building had nearly reached the eighth floor.
The residents on the lower floors were in absolute misery. Their apartnts were completely entombed by the snow, leaving them without even a sliver of ventilation.
Looking out the window revealed nothing but an all-encompassing wall of snow, a mountain pressing in from the outside. The snow didn’t just surround their hos; it weighed on their hearts like a physical mountain, making it hard to breathe.
A single glance was enough to inspire an inexplicable terror. With the outside completely sealed off, not a single ray of light could penetrate. The rooms were pitch-black, and with no electricity for lights, anyone living under such conditions for long was bound to develop psychological issues.
But no one could leave their apartnts.
Over the past few days, Stella Sterling could hear the hysterical screams of other residents from within her apartnt.
On top of that, every day she would see new bodies on the ground below. So had frozen to death, others had starved, and still others had died from unknown causes.
She saw a body nearly every ti she opened her window. Before long, it would be buried by the falling snow.
By now, no one in the complex knew just how many bodies lay buried beneath the pure white snow.
Before, such a sight would have terrified everyone. But now, it seed they had all grown numb. No one scread at the sight of a body anymore, rely sighing to themselves on occasion.
"That’s the ninth one in the last few days," Stella Sterling murmured, watching the body below as it was about to be swallowed by the snow. She then returned to the living room.
anwhile, Basil Xavier and Gordon Ford also witnessed the scene unfolding in the complex. Basil had grown much more silent compared to when he first arrived.
It was only then that he truly understood the words Stella Sterling had spoken to him that day.
However, he no longer had the luxury of sympathizing with others. After a few days, the food in his backpack was gone.
He had searched the apartnt he was staying in from top to bottom several tis but found nothing edible.
He didn’t know if the previous occupant had eaten everything or taken it with them. Now, he and Gordon Ford were out of food.
Both were big, strapping n with hearty appetites; a single backpack of food was never going to last them long.
’Now he, too, was facing starvation. He even began to wonder... if the situation outside didn’t improve, if he couldn’t get out to find food, if he was trapped in this building... what would he be capable of doing?’
The re thought made Basil Xavier shut his eyes.
The door opened and Gordon Ford entered. Basil Xavier looked over and saw that Gordon was carrying a bag!
His eyes lit up. ’It’s food!’
Gordon Ford had left that morning without a word. Basil had been wondering where he could have gone inside the building, and now he had his answer.
"Where did you find this food? From Stella Sterling?"
Gordon Ford had given their food to Stella Sterling when they were preparing to leave. ’Did he go ask for so of it back?’
In fact, he had already decided to swallow his pride and ask Stella Sterling for so food, planning to pay her back later. He just hadn’t expected Gordon Ford to beat him to it!
Gordon Ford glanced at him. After several days of recovery, the color had returned to his face, and his wounds were slowly closing.
Basil Xavier couldn’t help but marvel. ’Gordon Ford really is as strong as an ox, recovering so quickly under these conditions!’
"I didn’t ask her."
Gordon Ford replied.
Basil Xavier stared at him, confused. ’If you didn’t get it from Stella Sterling, then where did it co from? It’s not like soone else would have just kindly given it to you!’
He then looked at Gordon Ford’s handso face and gulped. "Gordon, you didn’t go and sell your body for this, did you?!!!"
"If all your brain does all day is churn out nonsense like that, I think you need to see a doctor when we get back."
Gordon Ford shot him a frosty glare.
He tossed the bag onto the table and, ignoring Basil Xavier, tore open a pack of bread for himself.
Basil Xavier looked awkward. He knew his comnt had been absurd, so he didn’t dare to retort.
After so prodding, he learned that for the past two days, Gordon Ford had been watching to see which apartnts in the building were empty. Today, he had pried open the doors to a few of the unoccupied hos and searched them, which was how he had found these supplies.
He could hardly believe it. ’To think that soone as straight-laced as Gordon Ford would actually resort to breaking and entering!’
He wanted to say sothing, but his empty stomach robbed him of the backbone to utter any words of moral condemnation. In the end, all he could do was swallow his forr principles.
Then, he silently tore open a bag of bread and began to eat.
Only after he had filled his stomach did he ask, "Haven’t the other people in the building thought to search the empty units?"
"Do you really think that’s possible?" Gordon Ford said quietly. "When I went, several apartnts had already been ransacked. It looked like they’d been hit multiple tis. However, there were a few units where, based on their condition, the owners had still been around until just a few days ago. They hadn’t returned, and no one else had gotten around to searching them yet, so I managed to get the spoils."
Basil Xavier fell silent as a thought suddenly struck him. The owners of those recently vacated apartnts... they were likely the very people Stella Sterling had killed the other day.
’To think that those people had tried to rob them, and now their food was in his and Gordon Ford’s hands... The thought gave him a strange sense of satisfaction.’
Basil Xavier felt his sense of morality steadily slipping.
Just as his thoughts were running wild, there was a knock at their door. The two n exchanged a look, and Basil cautiously approached it. "Who is it?"
"It’s . Stella Sterling."
Basil Xavier glanced at Gordon Ford. ’Stella Sterling hasn’t sought them out at all these past few days,’ he thought. ’Why now?’
Stella Sterling stood at the door, holding a bag. A mont later, the door opened. She held out the bag. "Here."
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