She quietly covered her plate with her hand. "Cash, don't look." What she was hiding was nothing more than Finger-Lickin' Chicken. Natalie rose from her seat and first spooned some cornmeal with greens into Cash's bowl to distract him. Only then did she scoop food for Lucky. Lucky hated the order. She shoved her nose against Natalie, visibly annoyed. Natalie knew how quickly Lucky got upset, and she worried it might make her sick. She stroked the dog's head and tore a drumstick off her own chicken, then dropping it into Lucky's bowl as an extra treat. The smell of the drumstick lifted Lucky's mood immediately.She rubbed her head against Natalie's palm, tail wagging happily. Relieved, Natalie sat back down to eat. But Lucky strutted around with the drumstick clamped between her teeth, circling Cash with her head lifted in triumph. Her posture said it all. See that? You mean nothing more than food to me. Only after flaunting did she trot back to her bowl and devour her meal with gusto. Cash had no idea what the dog was trying to prove. He just focused on his own food. When they were both done, Lucky dropped the stripped bone into Cash's bowl. Then she let out a loud fart in his direction and walked away with pride. Natalie stifled her laughter as she gathered their bowls. She carried everything with her into the storage space. The moment they stepped inside the mansion, Lucky bolted for the spring and drank deeply. Cash froze, confused, as though he couldn't understand how he had suddenly ended up outside. Then he wandered onto the lawn, curious yet cautious. She had barely gone far before Natalie scooped her up and carried her to the spring behind the villa. "Easy. You're part of a little experiment now." Natalie had long suspected Lucky's unusual size and strength came from drinking this spring water. This time, she wanted to test it with the rooster. As soon as she set Cash down, the rooster trotted beside Lucky.Lucky drank noisily, gulping mouthfuls of water, yet kept one wary eye on him. Cash hesitated, wobbling slightly as if waiting for Lucky to lash out. When nothing happened, he paced a little before dipping his beak into the spring. He drank with delicate grace, taking careful sips. After every two swallows, he lifted her head, throat moving as he gulped, then bent down again. Lucky, by contrast, plunged her tongue in and splashed water everywhere. Natalie stayed alert, watching every reaction closely. After a while, Cash kept drinking, just as Lucky had the first time. He drank endlessly, then swayed unsteadily as though he were drunk. Finally, he toppled over. Natalie's heart raced. The spring truly did hold something extraordinary.Now came the long wait—to see if Cash would grow like Lucky had, into something beyond his natural size. She lifted Cash with one arm, rested her other hand on Lucky, and carried them both out of the storage space. The rooster was still dazed, eyes shut tight. Natalie grabbed a cardboard box, made a nest inside, and set Cash down to sleep it off. Lucky saw the rooster lying motionless and smirked. She nudged him with a paw, eager to stir trouble. Natalie quickly stopped her. "Lucky, don't hurt Cash. He's family now, you hear me?" Seeing her dog sulk, Natalie added, "Well, are you still disgusted with the big roaches?" At the mention of cockroaches, Lucky jerked her head back with disgust."Cash can help clean out the bugs in the house. He'll make life easier for us." Lucky huffed as if she got her owner's meaning, but at least she stopped picking on the rooster. She curled up beside Natalie instead. Satisfied, Natalie hugged her dog and settled onto the couch with a movie. But outside of 1402, the world was drowning in chaos. People had split into two groups. One still had food but suffered under the constant torment of mutant rats and swarms of cockroaches. The other had nearly no supplies left and survived only by eating the vermin. Every day, more people died from bacterial infections. Yet people noticed something strange. Cockroaches carried bacteria, but at worst they caused vomiting and diarrhea. Some with stronger bodies barely felt a thing. Mutant rats, however, were untouchable. Eating them meant certain death. Even a single bite spread a fatal disease. So, unbelievably, people began hunting cockroaches for food. Cockroaches had been around for hundreds of millions of years, long before dinosaurs. Their ability to survive and reproduce had no rival. They had watched species rise and disappear, age after age. But now, they faced a survival crisis unlike any before. Natalie had finished two movies by the time Cash finally stirred awake.