That was terrifying. Daniel stared at Owen Gatlin's face and felt a chill run down his spine. Just then, a woman came out of the bedroom, rubbing her weary eyes. "What's going on, Owen?" The woman looked to be about ten years younger than Owen, with curves in all the right places. Daniel froze. This woman wasn't Owen's wife. What the hell—this woman was bold enough to just move right in? That didn't make sense. Owen was known for being completely whipped. Wait a minute ... Could it be that ... Daniel suddenly realized whose pile of jerky that was.The meat ... It was her. It was Owen's wife! His blood went cold. He grabbed a kitchen knife from the chopping board and waved it wildly. "I'm warning you! Stay the hell away from me! "You sick freaks! Cannibals! I'm not going down without a fight!" The couple froze at the sight of him swinging the knife. Terrified, the woman let out a piercing scream. That was all the opening he needed. He bolted out the door. By the time Owen gave chase, Daniel was already sprinting back to his own place. Cursing under his breath, Owen could only return to his unit. He walked in and was greeted by the woman's trembling voice. "Owen, what do we do? He saw everything!" Owen pulled her into his arms. "Relax. He can't call the cops now. In a little while, there won't be any meat left anyway. No evidence.""True," She said, feeling relieved. "If the cops do show up, we'll just say your wife went out scavenging and never came back. There are no cameras around here to prove otherwise." "That's why I love you, Elena. You're smart. Come on, let's go back to bed." Shameless didn't even begin to describe these two. Owen used to be a nobody, but he'd lucked out and married a business-savvy wife. Her money boosted his social standing, but he was rotten to the core. It didn't take long for him to start hooking up with the new lady at work, Elena Yarrow, who he eventually brought home. When his wife unexpectedly came home early and caught them, he dropped to his knees, begging for forgiveness. She was furious and demanded a divorce, insisting that he leave with nothing. That was when he snapped. In the middle of a heated fight, he killed her. His original plan was to cut up the body and dump it in the mountains piece by piece. But before he could get rid of it, the disaster hit, trapping him, Elena, and the body inside the house. Afraid the corpse would start to rot, they dried it out like jerky. As their food ran out, the smell of the meat became too tempting. Eventually, they gave in to their worst instincts—after all, in a famine, who could tell the difference between this and regular beef jerky? It could fill their stomachs and destroy the evidence all at once—a win-win. And that was how today's scene came to be. Natalie, hiding in the stairwell corner, heard everything. She didn't react as strongly as Daniel. In her last life, she'd seen the ugliest parts of human nature—by the later stages of the apocalypse, some people were even trading kids for food. She'd learned that instead of wasting energy judging others, it was better to stay far, far away. In a world without laws, people like that would only get bolder. As she walked home, she thought about how, in her past life, she'd only known the guy in 1302 as someone who stirred up drama. She'd never known he was a wife-killer. So how had Daniel stumbled into this mess this time around? She didn't realize this was all because of her rebirth. In her last life, she hadn't cut ties with Tiffany and Braxton and had even taken them in. That meant the Laferty brothers never came to 1402 to break the lock, and the building stayed peaceful for longer. By the time anyone tried sneaking into apartments, Owen and Elena's stash of jerky was already gone. They owed it all to Daniel. Had he not caught them red-handed, they'd be doomed by now. A strange kind of blessing, really. Owen and Elena may feel calm now, but Daniel's side of story was far from peaceful. He burst through his own door, panting, and collapsed onto the couch, still shaking. From the bedroom, his wife, Olivia Solace, padded out, rubbing her eyes. "Babe? What's going on? Why are you just sitting out here instead of sleeping?" "Honey!" The moment Daniel saw her, he lunged forward, wrapping her in a desperate hug, eyes teary. "Olivia, I was terrified!" He stammered through everything he'd just seen in 1302. Olivia's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?" She was only three months pregnant and had been sleeping hard through most nights. She'd only woken to pee, realizing Daniel wasn't beside her. "I told you not to go poking around in other people's places. That's dangerous! Thank God you're okay. "We're not thieves; we're not robbers. We'll rely on ourselves. Tomorrow, we'll take the tub out and look for supplies again." Daniel said, "But you're pregnant—" "So what? It's not even showing yet. My baby's stronger than that." She paused, thinking. "Things are too unstable right now. Keep what you saw in 1302 to yourself. Don't spread it around. Just stay away from that guy and be on guard." Daniel nodded. "Got it." A few days passed. The building finally went quiet. After all, no matter how much people stole, the food in the complex was limited. Eventually, there was nothing left to take, and everyone went hungry. The water had risen to the sixth floor before the clouds finally broke and sunlight returned. But at least the rain had stopped. The city was still half-drowned, but with the sky clearing, people felt a spark of hope. They started heading out again, desperate to find whatever supplies they could.