Chapter 292
They used to mock the people in Building 49 and Building 50 for their over-cautiousness, but now,
they could only look with envy at their three-meter-high stone walls topped with electric wiring that
screamed safety.
Suddenly, many people turned to Austin, hoping to procure some building materials for their own
walls.
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But Austin was atypical this time, “Folks, I apologize, but all the avable building materials have
been confiscated by the authorities to build the new city. I really don''t have any sources for this.
Maybe you could try elsewhere?”
He was no fool. If everyone''s home was fortified like a fortress, what would happen when rioters
indiscriminately attacked?
Besides, he wasn''t lying. With more and more peopleing to Griffith, building materials were
indeed bing increasingly scarce.
…
Ste woke up feeling groggy, her hands and feet growing colder. She pulled the nket over
herself, but it didn’t help, the chill persisted.
Ste switched on the bedsidemp, and was surprised to find it was already nine in the morning.
Damn, overslept again.
The room seemed darker than usual, so she pulled back the curtains, only to find it pitch dark
outside.
Ste paused, the perpetual night hade early. Two months early.
Jasper stirred awake, “What’s wrong?”
The cold weather made it good for sleeping, and after an passionate nightst night, the two of
them overslept.
“The eternal night is here.”
She checked the thermometer. The room temperature had dropped to freezing point. The house
had been insted during renovations, so it was probably around 20 degrees below zero outside.
Jasper quickly got up and added nkets to Rosie''s bed.
“Why is it dark outside?”
Jasper switched on the light, “Don''t worry, it''s just the eternal night.”
Rosie, dressed in her thermal clothes, was only cold in her hands and feet, “Will Dn and the
others freeze?”
Jasper paused, “You care about Dn that much?”
Rosie thought for a moment, “He''s really good to me, obedient and helps with work. What if he gets
sick from the cold?”
“Contact him with the walkie-talkie.”
Rosie put on her socks and immediately dug out the walkie-talkie.
Jasper put on his clothes and, as per themunity agreement, turned on the lights on the balcony
of the second floor, dispelling some of the darkness in front of the vi.
Using a shlight, he went to the backyard to check on the poultry.
The animals, too, had biological clocks. Used to constant brightness, now plunged into darkness,
they huddled together in unease.
The ss shed wasn''t as insted as the house, and the poultry were shivering from the cold.
Jasper switched on the heatingmp and spread the prepared straw in the shed.
Ste followed him, and feeling that it wasn''t warm enough, brought more wooden panels from
Arcadia to fortify the ss.
As for the vegetables in the nting shed, they were all stored in Arcadia for the time being.
After dealing with the backyard, the two went to the rooftop to handle the herbs being grown there.
Standing on the rooftop, they could hear the rumbling of engines as lights came on in other vis
one by one. The light wasn''t broad, and in the perpetual darkness, it seemed incredibly dim and
insignificant.
The security guards were still on patrol, and shlights would light up on the road from time to time.
There was a knock on the door, and it was Samuel and his buddies, all from Eastwood Eden.
“Ste, we''re leaving.”
Samuel hadn''t expected the eternal night toe so soon, and they needed to rush home.
Ste frowned slightly, “Did you find your recements?”
“The captain said they''ve found some new patrollers.”
“Okay, listen to Mark and hurry home. Stick together and be very careful on the road.”
Samuel nodded, his expression suggesting he wanted to say something but was holding back.
Ste was confused, “What''s wrong?”
Samuel pulled her aside and whispered, “Ste, I don''t know if I''m just being paranoid, but I feel like
the security captain and his crew are… ”
He didn''t know how to put it, but he felt like he had been excluded recently. The security captain and
his crew would huddle together and whisper, but would quickly disperse when they saw them.
Yes, even small groups had their cliques. There hadn''t been a problem before, and the security
captain had been kind to them, but his attitude had taken aplete 180-degree turn recently.
When Samuel and the others wanted to quit, their resignations were put on hold. The interview
process for new members was drawn out, but today, they suddenly agreed.
After listening to Samuel, Ste took a moment before responding, “Out of sight, out of mind, isn''t it
always like this? Don''t overthink it, grab your wages and hurry home.”
“You guys need to be careful. We''re leaving now.”
After seeing them off, Ste''s face immediately darkened. She posted a warm reminder, then
electrified the stainless steel door and the electric, and bolted the heavy wooden door with five
bolts.
Back in the house, Rosie had already cooked breakfast. Seeing Ste''s serious expression, Jasper
asked, “What''s wrong?”
Ste shared Samuel''s suspicions, “The eternal night came suddenly. The security captain shouldn''t
be letting people go at this time, in order to ensure the safety of themunity.”
“You''re worried the security team has other intentions?”
Ste thought for a moment, “If you were them, would you take the chance?”
It wasn''t that she was paranoid, but rather that people were unpredictable.
She had seen more than once, how the young and rich would spout off at the security team. Many
of them didn''t adhere to the entry and exit rules, and when security enforced regtions, they faced
insults. In severe cases, there were even instances of physical abuse.
If not for the wages, who would endure the humiliation and trampling of their dignity?
She remembered the time when the conflict started over the spit of a ma. The security captain
came to mediate, only to be pped and called a watch dog by the rich kid.
A conflict or two would''ve been okay, but there had been numerous confrontations over the past
year. Even the rich families'' servants would boss the security around, making them do all sorts of
dirty and tiring work. There were even more outrageous instances, where they were called over to
take out the trash, or made to walk pets.
The disparity in status was huge, but the security captain was always diplomatic, greeting even the
most unreasonable demands with a smile.
How could anyone''s psyche be okay after being in such an environment for so long? If an
opportunity to turn the tables presented itself, would he take advantage of it?
Of course, all of this was just Ste''s spection, and it may well contain a bit of malice.
Jasper said, “We have no evidence, and what if they mean no harm? And even if we told others, no
one would believe us.”
Compared to the security, people were more wary of building 50.
Ste thought the same, “Regardless of what others do, we should take care of ourselves first.”
However, she still warned Austin to not casually open the door during the eternal night, even if the
person outside was familiar.
Ste warned him, “Don''t ask me to open the door either. I definitely won''t do it.”
Austinughed, “And here I was thinking of inviting you over for a game of poker. If I had known, I
would''ve made a door in the wall, so we could move freely between our houses.”
They were both smart people, so a hint was enough.
After bathing in sunshine daily, Cooper had grown unustomed to the dark, pacing restlessly
whenever night fell.
With the advent of eternal night, the world seemed to abruptly hit pause.
Mansions, skyscrapers, factories, streets, survivors, crops... Everything was engulfed in the
engulfing darkness.
And inherent to human nature was a fear of the unknown lurking within the dark.
Natural light and artificial light - both forms of light, yet they elicited vastly different feelings.
When sunlight bathed everything, pulling back the curtains revealed the entire view. However,
artificial light couldn''t do the same. When you pulled back the curtains, outside the window might
have been a scary face or a viin wielding a knife.