It was Hunter's voice again, accompanied by a few other men. Nadia ignored them. Still, Hunter kept knocking, muttering to the others as he did. "Mr. Thatcher, the 18th floor is awfully quiet. Think something happened to them last night?" one of the men croaked, his voice raspy, clearly suffering from a cold. If anything has happened to them, it would be quite a relief. Hunter smirked inwardly but maintained a concerned tone. "Don't say that. Nadia and the others are young and in good health. They'll be fine. But if something did happen, we should be ready to help." "Mr. Thatcher, you're too kind! Have you forgotten how they treated us?" "We shouldn't think like that. We live in the same building. Looking out for each other is the right thing to do.""Wait, I think I hear something. Looks like they're still alive," one of the men muttered, his tone laced with disappointment. They had been hoping that if the 18th floor's residents didn't survive, the abundance of supplies stored there would be up for grabs. "Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Thatcher," Nadia said coldly from behind the door. "Not only are we alive, but we're doing just fine." The sudden response startled the group, who exchanged awkward glances. After all that knocking, they hadn't expected a reply, and now they found themselves in an embarrassing situation. Hunter recovered quickly. "Oh, Nadia, we were just checking on you. Glad to hear you're alright." "Don't worry. We'll certainly outlast you," Nadia replied bluntly. That ended the conversation rather decisively, leaving Hunter fuming but still smiling, masking his frustration. "Good to know. If you need anything, you know where to find me."The group walked away, disgruntled. In this apocalyptic time, people like Hunter were all too common. They wished ill upon others, hoping to scavenge any leftover supplies. But he was nothing more than a petty villain, and neither Nadia nor Harrison took him seriously. After Colby's training, Nadia bundled up, layering on her thermal underwear and following Harrison's advice to skip the cashmere sweater. But Colby kept his mink coat—acclimating would take time. "And you?" Harrison asked, "Are we still sparring today?" "Absolutely." Even Colby managed to push through, so she had no excuse to slack off. They'd keep it up, even in this brutal cold. The non-slip mats were stiff from the cold, so Harrison laid down an extra layer of fabric. Though the charcoal stove was burning, it couldn't compare to Nadia's, and the room remained fairly chilly. Nadia took off her coat, and they began their sparring session.Within thirty minutes, they were both working up a sweat. The thermal socks she wore on the inside were incredibly slippery, and during one clash, she slipped and stumbled backward. Harrison's reflexes were quick—he lunged forward, catching her. They both fell onto the mat, with him landing on top of her. Her mouth hit his face, and she let out a muffled grunt as her lungs felt crushed, her vision briefly dotted with stars, and her teeth jarred loose. His solid weight pinned her down. Harrison immediately scrambled up, pulling her into a sitting position. "Are you okay?" Only then did Nadia notice his hand had been cradling the back of her head. "I'm fine. My foot just slipped from the sweat." Woof! Colby, having heard the commotion from Lily's room, bolted out and latched onto Harrison's shirt, tugging him back. Let go of her! Nadia quickly tried to calm him. "Colby!" But Colby wasn't backing down. He glared at Harrison, not caring about the context—he was defending his owner. Nadia grabbed her overzealous dog, pulling him away. "He didn't hurt me, Colby. He saved me." Colby huffed, unconvinced. Watching Colby's unyielding stance, Harrison quirked a brow. "Does he have something against me?" "No, no," Nadia assured him quickly. "Colby's just a little insecure, and dogs are naturally protective." Afraid a fight might break out, Nadia quickly scooped up Colby and took him back home. Far from apologizing, he sulked, huffing as if accusing her of taking Harrison's side. "How could I?" Nadia coaxed, offering him a piece of jerky to soothe his temper. "You're my number one priority! Training with him is just a way to get stronger so I can protect you better." Yeah, right! Colby huffed, turning his head away with pride.To prove her point, Nadia pulled off her thermal socks and held them out. "Here, why don't you try them on? They're really slippery." She tossed them at his face. Colby's mouth twitched as he stared at the socks. Not cool. He might not be human, but this was low even for her! Luckily, they didn't smell. With a snort, Colby pounced on her, pawing at her playfully. Nadia wrapped her arms around him, scratching his head. "You've got to be a reasonable dog, Colby. We'll apologize to the trainer tomorrow, alright? If he hadn't caught me, I'd have hurt my head, and you wouldn't have your caretaker anymore. No one to give you all the chicken, fish, and meat in storage—you'd be back to being a stray." Apologize? Not happening. Colby looked at her innocently, as if oblivious, but he draped his paw over her shoulder, whining softly. No, this is my home. No more being a stray! Fine, teaching a dog to apologize could be added to the trainer's to-do list. Not wanting to spoil the peace, Nadia decided to let Harrison handle it. After all, a good trainer didn't just work on the body; the mind needed conditioning, too. When night fell, the temperature dropped further. Nadia measured it on the balcony: -6°F. The deadly cold would leave many people sleepless tonight—or worse, never waking again. She closed the living room curtains, turned on her solar lamp, and retrieved dinner from her domain. Even with three heaters on, it was still so cold that her hands and feet felt numb, and her food cooled rapidly, turning chilly in no time. Lamb was good for keeping warm, so she took out a lamb stew and quickly shared it with Colby. Then, she brought out two bowls of pork broth with noodles, adding some dog kibble to Colby's portion. "Here, eat up," she encouraged. Grateful for his caretaker's love-filled dinner, Colby slurped it down, even though it was a bit hot. Whatever, just keep eating! After finishing the pork noodles, they both felt much warmer.Nadia went to check on Dusty and Snowball in the other room. The two were lively, though the kits weren't faring well. Barely furred and without much parental care, another one had died. While rabbits were quite resilient to the cold, able to survive even in the Arctic, these southern-bred bunnies were adjusting to the new climate as best they could. The newborn kits still needed milk, so Nadia removed Snowball's mink coat and thermal layer. She noticed the two adult rabbits seemed much more composed than the day before. It appeared that animals adapted to natural disasters faster than people did. Once Snowball had fed the kits, Nadia kept an eye on her and noticed that she wasn't shivering. Rabbit fur truly was insulating, and the coats she'd made were unnecessary. She took out some Timothy hay from her domain to give Dusty and Snowball a hearty meal. Nadia then indulged in a hot shower in her domain—a rare luxury she thoroughly enjoyed. Bathing was non-negotiable for her, even in freezing weather. In summer, she'd sometimes shower three times a day because of the intense heat and humidity. But now, this once-sweltering city had become a frozen wasteland. When she exited her domain, Snowball was still warm and nursing the kits, showing no signs of discomfort. Nadia decided Dusty could go without his coat, too. Still, she kept the heater on low, giving them time to adjust. Snuggled up in bed, Nadia logged the new occupancy time in her domain. After four months of careful rationing, she'd accumulated a total of 145 hours. In other words, she could now stay in her domain for six full days. She was so touched she almost teared up. With danger everywhere, she was determined to keep saving up, hoping that one day, she and Colby could retire peacefully in the domain. Oh, yes!