The air conditioner was blasting, and the warm yellow lights made the room feel cozy, like a world apart from the darkness outside. Olivia couldn't handle alcohol well. After just one can of beer, her cheeks were red, and she was already tipsy. "Tonight is amazing! After Daniel died, I thought I'd be alone for the rest of my life. No—back then, I couldn't even think that far. I didn't even know where my breakfast was coming from the next day!" Ghania, who had been drinking with her, also got emotional. "Right? I thought Harold and I would be stuck in this tiny house forever. I don't mind. But Harold ... he's so withdrawn. Always locked away in his lab, tinkering with his junk. If I died, what would happen to him?" She hiccupped and laughed. "Now he's actually making friends with you all!" Harold frowned. "Mom! I've told you a million times. That's equipment, not junk!" Natalie couldn't help but laugh. But Ghania suddenly pointed at her. "See? Look how pretty she is when she smiles! She's barely in her 20s, yet she walks around all serious, like she's 50." Natalie froze. She remembered who she was before everything fell apart—before her mom died. Back then, she was just a clueless little girl. She was scared to walk home in the dark, afraid to let her feet stick out from under the blanket, and always crossed the street to avoid drunk men. And somehow, without realizing it, she'd already walked through so much darkness on her own. Her eyes grew wet. Harold ran to the kitchen to prepare something to sober them up. Natalie leaned her head against Olivia's shoulder while Ghania stormed in after Harold, bossing him around. For the first time in a long time, Natalie didn't feel so alone. The party went on for hours before everyone finally left. Natalie and Olivia each took home some modified seeds and a pair of rabbits. Back at home, Lucky and Cash rushed over the second they saw Natalie carrying live animals. Lucky, especially, got too curious. She batted at one rabbit with her paw and then, before Natalie could react, clamped it in her jaws and started chewing. Natalie froze, horrified. "Lucky! That's not food!" But ever since Lucky had mutated, his teeth had become razor-sharp. The little doe rabbit didn't even last a second. Natalie quickly scooped up the other rabbit, a tiny buck. "Lucky! This one's my friend. You can't eat him!" The little buck was still young and clueless, not even realizing what had just happened. Lucky lowered her head, pressing against Natalie's side, as if apologizing. Natalie sighed. She couldn't stay mad. After all, it was her fault too—she had eaten her fill earlier, while Lucky and Cash hadn't gotten anything yet. She was just about to feed them when a loud crash echoed outside the window. Natalie poured food into their bowls first, then hurried to the window. It sounded like something had fallen from way up high and smashed into the ground. But it was pitch-black outside, so she couldn't see. The heat wave kept most people indoors, even at night. The streets were dead quiet until, after a long while, a few curious people finally went to check."Ah! De ... dead body!" Natalie frowned. A corpse? What is so shocking about that? In the apocalypse, bodies are everywhere. The voice came from her building. Had someone jumped? Soon, more people gathered below, their voices loud and panicked. "Oh my God, what the hell is that?" "Ugh! I'm gonna puke!" "Was this person mauled by some kind of beast? That's terrifying!" A beast attack? Natalie instantly thought of what Braxton had said before—about the nightfall beasts. Could one of them have shown up early? Her gut tightened. She quickly changed clothes, ready to check it out. Lucky saw her heading for the door and abandoned her food to follow. Natalie patted his head. "Stay here and eat. I'm just going to take a quick look. No danger." Lucky tilted her head, then obediently went back to her food. Natalie grabbed her gun and carefully headed downstairs. The crowd parted the moment they saw her, and even a couple of cowards ran straight back home. Natalie stepped forward—and understood why the first person had screamed. It was a corpse, yes, but not like the others she'd seen. This one looked like a blood-red skeleton. Most of the flesh had been gnawed off, leaving bones with scraps of meat still hanging on. The limbs and torso were stripped clean, but the face—though smashed beyond recognition—hadn't been bitten. The nose and ears were gone. Natalie could only guess from the hair that it was a woman. The bloodied skeleton had shattered into pieces from the fall. Natalie raised her head. Judging from where the body had fallen, it had to be from her own condo building.