Dorothy didn't stand a chance. She wasn't strong enough to fight Natalie. In no time, she was tied up tight with a rope and hoisted into the air. She struggled with everything she had, but the ropes wouldn't budge. Finally, she broke down and begged. "Please, let me go! My son's at home waiting for me to bring food!" Natalie ignored her. She kept working like Dorothy wasn't even there. When she finally finished, she gave Dorothy a cruel little smile, like she was wishing her luck, then walked away. Dorothy twisted her neck to look. When she saw what Natalie had set up beside her, her face went pale. She kicked and screamed. "You brat! Put me down right now!" But Natalie didn't come back. Instead, the noise drew other people from the condo complex. They came one by one, whispering to each other, pointing at Dorothy. Soon, a whole crowd had gathered. On the 15th floor, Harold came running into his apartment. "Mom! Where are you? Come out here!" Ghania stepped out of the bedroom, frowning. "What are you yelling for?" Harold was breathless and grinning so hard he could barely talk. "Mom, I—hahaha ... " Ghania was confused. "Spit it out already! What are you laughing at? Weren't you supposed to be out hunting for machine parts? Why are you back so soon?" Harold's eyes teared up from laughing. "Forget it. I can't even explain right now. Just change clothes and come with me!" Still baffled, Ghania let herself get pulled outside. They ran down the street together."Hey, slow down! What are you even running for?" Before Harold could answer, a loud chant carried from up ahead. "Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you toot!" They saw a big crowd gathered. The silly song blasted on repeat from the middle of it. Harold squeezed through the crowd, dragging Ghania. "Excuse us, sorry. Let us through." When they finally made it to the front, Ghania's eyes widened. Dorothy was hanging there, tied up tight. Beside her, a giant screen played a looping video. On the screen, a cute short-haired girl leaned down and asked, "You here to poop?" Then the video cut. It showed Dorothy pulling down her pants, squatting, and going right on the floor. The footage zoomed in on her face, straining, then replayed it again and again, each time with the chant over it. "Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you toot!" Finally, the screen flashed a meme caption. "I have never seen someone so shameless in all my life!" Ghania burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Who made this video? That's genius!" Harold snickered beside her. "Has to be my idol! Who else in this whole condo has the gear to set up surveillance like that?" Ghania clapped her hands, impressed. "Good! She deserves this. Nasty old hag had it coming!"Dorothy's face turned dark red. This wasn't what she wanted at all. She had only wanted to gross out Olivia by leaving that mess. Instead, she had been beaten, forced to eat it, and now her humiliation was playing on repeat for everyone to see. She tried to bury her face, but the ropes held her tight. She could only stare up at the screen as the crowd laughed at her. "Look! The face in the video—it's her, the one hanging there!" "Hahaha! Too bad there's no power grid anymore, or this would've gone viral online!" "She's disgusting. Who does their business on someone else's doorstep?" "Not just that—look closer. She didn't even wipe before she pulled her pants back up." "Yuck!" That night, hundreds of people came to gawk and laugh. Even people who had stayed home at first eventually came out when they heard the music and laughter. For the first time since the disaster, the neighborhood was filled with a kind of twisted cheer. Everyone laughed—everyone but Dorothy. She hung there for two whole days. No one dared to cut her down. Everyone knew that anyone still able to use power in these times was dangerous. And plenty had seen with their own eyes that the infamous "psycho girl" was the one who tied Dorothy up. Nobody in this brutal new world would risk their neck for a shameless old woman. It wasn't until Brandon Huxley, a shut-in who had finally eaten his last pack of cookies, stepped outside that Dorothy was saved.By then, Dorothy was barely alive. The heat during the day was brutal. The sun could cook a person half to death. Nights were cooler, but it wasn't enough to keep her from fading fast. Add to that the beating she'd taken earlier, and her body was failing. When Brandon finally untied her, Dorothy was drifting in and out of consciousness. Her lips were cracked, and she kept mumbling weakly ...