Melody Summers frowned slightly. ’It’s already 11 p.m. What is Maisie Lynch doing here at this hour?’

After a moment’s hesitation, Melody Summers opened the door for Maisie Lynch.

The temperature outside had already dropped to over sixty degrees below zero Celsius. Although The Metropolis Residences had its heating on, the temperature in the hallway was still around forty to fifty degrees below zero.

Maisie Lynch was wearing a down jacket, with a thick quilt wrapped over it, making her look like an oversized burrito.

Even though it was freezing outside, Melody Summers had no intention of letting Maisie Lynch in. She opened the door just a crack and asked with a frown, "...It’s so late. What brings you here? Is something wrong?"

Maisie Lynch seemed to let out a sigh of relief when Melody Summers opened the door.

She didn’t ask to come inside, merely standing at the door and saying to Melody Summers, "The girl in 1601... she went out two days ago and still hasn’t returned. I’m worried something might have happened to her..."

Melody Summers was stunned and blurted out, "What?!"

Maisie Lynch’s face was bright red from the cold. She haltingly recounted what she had gone through over the past two days.

With Ivan Warren dead, Maisie Lynch had been living alone in 1602 for the past few days, and she was in a constant state of terror.

Maisie Lynch had been beaten and imprisoned by Titus Lowell and his two brothers, and the psychological trauma was immense. Now, whenever she closed her eyes, she was convinced that robbers would break in while she slept and kidnap her.

She followed Melody Summers’s advice and barricaded the front door with her sofa, but she was still worried. So, she just moved her bedding to the sofa and slept by the door, allowing her to constantly monitor for any noise in the hallway.

At first, everything outside was quiet, with no sounds from the hallway. Then, two days ago, Maisie Lynch heard a door open and close. She nervously pressed her eye to the peephole to check and saw Joyce Lawson from 1601 heading out.

Maisie Lynch didn’t think much of it at first, but she had developed insomnia over the last two days. She tossed and turned, completely unable to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see the three menacing faces of Titus Lowell and his brothers.

She spent two days in a daze like this when she suddenly realized something—Joyce Lawson hadn’t returned in two days!

With the blizzard raging outside, where could a young woman like Joyce Lawson possibly go?

The more Maisie Lynch thought about it, the more she believed that something must have happened to Joyce Lawson!

Remembering that Joyce Lawson and Melody Summers were friends, Maisie Lynch deliberated and decided that she had to tell Melody what was going on.

Melody Summers listened to Maisie Lynch’s story with a deep frown. ’It’s this cold outside. Why would Joyce Lawson go out?’

She looked at Maisie Lynch, who was shivering from the cold, and nodded. "I understand... You should head back. It’s too cold out here."

After Maisie Lynch left, Melody Summers closed the door, sat on the sofa, and began to think, her brow furrowed.

’The snow outside is already three stories high, over ten meters deep. There’s no way Joyce Lawson could have gotten out. She has to be somewhere in this building.’

’So where could she have gone?’

In a flash, Melody Summers suddenly thought of something else—

Mrs. Vance had once told her that she’d heard arguing and a woman’s crying coming from 1506 these last few days.

’Could it be...’

’Could it be that the crying woman wasn’t Joanne White, but Joyce Lawson?!’

******

「Apartment 1505」 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The bedroom was pitch-black due to the power outage, with only the faint glow of the coal stove for light.

Mrs. Vance heated some water on the stove and mixed a bowl of milk formula. She brought it to Susan Warren and said gently, "Susan, come on, drink this bowl of formula."

Susan Warren opened her eyes. Seeing the bowl of formula, she said in surprise, "Mom, why did you open the formula? It’s too much of a waste for me to drink it. We should save it for the baby!"

In the apocalypse, milk formula was priceless. You couldn’t buy it anywhere, not even on the black market.

The two cans of formula had been brought over by Melody Summers and Grace Sutton. Mrs. Vance and her family had been treating them like treasure, completely unwilling to open them, planning to save them for Susan Warren’s unborn baby.

She never expected Mrs. Vance to open one of the cans now.

Mrs. Vance carefully pushed the bowl into Susan’s hands, insisting, "Go on, drink it. We still have another can! It’ll be enough for the baby when they’re born!"

Susan Warren had been severely swollen for the past two days, unable to eat anything or sleep soundly. With her due date drawing near, Mrs. Vance was frantic with worry.

In the current situation, they had no choice but to have the baby at home. Childbirth had always been a perilous, life-or-death affair, and there was no guarantee the baby would be born safely. They couldn’t let the mother starve just to save food for the infant.

Susan smelled the sweet, milky fragrance and couldn’t help but swallow. At Mrs. Vance’s insistence, she finally picked up the bowl and drained the formula.

Mrs. Vance nodded in relief at the sight. She took the empty bowl and whispered, "It’s getting late, Susan. You should get some sleep."

But the words had barely left her mouth when a sudden "KNOCK KNOCK" came from the front door.

The abrupt knocking startled both Mrs. Vance and Susan Warren.

’Who would be out there in the middle of the night, in this cold?’

The two exchanged a look, seeing the same confusion and anxiety in each other’s eyes.

After a moment of shock, Mrs. Vance got up and said in a low voice, "You stay here and rest. I’ll go see who it is..."

With that, she got to her feet and walked toward the bedroom door.

Seeing this, Susan Warren quickly called out to her in a low voice, "Mom! Wait, don’t go!"

The building hadn’t been safe these past few days. Just a few days ago, Susan and Mrs. Vance had heard faint cries for help and horrific screams from outside, and what sounded like someone falling from the building.

Susan Warren’s face was filled with worry. She lowered her voice and said to Mrs. Vance, "Mom, it’s almost midnight. Who would be visiting at this hour? It’s probably someone dangerous! Please don’t go!"

Mrs. Vance gave Susan a reassuring glance and replied, "Don’t you worry. I’m just going to see who it is. I won’t open the door."

As she spoke, Mrs. Vance picked up a kitchen cleaver from beside the stove. If it really was someone with ill intentions, she had to be prepared.

Cleaver in hand, Mrs. Vance walked to the front door. The KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK continued unabated.

She took a deep breath and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

A familiar voice quickly answered from outside, "Mrs. Vance, it’s me, Melody Summers. Could you please open the door?"

Mrs. Vance froze. ’Melody Summers?!’

Snapping back to reality, she quickly dropped the cleaver and opened the door to let Melody Summers inside.

Melody Summers was holding her phone, using it as a flashlight. When Mrs. Vance opened the door, she quickly stepped into the apartment.

Even though she was bundled in a thick down jacket and had body warmers stuck all over herself, she still felt incredibly cold!

Looking at Melody Summers’s face, which was red with cold, Mrs. Vance asked in surprise, "Miss Summers, it’s freezing out there! What brings you here?!"

Melody Summers’s brows furrowed slightly as she said to Mrs. Vance, "Mrs. Vance, a friend of mine, one of my neighbors, has gone missing. I suspect she went to 1506... Have you seen any strangers go to 1506 in the last few days?"