Apocalypse Rebirth: Crazy from Day One

He felt like he was freezing to death, too. He had to find a way to warm up, and fast.

Stella Sterling’s brow furrowed. "My place isn’t... convenient."

She’d seen the man with Gordon Ford before. He was the other person from the helicopter.

’He’d been on a helicopter, was wearing a military uniform, and was clearly close with Gordon. This man’s background was anything but simple.’

’Her own situation at home was unique. If he came inside, he’d definitely notice something was off. If any of her secrets got out, it would bring her endless trouble!’

’She didn’t even trust Gordon, let alone this stranger.’

’She could help them, as long as it was within her means, but she absolutely couldn’t risk exposing herself in the process.’

Letting them into her home was too great a risk, and Stella wasn’t willing to take it.

Basil Xavier froze. He looked up at Stella Sterling, his eyes wide with disbelief. He clearly hadn’t expected that answer.

Her expression didn’t look like she was joking. She was genuinely refusing them.

’A sense of urgency welled up inside him.’

’Based on what just happened, this building wasn’t safe. Who knew if they’d run into another situation like that one? And right now, he was completely and utterly defenseless.’

’If they ran into people like that again, he and Gordon would be lambs to the slaughter.’

’They had to find a place to hide right now—somewhere to get out of the blizzard and recover, and to avoid anyone else with malicious intent.’

’And the only person they knew here was this woman.’

’But she won’t even take us in. Where could we possibly go now?’

’This doesn’t make any sense. For Gordon to make a special trip to see her, their relationship couldn’t be that bad. How could she refuse to let them stay for a little while? That’s just too cold!’

Then, as if a thought struck him, he said quickly, "Don’t worry, we have our own food. We can eat our own rations. We can even give you some as thanks. We just need a place to stay. We won’t be a bother!"

’Basil felt a flash of annoyance but forced it down. If he remembered correctly, Gordon had given this woman a full month’s worth of rations for the two of them.’

’He couldn’t believe she was acting like this now. He could understand it, given the way the world was, but Basil still felt Gordon had gotten a raw deal.’

’But right now, they had no other choice but to rely on her.’

Hearing his words, Stella knew he had misunderstood, but she didn’t bother to explain.

She mulled it over. After a moment, her brow smoothed. "I’ll find another place for you to stay."

’Another place to stay?’

’The problem was, with the conditions outside and the state he and Gordon were in, they couldn’t go anywhere else!’

Basil frowned, but something about her expression made him feel it wasn’t as he’d assumed. So, he didn’t press the issue and just nodded. "Thank you."

Stella shot the battered pair a look, said nothing more, and started walking upstairs.

’So she wasn’t sending us somewhere else after all!’

Basil’s eyes flickered with understanding. He hoisted Gordon up, preparing to follow Stella.

But the cold outside had completely drained his stamina. On top of that, he’d taken quite a few injuries in the fight just now. He was running on fumes and had almost no strength left.

He helped Gordon take two steps before his body gave out. He staggered, and both of them started to collapse—

The next moment, Basil hit the ground with a THUD. He whipped his head around to look for Gordon.

But he found that the savage woman—he didn’t even see her come back—had caught Gordon just before he hit the floor.

Stella shot him an annoyed look. "You’re a big guy. Can’t even hold one person steady?"

She didn’t say much else, but her eyes and tone were filled with utter disdain.

The fall hurt, and Basil felt a bit wronged. He couldn’t help but protest, "Miss, I’m injured too, you know! I’m barely hanging on as it is. I could collapse at any second!"

As he spoke, Basil grimaced in pain, his face contorting into something that looked almost savage.

Stella was still annoyed, but when she saw his sorry state and the injuries covering his body, she swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue and said nothing more.

Basil pushed himself up, wincing. He muttered under his breath, "If you were going to help, you couldn’t have given me a hand, too? Falling hurts, you know!"

He glanced at Gordon with a touch of envy. ’At this point, I’d rather be the one who passed out. Look how lucky he is!’

Stella pretended she hadn’t heard a thing.

She looked down at the unconscious man she was holding. Being so close to him made her uncomfortable. Even after steadying him, her first instinct was to put some distance between them.

But as she looked at the face she remembered as gentle, now pale and bloodless, her hands, which had been about to let go, froze.

Finally, after a moment’s thought, she simply hoisted Gordon up and slung him over her shoulder.

The sight made Basil’s jaw drop in astonishment once again.

He was shocked by her action, and by her incredible strength.

Stella was already carrying Gordon upstairs, one hand still holding the blood-dripping knife.

For the first time, Basil looked at Gordon and thought that the tall, imposing man actually looked... delicate.

’The bizarre thought flashed through his mind.’ He snapped out of it and called out, "Miss, can you give me a hand? I’m out of strength!"

He was cold and utterly spent. His whole body felt like it was about to fall apart, and he could collapse at any second.

But unfortunately, the woman either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore him. She didn’t even pause.

Seeing her about to disappear from view, he had no choice but to prop himself against the wall and slowly haul himself up the stairs.

Stella led them to the 27th floor, to the door of Apartment 2708. This had been River Larkin’s place.

She had just set Gordon down when Basil finally made it up. He shuffled over. "Is this another apartment of yours?"

’So that’s what she meant by her place being "inconvenient." It wasn’t that she wouldn’t help, just that she didn’t want them staying with her. She had another place to put them.’

’Come to think of it, it would be pretty awkward for two grown men to move into a single woman’s home. Putting them here was much more appropriate.’

Stella didn’t explain. She handed Gordon over to him. "Wait here a minute."

With that, she took her knife and rushed upstairs in a flurry of motion.

Watching her go, Basil was half-worried she’d cut herself with her own knife.

’So this was the type of woman Gordon liked. No wonder none of those other girls who’d fawned over him had ever caught his eye.’