Thomas gently took Suzy’s hand. A moment later, warmth bloomed against her palm. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Looking down, she discovered that he had slipped a hand warmer into her grasp.

"Your hands are freezing," Thomas said with a frown. "I told you to put on more layers, but you wouldn’t listen."

Suzy blinked.

The comforting heat radiating from the hand warmer seemed to melt straight through to her heart.

"Here, Suzy."

Derek approached, carrying a steaming mug of tea.

The sight of her cheeks flushed red from the cold filled his eyes with concern.

He held the cup toward her. The temperature was perfect, pleasantly warm without being scalding. A delicate jasmine fragrance drifted upward, curling into her senses.

Suzy took several sips. The warmth spread through her body immediately, driving away the lingering chill.

She smiled at Derek gratefully.

"Thank you. And thank you too."

Turning her head, she glanced at Thomas.

"Alright, enough of that. All of you, come eat before everything gets cold."

Leonard’s voice rang out from the dining table.

Suzy was genuinely hungry by now.

Still clutching the hand warmer, she made her way to the table.

The dumplings had already been cooked and arranged neatly on elegant serving plates.

Besides the dumplings they had made that day, Leonard had also prepared several side dishes and drinks.

Pulling out a chair for her, he said, "Didn’t you claim you’d only be gone for five minutes? It’s been fifteen."

Suzy rubbed her hands together sheepishly.

"I stayed and chatted with Noah for a bit."

"That kid again?" Leonard raised an eyebrow. "Isn’t he getting a little too attached to you?"

Every time Suzy’s visits to Liam’s apartment ran long, Noah was usually the reason.

Derek frowned slightly.

"Do you think his brother’s encouraging it? Maybe he’s deliberately getting Noah to cling to you."

Suzy laughed and shook her head.

"Not a chance. Liam isn’t that kind of person."

Derek seemed unconvinced.

"And how do you know that?"

"Enough."

Thomas smoothly cut off the conversation.

"Suzy’s back. Let’s eat."

Suzy shot him a grateful look.

Thomas simply smiled.

The New Year’s Eve dinner was lavish by apocalypse standards.

The dumplings took center stage.

Arranged in orderly rows on white porcelain plates, they were plump, perfectly shaped, and steaming invitingly.

All of the ugly ones had been filtered out by Leonard earlier. Only the best-looking dumplings remained.

Derek immediately picked out the largest one and dropped it into Suzy’s bowl.

"Try this one, Senior."

Suzy dipped it into the sauce. The first bite nearly made her soul leave her body.

The wrapper was delightfully chewy. The filling was juicy and bursting with flavor.

Savory broth exploded across her tongue, blending with the natural sweetness of the vegetables.

Every bite was pure satisfaction.

"It’s amazing!" she exclaimed. "You guys need to eat too!"

Leonard immediately grabbed one for himself. The moment he bit into it, his eyes narrowed in bliss. It was ridiculously good.

He had been craving dumplings for ages.

In fact, after finishing the cooking, he had been so hungry that he’d wanted to sneak a couple before dinner.

Thomas and Derek had flatly refused.

Neither of them would allow him to start eating before Suzy returned.

At the time, Leonard had felt like he was being subjected to elder abuse.

After finishing her first dumpling, Suzy began placing dumplings into everyone else’s bowls.

Then she lifted her glass.

"Happy New Year’s Eve."

"Happy New Year’s Eve."

The others echoed the greeting one after another.

Their glasses clinked together with a crisp, pleasant sound.

"Cheers."

Everyone took a sip before digging into the feast.

The meal disappeared with astonishing speed.

By the end, every last dumpling had been wiped clean from the table.

After dinner, Thomas immediately volunteered to handle cleanup and sent Suzy to rest in the living room.

She accepted without protest.

The moment she found the couch, she collapsed onto it.

Full and content, she felt drowsy enough to fall asleep on the spot.

At moments like this, her life honestly felt no different from paradise.

Once the kitchen was cleaned, the others gradually drifted into the living room.

A comedy program played on television.

Thomas arrived last.

Noticing the firewood in the fireplace burning low, he quietly added several fresh logs.

Suzy yawned.

Then something Liam had mentioned earlier suddenly resurfaced in her mind.

"Oh, right."

She abruptly sat upright.

"I learned something when I was at Liam’s place."

Immediately, all three men turned toward her.

"What happened?" they asked almost simultaneously.

"Our apartment complex has a new organization forming."

She proceeded to explain how Liam had nearly been robbed while searching for supplies.

As they listened, all three men’s expressions grew serious.

"They’ve been gathering resources and recruiting people throughout the complex," Suzy concluded. "Sooner or later, they might set their sights on us."

"We’ll need to be more careful from now on," Leonard said with a sigh. "I’ve got a bad feeling about this."

A brief silence settled over the room.

Then Suzy continued.

"There’s something else. Liam has already had contact with those four men living downstairs. When I visited earlier, I happened to run into one of them."

"According to Liam, they’re decent people. Apparently they helped him once, so they don’t seem dangerous."

"They helped him?" Derek asked curiously. "How?"

Suzy recounted the entire story.

None of them rushed to offer an opinion.

After all, none of them had personally met the four men.

Everything they knew came through Liam.

And there was always the possibility that Liam’s judgment could be wrong.

After a moment, Thomas spoke.

"What do you think?" He looked at Suzy. "You’ve actually met one of them. What was your impression?"

Suzy carefully replayed the encounter in her mind.

The interaction had been brief. They hadn’t exchanged many words. Mostly, they had simply looked at one another.

Still, she had sensed no hostility whatsoever.

His gaze had seemed driven by curiosity rather than malice.

"He seemed alright," she said eventually. "I didn’t feel any ill intent from him."

Leonard leaned back thoughtfully.

"They probably aren’t planning anything against us. If they were like the other group and intended to rob people for supplies, they would’ve made a move by now."

They had been living in the building for quite some time. If an attack was coming, it should have happened already.

Suzy nodded in agreement.

"That’s true. Still, it’s better to stay cautious."

"We’ll keep watching for now," Leonard said.

With that topic exhausted, nobody knew what else to do.

They were all too full to move much.

Suzy wrapped herself more tightly in her blanket and slowly closed her eyes.

A tablet rested in front of Thomas as he quietly worked on something.

Derek absentmindedly twisted a Rubik’s Cube, occasionally glancing between the television and Suzy.

Of everyone in the room, Leonard was the only one genuinely paying attention to the comedy show.