When night came, people stepped out of their homes to scavenge, hunt snakes, or catch cockroaches. That was when Owen finally made his move. As soon as the doors opened, folks were met with the chilling sight of a gun pointed at them. "Give me everything you've got, or your family's done for." Everyone still remembered the gunfire from last night and the bodies left hanging as a warning. Seeing Owen standing there with that weapon in hand, no one dared resist. They lifted their hands and surrendered their food. After all, supplies could be replaced—life could not. Not everyone bowed their head, though. A muscular guy who used to box tried to fight, but Owen shot him dead instantly. The blast echoed through the streets, and after that, nobody else was dumb enough to challenge him. Everyone knew that no matter how strong you were, you could not dodge a bullet. The complex once had nearly 5,000 people, but after six months of this nightmare, only about 2,000 remained. With a single gun and fewer than 30 bullets, Owen managed to bend them all to his will. To keep things under control, he bribed a few neighbors, giving them perks if they worked for him. They went around collecting food in his name, keeping a small cut for themselves while handing the rest over. Owen barely had to leave his room to have food delivered straight to his door. The complex was tense. People hated living under his thumb, but no one dared to rebel.A group of younger folks, angry and restless, met in secret to talk. "This whole end-of-the-world thing is already bad enough, and now he's robbing us, too. We might as well be dead." "This is crap! We need to stand up to that gun-waving jerk!" "Yeah! He only has so many bullets, but there are thousands of us." "Exactly! He's got one gun and a few lackeys. If we all rush him, he doesn't stand a chance." The room grew loud with shouts and fiery speeches until someone asked, "So, when do we actually do it?" The noise died down. After a long silence, one person muttered, "Maybe we should get more people on board first." "Yeah. We can't just be the few of us risking our lives while everyone else hides at home." "Right! Why should we take all the hits while they sit back and enjoy the win?" The talk shifted, arguments breaking out over who should step up and whether to recruit more people. In the end, only two stubborn hotheads wanted to fight immediately, but with no one backing them up, the plan crumbled. And just like that, nothing happened. For a long time, everyone in Maplecourt lived under Owen's shadow ... When Olivia realized the guy with the gun was Owen, her whole expression soured. She could not take him down before, and now he had a pistol? That was way scarier than her little knife or nail gun. Natalie, on the other hand, stayed calm.Ever since she had gotten her strength back, she felt better than ever. Her cheeks were glowing as she said, "Relax. He's not coming up here." If Owen dared, she'd show him what real firepower looked like. Olivia frowned. "Still, it's weird. He's been robbing everyone, but he hasn't touched us. We live just a floor apart—shouldn't we be the easiest targets?" Natalie smirked. "Owen's cautious. Honestly, kind of a coward. I've burned him before, and he knows there are traps on both the 14th and 15th floors. As long as we stay put, he won't bother." A gun is dangerous, sure, but he could not blast through her armored door. There was plenty of loot downstairs—why risk getting himself killed by charging up here? If he tripped a trap, someone else would end up with that gun anyway."But we can't just stay holed up forever, can we?" Olivia muttered. "Who said we're hiding?" Natalie shot back, raising a brow. A grin tugged at her lips. "He's not untouchable. Not for long." She remembered that around this point in her last life, a group had shown up demanding food as protection. Owen might think he was king of the block now, but it was only a matter of time before he messed with the wrong people. The complex itself was pretty new, built on land where old houses had been torn down. The original locals had been relocated across the street to a resettlement block. Over there, families had lived side by side for generations. They knew each other well, and when push came to shove, they always had each other's backs.