Warming herself by the fire, Stella Sterling ate fried chicken and sipped a beer as she watched the latest romance drama on her phone. What a life.

Meanwhile, the other households in the complex were also preparing dinner.

Although it was now impossible to go out for groceries, people had previously braved the snowstorms to buy what they could. Many hadn’t said it aloud, but they sensed something was wrong. As a result, they had been eating less than usual, managing to conserve some of their supplies. Between that and the food frozen in their refrigerators, people weren’t at risk of starving just yet. Even if it meant eating less, they could still make do with two meals a day.

As for why not three meals a day, that was simply because the young people, no longer having to work, couldn’t get up in the morning.

Stella Sterling was eating her meal, fully prepared for another power outage. She hadn’t expected, however, that the internet would be the first thing to go.

Her phone suddenly lost all signal, and the group chat notifications had been silent for a while. Stella realized what it meant.

She was calm, not feeling any particular emotion. She knew this was all bound to happen sooner or later.

The internet was down, which meant she could no longer get any news from the outside world—

Her expression unchanging, she closed the endlessly buffering drama and opened a series she had already downloaded.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

There was another knock at the door. She’d lost count of how many times it had been today. She tidied up a little, then got up to answer it.

"What do you want?"

Her tone was impatient.

"What is wrong with you? I know you’re home, but you never answer the door."

Willow Young said, annoyed. But then she remembered what kind of person Stella Sterling was and didn’t press the issue. Instead, she got straight to the point: "Is the internet down for everyone? I think mine just went out!"

Stella looked at her and nodded. "Yes, it’s down."

’She’s always coming to me for every little thing. Do I really look like that approachable of a person?’

She now regretted not having installed a fence in front of her door. That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about being disturbed.

"What is going on? First the power, and now the internet. And it’s freezing! What are those people in charge even doing?" she complained, her brow furrowed. Her little face was scrunched up in distress.

Suddenly, a distinct aroma reached her nose. She took a few deep sniffs, and her eyes lit up. "That’s fried chicken! Where did you get fried chicken?"

She adored all kinds of tasty snacks, but ever since it started snowing, all the shops had closed. It was hard to buy anything, and going outside was a challenge. They basically couldn’t get their hands on anything anymore.

She hadn’t had snacks like these in days. Catching the scent, she subconsciously swallowed and grew curious about where Stella could have possibly gotten it.

Stella didn’t answer. "Anything else?"

Willow Young’s expression changed to a smile as she looked at Stella. "Do you have any fried chicken left? Can I have a little? I’ll buy it from you, or trade you for it!"

She didn’t ask again where the other woman had bought it. In this heavy snow, even if a place was still open, she wouldn’t want to go out after finding out where it was.

Besides, it was highly unlikely. Even the supermarkets were closed in this weather, so what shop would still be selling fried chicken? Moreover, she had never seen Stella leave her apartment, so there was no way she had bought it.

’She probably had some chicken stored away and cooked it herself today.’

"Ate it all. It’s gone."

Having said that, Stella started to close the door. But after a moment, she paused and said to Willow, "Don’t knock on my door again. If you do, I’ll consider you an intruder, and I won’t be so polite."

But Willow paid her words no mind. She was still fixated on the fried chicken, asking persistently, "Are you sure it’s all gone? I can still smell it so strongly... Just give me a little piece! I’m not asking for a handout. I just haven’t had any fried food in ages and really want a taste!"

As she spoke, her eyes darted past Stella, trying to peek inside the apartment, but her view was mostly blocked.

CLICK.

An odd sound came from the hallway, which was then plunged into darkness. Willow jumped. "The power’s out again!"

Their building had two apartments per floor, with a wide hallway. In the sudden darkness, it felt eerily vast and frightening. Willow hunched her shoulders, her voice trembling slightly. "Stella, I’m a little scared. Can you walk me back to my door?"

"What do you think?" Stella sneered, then shut the door in her face.

Stella didn’t particularly like or dislike her neighbor. Aside from her strange way of thinking, the woman didn’t seem to have any malicious intent. This was why, despite her impatience, Stella had never resorted to violence.

Eventually, Willow’s boyfriend came out to get her. Stella watched it all unfold on her security monitor, shook her head, and went into her bedroom.

When the power went out, every sound in the complex seemed to be amplified. It started with people complaining, but soon someone couldn’t take it anymore and threw open their window to shout, "Fuck, not again! Turn the power back on!"

And he wasn’t the only one. People from their building and others were all shouting out their windows, venting their frustrations.

A loud CRASH resounded through the complex, and everyone heard it. The angry shouting stopped abruptly. A short while later, Ms. Larkin started knocking on doors, calling out, "The two big trees at the entrance collapsed under the snow! They fell right on the main gate! When the snow lets up, every household needs to send someone to help clear the entrance!"

The moment they heard "clear the snow," the residents were immediately unhappy. "Isn’t that your job? Have your property management staff handle it!"

"We pay all those fees, so how come you can’t get anything done? The power’s out, the internet’s down, and now you want us to do this work ourselves? What are we even paying you for?!"

In weather like this, you felt like you would freeze solid the moment you stepped outside. On top of that, they were being asked to do manual labor like shoveling snow. No one was willing. So, Ms. Larkin got similar responses at every door. She recruited very few people and got an earful of curses for her trouble.

"It’s not that we’re shirking our duties! Please, everyone, look at the situation we’re in. Not all of our property management staff live here. Some went home before the snow began and now can’t get to work. We’re severely short-staffed! Clearing the entrance benefits all of us. We have to work together!"

She explained this from door to door, but most people simply fell silent. Only a handful were persuaded.

Soon, Ms. Larkin arrived on the 28th floor of Stella’s building. She raised her hand to knock but suddenly remembered their last encounter and quickly pulled it back. ’Forget it,’ she thought. ’That girl is too fierce. I’ll ask someone else.’