As lody Sumrs watched in surprise, Yvette Hollis began to explain, "He must have run out of food and coal. He also knew I live alone, so he’s been knocking on my door for the past few days, trying to trick into opening it..."
His objective was obvious: he wanted to break into Yvette Hollis’s ho and steal her supplies. Because his own had run out, he set his sights on his neighbor.
Yvette Hollis continued, "I never opened the door for him, so he started trying to smash it down. But my door is a reinforced security door, and he couldn’t get through."
"The night before last, he showed up with a chainsaw. He stood outside my door and threatened , saying that since I wouldn’t open up, he’d cut the door open, then barge in and kill ..."
Yvette Hollis was terrified. She barricaded the door with a cabinet and stood guard with a kitchen knife. Listening to the ROAR of the chainsaw outside, her mind went blank.
However, the man outside had overestimated the power of a small, handheld chainsaw and underestimated the strength of the security door. In short, his attempt to break in failed.
"He was sawing at the door for a long ti. Then the chainsaw stopped, and he went quiet. I thought he’d left, but it turns out he froze to death..."
Hearing Yvette Hollis’s words, lody Sumrs suddenly recalled a docuntary she’d seen about the arctic. The temperature was so low that many animals would freeze to death mid-stride, their bodies locked in a walking posture even in death.
The temperature in the hallway the night before last was extrely low. The man with the chainsaw must have started losing consciousness while trying to break down the door. Before he even realized what was happening, he died of hypothermia in the hallway.
lody Sumrs sighed and said to Yvette Hollis, "It’s too cold now. You should go back and pack your things. Get ready to head to the 23rd floor. I still have to notify the other residents."
Upon hearing this, Yvette Hollis volunteered, "Let go with you! Everyone’s on high alert right now. They won’t just open their doors for a stranger."
"I’ve lived here for several years. Apartnts 1705 and 1706 on this floor are empty, and I know the residents in 1703 and 1704. It should be easier if I go with you."
lody Sumrs looked at Yvette Hollis gratefully and said, "Thank you, Miss Hollis."
Yvette Hollis waved her hand dismissively. "Don’t ntion it. Your mother has helped everyone so much during the disaster these past two years. She’s so diligent and responsible. We all see it and appreciate it. We’re the ones who should be thanking you!"
Yvette Hollis went back to her apartnt, grabbed a suitcase, and quickly packed so bedding and clothes. Then she and lody Sumrs left together.
The resident of 1702 was already dead. He lived alone, so there was no one left in his apartnt to notify. The two of them went to 1703 first.
With Yvette Hollis’s help, the door to 1703 soon opened.
The next second, lody Sumrs was hit with the sll of sothing burning, and plus of smoke were wafting out of the open door of 1703.
Alard by the sight, lody Sumrs exclaid, "What’s going on? Is your apartnt on fire?!"
The resident of 1703 scratched his head, embarrassed. "It’s not a fire," he replied. "We ran out of coal yesterday, so we’ve been burning so furniture and books to stay warm..."
Burning furniture and books inevitably produced a scorched sll and black smoke, but they were too desperate for warmth to care.
The resident of 1703 was overjoyed to hear from lody Sumrs about the temporary shelter. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, we’ll pack our things and go to the 23rd floor right away! We were just worrying about what to do after our coal ran out. I can’t believe the governnt’s supplies have arrived. This is wonderful!"
After leaving 1703, lody Sumrs and Yvette Hollis went to 1704.
The resident of 1704 was extrely wary. Even knowing it was his neighbor, Yvette Hollis, at the door, he still refused to open up.
lody Sumrs had no choice but to explain her purpose through the closed door. Unexpectedly, after hearing her out, the resident of 1704 stated directly that he had no need for a shelter.
A deep male voice ca from inside the apartnt: "We’re not going to any shelter, we don’t need any supplies, and we are definitely not opening this door! Now get lost!"
lody Sumrs froze, taken aback. Yvette Hollis leaned in and explained, "I rember the people in 1704 are new tenants. They’re pretty well-off, and I think one of them works for a governnt departnt... They probably stockpiled a lot of stuff beforehand, so they aren’t short on supplies or coal for now... If they don’t want to go, let them be. Let’s not worry about them."
lody Sumrs nodded. She didn’t press the issue. Her only responsibility was to deliver the ssage. Whether the residents chose to go to the shelter or not was beyond her control.
「After parting ways with Yvette Hollis, lody Sumrs went down to the 15th floor.」
lody Sumrs first went to 1501 to check on Noelle Quillan. She and her husband, Gene Young, had stockpiled plenty of supplies. Noelle’s reserves of coal and food were relatively abundant, so she didn’t need to go to the shelter. After giving Noelle a few words of caution, lody left.
Next, lody Sumrs went to 1505. When she learned that a shelter had been set up on the 23rd floor, Mrs. Vance thought for a mont, then shook her head and replied, "We’ll stay put. We have enough coal and food here to last us another two or three months, no problem. It’s better to leave the spots in the shelter for those who really need them!"
Mrs. Vance wasn’t lying. They already had a lot of supplies, and lody Sumrs had also given them a large amount of rice, flour, and potatoes. Later, when Joyce Lawson ca over, she brought all of her supplies with her—which was enough for five people. On top of that, there was the "bride price" that Ethan Sutton’s parents had given Joyce, so they had more than enough food and coal to spare.
Hearing Mrs. Vance, Joyce Lawson, who was standing nearby, also nodded. Pointing to the swaddled baby in her arms, she said, "That’s right, we won’t go down. There will be a lot of people at the shelter, and it’ll be a less controlled environnt. A newborn has a weak immune system, so it’s better to stay here at ho."
After leaving 1505, lody Sumrs took her phone out of its insulated bag and sent a ssage to Joanne White, telling her that she was now at the door of 1506.
A mont later, the door to 1506 opened. Joanne White looked a little surprised, and she lowered her voice to ask lody Sumrs, "What are you doing here?"
There was a generator in 1505, so Joanne White and lody Sumrs had agreed to communicate by phone if anything ca up. Now that lody was at her door, Joanne assud lody didn’t trust her and had co to check on the situation herself.
At the thought, Joanne White lowered her voice and said, "Don’t worry. This whole ti, Ethan Sutton and his mother, Margaret Adler, have been treated worse than animals."
"Yesterday, I stirred the pot a little, and Sean Sutton beat up Ethan Sutton again. Margaret Adler tried to defend Ethan and started arguing with Sean. He lost his temper and beat her up too. Right now, the two of them are still freezing in the storage room."
Thinking of her "accomplishnts" from the past few days, Joanne White said with a touch of pride, "Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, I won’t let that family have a mont of peace!"
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