Outside Safe City, not a soul could be seen.
But inside the city, few people were out and about; most stayed in their hos, daring not to venture out.
This snowstorm had been falling from the day before yesterday until today, for dozens of hours straight.
Ice and snow dangled from the eaves, and people kept their windows tightly shut, but the cold seed to be everywhere, creeping into the rooms through every crack and crevice.
Safe City, building number 19, second floor.
Mr. Wang shivered uncontrollably, trembling all over.
Before entering Safe City, he had brought half a truckload of supplies. Although Captain Tao confiscated half of them at the gate, the remaining food was more than enough for him alone to last several months.
Yesterday he had traded so food at their local market for so charcoal to burn, but he had been using it sparingly.
Though now within Safe City, where the Patrol Team was supposed to manage conflicts, disputes still occurred frequently.
Because quite often, when so people ran out of food and didn't want to go out searching, they would resort to robbery, even if it ant dying a well-fed ghost.
Mr. Wang hadn't taken much food to trade, fearing he might beco a target.
"Damn it all, hurry up and find sothing to burn, I'm freezing to death."
Suddenly, a man's furious roar ca from downstairs, followed by a piercing plea for rcy.
Clang!
Sothing had been smashed on the ground, shattering loudly.
Zzzlah—
The sound of a door opening downstairs could be heard.
Mr. Wang thought for a mont, walked two steps to the window, and saw a figure in thick clothing coming out of the building. Although the coat was heavy, its surface seed to have been torn by sothing, with cotton stuffing flying around.
This figure paused at the doorway, then suddenly turned back to look at the door they had just exited, their eyes revealing an extre hatred amidst the swirling snowflakes.
With disheveled hair and a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth, the resentful gaze chilled one to the bone.
Mr. Wang quietly watched this woman through the window.
Since the second day he had arrived, there would occasionally be quarrels downstairs. No, it wasn't quarrels, but rather one-sided abuse and scolding.
Mr. Wang didn't want to interfere, nor could he.
At the ti, it was his second day in the building, and he wasn't very familiar with the situation here. Although he saw and heard the abuse and was deeply displeased, he couldn't do much about it for the ti being.
A few nights ago, the screaming and scolding from downstairs went on into the middle of the night, severely disturbing his sleep.
"Sigh..." Mr. Wang let out a deep sigh. No matter the ti or place, there would always be n who beat their wives.
In the blizzard, the woman slowly turned her head, stood blankly for a while, and then began to walk along the roadside in the forward direction.
Mr. Wang watched as the woman really did head outside, shook his head, and thought that he himself had looked outside but quickly returned; staying outdoors for a long ti in this weather was a sure path to death.
So he did not dare to venture outside Safe City but searched within its confines.
A few days earlier, Safe City had organized so people to cut down surrounding trees for fuel. The vegetation within several kiloters around was completely cleared.
And later,
Originally, Safe City had so trees, like those planted along roadsides; those too were virtually all cut down. Now, the City Gates were firmly closed, and no one wished to head out again.
Moreover, under the regulations of Safe City, if you leave and then return, you must pay a certain protection fee.
Whether you pay with food or sothing else, you must share a part of it with them.
These last few days, it had been extrely cold. So people went out to find burnable fuel and then handed over a large portion upon their return.
So went out and never made it back.
Mr. Wang swallowed, feeling a dire dryness in his throat. His lips were sowhat chapped, and he realized that it had been a long ti since he last drank water.
He walked towards the balcony, hoping to open the window there.
Crack crack crack!
The window emitted a grating sound that sent a shiver down his spine.
Frozen, the window was stuck to the aluminum fra, and only after Mr. Wang applied significant force did he manage to pry open a re 6-centiter gap.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh~
Snowflakes from outside kept drifting in, and the accumulation on the windowsill was substantial.
The snow was white and crystal clear, which might have been a delightful surprise and perceived as beautiful on first encounter.
But if you are always in the bitter cold, the sight of snowflakes only brings despair.
Mr. Wang scooped up a handful of snowflakes with his right hand and funneled them into a small pot.
He pressed the snow down and scooped several more handfuls into the pot until it was tightly filled.
Crack crack crack~
Mr. Wang placed the small pot on the ground and then, using both hands, he forcefully closed the window.
The window had to be shut tight, not just the windows, but any small crack in the ho needed to be plugged to retain as much of the slightly warm indoor air from being dispersed by the outside chill.
Yet, even with such asures, there always seed to be gaps sowhere in the house.
Mr. Wang carried the small pot to the smallest room in the house, a room facing north to south, which got a bit of sunlight during the day.
Since the space was smaller, warmth was sowhat easier to conserve.
He had moved all his food into this room, making it look quite cluttered.
On his bed, at the center, there was a sheet of iron, on which lay a small piece of candle, so wood shavings, and so tattered cotton batting.
Click clack~
Mr. Wang used a flint to ignite so cotton batting, then added a small piece of charcoal to it.
A blue fla flickered to life.
Mr. Wang suspended the small pot above the little fla.
After doing this, Mr. Wang wrapped himself in the cold blanket behind him, trying to get as close as possible to the small fire.
In truth, Mr. Wang was currently getting by quite well; at least he still had so fuel and enough food to last three months.
In the crackling flas, the snow in the pot began to lt.
anwhile, in Safe City, among the several thousand people,
Over eighty percent of them were shivering under their blankets.
So had beco frigid corpses with vacant stares and purple lips, lying in bed waiting for death; others succumbed to starvation...
This snowstorm had inflicted too much suffering on humanity.
This snowstorm had caused starving, freezing people to lose their will to live.
Mr. Wang waited for the snow water to lt slowly, feeling much warr.
But a small piece of charcoal couldn't last long, and as it was about to extinguish, Mr. Wang gritted his teeth, lit the small piece of candle left, and continued burning it.
With ti passing, the water temperature in the pot gradually rose. Mr. Wang searched through his food but couldn't find the noodles he wanted, only bread, which had frozen as hard as rock.
He threw the bread directly into the pot and waited for it to thaw.
After a while, the bread softened.
Mr. Wang quickly put out the candle and placed it aside, then gently swept the burned ashes off the bed. He laid the blanket down and half laid down in the spot that had just been ward by the fire.
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