Chapter 439: The Shelter

To Melody Summers’s surprise, the apartment in 1502 was a complete mess, with soot-blackened marks everywhere.

Dismembered furniture lay in the living room. A few chairs were nothing but metal frames; their flammable parts had likely been burned for fuel.

In addition, a few scattered branches, apparently chopped down from the back mountain, were on the living room floor.

Melody Summers checked the living room, the second bedroom, and the storage room, but she didn’t see anyone. Finally, she went to the master bedroom.

She took a deep breath and slowly pushed open the master bedroom door.

A faint haze seemed to fill the master bedroom—whether it was soot or the frigid air, she couldn’t tell. Her eyes fell on an extinguished brazier in the center of the room, and—

Three bodies, huddled together.

A little girl in the middle was held tightly in her mother’s arms, her hands still clutching her mother’s clothes. The mother cradled her daughter, holding the girl’s legs between her own, as if trying to warm her with every last bit of her body heat. Beside them, the father embraced them both, holding his wife and daughter securely. All three had their eyes closed.

The family’s expressions were all peaceful, as if they had passed away in their sleep.

Their bodies were already stiff, their faces ashen, and their lips purple, but their arms were still wrapped tightly around one another, as if trying to offer warmth to the very last moment of their lives.

A pang of sorrow hit Melody Summers, and she couldn’t bear to look any longer.

She offered a silent prayer in her heart, ’Rest in peace,’ before slowly leaving the bedroom.

Across her two lifetimes, Melody Summers had witnessed many deaths, and she knew countless people had died in this extreme cold.

But seeing her neighbors dead right before her eyes, she couldn’t help but feel an uncontrollable sadness, a grief for the loss of her fellow human beings...

...

After composing herself, Melody Summers went to the last floor on her list, the 14th.

The residents on the 14th floor were quite cooperative. They were overjoyed to hear Melody’s news and immediately started rummaging through their luggage and packing, ready to head to the shelter for warmth.

After informing the last household, Melody Summers also set off for the 23rd floor. She wanted to see what the situation was like up there.

The power was out, so the elevators weren’t working. Melody struggled a bit climbing from the 14th to the 23rd floor. Along the way, she met a few other neighbors heading to the 23rd floor, carrying their luggage. They walked in fits and starts, stopping to rest when they got tired before continuing their ascent.

When she finally reached the 23rd floor, Melody found the hallway crowded with people.

The neighbors hadn’t seen each other in a long time. With the power outage, there had been no way to communicate. Now that they were finally gathered, they all started chattering away.

"Lowell! You old son of a gun, you’re still alive! It’s good you’re alive, so good... SOB..."

"Hey, Warren, what are you crying for? It’s so cold, you can’t be crying. Your tears will freeze into ice cubes the second they fall! You could get frostbite on your eyeballs! We’re all alive, that’s a good thing. Stop crying!"

"Yeah, we’re all still alive. That’s a miracle!"

"We all have to survive. Once we get through this winter, we’ll all go fishing together again! I’ll even share my secret bait recipe with you guys!"

"I almost didn’t make it, actually. I woke up freezing last night and found the stove had gone out. My last piece of coal was gone! I really thought tonight would be the end for me. Thank god the complex set up this shelter for us. We should be able to make it now!"

"I ran out of coal a few days ago. Luckily, my furniture is all solid wood. I’ve only survived these past few days by chopping it up and burning it!"

"Sigh, my family was lucky enough to survive, but my neighbors are gone... A family of six, all frozen to death. If only this shelter had been set up a few days earlier..."

"..."

Winnie Summers and Colin Summers were helping assign rooms to the residents seeking refuge. The Lynch Family’s father and son, along with a few staff members from the emergency response office, were maintaining order, having the new arrivals form a line and calling them in by number.

Melody Summers glanced around and noticed that the hallway on the 23rd floor had been lined with insulation material. There were also two braziers in the hall, with flames dancing and radiating heat, bringing some warmth to the cold corridor.

Just then, Melody saw Winnie Summers leading a family to apartment 2305. After a moment’s thought, she followed them.

Inside 2305, the walls and floor were also covered with thick insulation. A stove was placed in the center of the living room, its fire burning brightly. The temperature in the room was noticeably higher than outside.

Melody Summers had worn many layers of clothing when she came out today. Her skin was sensitive, and having learned her lesson from the last time she got frostbite, she had wrapped herself in layer after layer, bundling up like a rice dumpling. She even wore three pairs of socks. Now, she was starting to sweat slightly.

Quite a few people had already moved into the living room. The new residents had spread their bedding neatly on the floor. To make the most of the limited space, the bedrolls were arranged very close together.

In the living room, some people were talking with one another, some were organizing their luggage, and some had taken out sand vine cakes to toast over the stove. Others were already lying on their bedding, resting with their eyes closed.

Winnie Summers glanced around the living room and said to the family of seven she had just brought in, "There’s still room for four more people here in the living room. Four of you can stay here, and the other three can go to the second bedroom."

Hearing this, the family of seven looked at each other, a bit at a loss.

After a moment, one of the men, who was wearing a military-style greatcoat, rubbed his hands together and said to Winnie Summers, a little sheepishly, "Excuse me, miss, could we trouble you to see if you can make another arrangement? Our family wants to stay together, so we can look after each other..."

An older woman also spoke, her voice choked with tears, "Yes, miss, please, I’m begging you. Don’t separate us... We’ve made it this far. Even if we die, our family has to die together..."

The words were a bit ominous, but it was understandable. The family had relied on each other to survive this long; of course they didn’t want to be separated now.

Hearing this, Winnie Summers glanced at the registration list again. Then she looked up and said, "The living room in 2303 should still have room for six people... I see you have two underage children, so you should be able to squeeze in. If you don’t mind, you can go there!"

When the family heard Winnie say this, they thanked her profusely. "We don’t mind, we don’t mind! We’re fine with squeezing in. Thank you, miss! We’ll head over right now!"

After the family left, Melody Summers was just about to go over and greet Winnie when something unexpected happened.

A girl in a red down jacket suddenly ran out of the second bedroom. She grabbed Winnie’s arm and said in a panic, "This is bad, this is bad! A fight broke out in the second bedroom! Miss Summers, you have to come quick! Some people are about to beat up that girl with the dog!"

Standing nearby, Melody Summers froze when she heard that. ’The girl with the dog?’

Without a second thought, Melody rushed to the second bedroom to see what was happening.