Chapter 70
The voice belonged to Drew, and he was surrounded by a few of his cronies.
Ste ignored him, but Drew continued to knock, chattering away to his buddies.
"Hey, Drew, seems like there''s no movement on the 18th floor. Wonder if something happenedst
night?" The voice was hoarse, a clear indication of a cold. If something had happened to those on
the 18th floor, it would have been a sweet relief to them.
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Drew muttered curses under his breath but stered on a benevolent smile. "How could that be?
Ste and her friends are young and healthy. How could anything happen to them? If anything did
happen, we would have to help."
"Drew, you''re too kind. Didn''t you see how they treated us?"
"We can''t say that. We all live in the same building, and we should look out for each other."
"Huh, there seems to be some movement. They''re not dead yet!" The disappointment was clear in
his voice. If the people on the 18th floor had been wiped out, the countless supplies would have
been theirs.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Drew." Ste''s voice was icy cold. "We''re not only alive, but we''re also
thriving."
The sudden voice caused the group to look at each other in surprise. They had been knocking for
ages without a response; they hadn''t expected a sudden answer.
This was awkward.
Drew was quick to react. "Ste, we were just concerned. It''s good that you''re alright."
"Don''t worry, we''ll outlive you lot."
The conversation was over. Drew was seething inside but kept up his friendly facade. "That''s good.
If you guys ever need anything, don''t hesitate to tell me."
The group left with a bitter taste in their mouths.
In a post-apocalyptic world, people like Drew weremon. They would wish for others'' demise,
hoping to scavenge what was left. But they were nothing more than fools, and Ste and her friends
didn''t take them seriously.
After training Cooper, Ste put on her thermal clothing. She had taken Jasper''s advice and
removed the cashmere sweater, but she still needed Cooper''s fur coat to help him get used to the
weather change.
"You?" Jasper asked. "Are we still training today?"
"Yes." Even Cooper was persevering in this cold, so she didn''t have an excuse to ck off. She had
to keep going, despite the freezing cold.
The training mat was stiff from the cold, so Jasperid down a cloth.
The living room had a coal stove, butpared to Ste''s stove, it was second rate. It was still
quite cold. Ste removed her coat and began training with Jasper.
After half an hour, she was sweating profusely. Her thermal socks were silky smooth on the inside.
During a collision with Jasper, Ste slid backwards, and because her socks were slippery, she fell
backwards.
Jasper was quick to react, rushing to catch her. Her bodynded on the training mat, and then
Jaspernded on top of her. Her mouth bumped into his face. A muffled groan escaped her lips. It
felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. Stars danced in her vision, and her teeth felt
loose.
He was so big, and he was lying on top of her.
Jasper immediately got up and helped her sit up. “Are you okay?”
Ste then realized that he had used his hand to support her head. “I’m fine, my feet were just
sweaty and I slipped."
"Woof!" Cooper, who was in Rosie''s room, heard themotion and rushed out, grabbing onto
Jasper''s clothes, and pulling him away. ‘Let Ste go!’
Ste quickly intervened. "Cooper!"
It did not matter who Jasper was, but Cooper wouldn’t let him bully his owner!
Ste quickly picked up the loyal dog. "He didn''t bully me. He saved me."
Cooper still didn''t believe Ste. The dog turned his back on Jasper, causing him to feel confused.
"Does it have a problem with me?"
"No." Ste quickly exined, "Cooper justcks a sense of security, and dogs are naturally
protective of their owners."
Afraid of a possible fight breaking out, she quickly took the dog away. When she got home, Cooper
didn''t apologize and was instead sulking, as if using her of favoritism.
"No way." Ste tried to cate the moody dog with a treat. "You''re the most important to me. I''m
training with Jasper to be stronger, so that I can protect you."
‘Humph, she was lying!’ Cooper turned his head away in a huff.
Ste took off her thermal socks to prove her innocence. "Why don''t you try them on? They''re really
slippery."
After saying this, she threw them at his face.
Cooper was startled. At least the socks didn''t smell bad. He pounced on Ste, scratching her.
Ste hugged him and stroked his head. "Cooper, you need to be a good boy. Apologize to Jasper
tomorrow, okay? If he hadn''t helped me, I would have hurt my head, and you wouldn''t have an
owner anymore. You wouldn''t get any of the chicken, duck, fish, and meat that Arcadia hoards.
You''d have to go back to being a stray."
Apologize? Never! The dog refused and his face was full of innocence. His paws rested on her
shoulder. "Woof...woof..." ''This was his home and he didn''t want to be a stray!’
Fine, training a dog to apologize was also a trainer''s job.
Not wanting to ruin their harmonious rtionship, Ste tactfully passed the buck to Jasper. This
was a trade-off. A qualified trainer not only had to train a dog physically but also mentally.
After night fell, it was noticeably colder. Ste went out to the balcony to check the temperature, it
was -21 degrees. The harsh weather made her wonder how many people would be sleepless
tonight, or never wake up again.
She pulled the living room curtains closed, turned on the srmp, and got dinner from Arcadia.
Despite having three heaters on, it was still freezing. The food cooled very quickly, bing icy
cold in no time. To warm up, Ste took out a portion ofmb stew and quickly ate it with Cooper.
Then she took out two servings of pig''s offal soup. She added dog food to Cooper''s portion. "Eat.
Be quick."
It’s Ste’s loving dinner! Cooper gobbled it up even though it was a bit hot. Never mind, he was
hungry!
After finishing the pig''s offal soup, she felt warm. Ste went to another room to check on Smoky
and Snowy. The two cats were energetic, but the rabbit kits were not doing well. They were born
with little fur and received little parental care. Another one had died.
Rabbits were extremely cold-resistant, and some of their species could even survive in the Arctic.
But this was the south after all, though they seemed to be adapting quickly.
The newborn rabbit kits needed milk, so Ste removed Snowy’s fur coat and thermal clothing.
She noticed that,pared to their trembling yesterday, both rabbits were much calmer today. It
seemed that animals adapted to natural disasters faster than humans.
Once Snowy had finished feeding, Ste continued to observe. She noticed that it didn’t seem to be
cold or shivering. It seemed that rabbit fur truly was warm. Well, she had made the clothing for
nothing.
She took out some Timothy hay from Arcadia and let the rabbits feast.
Stepping out of a steaming hot shower in Arcadia, Ste felt a level offort that was hard to
express. There was no denying it; showers were etched in Ste’s DNA. No matter how cold it was
outside, she had to have one, otherwise she just didn’t feel right.
In the heat of summer, when the air was thick with humidity, she was known to take as many as
three showers in a single day. What choice did she have? This was a city where you could break a
sweat just going to the bathroom, but now it had turned into a frozen wastnd.
Emerging from Arcadia, Snowy seemed unfazed, nursing her young bunnies. Without hesitation,
Ste stripped Smoky of his clothes as well. She didn’t turned the heater off, giving them some time
to adjust.
As the cold seeped in, Ste bundled up in bed, recording thetest livable duration in Arcadia.
Nearly four months, with every minute saved and ounted for, she had umted a total of 145
hours. In other words, she could now survive in Arcadia for six days.
It wasn’t easy, and she almost shed a tear. Danger was ever-present, so she had to keep pushing,
hoping that one day, she and Cooper could retire in Arcadia.