Nadia's eyes flared as the truth struck her like lightning. "You mean the same woman who wiped out entire crews of raiders on her own?" She nodded firmly, her voice sharp with awe. "Then no wonder she could push Mr. Holland past his limits." Roderick's tone brimmed with excitement. "Exactly! And the crazy part is, she's the one who saved my life." For weeks he had lived with the fear that his boss and his savior would turn into sworn enemies, leaving him caught in the middle with nowhere to stand. But now everything had spun around. Instead of enemies, they might end up tied together forever. Or maybe not. Roderick's forehead wrinkled as the thought settled. "So you're telling me my savior still carries a torch for her ex, and that's why she turned Mr. Holland down?" Nadia scooped another handful of macadamia nuts, cracked one between her teeth, and grinned with delight. "This is the best gossip I've heard in months. Keep going. I want all the juicy parts." Meanwhile, Natalie only allowed the weight of her worries to drag her down for a single afternoon. By the next morning, she had thrown herself back into her routine. She scrubbed the house with disinfectant every day, kept the pets sweating through physical drills, and ended their nights with movies and snacks. For a world drowning in plague, her days almost felt bright. But a few days later, death spread through Northlorn faster than anyone could keep up. The government, silent until then, finally broke the silence. Since the apocalypse, people had clung to their radios like lifelines, desperate for even a scrap of news that might help them hold on.So when the broadcast came through, ears all across the city caught it instantly. Natalie was one of them. The first announcement said that construction had started on a government base, but the outbreak had delayed the work. Citizens would need to keep waiting. The second announcement declared that echinacea had been proven effective against the plague. And just like that, echinacea turned into the most precious thing in the entire city. Natalie's patience finally paid off. The herbs she had hoarded for so long could finally be sold. With the government's name behind it, there was no risk of doubt. But she had no intention of sweating in the sun, haggling with neighbors one handful at a time. She would sell everything straight to the dealers who moved herbs in bulk. That night, when the sky was black, Natalie pulled on her climate suit, tightened her mask, and stepped outside. The air hit her with the raw voice of the city. Everywhere she turned, coughs tore through the night, endless and heavy, layered with the screams of grief. "Wake up! Please, wake up!" "God, please, open your eyes! Don't take him from me now!" Natalie hardened her heart against the cries and walked with quick determined steps toward the edge of the neighborhood. Just then, two staggering figures pushed through the gate, clinging to each other. They spotted her shape in the dark and surged forward with a burst of desperate strength."Please, help us! There's no water left in our house!" "I'm begging you, give us one bottle. We're dying of thirst!" Her eyes locked on the spit that sprayed from their mouths as they coughed and lurched at her. In an instant, she vanished into her storage space. The next breath, she was standing 50 yards away, outside the gate. A few more quick flashes, and she was hundreds of yards away, far beyond their reach. The two strangers stared at the empty street where she had been, their faces pale with fear. "She was right there! Where did she go?" "She's ... gone!" "I didn't even see her face. One second she was standing here, then she was gone." "That had to be a ghost." "No, that was us hallucinating! Are ... are we going to die?" The terror broke them, and they fell against each other, sobbing hard. Then one pointed at the dirt with a shaking hand. "Wait. What's that?" The other bent down and lifted a root from the ground. "Looks like some kind of plant." "Hold on. I've seen this online before. This is echinacea!" "Echinacea? Are you sure?" "Let's try it. We've chewed worse. This one isn't dried, it's still wet inside." Without hesitation, they tore it in half and chewed like starving dogs.Their fear melted away with every bite. "That wasn't a ghost. That was an angel." Far away, Natalie breathed easier now that she was free. She found an empty spot, pulled out her Knight XV, and climbed inside. She fired up the engine and headed south. Half an hour later, she rolled into her destination. The street she entered had once been lined with bright shops, but every window now gaped open and every sign was broken and dull. In the center sat a gray van, impossible to miss. A speaker dangled from its rearview mirror, blasting the same pitch again and again. "Echinacea! The cure you've been praying for! One ounce for 20 pounds of grain!" A thick crowd pressed close, every face raw with need. Two bulky men guarded the van. One of them roared over the noise. "Form a line! Anyone who cuts gets nothing!" Natalie pulled her car over, shut off the engine, and leaned back to watch. She remembered this scene with brutal clarity from her last life. The same men had been here then too, peddling echinacea that was rough and limited in supply. Even so, every scrap had been gone in no time. When she arrived back then, there had been barely a handful left. And the price had already doubled. What cost 20 pounds of grain today had soared to 50 pounds by the end, when their very last ounce was gone.