Chapter 253

The food in the pot gradually disappeared, one plate after another.

Watching the three of them interact, Leonard quietly smiled. He raised his glass of cola toward them.

"Come on. A toast."

The others looked over.

"To the fact that we’re still able to enjoy a meal like this in the middle of the apocalypse."

The four glasses clinked together with a crisp, cheerful sound.

"Cheers!"

Outside, snow drifted endlessly from the sky. Inside, warmth filled every corner of the apartment. Laughter mingled with the rich aroma of food, forming a barrier that kept the brutal winter at bay.

Leaning back in her chair, Suzy let her gaze drift across the people around her.

Leonard was sweating from eating. Thomas sat quietly sipping Coke.

Derek chewed away with bulging cheeks.

For a fleeting moment, she thought that life wouldn’t be so bad if it could remain like this a little longer.

"Suzy, why are you spacing out? Have a sweet treat too."

Derek picked up a small chocolate candy and held it directly to her lips. Suzy opened her mouth and accepted it.

After chewing a few times, she mumbled through the sweetness.

"You should eat too."

Only then did Derek happily pop a piece in his own mouth.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Leonard and Thomas voluntarily took charge of cleaning up.

Suzy wasn’t allowed to do a thing. The three men practically chased her onto the couch and ordered her to rest.

Derek even took it upon himself to massage her shoulders.

Somewhere along the way, he had apparently learned proper massage techniques.

His hands were surprisingly skilled.

Combined with a full stomach and the cozy warmth of the apartment, Suzy soon felt sleepiness creeping over her.

Behind her, Derek sensed her growing drowsiness.

He bent down beside her and whispered near her ear.

"Suzy, are you getting sleepy?"

Suzy nodded lazily. "A little."

"Then why don’t you take a nap?"

"Sounds good."

The couch beneath her was a convertible model.

With the press of a button, it slowly reclined until it resembled a small bed, more than large enough for her to stretch out comfortably.

Suzy yawned. Her eyelids grew heavier by the second.

Even Derek’s massage gradually became gentler.

"Wait here. I’ll get you a blanket."

After saying that, he hurried to his room and returned carrying a thin summer comforter.

The apartment was already warm enough that anything heavier would have been unnecessary.

Wrapped in the blanket, Suzy quickly drifted into sleep.

Derek crouched beside her. His fingers lightly brushed her pale cheek. His gaze lingered on her soft red lips.

Unable to resist, he leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss against them.

A pointed cough sounded behind him.

Derek immediately straightened and looked over his shoulder. Leonard stood several feet away, staring at him.

"That’s enough of that," Leonard warned.

The dining table had already been cleaned.

Thomas was still in the kitchen finishing the last bit of tidying, but Leonard had come out first.

Without hesitation, he headed for the living room and noticed the game menu still glowing on the television screen.

He waved Derek over.

"Come on. Let’s keep going."

Leonard had recently discovered that Derek made an excellent gaming partner.

Playing with him was infinitely more enjoyable than playing with Thomas.

At least against Derek, matches felt balanced.

There was competition. He had a chance to win.

Thomas, on the other hand, simply crushed him every time.

His confidence had suffered enough.

Since there wasn’t much else to do after dinner, Leonard naturally wanted another round.

Derek glanced toward the sleeping Suzy.

"She’s asleep."

His voice dropped instinctively.

Leonard lowered his own voice in response.

"We won’t wake her."

He waved dismissively.

"How loud can two people playing games really be? I’m not the type to smash controllers."

Eventually, Derek gave in and sat down beside him.

The two resumed their game.

After finishing the kitchen cleanup, Thomas returned to his room.

He still had belongings left to unpack.

That left only three people in the living room.

Suzy sleeping peacefully. Leonard and Derek gaming quietly nearby.

They weren’t completely silent. Leonard gradually began asking Derek questions.

Where he studied. What his family background was like.

Questions that sounded suspiciously like an official background check.

If anyone else had been asking, Derek would have ignored them without hesitation.

But Leonard was Suzy’s uncle.

Out of respect for her, Derek patiently answered every one of the man’s ridiculous questions.

After one match ended and another began, their roles reversed.

Now Derek started asking questions.

Almost all of them were about Thomas.

"Uncle Leonard, what did Thomas do before all this? Was he a fitness coach or something?"

By now, Derek called Leonard "Uncle" so naturally it sounded completely genuine.

Leonard burst out laughing.

"A fitness coach? Does he really look like one?"

Then he paused thoughtfully.

"Though I guess he does have a pretty incredible physique."

Derek secretly hated how much he agreed.

Thomas’s body was undeniably impressive.

Powerful muscles. Broad shoulders.

The kind of physique that wasn’t built by casually lifting weights at a gym.

His genetics certainly weren’t helping Derek’s confidence either.

"I figured he must be some kind of professional," Derek said sourly.

Leonard shook his head. "Nope. You’re seriously underestimating him."

"Then what did he do?"

"Thomas was..." Leonard hesitated.

For a moment, he wondered whether he should reveal Thomas’s real background.

Then he reconsidered. The world had already ended. What difference did it make now?

Besides, Derek was one of Suzy’s people. Family, for all intents and purposes. There was no reason to hide it.

"Is it classified?" Derek asked.

Leonard waved the concern away.

"Nothing like that. Thomas used to be a mercenary. He spent most of his career overseas."

Surprise flashed across Derek’s face.

The more he thought about it, though, the more sense it made. Those muscles weren’t gym muscles. They were forged through real combat and survival.

"How did you two meet?"

"I was working abroad at the time."

Leonard leaned back against the couch.

"I ran into some trouble. Thomas helped me out. We became friends after that."

Derek nodded thoughtfully.

"So that’s how it happened."

Then another question surfaced.

"If he’d been living overseas all that time, why did he suddenly come back?"

Leonard shrugged.

"No idea. He never told me."

After a pause, he added, "Maybe he got tired of that life and wanted a break. Then the disasters hit."

He exhaled slowly.

"Honestly, it’s a good thing he came back when he did."

So that was the connection between them.

Derek’s emotions grew complicated.

Knowing this made him feel as though his chances had become even slimmer.

The game continued.

They chatted intermittently between matches.

***

Days passed.

Then weeks.

Before anyone realized it, half a month had slipped by.

After that night, Derek officially became Leonard’s favorite gaming partner. Leonard showed up regularly to drag him into another match.

Meanwhile, the temperature continued plummeting.

By now, it had fallen to negative twenty degrees Celsius.

Every river, canal, and flooded street had frozen solid.

People could finally walk across the ice. More survivors began venturing outside.

Unfortunately, the number of frozen corpses increased even faster.

The era of extreme cold had truly arrived.