It seemed as if the world had been given a short break, yet every climb in temperature only claimed more lives. No matter how merciless the heat outside became, it could not reach Natalie as long as she stayed in the cool air of her home. The house itself still held steady above 85 degrees, but compared to the blazing streets outside, it felt almost gentle. During these weeks Lucky had shot up in size, her frame stretching tall and heavy until she nearly rivaled a golden retriever. One look at her and she resembled a pale hog, broad and hulking. Perhaps it was the spring water, perhaps it was the steady training she forced her through, but the dog who once wilted in warmth now faced it without fear. Even stripped of her climate suit, she could push through long drills in blistering heat and never falter. Her teeth, which had been no larger than tiny grains, had sharpened into jagged weapons. Her muscles had thickened, and her jaws carried a force that could break bone. Natalie could see the frail traits of her bulldog bloodline fading away, shed one after another. She was turning from a pet bred for show into a beast meant for battle. She no longer looked adorable, but she looked right for survival. Still, her crude habits never left her. She chewed through whatever she pleased, she snored without shame, and she passed gas like a barn animal. Outside of training, she was ruled by laziness. If she did not have to move, she made it a point to lie down as still as a stone. It was not only the dog that had changed. Cash, her rooster, had also transformed. His body had swelled larger, and his feathers glowed brighter, glowing like shards of gemstones. He looked for all the world like a smaller phoenix. His wings had gained strength. Though his bulk outstripped any ordinary rooster, it never stopped him from flying higher than the rest. And then there was the newcomer, the little white rabbit. That rabbit had become a mountain of meat and muscle. It had sipped spring water early, and its growth had broken free like a runaway horse. It was massive, thick, and strong. Natalie chewed a strip of jerky while watching her movie when the rabbit shoved against her leg. She groaned and pushed it away with her foot. "Get out of here! Quit staring at my food. You're a rabbit, so act like one! Eat a carrot or something! Stop staring at my meat!" The heavy rabbit pressed closer still, and Natalie lifted her voice. "Lucky, handle Baron!" Lucky lunged forward and smacked the greedy beast with a paw so hard that it flipped across the floor. Yes, the rabbit's name was Baron. She had once called him Fortune, but his temper was so foul that she began calling him Baron instead. The more she used it, the more it stuck, until the old name was gone. Baron showed no fear of Natalie and no fear of Cash. He only bent his will to Lucky. He had become the dog's shadow, a devoted little soldier. Whenever Lucky and Cash clashed, Baron was the first to hurl himself in, fighting to guard his leader. If Cash lacked wings, he would have been bitten to ribbons long ago. Rabbits did bite. Baron had the jaws of a monster built for war.Natalie twisted her mouth as she watched Baron grovel at Lucky's side. "If your wife could see you serving the one who slaughtered her, she'd roll in her grave." Since Baron's arrival, Unit 1402 had filled with noise and life. Natalie no longer wasted her days only on movies. She had three clever animals to stir her hours with play. Sometimes she strolled over to visit Olivia and Harold, and her days felt both full and lively. Then one afternoon, two flies slipped through the door behind her. Cash reacted first. His wings spread wide and he snapped forward, playing the great hunter once more. Natalie's brows drew tight. At the beginning of the Great Heat there had been flies, but as the temperature grew, they had all but vanished. In her memory, flies returned only in the time of the plague. The plague's coming. Natalie ran the numbers in her head, and the timing was exact. She slipped into her storage space and checked her second crop of echinacea. This time she had added no fertilizer, yet the plants had thrived. They stood ripe and ready. She inspected each stalk and found them as fine as the first harvest. Relief loosened the weight in her chest as she began cutting them down. She now had the harvester she had salvaged from the plant, and it made the work swift and easy. Though she had planted more than before, she was finished quickly.With the medicine safe in her hands, her nerves eased. Echinacea was not rare, nor did it cure strange sicknesses, but against the plague of the Great Heat, it was priceless. Once finished, Natalie returned to her quiet rest. Over the next few days, the flies grew worse. Sometimes thick swarms blackened her windows, blotting out the light as they passed. She could not understand how they managed to fly so high. Natalie stayed inside. No way was she letting the flies in. Cash could swat them down without effort, but she knew these swollen flies carried sickness. She wasn't letting them past her walls. Soon after, the sound of coughing spilled through the neighborhood. Every home had its windows thrown open against the heat, and all the coughing blended together, a choking sound that filled the air with fear.