Her prized battle wagon guzzled gas at 18 gallons per 60 miles. That's right—18 gallons! All the fuel she had stockpiled, which once seemed enough to last decades, had suddenly been cut down to just a few years at best. The Knight XV would drain it dry in no time. The very first thought she had when she got this armored SUV was simple: she needed more fuel. But back then, the entire city had turned into a waterlogged swamp. There was no way for her to get her hand on fuel. Now things were different. The streets were finally dry, and not a soul was around. It was the perfect time to get fuel. The road stretched out in eerie silence. No people, no animals—only piles of trash and corpses scattered everywhere.Ordinary sedans wouldn't stand a chance driving here. But for her beast? These weren't obstacles. Even if a car was in the way, the SUV could crush it flat without slowing down. Natalie drove the armored SUV forward, rolling over debris with ease, until she reached her destination—a huge industrial machinery plant. Before she could get her hands on the fuel tank, she needed the right tools. She entered through the factory gates. The complex was divided into different sections, each for a type of machine. She stepped into the first section and immediately spotted her target—an excavator. With one of these, she could dig up the underground fuel tanks buried beneath gas stations. The entire factory grounds was filled with them. Though most had been submerged during the flood, the blazing heat had since dried them out.Natalie climbed into each one, testing them carefully. Most were completely dead, but after sorting through the wrecks, she finally found a machine that still roared to life. She stored the working excavator inside her space, then moved on to gather whatever attachments she could find—rock grabs, rebar cutters, quick couplers, and more. The most important attachment was the hydraulic breaker. Once hooked up to the excavator, it could smash straight through the concrete that covered gas station tanks. After securing the excavator and its gear, Natalie paused. Then, almost on impulse, she stored the broken-down machines as well. Harold had a knack for fixing junk—he was always dragging home scraps from the floating market and turning them into new inventions. Who knew? Maybe one day, after some tinkering, he could get these wrecks working again. Leaving the excavator section, she wandered into the next section of the plant—and stopped in surprise. The place was filled with farm machinery. Her eyes lit up. She had often thought about how crude and exhausting her planting methods were. The work was slow and wore her down. If she could automate farming back at the mansion, it would change everything. And now the solution had landed right in front of her, without her even trying. Smiling from ear to ear, Natalie strolled through the rows of machines and began collecting everything she could: tractors, planters, sprayers, and even full-sized harvesters. One by one, she tucked them all safely into her storage space. Natalie couldn't tell which machines were broken and which ones still worked, so she decided to just sweep up everything into her storage space and deal with it later. Once she cleared out the farm equipment section, she kept going. Section after section, she ran through the entire plant area, emptying every building of its machines. Half of them she couldn't even name, let alone know what they were for. But back before the apocalypse, she'd never imagined she'd one day need an excavator or farm equipment either. And yet here she was—suddenly needing them. Who knew what strange tools might come in handy in the future? Better to take it all while she could. Her storage space was so vast it felt endless anyway. After stripping the factories bare, Natalie climbed back into her truck and headed for a gas station she had already scouted out. It was in the suburbs, away from neighborhoods and nosy neighbors—a perfect spot to use her storage space freely. When she arrived, she didn't go straight in. Instead, she drove a wide loop around the area, scanning carefully.Once she was sure no one was lurking nearby, she returned to the pumps and pulled out her excavator. She swapped its bucket for a hydraulic breaker, filled it with diesel, and got ready to work. Most gas stations kept their fuel tanks buried directly beneath the pump islands. Natalie's plan was simple in theory: crack open the ground beside a tank, reach down, and pull the entire storage tank into her storage space. Simple in theory. Not so simple in practice. The first problem was figuring out where the underground tanks were. She could only guess their general location; there was no way to pinpoint them exactly. If she drilled in the wrong spot and hit a tank head-on, it could trigger a massive explosion. The second problem was skill. Natalie had never been properly trained to operate an excavator, which meant she couldn't handle it with the kind of precision and safety a real operator could. So, she made a cautious plan. Instead of drilling right over the predicted spot, she started some distance away. Her idea was to dig from the safe side and gradually work her way toward the tanks, testing the ground a little at a time, until the drill finally scraped against the outer shell. It was slower, sure, but it was safer—and safety came first. With the plan set, Natalie stored the armored SUV back into her space. If she miscalculated and something really did blow up, she could hide in her space storage in a split second. But her beloved ride? That was another story. No way she was risking it—better to tuck it away for now.