Stella Sterling tucked her hands into her overcoat, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "No need to thank me. Words are pointless. I’m waiting to see what you’ll do from now on."

Yana Larkin looked up and smiled confidently. "We won’t disappoint you!"

It wasn’t just about repaying her kindness—for their own sakes, the siblings knew they had to change, to grow stronger.

’The suddenness of today’s events left me deeply shaken,’ she thought. ’But thanks to our benefactor, my brother and I survived.’

But who could guarantee something like this wouldn’t happen again?

’Inside the complex, the neighbors I knew have changed, becoming horrifying strangers. If they were capable of breaking in to murder and rob today, who knows what they’ll do tomorrow? No one can say for sure.’

’The snow has been falling for a month. The power, internet, and water are all out, and we have no idea what the situation is outside. In the midst of this blizzard, people’s attitudes are shifting. You can’t treat them the way you used to.’

’And if my brother and I want to live, we have to change.’

Stella Sterling noticed the shift in Yana’s demeanor and smiled faintly. Without another word, she turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Woody Larkin, who had been quiet until now, called out to her. Stella turned back to look at him and saw his eyes were fixed on the large blade in her hand. "Do you have other weapons? If so, can I have that blade?"

Hearing this, Yana Larkin grew anxious and tugged at her brother’s arm. ’That’s Stella’s weapon! What he just said was so rude!’

However, Woody Larkin ignored his sister. He took two steps forward to face Stella Sterling. "I need to grow stronger, but until I do, I need a weapon to protect my sister and me. So, if you have any others, can you give me this blade? I need it!"

Woody Larkin’s eyes were filled with determination. He knew his request was greedy, but he saw no other way.

’Right now, my sister and I are just too weak on our own. If someone targets us, we won’t even be able to resist. Today was a painful lesson.’

’But having a weapon would change things. At least I wouldn’t be so helpless. And that blade... I just used it. It’s sharp. It felt right.’

So, he looked at Stella Sterling and declared, "I have to survive!"

Seeing she couldn’t stop her brother, Yana Larkin could only look toward Stella Sterling, wondering if his words would make her angry.

But Stella was calmer than they’d expected. She wasn’t angry, nor was she smiling. For a moment, the siblings couldn’t guess what she was thinking, and they both felt a knot of anxiety.

Many thoughts flashed through Stella’s mind. ’What does any of this have to do with me?’ she wanted to ask. ’If you want to get stronger, if you want to survive, then figure it out on your own. If you need a weapon, go find one.’

’I’ve already helped them once. I have no reason to do it again.’

But in the end, she swallowed those words. She stared at the youthful face before her for a long moment, then let out a low chuckle. "Fine."

The siblings hadn’t seemed to expect her to actually agree, let alone so readily. A wave of elation washed over their surprise.

Just as they were about to speak, they saw Stella Sterling toss the blade onto the ground in front of them. She then turned and left. "Survive, you two."

’Perhaps surviving will only get harder from here on out,’ she thought as she walked away. ’The cruelty they’ll have to face will only grow. But as long as you’re alive, there’s always hope!’

This time, Stella Sterling departed quickly. The two siblings watched her back disappear, silent for a long while.

"Let’s go."

Yana Larkin said. Woody picked up the large blade from the ground, and the two of them slowly made their way back to their apartment.

In the stairwell on their floor, they ran into Uncle Lawrence. He jumped when he saw the blade in their hands, then his gaze shifted to their faces. "Are you two kids okay?"

"We’re fine," Yana Larkin said, shaking her head with a smile.

Uncle Lawrence found the situation a little strange. After a moment of thought, he said, "From now on, if you run into any trouble, come and find me. If I can help, I will."

He glanced left and right, and seeing they were alone, he pulled something from his sleeve and pressed it into Yana Larkin’s hand. "Hide this well," he said. "Don’t let anyone see it."

Yana Larkin looked down. It was a small pouch of rice and a few crackers. Her eyes flickered with emotion.

Beside her, Woody looked angry and was about to refuse, but Yana spoke before he could. "Thank you, Uncle Lawrence!"

She tucked the items inside her coat. After offering a few more words of caution, Uncle Lawrence turned and headed upstairs.

"Sis, he didn’t help us before! Why are you accepting his charity?" Woody asked indignantly the moment the door closed.

Yana Larkin sighed. "I know you blame Uncle Lawrence for not helping save Mom, and for not stopping what those people were doing, but—"

She paused. "On his own, he couldn’t have changed anything. He would have just gotten himself hurt. So I understand."

"Besides, in a situation like that, the fact that he didn’t join the others was the greatest kindness he could have shown."

"And now, he’s given us some of his own food. He probably figured we’d been robbed clean and was worried we had nothing to eat. That’s why he did it. If they really had taken everything from us, this small amount could have been what saved our lives."

"So, we shouldn’t resent Uncle Lawrence. We should be grateful."

Woody Larkin fell silent. Yana Larkin paid him no further attention, instead starting to search through their apartment for anything they could still use...

...

Stella Sterling leaped nimbly through a fourth-floor hallway window. The corridor was dead silent; the only sound was her own footsteps. Whistling a tune, she headed for her apartment. It had been a productive day, and she was in an excellent mood.

But what Stella Sterling didn’t know as she returned home was that while she was whistling her way up the stairs, people in several other apartments were trembling in fear, repeatedly checking that their doors and windows were securely locked.

It was as if they expected Stella Sterling to burst into their homes at any second, blade in hand, ready to cut them down.

One of them was a man who had participated in robbing Ms. Larkin’s family. He had seen from his balcony that Stella Sterling was on friendly terms with the siblings, and he was terrified she would come seeking revenge on their behalf.

They only breathed a collective sigh of relief once the sound of her whistling and footsteps faded into the distance.

That evening, the people who had gone to Solara Plaza to scout the situation, along with the group that had gone out to "demand an explanation," all returned. Every one of them looked grim. It was clear the situation outside was terrible.

Some were even injured, though it wasn’t clear what had happened to them.

When some residents came out to ask what was going on, the returning group told them the truth. In turn, they learned about the events that had transpired within the complex. With no desire to linger outside, they all rushed back to their apartments and bolted their doors.