Chapter 372 Evil Thoughts
Steven and Elinor finished their conversation and left the infirmary.
From the living room, the sound of playing cards was clearly audible.
Emilia basically came over every day, gathering a few women from Steven Rogers's House to play cards together.
It turned out that no matter when, playing cards was always the simplest and easiest way to have fun.
The entire shelter remained bright and grand, filled with the atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic paradise, as if it could continue to exist peacefully and stably forever.
No, not as if.
Steven thought to himself: I can definitely live in such a comfortable environment until the end of the apocalypse.
At that moment, a pleasant and steady voice sounded in his ear: "Steven, there you are! I've been looking for you everywhere."
Steven snapped out of it and saw Lily walking over.
He smiled slightly, "Look at me, I almost forgot about your matter."
Without Lily saying anything, he took out food for ten people from the extradimensional space and packed it in a bag.
Lily's face turned slightly red.
"Thanks!" she said, taking the bag from him. Their fingers brushed for a moment, sending a tiny shiver through her.
Steven laughed, "Why so formal? I told you, once you're here, you're family. In this mess, we've got each other's backs. Your problems are my problems."
Ever since Lily arrived at the shelter, Steven and everyone around him had been drilling one idea into her head: We're the crew that sticks together and makes it through this apocalypse.
That's what set them apart from those other students who just sat around, ate, and waited for the end.
If you're constantly surrounded by that kind of energy, it's bound to change the way you think.
And from the way Lily's attitude was shifting, she was starting to buy into it.
"I get it," Lily said, looking up at Steven with something unreadable in her eyes. "Thanks for humoring me, Steven. Once they can pull their weight like the folks in Cox Town, I won't bug you anymore. Promise!"
They won't be my problem for much longer, Steven thought, glancing at the food in her hands. "Yeah, it's good for them to stand on their own. Just take it slow—no need to stress yourself out."
Lily bit her lip but suddenly felt that it was inappropriate for her to do so, and quickly became serious. "Then I'll head over first!"
"Okay, go early and come back early!" Steven waved his hand, watching Lily leave the house.
At this moment, Cindy drove her wheelchair to his side.
Following his gaze to Lily's back, she looked up at Steven and said, "Steven, I think Ms. Evans has fallen in love with you."
Steven raised an eyebrow but just smiled faintly.
Recently, he had been in contact with Lily more often, training together every day.
During training, it was inevitable to have some bumps and bruises, and over time, Lily's gaze towards him had indeed changed.
"People are wired for love and sex. In the apocalypse, when everything's on edge, that instinct to survive and reproduce just gets stronger," Steven said, running a hand over his face. "Besides, there's only three guys in this shelter. And admit it, I'm way hotter than Henry and Earl. It'd be weird if she wasn' into me!"
Cindy tilted her head, a deep and cunning look flashing in her eyes.
She smiled and said, "Why don't you make Ms. Evans your girlfriend too? With her serious vibe, once she decides you're her man, she's all in."
Her eyes lit up, and she leaned in, hand covering her mouth, whispering to Steven, "Here's a little secret—Ms. Evans has never had a boyfriend. Women who've been single forever are easy to fall hard. Trust me, they're a piece of cake to win over."
Steven shot Cindy a look. "Cindy, you're full of surprises! You're really playing matchmaker with your own teacher?"
Cindy gave a small smile, folding her hands in her lap. “I just don't want to see her die! With her personality, if she doesn't have someone like you looking out for her, she's not gonna make it in this apocalypse."
Steven stared off into the distance. Through the one-way glass, he could see Lily's stubborn figure.
"Let's wait until we handle that mess. If I get too close to a woman that stubborn, it's gonna be a headache down the road," he muttered.
Steven did like beautiful women.
But he feared trouble even more.
If he had to choose, he would rather be free and alone.
Over in Cox Town.
After some time fending for themselves, they finally started figuring out how to fish.
It wasn't easy, though. Once people get used to sitting around doing nothing, getting them to lift a finger feels like pulling teeth.
But when hunger hits hard enough, they've got no choice but to get off their butts and figure out how to stay alive.
Luckily, out of the dozen or so students, there were still a few guys who were in decent shape.
Nathan, a modified artificial Psychic, ended up being the muscle of the group.
Because of that, he also kind of became the top dog in their little crew.
But honestly, he wasn't the type to care about power or drama. He just followed Lily's lead, made sure everyone got fed, and didn't throw his weight around.
Meanwhile, Warren, always the opportunist, saw his chance.
He'd been pretty popular in class before, but he and Nathan had never been tight.
Now, though, he started cozying up to Nathan on purpose.
Nathan wasn't dumb—he knew what Warren was up to—but he was still a nineteen-year-old guy. A little ego stroking went a long way.
Before long, he let Warren start throwing his name around, even if it meant Warren was flexing a bit too hard.
One day, a group of people gathered in the snow house to warm themselves by the fire.
The fire was not very strong because it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain fuel.
Around Cox Town, almost all the dead trees had been cut down, and most of the furniture had been burned.
The remaining elderly, women, and children in Cox Town had started burning the clothes of the dead, but only a little bit when cooking.
As for warming themselves by the fire, they didn't even dare to think about it.
"Fuck, why do we have to live so miserably!" Warren gritted his teeth, his eyes full of resentment.
He was wrapped in a thick blanket, curling up into a ball.
Although the snow house had some insulation, the temperature inside was still very low.
Over time, people became numb from the cold.
For Warren, who had been pampered since childhood, this was extremely unbearable.
However, was the extreme cold really what he couldn't stand the most?
Perhaps not.
Back at Innovation Academy, they'd survived under the ice for ages, and he hadn't been this bitter then.
What really ate at him every day was knowing that just across the river was a fancy villa—warm, stocked with food, and totally out of reach.
Over there, his teacher and two classmates were living it up, no problem.
If everyone was miserable, he could deal with it.
But knowing others living the good life while he was stuck in this nightmare? That's what fueled his rage!
Hearing Warren's complaints, the other students joined in the conversation.
After all, they had nothing else to do now, just living humbly.
Michelle said in a low voice, "We can only blame Ms. Evans for being so selfish. If she could get Cindy and Aubrey into that shelter, why didn't she try to get us in too?"
"She only looks out for herself. Doesn't give a damn about us!"
Keith Perry, sitting nearby, scoffed, "If we'd known it'd be like this, we should've just stayed at West Mountain Base. It was rough, but at least we had food and it was warmer. Even if we died there, it'd be in some comfort."
He pulled his thick coat tighter around him. "You don't know what you've got till it's gone!"
Nathan was dozing nearby, but their chatter made him scowl.
"You really think dying's better than living?” He shot a sharp look at his classmates, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "If you'd been through what I went through in that experiment, you wouldn't be spouting that nonsense!"
Nathan was grateful to Lily.
The agony he'd gone through was something no one else could grasp, so he treasured the freedom he had now.
When Nathan spoke up, the others didn't dare push back.
But they still grumbled under their breath.
"We're just venting."
"But Ms. Evans could've at least tried for us. How can she just sit back and watch us struggle like this?"
The conversation continued.
Nathan didn't want to listen anymore, so he turned over and went back to sleep.
Seeing this, the others became bolder again.
"I say, we should talk to Ms. Evans and ask her to take us into the shelter."
"Yeah! That place is so big, even one room would be enough for us."
"We're not greedy, just a warm room and food every day."
"Forget it, Ms. Evans wouldn't dare! She's already Steven's girl. Who knows, maybe she slept her way into that shelter!"
"Seriously?"
"Totally. Don't let her'proper' act fool you. I bet she's got a wild side!"
"Hahaha, tell us more!"
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