It looked less like organized survival and more like a nation torn between warlords. Each major player controlled their own turf. The land had split into four main bases—east, south, west, and north. Every one of them sheltered fragments of the population, hanging on by a thread. The northern base was led by a top figure from the military. One glance at the abandoned military district was enough. The northern command had moved faster than Northlorn's government when the apocalypse began. That explained why the military ended up running the north. Outside the government bases, dozens of smaller private strongholds had popped up. But survival was unforgiving. If even the government bases struggled, most private ones collapsed in no time. Natalie let out a tired breath. With nothing left worth taking, she climbed back into her car and headed home. Today had been a win. The weapons and ammo she collected were enough to start a base of her own. With firepower like that, she could crush most of the private groups armed only with knives and bats. But Natalie had no interest in leading anyone. She liked staying in the background, keeping every resource for herself, and avoiding the burden of managing people. That was good enough for her. Humming along the drive, she felt lighter than she had in weeks. When she reached her neighborhood, though, the place was buzzing with noise and movement.Natalie raised an eyebrow. "What's going on here? Did everyone just forget about the heat?" She walked toward her building, passing crowds rushing out from every corner. A shrill cry cut through the air. People ran in panic. "Giant flying roaches? In the north? You've got to be kidding me!" A man bolted past, waving his arms wildly as a rat chased him down the street. "Help! What's with this rat? It's not even scared of people!" Natalie's jaw tightened. She had been so focused on scavenging that she nearly forgot about the waves of pests that came in droves after the Great Heat. It was the same in her last life. The moment the heat climbed, rats and roaches swarmed the streets in droves.How they survived the floods before was still a mystery. But the ones that came back were massive. Rotting corpses and piles of garbage had twisted them. They were bigger, stronger, and completely fearless. Creatures that once skulked in the shadows now scurried in daylight, snapping at people as they passed. Natalie's memories flashed sharp—roaches longer than two fingers crawling over walls, spilling across ceilings, and dive-bombing onto faces. Her skin prickled. She picked up her pace. Bandits didn't scare her. Monsters didn't scare her. Bugs made her stomach flip. It wasn't fear. It was pure disgust. Hard-shelled roaches. Slimy caterpillars. Either one could turn her inside out.She had crushed venomous snakes with her bare hands, but insects left her powerless. In her past life, the swarms had stolen her sleep. She'd wake to dozens of cockroaches the size of her hand crawling over her skin. Sometimes their biting was her alarm. Growing up in the north, she had barely ever seen roaches. And the few she had seen were tiny and never flying. These hulking things, every hair on their legs visible, wings buzzing, were horror coming to life. This time she had even sealed every drain with cement to keep them out. But seeing them now meant one thing. The heat was about to skyrocket past 140 °F. When she reached her building, she found neighbors spilling outside, shouting at each other in panic."Why are there more of them inside than out?" "They're smart! They know it's cooler in the apartments!" "I swear that rat had brains. It stole my cooling mat!" "They must be mutated! Nothing normal survives in this heat!" Groups clustered in the lot, voices overlapping in fear. Then someone noticed Natalie walking up. "Quiet! The psycho from the 14th floor is back." "So what? We didn't cross her. We can still talk." "Shut up! You know her temper. She kills without thinking. If those things pissed her off, she could take it out on us." Natalie didn't break stride. She walked straight for the building. As soon as she stepped inside, her shoe pressed down on something wet. A sharp crunch split the silence. She looked down. A swollen roach had burst beneath her heel, its insides smeared across her sole. Natalie froze. She raised her eyes. The stairwell ahead writhed with at least ten more, their antennae twitching, every hair on their legs perfectly visible. Goosebumps shot up across her skin. She glimpsed her neighbors watching from outside, wide-eyed. A scream burned in her throat, but she pressed her lips tight. She forced it down. Her cover couldn't break. If anyone learned she was disgusted by bugs, they'd hold her weakness in their hands. Natalie straightened her shoulders, forced herself to calm down, and walked deeper into the building.