At two in the morning, the temperature plummeted to two degrees below zero. Woken by the chill, Evelyn Ford took a portable battery out of her space and spread an electric blanket on the bed. She had thought she wouldn't need these things until after the torrential rain stopped, but she had underestimated the extreme weather.
Once the electric blanket warmed up, Evelyn Ford drank a cup of hot water and quickly burrowed under the covers, wrapping herself up tightly.
Her phone couldn't get a signal anymore. Evelyn Ford stared blankly at the emergency light on her nightstand. Today was the tenth day since the downpour began. 'Only the tenth day.'
The next day, Evelyn Ford actually managed to sleep in. At ten o'clock, she heard the deafening roar of helicopter blades circling over the apartment complex. Her eyes shot open. She sat up in bed, holding her breath to make sure she wasn't imagining it.
It really was the sound of a helicopter. The rescue team was here to drop off supplies.
At 10:30, all the residents of Building D gathered on the twelfth floor. There was a security door there with direct access to the roof, but the only key was held by the residents of apartment 1201. Because the man of the house, Officer Graham, was a police officer, everyone tended to trust them. However, it was only when they arrived that they learned the truth: Officer Graham had only been home once since the downpour began, and he had the key with him. The security door couldn't be opened, so no one could get up to the roof.
"Let's just smash the door down," David Collins said, taking the lead. "If we don't get up there, the rescue team will think our building is empty and won't drop any supplies."
"That's our only option. A few of the men, let's kick it together. It should give way after a few tries."
After reaching an agreement, they began kicking the door with a sense of excited anticipation. Evelyn Ford and Lauren Keller stood in the middle of the crowd, both so bundled up that only their eyes were visible.
Danielle Collins stood off to the right, her expression twisting when she saw Evelyn. Evelyn ignored her. Danielle's son had thrown a tantrum for hours the previous night; Evelyn had vaguely heard him demanding snacks and a toy car.
Quite a few people in the building had a problem with the Collins family. Every extra person meant another mouth to feed from the limited supplies, and Danielle Collins had brought her husband and her bratty kid back to claim a share of what everyone needed to survive. No one was about to give her a warm welcome.
If the Collins family, and Danielle in particular, had any sense, they'd know to keep a low profile right now.
"Stop kicking. I'm back."
A haggard figure pushed through the crowd from the bottom of the stairwell. No one recognized the tall, handsome Officer Graham. His clothes were in tatters, his face was covered in stubble, and he looked as if he'd aged a decade. Seeing him, Officer Graham's parents and wife couldn't help but cry.
He offered them a few words of comfort before pushing his way to the front and pulling out the key.
Evelyn noticed a few specks of blood on the gray clothes visible beneath his tattered raincoat.
"Graham, what happened to you? By the way, do you have any official news? When is the power coming back on? When will this rain stop? Why is there no signal? Did a cell tower collapse?"
Officer Graham shook his head. "I don't know any of that either."
He opened the security door, and the people at the front swarmed onto the roof. Thanks to the drainage pipes, there wasn't much standing water. The helicopter quickly arrived over the rooftop of Building D and dropped the supplies. Not even thirty seconds later, it was already flying on to the next building. A few of the men hauled the supplies into the twelfth-floor hallway, and Officer Graham locked the security door before taking his two-year-old daughter from his wife's arms.
"What happened to you?"
"I ran into some robbers on the way back."
"Are you going back to the station?"
"No. The situation's out of control. I'm not leaving my family."
After their hushed conversation, Evelyn noticed Mrs. Graham's expression relax considerably. Lauren Keller nudged Evelyn's arm and leaned in to whisper, "There's not much here."
Evelyn glanced at the supplies: a case of mineral water, a box of compressed biscuits, and a case of canned meat.
"We can't divide it per person; we have to do it by household. After all, some people live alone, while some families have eight or nine members."
"That's even more unfair! A single person would get the same as a family of eight. How is that fair?"
"You want to talk about fair? Fine. Let's do it by the deed. Only people whose names are on the property deeds for apartments in this building get a share. Anyone else gets nothing. Is that fair enough for you?"
No matter how they split it, someone would think it was unfair. In the end, all eyes turned to Officer Graham.
"Let's do it this way," he said. "One bottle of water, three compressed biscuits, and three cans of meat per household. Divided like this, there's just enough for every family."
The Collins family still felt it was unfair. With eight people, they were the largest family in the entire building. But since Officer Graham had made the decision, they didn't dare say anything more, however unhappy they were.
Evelyn took her supplies and immediately went back to her apartment. She had three cans of braised pork, a small bottle of mineral water, and compressed biscuits that were small but surprisingly heavy. The biscuits tasted plain, but they expanded when soaked in water.
Evelyn took out two steamed buns and ate them with one of the cans of meat for lunch.
She was planning to take a nap, but right after she finished eating, she was surprised by a sudden visit from Officer Graham.
"Ford, my parents aren't feeling well. Could you come take a look at them? I heard from the others that you have excellent medical skills."
Evelyn calmly sized him up. Officer Graham, in turn, was observing her.
A nineteen-year-old prodigy, abandoned at birth by her biological parents. She had been found and raised by Dr. Sterling on the tenth floor. At sixteen, she had been admitted to university as the top science scholar. Her adoptive mother passed away when she was seventeen, and her adoptive father had died just a few months ago, making her an orphan all over again.
"I can, but my skills are average. If acupuncture is required, I'll need to be compensated with firewood or supplies." Officer Graham was not just any resident, so Evelyn was more cautious around him.
Officer Graham already knew about this and nodded, indicating that it wasn't a problem.
Evelyn went back to her apartment to get her medical kit, which contained a set of Silver Needles and a set of scalpels. She followed Officer Graham to his home, and the moment she saw the ailing Mr. and Mrs. Graham, she knew what their condition was.
"The temperature plummeted below freezing last night. They both have hypothermia. Fortunately, it's only moderate. They're showing symptoms like shivering, exhaustion, slurred speech, blue lips, and pale skin. I'll take their temperature first. If it's too low, they might need to go to a hospital. Hypothermia can cause heart and lung failure."
Mr. and Mrs. Graham were not yet sixty. If an elderly person over seventy developed hypothermia, they could die very quickly.
A person with severe hypothermia would lose consciousness, entering a state similar to hibernation.
"Ford, is hypothermia really that serious?"
Evelyn nodded. "It's been reported in the news many times. When long-distance runners or mountain climbers get lost and are caught in low temperatures, they rarely survive once hypothermia sets in."
"34 degrees."
Evelyn handed the thermometer to Officer Graham and his wife.
"This is all my fault," Mrs. Graham said. "I didn't even realize the temperature had dropped last night. Wendy's crying woke me up, and that's when I felt how cold it was. I went to my in-laws' room to wake them, and they seemed normal enough, both mentally and physically. If I'd just taken their temperature then, we wouldn't have let it get this bad."