Chapter 444: Frozen Stiff

Chapter 444: Chapter 444: Frozen Stiff

’That damn Owen Warren! Damn zombie! He’s just not as considerate as a normal person.’

Lily Hart cursed him out in her head. She took a moment to check herself over and realized her back wasn’t sore and her legs didn’t ache anymore.

’Well, Owen Warren does have his uses. His massage technique is pretty amazing.’

Lily Hart decided not to take back her previous insults. She got up in a huff and took a long, comfortable, hot shower.

She came downstairs feeling completely refreshed, only to find that the first person she saw was, of course, Owen Warren.

He was grinning at her, showing all his teeth. Lily Hart’s eyes met his for a second before flicking away. She had no idea that the instant she looked away, his smile vanished completely.

Owen Warren ground his back teeth, his eyes following her. ’This woman! After how I waited on her yesterday, she won’t even spare me a single smile!’

’Dammit!’

Seeing her head into the kitchen, Owen Warren thought for a moment before deciding to follow her in.

Lily Hart opened the fridge and scanned its contents, pulling out a sausage and two eggs. She caught sight of Owen Warren out of the corner of her eye. "You’re up early."

"Hmph," Owen Warren said, trying to act aloof.

Lily Hart didn’t press the issue and started making her own breakfast. She peeled the casing off the sausage, but just as she was about to fry the eggs, she saw Owen Warren was already at it.

She simply handed the sausage to him. "Slice this up and fry it, too. I want tomato and beef-brisket rice noodles."

With that, she turned and left. Owen Warren ground his teeth in frustration. ’I just wanted to spend some time alone with her, but she... she just doesn’t get it!’

But he had no choice but to act as her free labor, begrudgingly making her breakfast. He fried the eggs and the sliced sausage until they were golden brown on both sides.

He then took out a package of beef brisket and a tomato and skillfully started preparing them.

Before long, a fresh bowl of tomato and beef-brisket rice noodles was ready. The tomato-based broth was topped with a row of sausage slices, several rolls of beef brisket, two fried eggs, and a few leafy greens.

It looked incredibly appetizing. Lily Hart commented, "Well now, I didn’t realize you were so skilled in the kitchen."

"But of course," Owen Warren said, lifting his chin, quietly awaiting her next compliment. Instead, all he heard was the sound of her slurping up the noodles.

"You..." Owen Warren said, annoyed.

Lily Hart, completely focused on her noodles, spared a moment to reply, "Me."

This made Owen Warren even more irritated. He stressed the word, his tone heavy. "You!" He might as well have had "Praise me" written across his forehead.

Roman Rowe bounded onto the RV. When he saw that Lily Hart was already eating breakfast, his smile immediately faltered. Then he saw how close Owen Warren was sitting to her, and a wave of annoyance washed over him.

He strode forward and squeezed in between them, draping an arm over each of their shoulders.

He glanced at the rice noodles Lily Hart was eating and asked if they were good. Then he turned to meet Owen Warren’s murderous glare and just smirked, completely unfazed.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, he smirked again and backed away. He looked so damn smug that Owen Warren wanted to punch him.

"It’s delicious," Lily Hart said sincerely.

Only then did Owen Warren’s face break into a smile. He decided not to concern himself with Roman Rowe’s little tricks, merely shooting him a cold snort before turning back to watch Lily Hart eat, feeling smugly satisfied.

After finishing her noodles, Lily Hart checked the temperature, as was her routine. The night had been manageable; the temperature hadn’t dropped much. It was currently only minus twenty-five degrees.

’Could it be... has it bottomed out?’

She got up to take her bowl to the kitchen, but Roman Rowe immediately intercepted it. "I’ll get it."

Lily Hart swung her arms as she took a walk around the inside of the RV. Suddenly, a scene outside caught her eye. Group after group of people were trudging past the vehicle.

Their faces were haggard and their clothes were thin. Shivering violently from the cold, they were heading toward Central Command.

Lily Hart walked over to the table, from where she could faintly hear the sound of their teeth chattering.

She could also overhear their hushed conversations.

"Is that the lottery shop?"

"Looks like it."

"I’m so jealous. They have a place to shelter from the elements."

"Elder Shaw was the one who told us to go to Central Command. They’re going to give us cold-weather supplies and a room to rest in. It’s better than being out here."

"That’s wonderful, we won’t have to worry about freezing to death..." Just as the words left her mouth, the woman’s vision went black. She collapsed, her face ashen.

The surrounding survivors fell silent for a moment, then, with a grim, unspoken understanding, they simply walked around her and continued on their way, largely unfazed.

Lily Hart froze. By the time she snapped out of it, she was already standing over the woman.

Roman Rowe and Owen Warren followed her out. The three of them gathered around the woman. Lily Hart hesitated. "Did she freeze to death? It looks like she’s still breathing."

The weather was frigid and the woman was barely dressed for it, so Lily Hart pulled a long down jacket from her storage space and wrapped the woman in it from head to toe.

She asked her system, ’How do you treat someone who’s frozen?’

The system dutifully searched for an answer. ’Remove from the cold environment, assess vital signs, initiate rewarming, maintain a clear airway, monitor and support organ function.’

(All of the above information is from Quark.)

Lily Hart only vaguely understood. She scooped the woman up into her arms. She was terrifyingly light, as if she were nothing but bones.

"Let’s get her back to the RV," Lily Hart said, carrying the woman back with surprising ease.

She laid the woman on the sofa and instructed the system to lower the indoor temperature. A sudden shift from extreme cold to extreme heat could be dangerous.

Since she was intent on saving the woman, the system offered a helpful reminder.

’This is only a mild case of hypothermia. You can let the patient rewarm naturally by covering them with insulating materials. Avoid direct contact with hot sources on the skin.’

’Okay. She collapsed right in front of me, after all. I can’t just let her die, not when I have the means to help.’

It was just nine in the morning, and there weren’t many customers. In fact, you could say it was quiet.

This was what Lily Hart had expected. In this kind of weather, it was only natural for people to minimize their time outdoors.

While she waited for the woman to recover, waves of survivors continued to pass by the RV, heading toward Central Command in large columns.

Central Command had set up temporary shelters to take in these survivors who had been camping in the open.

After telling Diana Sharp to keep an eye on the woman, Lily Hart headed to the courier station by herself to finish the work she hadn’t gotten to the night before.

So many Base Commanders were still waiting for their supplies. ’Kill me now...’

This time, not only was Sylvia Jarvis there to help, but Owen Warren had insisted on tagging along, which meant Roman Rowe had to come too. The others stayed obediently at their respective shops, and Stan Sterling had gone to help Seth.

Lily Hart was exasperated. "Shouldn’t you be at your bathhouse? What are you doing here?"

Owen Warren retorted, "None of your business."

Lily Hart couldn’t be bothered to argue. She was just worried that customers would go to the bathhouse and not be able to find the owner to sign up for a service package!

The group threw themselves into another flurry of activity. They finally managed to ship out all the supplies ordered by the Base Commanders just before lunch.

Lily Hart stretched languidly. "Finally done. Oh, my aching back!" Even though she’d been sitting most of the time, sitting for that long was still tiring.

As they left the courier station, they were surprised to find...

"It’s snowing..." Lily Hart reached out her hand to catch the fluttering snowflakes. Large, white clumps landed in her palm.

They were icy cold but melted quickly, leaving a small puddle of water in her palm.

Lily Hart looked up. Her vision filled with a field of white. The flurry was beautiful, but also bitingly cold.

She shivered and rubbed her hands together, and Roman Rowe immediately handed her a hand warmer.